With the Vancouver Winter Olympics beginning tomorrow, I thought it might be useful to have a ‘The Best…’ list that students (outside of Canada) can use to learn a little bit about the host country. Of course, I’m hopeful that Canadian readers will also leave comments suggesting additional sites that should be on this list. In order to be in this post, the resource must be accessible to English Language Learners.

This is a “sister list” to The Best Sites To Learn About The Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About Canada (I know there are a lot more out there, so please make suggestions!):

Sean Banville has created a Canada Day lesson for English Language Learners.

How Stuff Works has several good videos on Canada.

Learn a bit about Canada’s geography by playing these games.

Here are listening exercises designed for English Language Learners. They’re on Canadian history, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Learn about the creation myth of the Intuit people.

Zoom School Canada has a lot of accessible information.

A Journey Into Time Immemorial is an impressive interactive feature focused on the First People’s of Canada.

National Geographic has some Canada Facts.

National Geographic also has a feature on Vancouver.

You can watch several videos about Canada at Discovery Atlas. (you have to click on Canada).

Canadian Geographic Kids is an excellent interactive for learning about Canada.

Learn English Feel Good has a cloze exercise on Canada’s National Holiday.

Check-out The 10 Most Popular Tourist Attractions in Canada.

Canada Day – in pictures is from The Guardian.

Feedback is always welcome.

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You might also want to explore the 400 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.

Today is Australia Day, which commemorates the first convict ships that brought immigrants to the continent to start the country. I thought I’d bring together a quick list of links about the country that would be accessible to English Language Learners.

I suspect that Australians might have some great suggestions to add to this list, so please include new links in the comments section of this post.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About Australia (not in order of preference):

A Good Day To Be An Australian is a Wall Street Journal slideshow showing how today is being celebrated in that country.

English Listening Lesson Library Online has a ton of activities about Australia specifically designed for ELL’s.

Barnaby Bear Goes Under gives an introduction to the country.

Passport Australia comes from Channel One.

National Geographic has an Australia section.

Here’s a simple online presentation on the country.

Enchanted Learning has a page on Australia.

Dust Echoes and Stories of The Dreaming share aboriginal stories from the continent.

Discovery has a video of the Great Barrier Reef.

Mr. Nussbaum has a number of activities related to Australia.

Only In Australia is the title of a slideshow from The News in Australia. It shows images of places and things that make Australia unique.

Australia’s Deep-Sea Creatures is a slideshow from TIME Magazine.

ESL Holiday Lessons has a nice resource on the holiday.

How Stuff Works has many videos about Australia.

Aussie English For The Beginner is a fun interactive from the National Museum of Australia.

Thinkquest has several student-created websites about Australia.

Here’s a relatively accessible overview of the country from World Info Zone.

The Telegraph has a slideshow on Australia Day celebrations.

Australia’s Hidden Gems is a beautiful slideshow.

The Great Barrier Reef – in pictures is a slideshow from The Guardian.

Darcy Moore suggested I add some resources that offer a different perspective on that Australia Day, and I invited him to write a piece that I would add to that list. Darcy is a blogger, photographer & Australian deputy principal. He has a keen interest in collaborating with students and educators around the world.

Australian history has been fiercely contested by historians and politicians in recent decades. ‘History Wars’ have been fought over the various interpretations of ‘our past’. The two major opposing views have been pejoratively described as, ‘The Black Armband’ and the ‘Three Cheers’ version of our history. One interpretation emphasises Australia’s march to nationhood and progress, the other, acknowledges the destruction of both the environment and Aboriginal culture. Past government policies, including removing Aboriginal children from their homes (‘The Stolen Generations’) were particularly contested. The central position of the ‘ANZAC legend’, the positive story of Australia’s armed forces, is also questioned. To understand Australian History it is important to understand this debate. You
can read more here.

Australia Day on the 26th January is a good example of the debate about our shared history. How can Aboriginal Peoples, dispossessed of their land, celebrate the European founding of a colony on this date in 1788? Here are some important questions about Australia Day posed at the ‘official page’ suggesting Australians are often working positively to reconcile the challenging, disturbing aspects of our shared past. Many people applauded former Prime Minister Rudd’s apology to ‘The Stolen Generations’ after his predecessor, John Howard, had refused to do so for more than a decade.

Thank, Darcy! These issues are similar to some of the ones I’ve raised in posts on Columbus Day and Thanksgiving here in the United States.

You might also be interested in The Best Sites To Learn About The Fires In Australia and The Best Sites For Learning About The Australian Floods.

Feedback is always welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

You might also want to explore the 400 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.

I’ve compiled several “The Best…” lists on various U.S. cities, including ones on New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. I also have one on California.

Since many of our students, particularly my Spanish-speaking English Language Learners, visit Los Angeles frequently, I thought it might be useful to put together a quick list of accessible sites for leaning about L.A.

Here are my choices for The Best Sites To Learn About Los Angeles (and are accessible to ELL’s):

EL Civics has a Los Angeles Photo Tour and Lesson.

Lingual Net has a video “Los Angeles: My City” designed for ELL’s.

The Travel Channel has a Video Overview of Los Angeles.

Los Angeles: Portrait Of A City is a TIME Magazine slideshow.

Travelego has a short video called About Los Angeles.

Los Angeles Landmarks is the title of a National Geographic slideshow.

Los Angeles: 10 Things to Do in 24 Hours is a slideshow and article from TIME Magazine.

PopuLAtion is a video series from the L.A. Times featuring some of the more eccentric characters in the city. If you click on “Browse” you can access all of them.

FACT Monster has some relatively accessible text giving basic information about the city.

The Los Angeles Times has published a series of photos of the city taken from the Goodyear Blimp.

Then and Now: Southern California is a good slideshow from CNN.

Feedback is always welcome.

If you found this post useful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.

You might also want to explore the 400 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.