How is this for an app? Google goggles (currently only available for Android phones) lets you use your phone camera to take a picture of an object (a book, a building) and it will return relevant information to you. So imagine, you’re in a museum, point at a painting and it will tell you who it was painted by! For businesses you don’t even need to take a picture; just pointing your camera is enough. How cool is this for (beginning) language learners who could use it to point at everyday objects?
Many teachers ask students to take pictures and bring these to class for discussion. They are great conversation starters and can be part of a project as well. If using a digital camera (and some cellphones may also have this functionality), ask students to record an audio snippet along with the shot. Most cameras allow you to record a few seconds, for example so you can say where the picture was taken or to describe the context. Asking students to do this lets them practise the language in their own time, and the notes can be exchanged in class. For example, students could take pictures of objects or people and then give some information, that other students have to use to guess where the picture was taken or what/who of.
Because the audio snippets are short and because they can be recorded in students’ out-of-class time, they are potentially useful with lower level learners. Simple but efective!
