There are many English-speaking countries (i.e., countries where English is one of the official languages), specifically 67 countries and 27 non-sovereign entities (source: Berlitz). Furthermore, it is estimated that, on average, 1 billion English speakers are not from Anglophone countries. This means there is a wide variety of accents and dialects. For non-native speakers, it can be challenging to distinguish these differences, and they can often hinder language comprehension.
Audiovisual productions, such as TV series and films, offer an excellent way to experience the rich diversity that English provides (in addition to being an enjoyable and effective method for learning a foreign language and its cultural nuances). Below is a list of 10 films (source: Speechling), categorized into "Beginner," "Intermediate," and "Advanced," to help you identify and become more familiar with the English language.
(accent: United States)
If you are beginning to study English, it is advisable to start with films that maintain a consistent accent throughout. Additionally, children's films tend to use simpler and more accessible vocabulary. Pixar films, such as "Finding Nemo," are an excellent choice as they present meaningful themes for all ages.
Note: Even though the story is set in Australia, the voice actors maintained an American accent.
(accent: United Kingdom)
Another collection of films beloved by all ages is the Harry Potter saga. Beyond their high-quality production, these films offer exposure to various British accents, with a particular emphasis on Received Pronunciation (RP). RP is recognized as the "standard" and most "prestigious" English accent (for example, it is the accent associated with the British royal family and higher social classes).
It is always worth remembering that these films feature invented magical words, so enabling subtitles is a good idea!
(accent: South Africa)
A 2009 science fiction film where sick and weakened aliens flee their planet and land in Johannesburg, leading the South African government to quarantine them in what is known as "District 9".
Although it addresses heavy themes such as xenophobia, apartheid, and migration, it is an action film with simple dialogues that serve as a useful tool for those at an intermediate English level.
(Accent: United States)
A dark comedy set in Texas, it features Jack Black, a funeral director, who becomes involved with an 81-year-old widow. After committing a crime, he must face justice from Matthew McConaughey. Furthermore, it is based on real events.
This film is not suitable for younger audiences, but it humorously explores the various accents and cultural nuances of Texas (Southern United States).
(Accent: United States)
This 7-episode miniseries, produced by HBO, stars Kate Winslet as a detective in a small Pennsylvania town (Northeastern United States) who must balance the investigation of a complex case with her personal life.
In addition to her highly praised performance, her portrayal of the regional accent also received acclaim. Therefore, it is worth watching this story to also discover less commonly explored American accents.
(Accents: Ireland and United States)
An independent film for those interested in investigative stories featuring grumpy detectives. This comedy/thriller follows an Irish police officer and his methodical new partner, an FBI agent, as they attempt to find a serial killer in Western Ireland.
This film helps to explore the cultural variations between the United States and Ireland; however, the Irish dialect can be challenging to understand, and therefore, it is recommended for those already at an advanced level.
(Accent: Canada)
A 2006 dark comedy that will help you practice both your English and French. The film explores the differences between Ontario and Quebec by pairing an Anglophone and a Francophone police officer to work together on a homicide case.
As the characters rapidly switch between French and English in one of Canada's first bilingual films, this film is recommended for advanced English students seeking an additional challenge (or who also wish to practice their French)!
(Accent: New Zealand)
This 2010 dramedy is set in 1980s New Zealand and follows a boy who finally reunites with his father, only to discover that his father (portrayed by the film's director, Taika Waititi) has returned to retrieve a bag of money he left behind.
Although the premise is poignant, it is a humorous and moving film. Due to its abundance of New Zealand slang, it is best suited for intermediate-advanced students.
(Accents: Australia and India)
A moving film that follows the story of an Indian boy who gets separated from his family, struggles to escape extreme poverty, and is eventually adopted by an Australian family. Twenty-five years later, portrayed by Dev Patel, he embarks on a reverse journey to find his biological family.
The first half of the film is set in India and Bangladesh, while the second half takes place in Australia, making language a crucial element in the plot.
(accent: Scotland)
Considered a must-see classic, based on a book of the same name, this dark comedy from 1996 features Ewan McGregor, Robert Carlyle, and Jonny Lee Miller as friends who must overcome unemployment, heroin abuse, and relationship issues in a Scotland with Europe's highest drug addiction mortality rate.
Beyond being a pivotal film that challenged Scottish reality, it also offers insight into many regional accents. Even if you are at an advanced level in your English studies, we recommend turning on subtitles, as even native speakers find the slang difficult to follow.
English language tests are increasingly important in people's academic and professional lives.
In this section, we outline the main English tests available worldwide, their key differences, and where to find more information about each.
Placement Test vs. Proficiency Test
A Placement Test (or Aptitude Test, in a free translation) is an assessment conducted to determine a student's language abilities. This type of assessment allows institutions to place students in classes appropriate for their level, and also helps in preparing lessons and materials. Many schools create their own tests, but it is also possible to acquire standardized Placement Tests, for example:
The Proficiency Test (or Proficiency Test, in a free translation) is a standardized test that opens many doors for academic and professional advancement. Universities where English is the language of instruction require all prospective students from non-English-speaking countries to demonstrate proficiency through an exam prior to admission. Some companies also require proficiency tests for employees to be eligible for promotion. Below, we describe the most common English Proficiency Tests worldwide, how they work, and where you can find more detailed information about each.
