Learning Resources
Learning Resources
”English for Everyone” Series This series has digital audio and activities online. You can buy a physical copy of the book through the publisher or you can order the online kindle version on Amazon. In order to get the online kindle version, you need to first download the free kindle app. You can download the kindle app on your phone, ipad or computer. The kindle app allows you to find and download free kindle books and also buy kindle versions of books on Amazon. The "English for Everyone" series has four different levels that come with a course book and a practice book.
Level 1 Course Book I Practice Book (A1)
Level 2 Course Book I Practice Book (A2)
Level 3 Course Book I Practice Book (B1-lower B2)
Level 4 Course Book I Practice Book (High B2-C1)
English for Everyone Vocabulary Builder
English for Everyone Phrasal Verbs
English for Everyone Grammar Guide and English for Everyone Grammar Practice Book
ELSA Speak Use this app to improve your pronunciation and your conversation skills. It gives you feedback on your pronunciation as you use it to practice conversation. There is a free and paid option.
Lyric Training (App or Website) The app and the website both allow you to learn English while you sing your favorite songs!
Voscreen This is a great app where you watch short video clips in order to practice your speaking, pronunciation and listening comprehension.
The following English level assessment tests are free. They were created by various schools or programs that also want to promote their services. You don't need to take advantage of their services to take the placement test.
Cambridge English Free Test Cambridge offers short, free online tests for Business English, Young Learners and General English.
Language Level This website offers free tests in English, Spanish, and German. The test has 15 questions that get easier or hard depending on the answers given.
British Council This test is multiple choice and has 25 questions.
TrackTest This website has free and paid option. The paid options are pretty good deals compared to a lot of the traditional tests and it has mix and match options. For example, you can pay extra to add on a speaking test. However, what I think is really special about Tracktest is that when you pay for a general test (reading, grammar, listening), you get a "license" that allows you take a test every month for the next year. The website tracks your progress through out the year and it allows you to print certificates demonstrating the level you have achieved. All of that for $17 or 15 euros.
Duolingo English Test This test is the most expensive one on my list ($50) but it seems to have a really detailed break down of your results and also includes a 10 minute online speaking test. It also has a free practice test that would be valuable if you wanted to try out this test.
Listening to podcasts can be a great and affordable (free!) way to expose yourself to English every day. In order to listen to podcasts, first you need to download a podcast player onto your phone or other device. There are many different podcast players you can download onto your phone. Apple podcasts, Spotify podcasts and many others. Download your preferred podcast player on your phone, ipad or computer. Then you can play a lot of great English language learning podcasts on your device. I've recommended some podcasts for English learners below:
Voice of America Learning English Podcast (North American English)
Culips English Podcast (North American English)
6 Minute Vocabulary by BBC (British English)
BBC Learning English Drama (British English)
IELTS Podcast (British English)
This American Life (Made for native English speakers in American English)
Ello.org This free site has a ton of listening activities with a transcript, vocabulary activities and a quiz.
Story Online This is a really special website where famous or notable figures read children's stories out loud. You can listen to the story and if you have the book you can even read along.
Epic! Epic is a library of digital children's books in English. If you sign up for the free basic program, you can read a book a day online. They also have many "read to me" books where you can listen and read at the same time. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the age levels and type of books available.
How Stuff Works A great source of interesting articles on diverse topics from science to pop culture for advanced students.
News for You A site where students can listen to and read the latest news articles but they are written specifically for language learners. It also has vocabulary activities and exercises. It is a paid subscription but I have linked the free sample page so that you can see what it's like.
Learning Chocolate A free site where you can practice vocabulary in various categories. It has five activities at the top of the screen, "Match 1, 2 and 3" and then "fill in" and "dictation". Just ignore the ads on the sides and you'll discover a great site for improving your vocab, spelling and pronunciation.
Journaly.com A site where you can practice writing, make friends with common interests and get feedback from native speakers.
British Council Writing Activities This website has detailed and helpful writing activities for various situations like a business letter, a blog, a post card and so on. They have also divided the activities by level so you can work on writing activities for your level.
English Page This is a great site to review your verb tenses. It includes explanations and exercises.
IELTS Podcast This website is so much more than just a podcast. It has amazing information on every part of the IELTS test and how to prepare for it.
English for Everyone Junior Beginner's Course This beginner's course book is designed for young learners. You can access the audio for the course book here.
Starfall.com This is a great website for teaching young learners to read English.
Epic! Epic is a library of digital children's books in English. If you sign up for the free basic program, you can read a book a day online. They also have many "read to me" books where you can listen and read at the same time. Scroll to the bottom of this page to see the age levels and type of books available.
Lanternfish ESL Resources Free site with so many worksheets, flash cards and cloze activities
ISLcollective You need to register but this site is free. Also has so many worksheets on ESL topics.
MES English Free site with hundreds of printable worksheets and flash cards.
ESL Library This is a paid service but has robust services including audio, worksheets, videos, flash cards and student progress tracking.