World English Classroom Resource

Here is a useful resource for those of us who are English language instructors and would like to introduce the different ways that English is spoken around the world in our classrooms. This list is by no mean comprehensive in the least, but it is a small smattering of the different types of voices speaking English around the globe.

Though it may take some time to prepare, a teacher could make transcripts of these audio recordings and create listening exercises and discussion lessons based on their content.

Additionally, this may be useful for English instructors as a way to listen for unconventional grammar patterns that are common among ELLs despite different language backgrounds.

1. English Speaker from India, discussing his language identity, educational background etc

2. English Speaker from South Korea, discussing her journey to learn English and the various places she lived. (also includes a prayer in Korean at the end).

3. English Speaker from Chile, speaking about how he learned English and places he has traveled and about Santiago, Chile, where he was born and lived as a child. 

4. English Speaker from Iraq, speaking about his birthplace and educational history.

5. English Speaker from Nigeria, speaking about how she came to learn English.

6. English Speaker from Haiti, speaking about his home country, its religions and his language identities, and shares the Lord’s Prayer in French and Creole to show the differences and similarities.

7. English Speaker from France, speaking about how she learned English.