English Proficiency Tests
Cambridge: Some Cambridge exams lead to a certificate indicating a certain level of proficiency, including the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), the Cambridge Advanced English (CAE), and the Cambridge Proficiency in English (CPE). The aforementioned tests are particularly recognized in Europe. For more information, please visit the website: http://cambridgeenglish.org/exams/
To find reliable and up-to-date academic articles that can support your studies, you need to use trustworthy and current search and research websites. Keeping this in mind, here are some of the most recommended websites (with their respective links; simply click on the underlined and bolded word) for finding articles, periodicals, and scientific databases.
The SciELO platform is an open-access digital library, offering a curated and collaborative collection of electronic publications from Brazilian scientific journals. SciELO was developed by FAPESP (São Paulo Research Foundation) in partnership with BIREME (Latin American and Caribbean Center on Health Sciences Information) and also receives support from CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development).
This platform provides efficient and comprehensive tools for searching articles, reports, or even complete journals.
The Google Acadêmico (also known as Google Scholar), launched in 2004, is an open-access virtual scientific research tool. This search engine provides an extensive list of potential results, including academic papers, educational literature, university journals, book chapters, and scientific articles. It is a valuable digital tool due to its simplicity and the wide range of sources and results it offers.
The platform also provides various filters to help you conduct a more precise search.
The Periodicos platform was developed by CAPES (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel) and offers free full-text access to thousands of national and international journals. It is worth noting that the portal's search engine also utilizes dozens of databases to expand the comprehensiveness of its results.
The interface is entirely in Portuguese, offering search options by: subjects, journals, books, or databases. The Periodicos platform also features scientific event calendars, news, and the ability to browse various types of media.
The Science.gov platform is the result of an integrated initiative involving dozens of U.S. agencies and organizations. It offers search capabilities across more than 60 databases and over 2,200 scientific websites, providing access to more than 200 million pieces of reliable federal scientific information.
The ScienceResearch.com platform was developed by an association of research institutions. It functions as a portal that employs technology to search the "deep web," thereby providing access to a vast quantity of results. This platform offers full-text items, removes duplicate content, and ranks the relevance of search terms.
Beyond simple and advanced search tools, the platform also provides sophisticated filters to locate articles by: subject, author, journal, and date. Furthermore, users can select a specific thematic collection from the site or even rank the displayed items by relevance, date, title, and the first author's name.
The ScienceDirect platform serves as a portal to millions of academic articles published by Elsevier, with 1.4 million of these being open access. Academic journals and books can be searched efficiently through a single interface.
The DOAJ is an academic, multidisciplinary database that can be accessed and searched free of charge.
JSTOR is an excellent resource for finding academic articles, offering over 12 million items. Furthermore, any article published in the USA before 1924 is available for free.
We have specially curated the best databases for those in the Health field and listed them here for you!
Therefore, for anyone researching topics related to Medicine and Health Services in general, these are the places where you will find prominent articles to enhance the quality of your research.
Below are the top 5 health-focused databases.
The PubMed is the primary resource for research in Medicine and Health Services. It was created and is maintained by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
This database provides bibliographic information, summaries (abstracts), and links to the full text of over 28 million articles.
EMBASE is a database that offers access to over 38 million scientific articles in the field of Health.
It can also be accessed through other databases, such as PubMed and Ovid.
The Cochrane Library is best known for its systematic reviews. There are 53 review groups worldwide that help ensure the published reviews are of the highest quality and evidence-based. Furthermore, articles are updated over time to incorporate new research.
PubMed Central is the 100% free version of PubMed, offering open access to full-text articles. It is also worth checking out its "sister" site, Europe PMC.
Similar to the Cochrane Library, UpToDate provides detailed reviews on clinical topics. This database offers thousands of articles from over 420 academic journals, including summaries, bibliographic references, and access to full texts (by subscription).
Learning Tools are a collection of inclusive resources, available on various platforms, designed to support English language learning.
Linguee is a free website and application that functions as both a translator and a dictionary.
Advantage: It provides synonyms, expressions, and excerpts from the internet (in English and Portuguese) that use the word you searched for.
Cambridge Dictionary Online is the ultimate online dictionary. In addition to allowing you to find words used in British and American English, it also makes it easy to find synonyms.
Advantage: This dictionary allows you to learn the pronunciation of words and their contextual usage.
Easy English is a YouTube channel that depicts everyday interactions through English animations.
Advantage: The channel subtitles all videos, allowing you to practice your listening and pronunciation skills while simultaneously expanding your vocabulary.
Duolingo has a podcast on Spotify called "English Stories with Duolingo," which is exactly what the name suggests: stories on various topics told in English.
Advantage: The podcast episodes are just over 20 minutes long, allowing you to practice your English on your way to work.
Available as a free website and application, Lyrics Training offers an enjoyable way to learn English using music: simply choose a song and pay attention to fill in the missing words in the lyrics.
Advantage: You can improve your comprehension and expand your vocabulary with your favorite songs.
For those who enjoy taking advantage of every possible learning opportunity, the British Council Learn English is an excellent choice. The British Council is an international organization dedicated to promoting English culture and educational opportunities. On the institution's website, you will find many tools available for free to learn English.
Advantage: You can practice various skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) through their applications or website, free of charge.
The Baamboozle website is for those who enjoy using games and playful activities to learn.
Advantage: It is free and maintained by thousands of teachers.
The News In Levels website is for those who like to stay informed. It allows you to read a wide variety of news from around the world, free of charge, at your English proficiency level.
Advantage: All news articles also include audio, so in addition to reading, you can practice your English listening skills!
