Breaking News English

A researcher from BreakingNewsEnglish.com says news is good for students. He asked teachers and students their opinions on using news to learn English. Almost everyone said it was important. One student said he enjoyed studying using news because the story is real. He remembered many times when the teacher put a headline on the whiteboard and he was surprised that it was that day's breaking news. Another student thought news was more interesting than other topics in her lessons. She felt good when she understood English news, and learnt a lot of "international vocabulary".

Teachers really liked using news in their lessons. Some said students had problems with listening, so they made it slower to help their students. Teachers thought news stories were good for practising speaking. Teachers said students talked non-stop about news of their own country or city. Teachers said news was useful because students had a lot of background knowledge from listening to or reading about it in their own language. Teachers also liked the fact that they could do many kinds of activities, such as role plays and games. One teacher said news was "unhealthy for students".