Content Highlights
- All PencilBot™ feature videos present natural settings and real people speaking without scripts for an authentic English language and cultural experience.
- Various listening activities with many different speakers can greatly improve comprehension of English conversations and skills required for challenging English tests such as TOEFL, SAT, or TOEIC.
- Fun, interactive games help boost knowledge of word origins and uses, along with tips for remembering words.
- Virtual conversations allow users to communicate with a native English speaker without leaving home! PencilBot™’s cool animation includes a superhero adventure to test and improve decision-making skills!
PencilBot™ - Brings Results
It works because it's natural, interactive, and motivating! Learners can enhance their overall English ability by enjoying, watching, reading, listening, speaking (or practicing) and participating. Most importantly, learners are exposed to authentic language through content such as the Feature Videos, which show real people, not actors, talking about topics that they are passionate about, or Worldwide English, which highlights English speakers from around the globe. This exposure to authentic language helps learners improve their overall communication skills, preparing them not just for English tests, but to understand and speak in real-world situations.
Globalization has made the world a small place, but one large market. In order to meet the challenges of globalization, effective communication is key. English is becoming the universal language and is used predominantly throughout the world to communicate and conduct business.
Loads of Content in Each Issue
Feature videos
Three 3-10 minute videos are offered, one for each level. Videos are unscripted, allowing the people featured to speak naturally, resulting in language use that is genuine. At the same time, scripted narration is added to provide additional information, and if necessary, to help control the level of difficulty. |
Listening exercises
Three types of contextualized, interactive listening activities are available at each level, giving learners opportunities to develop and practice listening skills and strategies related to a variety of purposes, including test-like listening, distinguishing, inferencing, and listening for pleasure (one of the most common and authentic purposes in daily life and a very important element in effective daily communication). |
Word games
Each level contains two types of word-related interactive games, building on what learners already know to raise their awareness of word origins, prefixes and suffixes, synonyms and antonyms, derivatives, associations, collocations, appropriate responses and comments, and various other kinds of words and phrases such as onomatopoeia, compound words, and oxymorons. |
Other games
Two types of other educational and entertaining games are included at each level, focusing on receptive awareness of various aspects of pronunciation (including individual sounds, stress, intonation, blending, and more), plus a virtual conversation where learners choose responses that vary the flow of conversation, and an animated superhero adventure that involves listening, reading, and decision making. |
Culture
Each issue of PencilBot™ contains two culture-related items, including videos that introduce people from English-speaking countries, showing a typical day in their lives, and by doing so, providing users with a window into part of these people's cultures. Additionally, users get exposure to accents and varieties of English from around the world, through home videos from PencilBot™ users who tell about themselves, their interests, and their cultures, or in an "accent jukebox" with speakers of many different native and non-native accents of English. |
Vocabulary
Each issue/DVD will have 400 to 500 new words for lower level users who have studied and used English for 2-3 years.
Running Time
Each issue/DVD runs for about 2-3 hours.
Study Time
Learners can spend up to 10-15 hours studying the material, depending on the level.
Each issue/DVD will have 400 to 500 new words for lower level users who have studied and used English for 2-3 years.
Running Time
Each issue/DVD runs for about 2-3 hours.
Study Time
Learners can spend up to 10-15 hours studying the material, depending on the level.