by Donna Hutchinson
London based TEFL Teacher, @donnatamara
By Thespiritofchristmas (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Realia; using real resources and stuff in lessons. I love realia. I use it often and I vary it per level. I remember vividly, learning about realia on my CELTA and thinking, ‘what a nice word’, little did I know that realia and I would become such good friends.
One of my favourite resources of all time is the BBC news website and BBC iPlayer. I mean, I adore it. I can use it across levels, from radio clips for higher levels to video clips for lower levels, both usually accompanied with a text. The language in the articles can sometimes be a little difficult, and good for higher levels but it can also be used with lower levels just by breaking it down first. iPlayer can generally be relied on for documentaries. I have used many documentaries in relation to a topic from a textbook. Last week my class and I watched an episode of Coast and out came a sea of vocabulary. BBC realia is loaded with culturally relevant topics and language that is useful and not too academic. Also, The Apprentice is excellent for business topics.
