Discover English reviews

I found Discover English refreshingly straightforward to navigate, with very clear menu and sub-menu choices. It takes the user from Level 1 through to Level 3 covering all areas of language including tenses, articles, phrasal verbs, synonyms, common expressions and idioms to name but a few. There is even a brief guide to living in the UK which could be very useful for new arrivals.

Using Discover English, pupils have the opportunity to focus on and practise a specific area of language weakness, which is chosen from the drop-down menu. With minimal guidance from their English teacher as to which grammar point needs practise, Discover English has the potential to directly address the grammar needs of EAL pupils.

Once the choice has been made, options include: reading the explanatory notes / reading and listening to the sentences / doing the exercise.

Pictures accompany each sentence to help with meaning and add interest. A variety of accents are used which, while not being broad, will sharpen listening skills and reflect regional variations pupils encounter every day.

Hamish, a little Scottish chap ‘oversees’ progress and checks your answers either as you go along or at the end. It is also possible to print a report of each session.

One aspect I feel particularly excited about is being able to have several pupils all at different levels and with different language weaknesses using the software at the same time. I know Discover English will help greatly in addressing the language needs of our EAL Advanced Learners.

Val Antell

EAL Coordinator

City of Ely Community College

At school, on ICT we normally went on Radiowaves every single time. I had loads and loads of fun on Radiowaves. We made stories and blogs and we also made loads and loads of friends. But now we have changed what we do on Radiowaves. We don't even go on Radiowaves much. We hardly even go on the Internet anymore. We go on something that only comes at our school. We go on something that is so interesting and fun and it also helps us learn more about our tenses! The programme that we go on is called Discover English!

I think it is also helpful to us on Radiowaves because you can write better. When you get all that hard vocabulary and all those hard tenses you can write better on Radiowaves. My teacher says that I can copy my work that I do at school, and then I can put it on Radiowaves for everyone to see. Even I think that that is a great idea. I love writing but I know I can't get all of my tenses in the right order and I can not get all of my vocabulary right but I do know that if I carry on going on Discover English then sooner or later all my work could be perfect!

Soon I hope that many more schools over the country could go on this amazing programme. It has helped me and the rest of my class and soon I hope it helps the other schools who get this programme.

The pupils of Riversdale Primary School, Wandsworth, London

We found the exercises in the disk very comprehensive, and covered everything in terms of grammatical functions. It is very good for drilling.

We used the disk with an S6 more advanced pupil and also an S3 basic learner and both pupils really enjoyed using it. It allowed the pupils to work independently. It seemed to really appeal to them and in fact both spent an entire period using the disc without becoming bored. It allows for repetition to increase confidence.

The notes sections are good for pupils who already have a grasp of grammar, but we felt that sometimes there is a bit of a mis-match between the more advanced ability needed to read and understand the notes compared with the skills needed to answer the exercises.

Overall a very good learning and teaching resource which we will definitely use. The pupils enjoyed using it, but would be improved further if more variety of exercises could be included particularly within some sections.

Lorna Ramsay and SfL Dept colleagues

Trinity High School, Renfrew