Using Advertisements for EFL ESL

I've always found advertisements to be really effective and stimulating input for language classes. They are usually just the right length, easy to understand visually as well as linguistically and are often very imaginative and creative.

So I was delighted to see Coloribus which claims to be the world's biggest ad archive with over 2 million ads. The site has a huge range of ads from all over the world so will be useful what ever language you are teaching. You could even explore the different approaches to advertising the same products in different countries and cultures.

One very handy feature of the site, is that the video clips can be viewed online or downloaded for off line viewing. Really handy if your connection is slow or unreliable.

You can browse the site buy category

• Business Sectors
• Brands
• Countries
• Agencies

Or just type in a search query

Coloribus has print advertising as well as video clips, so if your students don't have access to the Internet you can still download and print some really handy authentic materials to base lessons on and get students talking.

You can get students

• Looking at the language used in ads
• Examining the rationale behind them ( who are the aimed at, and how do they make the product appealing etc.)
• Describing favourite ads or ones they don't like
• Watching and describing ads
• Acting the ads out in class
• Creating their own ads
• etc

I hope you and your students enjoy these advertisements.


Related links:

• Digital Video - A Manual for Language Teachers
• Using Product Reviews
• Advertisement Project
• Getting Video Tasks Online
• Online Video: For Language Development
• Online Video: As Communication
• Online Video: As Knowledge Resource
• Online Video: Authentic Genres
• Free Educational TV Channels
• News Videos for EFL ESL Materials Design
• Exploiting a Video Viral
• Create a YouTube Carousel

Best

Nik Peachey