SOCIAL BOOKMARKING

Social bookmarking is a system through which peolpe can share their favourite sites with the rest of the world. To do this, public Web sites like “del.icio.us” were created. Any person can participate in social bookmarking, you just have to go for example to http://del.icio.us/ and register.

Once you have registered you can start posting your favourite Web sites and you can also start searching for the ones posted by other people that might interest you. This second procedure is made easier thanks to the fact that everybody ‘tags’ their favourite sites with words that describe it. So you just have to type a word that describes the kind of Web site you are looking for in that moment and a list of Websites with that tag will appear in front of you.

In my opinion, social bookmarking is a very useful alternative to sites like google. It is a very quick and effective system through which you can not only bookmark a great number of sites you want to remember, but also search for a site with the information you are looking for, which will certainly be a good site because of the fact that other peolpe thought it was worth bookmarking.

For example, my classmates and I, in this last week, have been searching for sites that could be useful for people who are learning English like us. We looked for 5 sites each. Among the ones they found, I considered particularly interesting the following:

- ESL - English as a Second Language is a comlpete Website for English learners. It has a lot of links and exercises that have to do with reading, writing, listening, pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary. (site chosen by Alice)
- Dictionary of Victorian London - Victorian History - 19th Century London - Social History is a sort of encyclopedia, rather than a dictionary. It contains a lot of information about 19th century London and therefore it is a good English reading exercise. (site chosen by Daniele)
- E. L. Easton - English Online contains interesting material concerning English listening, writing, speaking, reading and pronunciation. And there are also sections on business English. (site chosen by Lara)
- When You Can’t Get Started Writing « Writing English is a useful site which gives its reader some hints and tips to write a good English text. (site chosen by Valentina)
- English Club ~ Learn English Teach English is a good site for English learners. In it you can find many liks to lessons on English grammar, pronunciation, spelling, reading and writing. There are nice activities and games to do too. And there are also articles to read to improve your reading skills. (site chosen by Daniela)
- UsingEnglish.com - Learning English (ESL) Online is a site for the improvement of your linguistic skills. There are sections for your vocabulary, forums on the English language, articles to read and tests to evaluate your English. (site chosen by Francesca)

Isabella