News Broadcasting
BBC launches online word game for Chinese English language learners
MUMBAI: Chinese English language learners across the world can now start playing the newly launched BBC word game — BBC Word Master. Launched by the BBC Learning English China Team, the fun game – built with flash technology – can be played at www.bbc.co.uk/china.
Inspiration for BBC Word Master, which launches with three other learning activities, came when the BBC Learning English China team toured 30 universities in China earlier this year.
BBC Learning English China Team editor Alison Konieczny explains, “The university tour really gave us the opportunity to connect with our audience. We met and spoke with about 6,000 students who shared valuable information and ideas about how they learn English. Chinese learners tell us that online is by far the best way to learn English so we created learning activities that not only do the job but also look good and are lots of fun.”
“The most important aspect of BBC Word Master and the learning activities launching with it, is that they all use authentic, contemporary language, giving learners in China a real insight into how the English language is really spoken and how people really live in the UK. What is also ideal for Chinese learners, most of whom have very limited time, is that everything online at www.bbc.co.uk/china can be downloaded either on to a desktop or into an MP3 and be completed or listened to at their own convenience,” Konieczny adds.
The game BBC Word Master was designed and built in house by the BBC World Service New Media team. It challenges the English learner to spell a missing word in a sentence against the clock. A score is given for each correctly spelt word and, with 10 words to spell per game, the aim is to improve on the score with each new game.
It has three levels of difficulty, up to 3,000 items of vocabulary and the option to hear the sentence in English or, for struggling learners, see it written in Chinese. The other learning activities of BBC Word Master, which make learning fun are:
Take Away English: English learners are presented with a topical article that could be found in any UK lifestyle magazine. Using everyday contemporary language, subjects range from London winning the 2012 Olympics to the history of the Notting Hill Carnival. The articles can be read online or saved as a PDF. After reading the article, English learners can read, listen to or download into their MP3 a glossary of key words and phrases highlighted.
Real English: This is a two minute online audio of the radio programme of the same name which teaches English learners a new contemporary word everyday. The history of the word is explained in both English and Chinese and is also heard being used in natural conversation
BBC Learning English publishes free internet and radio resources for English language learners and teachers. Its teams provide dedicated resources to learners in China and the Middle East, and also collaborate with the British Council providing online resources for teachers of English as Foreign Language (EFL). BBC Chinese can be heard in Mandarin on FM in more than 20 cities in China and on short wave across the Asia Pacific for six hours each day.
News Broadcasting
CNN-News18 to host Kolkata Town Hall on Hooghly River
‘Bhalobasa Bengal Inspiring Bharat’ event on April 20 brings cultural icons, trailblazing women and leaders aboard a cruise to celebrate Bengal’s enduring influence.
MUMBAI: Bengal is about to make fresh waves on the Hooghly and this time the current is pure conversation. CNN-News18 is taking its iconic Town Hall format to the waters of the iconic Hooghly River on 20 April 2026 with a special edition titled ‘Bhalobasa Bengal – Inspiring Bharat’. The floating event will celebrate the state’s rich cultural legacy and how its ideas, creativity and spirit continue to shape the rest of the country.
The unique riverside setting draws on Bengal’s history as a cradle of reform, art and intellectual thought. The speaker line-up mirrors that diversity: cultural heavyweights Mithun Chakraborty and Sreenanda Shankar will share the stage with trailblazing “Devis” such as Tanya Sanyal (India’s first woman firefighter in aviation), Ipsita Chakraborty (Kolkata’s first woman bartender) and Reshma Nilofer Visalakshi (Nari Shakti awardee and marine pilot). Music will flow through the celebrated pianist-vocalist duo Sourendro and Soumyojit, while public life and governance will be represented by Smriti Irani, Leander Paes, Saira Shah Halim, Keya Ghosh, Rekha Patra, Roopa Ganguly and Babul Supriyo.
CNN-News18, editorial affairs director, Rahul Shivshankar, said the event honours voices that carry Bengal’s legacy forward. Smriti Mehra, CEO – English & Business News, Network18, added that Bengal’s stories resonate far beyond its borders, especially as the state heads into polls.
From the first woman to battle flames in the skies to legendary actors who shaped Indian cinema, the gathering promises a rich mix of inspiration, courage and candid dialogue. In a city where culture has always flowed as freely as the river itself, CNN-News18 is turning the Hooghly into a floating forum for ideas that matter.
Tune in on 20 April on CNN-News18, CTV and YouTube to catch Bengal’s heartbeat in full flow.
