There are many English-speaking countries (that is, countries where English is one of the official languages)—specifically, 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities (source: Berlitz). In addition, it is estimated that, on average, 1 billion people who use English do not come from English-speaking countries. This means there are many accents and dialects. For non-native speakers, it can be difficult to detect these differences, and they can often make it harder to understand the language.
Audiovisual productions, such as TV series and movies, are an excellent way to be exposed to all the diversity that the English language has to offer (in addition to being a fun and effective way to learn a foreign language and its cultural nuances). Here is a list of 10 movies (source: Speechling), divided into the categories “Beginner,” “Intermediate,” and “Advanced,” to help you identify and become even more familiar with the English language.
(accent: United States)
If you're just starting to learn English, it's best to begin with movies that maintain the same accent throughout; in addition, children's movies tend to use simpler, more accessible vocabulary. Pixar movies, such as "Finding Nemo," are a good choice because they feature themes that are meaningful for all ages.
Note: Even though the story takes place in Australia, the voice actors kept their American accents.
(accent: United Kingdom)
Another group of movies loved by all ages: the Harry Potter films. In addition to its high-quality production, this film series offers a chance to hear some British accents, with a greater emphasis onReceived Pronunciation(RP). RP is the English accent recognized as the “standard” and the one with the greatest “prestige” (it is the accent of the British royal family and the upper classes, for example).
It's always good to remember that these are movies with made-up magic words, so turning on the subtitles is a good idea!
(accent: South Africa)
A 2009 science fiction film in which sick and weakened aliens flee their planet and end up in Johannesburg, prompting the South African government to quarantine them in the so-called "District 9."
Although it tackles serious topics such as xenophobia,apartheid, and migration, it is an action movie with simple dialogue that serves as a useful tool for intermediate-level English learners.
(accent: United States)
A biting comedy set in Texas starring Jack Black as a funeral home director who gets involved with an 81-year-old widow and, after committing a crime, has to deal with Matthew McConaughey’s character, a law enforcement officer. And here’s more: it’s based on true events.
It's not a movie for younger audiences, but it offers a humorous look at the different accents and cultural nuances of Texas (in the southern United States).
(accent: United States)
This is a 7-episode miniseries produced by HBO that stars Kate Winslet as a detective in a small town in Pennsylvania (in the northeastern United States) who must balance investigating a complicated case with her personal life.
In addition to his highly praised performance, his portrayal of that region’s accent also received acclaim; so it’s worth watching this story as well to get to know some lesser-explored American accents.
(accents: Ireland and the United States)
An independent film for anyone interested in detective stories featuring grumpy detectives. This comedy-thriller follows an Irish police officer and his methodical new partner, an FBI agent, as they try to track down aserial killerin western Ireland.
This movie helps explore the cultural differences between the United States and Ireland, but the Irish dialect can be difficult to understand, so it’s recommended for those who are already at a more advanced level.
(accent: Canada)
A biting comedy from 2006 that will help you practice your English and French. The film explores the differences between Ontario and Quebec by having an English-speaking police officer and a French-speaking one work together on a homicide case.
Since the characters switch back and forth quickly between French and English in one of Canada's first bilingual films, this movie is recommended for advanced English learners who want an extra challenge (or who want to practice their French as well)!
(accent: New Zealand)
This 2010 comedy-drama is set in New Zealand in the 1980s and follows a boy who is finally reunited with his father, only to discover that his father (played by the film's director, Taika Waititi) has returned to retrieve a bag of money he left behind.
Although the premise is sad, it's a funny and moving movie. Because it's full of New Zealand slang, it's best suited for intermediate-to-advanced students.
(accents: Australian and Indian)
A moving film that follows the story of an Indian boy who gets separated from his family, struggles to escape extreme poverty, and is eventually adopted by an Australian family. Twenty-five years later, played by Dev Patel, he embarks on the reverse journey to find his biological family.
The first half of the film takes place in India and Bangladesh, while the second half takes place in Australia, so language plays a crucial role in the plot.
(accent: Scotland)
Considered a must-see classic, based on the book of the same name, this dark comedy from 1996 stars Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, and Jonny Lee Miller as friends who must overcome unemployment, heroin addiction, and their relationship problems in a Scotland where the drug-related death rate is the highest in Europe.
In addition to being a film that plays a key role in shedding light on Scottish life, it’s a film that introduces you to many of the region’s accents. Even if you’re at an advanced level in your English studies, we recommend turning on the subtitles, since even native speakers have trouble keeping up with the slang.
English proficiency tests are becoming increasingly important in people's academic and professional lives.
In this section, we outline the main English proficiency tests available worldwide, their key differences, and where to find more information about each one.
Placement Test vs. Proficiency Test
APlacement Testis an assessment conducted to determine a student’s language skills. It is the type of assessment that allows the institution to place the student in a class appropriate to their level, in addition to helping with the preparation of lessons and materials as a whole. Many schools develop their own tests, but it is also possible to purchase standardizedplacement tests, for example:
TheProficiency Testis a type of standardized test that opens many doors to academic and professional advancement. Universities that offer instruction in English require all prospective students from countries where English is not the official language to demonstrate proficiency through an exam prior to admission. Some companies require proficiency tests for their employees to be eligible for a promotion. Below, we describe the most commonEnglishproficiency testsin the world, how they work, and where you can find even more detailed information about each one.
