For a very long time, I've been wanting to create a post with some useful resources around the web that can help you improve your English for free. I receive a lot of emails from students asking me for suggestions, so I hope this post today will provide some useful ideas. I'll also add on any other resources as I discover more! Please share with us if you have any other resources that you've benefited from. Some students may find your suggestions useful too!
SPEAKING
| iTalki With the option to find paid online speaking tutors to free speaking partners, iTalki is a great place to practice speaking with someone native and start practicing. This is one of the most popular websites to find a conversational partner. It is free to sign up and if you're willing to participate in language exchange with someone else, then you don't pay anything for the service. If you'd like a professional language tutor, you can browse through all the available tutors profiles and most have free trial lessons. | Go Speaky Go Speaky basically works the same way as iTalki. You can sign in through Facebook and meet language students from over 180 countries. Go Speaky gives you the option to also practice through chat or making calls. If you're not a fan of italki, you might want to give this one a try. |
LISTENING
| ESL Fast Practice listening to conversations on over 1,500 real-life conversations on 25 different topics such as small talk, dating, college life, renting an apartment, at the bank. There are different levels you could choose from. You'll also find a great selection of essays and mini novels (with listening) and comes with cloze and dictation exercises. Randall's ESL Cyber ESL Listening Lab A good place to get a great selection of everyday conversations to listen to based on your level. Listening topics include, Meeting Singles, Wedding Anniversary, Expressing Condolences. Each one also has quizzes in the end to test just how much you remember and understand. I also love that it has listening for academic purposes. So if you're planning on taking TOEFL or TOEIC, then this section might be helpful. CulipsESL A great place to hear everyday conversation by native speakers. Lots of real-life current topics to learn natural expressions, common slang, useful vocabularies, and conversational structure. A good selection of free audio episodes you can listen to at anytime through iTunes or Stitcher radio. | Elllo I love this website and have used it for several years now. I don't think it gets the attention that it deserves. Elllo was created by an English teaching living in Japan. There are over 2,500 video and audio lessons. The topics are really interesting and allow you to hear English in its natural state. There are also quizzes at the end of each audio to test your comprehension. What I love the most is that you could listen to English spoken by people of different nationalities. This is especially important because learning English also means understanding the language in all its different forms! engVid This is a pretty popular site among English learners. It's like YouTube but for everything related to English. Here you can listen to and watch a bunch of English topics covered by experienced native English speakers. Choose what you want to learn more about or browse through their selection of topics including, Business English, Pronunciation, Slang, Speaking, TOEIC. It's like having an English teacher at home! |
WRITING
| Conversation Exchange Find an online conversation partner and improve your writing and reading skills through penpal or chat (text, voice or video chat). You can choose the language you want to learn and it will show you the profiles of other learners around the world who are matched with your learning needs. You basically exchange languages so both of you benefit. I love that you can choose the chat software you're most familiar with such as, LINE, FaceTime, Skype, Whatsapp, or WEChat. This is a great place to get started if you want direct practice. | Shared Lingo This is also a language exchange site allowing you to practice with someone who speaks English fluently. You choose a partner, request for chat, and start communicating! It's also mobile friendly and even has language games to play. |
READING & COMPREHENSION
| Easy World of English This site covers three levels with 20 readings each to read and listen to that teaches common phrases and expressions. Complete the quiz after. There is also another section to test for grammar. ABCya! This site is full of cute and educational games for kids to learn English but that doesn't mean you can't play too. A great site especially if you're a beginner and want to practice specifics topics such as numbers and alphabets . Examples of games include. Birthday Candle Count, Word Frog, Alphabet Matching | Newsela I recently discovered Newsela and I'm very impressed. This site has all the latest news around the world in more understandable English. The best thing is that there's a quiz available after every article so you could test your comprehension. Sign up is free and it keeps a log of your scores and all your favorite articles in case you want to go back to practice. This is a beneficial site especially if you're looking for ways to practice for language exams such as TOEFL or IELTS. |
SOME GREAT BLOGS TO FOLLOW
Below are a few blogs that I've come across over the years that I've found to be exceptional. I know how much time it takes to manage a blog and create lessons, so these guys truly deserve your attention! The great thing about these sites is that you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to their emails so you'll always be learning! It's pretty much painless to learn.
Below are a few blogs that I've come across over the years that I've found to be exceptional. I know how much time it takes to manage a blog and create lessons, so these guys truly deserve your attention! The great thing about these sites is that you can follow them on Facebook or Twitter or subscribe to their emails so you'll always be learning! It's pretty much painless to learn.
| Elemental English Teacher Larissa, focuses on real-life English - which is what I love about it! There are a variety of audio and great video lessons especially on pronunciation. She is so pleasant to listen to and you can always read the subtitles if you struggle. I also love her lessons on grammar. Don't forget to listen to and subscribe to her podcasts on iTunes! Real Life English This is such a great blog that is fun and useful - two things that I believe learning should be about! Real Life English does a really good job of connecting English learning to real life English. Their blog covers aspects such as phrasal verbs, pronunciation of certain terms, common expressions, even learn English with Game of Thrones (if you like that show). You can also watch an assortment of videos or listen to podcasts. Great place to keep in touch with learning the things that are authentic. | mmmEnglish I discovered Teacher Emma's blog last year. She has a lot of amazing videos using food topics to teach English. Watch her guide you through making chocolate mouse, making a pizza while learning cooking expressions, asking questions in a restaurant, or teaching different kitchen nouns. Food is important to life so it's an important part of learning a new language! Calm English Teacher Sabrina's blog covers a lot of important topics. I love her tips on pronunciation, focused real conversational American-English (how to make small talk, how to memorize vocabulary quickly). If you're curious about how to pronounce words like, internet, vegetables, chocolate, then head over and check out if you're saying it right! |
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