Lectures

(see also Listening)

Listening to lectures, or seminars delivered in a lecture style i.e. the teacher presents information, is an essential skill in UK universities to understand key aspects of the course, often to be introduced to new concepts and ideas, or in the case of seminars, to go more deeply into topics. Below are some links which focus on developing skills, and providing advice such as strategies to improve listening.


 * Monash University have many academic skills advice pages. Here is one on lecture listening.
 * UEFAP, a very popular academic English resource among teachers has a guide to several skills useful for lecture listening.
 * Reading University give detailed advice on seminars and lectures here and here including many practice listenings.
 * Note taking
 * Here is a guide from Edinburgh University about lecture types and note taking.

Recorded lectures
Possibly the most well-known lecture resource is https://www.ted.com/talks - many of the talks are given by inspiring and engaging speakers, are under 20 minutes, and have transcripts.

Many universities make lectures available. You can find a variety of fields and disciplines covered by Oxford University, Cambridge University, links to various US courses with video lectures.

Other university sites may not be clearly organised by subject but you can find lectures through websearches by university. Some examples include Edinburgh University, especially their Gifford series on a variety of philosophical themes.

The above links are not specifically designed for language learners and many may prove challenging in speed, language complexity, and background knowledge required. It is often a good idea to start more basic by searching for introductions to topics e.g. doing web searches for "introduction to international law + lecture" or "introduction to finance + lecture". Sites such as youtube have many good lectures.