English Proficiency Tests
Cambridge: Some Cambridge exams lead to a certificate indicating a certain level of proficiency, including theCambridge First Certificate in English(FCE), theCambridge Advanced English (CAE), and theCambridge Proficiency in English(CPE). These exams are particularly well-recognized in Europe. For more information, visit the website:http://cambridgeenglish.org/exams/
To find academic articles that can substantiate your studies in a reliable and up-to-date manner, it is necessary to use reliable and updated search and research websites. With this need in mind, here are some of the most recommended websites (with their respective links—simply click on the underlined and bolded word) for finding scientific articles, journals, and databases.
The SciELO platform is an open-access digital library featuring a selected and cooperative collection of electronic publications of Brazilian scientific journals. SciELO was developed by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) in conjunction with BIREME (Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information) and also has the support of CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development).
This platform offers efficient and comprehensive resources to search for articles, reports, or even complete journals.
Google Scholar (or Google Scholar), launched in 2004, is a free open-access virtual scientific research tool. This search mechanism presents an extensive list of possible results: academic papers, scholarly literature, university journals, book chapters, and scientific articles. It is an interesting digital tool because it is simple and allows for a wide variety of sources and results.
The platform also offers various filters that help you perform a more targeted search.
The Periodicals Portal is a platform developed by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) that provides free full-text access to thousands of national and international journals. It is worth noting that the portal's search engine also uses dozens of databases to increase the breadth of the results.
The interface is 100% in Portuguese, offering options to search by: subjects, journals, books, or databases. The Periodicals Portal also features scientific event schedules, news, and the ability to browse different types of media.
Science.gov is the result of an integrated initiative by dozens of U.S. agencies and organizations, offering searches across more than 60 databases and over 2,200 scientific websites—providing access to more than 200 million reliable federal scientific information records.
ScienceResearch.com was developed by an association of research institutions. The result is a portal that uses technology to search the "deep web" and thus allows access to a massive amount of results. This platform features full-text items, eliminates duplicate content, and ranks search terms by relevance.
In addition to simple and advanced search tools, sophisticated filters are also offered to find articles by: subject, authorship, journal, and date. It is also possible to select a specific thematic collection from the site or even rank the presentation of found items by relevance, date, title, and first author's name.
ScienceDirect is a portal for millions of academic articles published by Elsevier, 1.4 million of which are open access. Academic journals and books can be searched through a single interface.
The DOAJ is a free-to-access, multidisciplinary academic database.
JSTOR is an excellent source for finding academic articles, offering over 12 million items. Furthermore, any article published before 1924 in the US is available for free.
We've put together a special selection of the best databases for those in the healthcare field, and we've listed them here for you!
So, for anyone researching topics related to medicine and health services in general, these are the places where you’ll find outstanding articles to enhance the quality of your research.
Here is a list of the top 5 databases focused on the healthcare field.
A PubMed is the primary source for research in the fields of medicine and health services. It is created and maintained bythe National Institutes of Health(NIH), which, in turn, is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This database provides bibliographic information,abstracts, and links to the full texts of more than 28 million articles.
EMBASE is a database that provides access to more than 38 million scientific articles in the field of health.
It can also be accessed through other databases, such as PubMed and Ovid.
The Cochrane Library is best known for its systematic reviews. There are 53 review groups around the world that help ensure that the reviews published are of the highest quality and evidence-based. In addition, the articles are updated over time to incorporate new research.
A PubMed Central is the 100% free version of PubMed that offers open access to full-text articles. It’s also worth checking out its “sister” site, Europe PMC.
Similar to the Cochrane Library, the UpToDate offers detailed reviews on clinical topics. This database provides thousands of articles from more than 420 academic journals, featuring abstracts, bibliographic references, and access to full-text articles (through subscription).
Learning Tools are a set of inclusive resources, available on various platforms, designed to support English language learning.
Lingueeis a free website and app that functions as both a translator and a dictionary.
Advantage: It shows you synonyms, expressions, and excerpts from the internet (in English and Portuguese) that use the word you searched for.
The Cambridge Dictionary Onlineis the ultimate online dictionary. Not only does it let you look up words used in British and American English, but you can also easily find synonyms.
Advantage: This dictionary lets you learn how to pronounce words and see how they're used in context.
Easy Englishis a YouTube channel that depicts everyday interactions through animations in English.
Advantage: The channel provides subtitles for all its videos, so you can practice your listening and pronunciation skills while expanding your vocabulary all at once.
Duolingo has a podcast on Spotify called "Stories in English with Duolingo," and it's exactly what the name suggests: stories on a variety of topics told in English.
Advantage: The podcast episodes are just over 20 minutes long, so you can practice your English on your way to work.
Available as a free website and app,Lyrics Trainingis a fun way to learn English through music: just choose a song and listen carefully to fill in the missing words in the lyrics.
Benefit: You improve your comprehension and expand your vocabulary with your favorite songs.
If you like to take advantage of every possible learning opportunity,British Council Learn Englishis a great option. The British Council is an international organization committed to promoting British culture and educational opportunities. On the organization’s website, you’ll find many free tools to help you learn English.
Advantage: You can practice different skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) using the apps or the website for free.
TheBaamboozlewebsite is for people who enjoy using games and fun activities to learn.
Advantage: It's free and maintained by thousands of teachers.
TheNews In Levelswebsite is for anyone who likes to stay up to date. It lets you read a wide variety of news stories from around the world—for free—at your English level.
Advantage: All the news articles come with audio as well, so in addition to reading, you can practice your English listening skills!
