Summer Challenge English
Are you looking for an English summer challenge?
The goal of this English Bingo challenge is for English learners to interact with English in the real world. Using native English sources this learning challenge will help you build your English skills over the summer break.
Beat the academic regression over the summer by challenging yourself with daily English study. This summer bingo challenge is designed to help English language learners discover native English materials.
You can complete as many of the challenges boxes as you like, you don't have to do them all. Which ones look interesting to you? There are some recommendations via QR codes in the bingo card but you should also do your own research and find English language media that appeals to your interests.
How Can I Improve My English Skills Over The Summer Break?
Watch The News
You can watch 24 hour live news in English at Sky News. If the regular news is too difficult or not appropriate, I recommend trying CBBC Newsround. This is a short daily news show for children. The signed and subtitled version has subtitles which makes it easier to follow. Exposure to English news is really useful for vocabulary development and insight into real world topics such as the environment and social issues which regularly feature in English exams like the Eiken test.
Watch A Movie
You can watch 24 hour live news in English at Sky News. If the regular news is too difficult or not appropriate, I recommend trying CBBC Newsround. This is a short daily news show for children. The signed and subtitled version has subtitles which makes it easier to follow. Exposure to English news is really useful for vocabulary development and insight into real world topics such as the environment and social issues which regularly feature in English exams like the Eiken test.
With so many movies to chose from it can be difficult to get started, think about what genre you are interested then head to your favourite streaming platform or borrow a DVD from the library. If you are unsure if the material in the movie is suitable use a site like Common Sense Media to check.
Watch A TV Show Or Drama
TV shows and dramas are great because of the length, you can make watching an episode of an English drama part of your regular study routine. Compared to a movie you have time to get to know the characters and all that extra time watching is good for your learning goals too.
Watch A Documentary
Documentaries are another great source for learning about world topics. What is something that you are interested in? Natural science, celebrity? Again, pick a documentary about something that you would like to learn more about. Have you heard of the Fyre festival? There are several documentaries about it.
Join An English Live Stream
Have you ever watched a Live stream? You can write comments in real time, sometimes other viewers respond to your comments and sometimes the host does too. See how people interact in this casual setting, you might find that there are not many full, grammatically correct sentences and that there are a lot of emojis.
Live Streams You Can Watch To Practice English Listening
Watch a product launch on an official channel like Starbucks or watch a gamer playing a video game that you like, an artist doing a live paining, a baker making a cake and chatting in real time. What are you interested in? You are sure to find a live stream for it. Live streams are often recorded too so if the pace is too fast and you want to go back and watch it again you usually can.
Live streams are not for young learners and I recommend that parents of older children monitor live stream content including the comments as it is usually unmoderated. As always follow online safety guidelines and do not share any personal or identifying information online.
Find An Interesting English YouTube Channel
There is a theme to this challenge and that theme is that you seek out content that interests you. Youtube has a lot of long form content but if you are more of a short form video viewer then find English content that you like on the platforms that you are already active on like Tik Tok or Instagram. You are much more likely to continue learning with this kind of media if it pops up in your usual feed. What content do you consume in your native language? Gaming videos, fashion content, music? Look for those topics in English. Video quality varies greatly online, what do you like? Documentary style content which is polished and looks good or hand held vlogs that offer a unique perspective? Spend some time looking for videos that appeal to you.
Cook An English Recipe
Find a recipe for a food that you would like to try. Spend some time reading and understanding the recipe and then try making it. Sally's Baking Addiction is a good site for recipes with video. Watching an instructional video alongside the written recipe makes the culinary methods used easier to understand.
Listen To An English Podcast
Podcasts are easy to listen to when travelling and doing exercise. Podcasts are also a great listening challenge because there a no visual clues or subtitles. You can sometimes find the transcript of a podcast. There are a lot of podcasts that take an English teaching style approach but this summer English challenge is about interacting with native content. Just like with movies and TV shows there are many different podcasts out there, so there is sure to be something that you like. Look for educational podcasts aimed at children if you aren't sure where to start. For a high level challenge National Geographic has a well researched podcast about a variety of topics.
Make A "Day In My Life" Video
So far the challenges have focused on consuming media but what about output? You don't have to publish your video, just record it for yourself. Try narrating your morning routine. For example, "Today is lovely and sunny, I just got up. I'm making eggs for breakfast." You could try narrating aloud to yourself for a few days and then record yourself. Watch the video back, be critical. How is your pronunciation? Was there anything you didn't know how to say. What would you do differently next time?
Make A "Let's Play" Gaming Video
Do you spend a lot of time playing video games? Could you narrate what you are doing in real time? For example, "Today I am playing Minecraft. I have an idea and I want to build something new. First, I need to find a tree and get some woodblocks."
Play A Game In English
This can be a video game, did you know there is an English version of dobutsu no mori called Animal Crossing and it's very popular. What game do you like playing? Could you switch the game language to English? Or you could try a board game like Game of Life. There are also some English games aimed at English language learners on the British Council website.
Write A Diary Everyday For Two Weeks
For English writing practice you can keep a journal. Set aside some time each day to write about what you have been doing. You could stick photos, tickets and receipts to the diary and add notes about where they are from. This mix of journaling and scrapbooking is a nice way to record your summer memories and as time progresses you will be able to see from the diary entries how your English improves too.
Read A Book
Reading outside with a good book conjures a lovely summer image for me. Take some time to enjoy an English book this summer. Books for Topics have a really fun printable summer reading bingo, with options like "read in a cafe, park or on a beach" for you to cross off. Choose a book that you can read smoothly, go down a level if that helps. This challenge is to boost confidence and enjoy spending time with English. I have some advice about where to find children's English books in Japan. You can also sign up for a free account with Oxford Owl to read some of their free English books.
If you would to challenge yourself even further, after you've finished the book could you write a book review or make a short BookTok (TikTok Book Review) style video review of the book that you've read.
Watch The News
I think this one is so important, it made the list twice. Can you summarise what you watched? Did you learn about something that you hadn't heard of before? Try watching news from several different English speaking countries, are the main stories different?
Learn 100 Words
In UK primary school (ages 5-11) there are usually weekly spelling tests. Oxford Owl has some lists of words that it would be useful for children to know at the end of each grade. For this summer reading challenge I picked the list of vocabulary and spellings that 9 year olds should know. How many do you know? Can you learn them all this summer?
Learn The Lyrics To A Song
Is there an English song you'd like to be able to sing? You can look at the Billboard Top 100 to find the most recent popular songs. I you need more inspiration, I also have a Youtube playlist of songs that the English Speaking Society students at the school I work at have studied.
I hope this summer bingo challenge gives you lots of fun ideas for ways to expand your English knowledge over the summer break. To keep motivated you can share what you have been doing on Instagram, please tag @livelylanguageseigo.
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