About this blog and explanation of terms

This blog aims to help candidates for the English Language Proficiency Examination (LPE) at the United Nations.


You must work in the United Nations system to qualify to take this exam or have come through our classes.

It is held annually in September

Sites with or without support (C1)

Sites with vocabulary, transcripts exercises etc

- The English Blog (B2 C1—all skills)
http://www.jeffreyhill.typepad.com/english/
- Guardian Weekly Learn English—reading comprehension exercises (all levels)—two sources:
Sign up and get classroom materials, especially reading comprehension exercises
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/learningenglish
http://www.onestopenglish.com/
- New York Times learning blog
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/
- United Nations multimedia
Radio and TV http://www.unmultimedia.org/
Euronews (B2) http://www.euronews.net/
- CNN news and transcripts (B2 C1)
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/
- ABC (C1) - three video programmes with transcript
http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/ Documentaries with transcript—about 10 minutes long
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/
ABC (Australian) Foreign Correspondent—weekly documentary news programme with transcript—about 30 mins
http://www.abc.net.au/tv/ News programmes with transcript—varying lengths
- BBC news (C1) summaries and videos
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
- United Nations multimedia (B2 C1)
TV webcasts with transcript http://www.un.org/av/unfamily/unia.html
- Video Nation (B2 -listening) http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/youmeus/videonation/video_nation_index.shtml

2 Sites without support (C1)
- Newsweek
http://www.newsweek.com/ (read and listen to videos etc)
- Guardian Weekly
http://www.guardianweekly.co.uk/
- Times online
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
- BBC—Video Nation (B2 C1)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/videonation/archive/
- Radio
http://www.unmultimedia.org/radio/english/
- TED (C1) —riveting talks by remarkable people
http://www.ted.com/