About Fred & Rita

About Fred & Rita The Fred & Rita dialogues originally appeared in the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao Daily. They are a series of fun conversations between two 18-year-old college students. Each covers a different topic. From a teaching perspective they introduce themed language in an entertaining way. Fred and Rita have very different characters. Rita is kind, sensible and clever. Fred is talented, lazy and a bit crazy! The dialogues are an excellent starting point for role plays and other reading & writing exercises. Why not get students to create their own Fred & Rita conversations?	Age/level The dialogues offer something for all learners. The language level is broadly pre-intermediate, with specialised vocabulary arising from each theme. This is reinforced by repetition and there are activities to further consolidate the new material. The central characters are 17 but should also appeal to much younger readers. The topics covered by the Fred & Rita conversations are suitable for younger learners. They do not contain controversial content.	Starting Points? All the conversation are self contained and can be read without introduction. Posted Phone might be a good starting point for a class - it's funny and easy to understand. It's also accompanied by role-playing activities. Bones is another good starting point. For teens/young adults the Fred and Rita conversations are very popular and flexible in terms of level. Think of the site as an anthology or library of materials. Choose the materials you think your students will enjoy.
Endorsements/Funding The Fred & Rita series is linked to ESL Young Learners & eslreading.org. It has links with Extensive Reading, the British Council and many other organisations promoting language learning through reading. In February 2009 it won the EnglishClub.com Site of the Month Award. ESL Reading/Young Learners features in Tips for Teaching with Call (2008, Pearson/Longman).	Writer/Editor The site was created by Kieran McGovern and he writes & edits most of the materials. He has been described as being 'amongst the best writers of language learner materials in English’ in Extensive Reading in the Second Language Classroom (Cambridge, 1998). Kieran was the BBC World Service Teacher Blogger in August & December 2009. He also edits ESL Reading.	Support this site This site receives no external funding or institutional support.You can help support its future development by making online purchases via the advertisements. There's no extra cost to you - and a big benefit to the site!

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