The world's best English-teaching video

The Lost Secret is a video-based, supplementary course in spoken English. This breakthrough English language course provides listening and speaking tasks that motivate students to learn English in new ways. Originally filmed and published by BBC English, this course has been honored by the French Ministry of Education.

The Lost Secret is an engaging mystery story that has become a favorite of students and teachers around the world. Now, with the interactive features provided in this version, the course is a major step forward in English language teaching software.

The story begins with a man who has lost his memory. Unable to answer such questions as "Who are you?" and "What is your name?" he is taken into the care of a doctor and a police inspector who try to help him recover his identity. The action ranges from Europe to South America and revolves around the secrets of a mysterious lost culture.

Within this exciting drama, the English language is presented and sequenced through a complete structural and functional syllabus, beginning at an elementary level and progressing to an intermediate level. The language used throughout is British and American English, spoken naturally and in context by a cast of highly-acclaimed actors.

Contents

Lesson Types

The Lost Secret has a variety of lesson types, each of which keeps learners engaged with the language in different ways, promoting long-term learning. Data from around the world has shown that these types of lessons have been particularly effective for most learners.

Comprehension checks challenge students as they go through the story. Questions vary according to performance. As a student gets more correct answers, different questions will begin to appear. Students may also use the Voice Recording feature to develop their oral fluency.
In the Dialog Focus lessons students use Speech Recognition to 'speak' their part in the dialog. This provides useful repetition and helps to develop pronunciation and oral fluency.
In dictation exercises, students listen to each sentence and then click on the correct words to fill in each space. Review important sections of the video by choosing the correct words to complete the conversations. Listening-based reinforcement of important expressions and grammar.
Students review and develop their grammar and vocabulary in the fill-in lessons. Gap-filling exercises provide intensive practice at the sentence level. Focuses on detailed comprehension, basic grammar and meaning distinctions, and inferring from context.