Recommended sites for learning English | Online English Lessons

Websites

6 Minute English – Podcasts from BBC Learning English. Listen to the podcast and answer the question. With grammar help and related BBC links.

American Stories for English Learners – improve your English by reading the texts as you listen to the stories.

BBC Learning English on YouTube – lots of videos to help you learn English.

BBC Radio – listen to radio programmes in English. BBC radio includes radio programmes on a wide range of topics including news, sport, music, and drama.

British Council Learn English – the British Council’s website for learners of English

Classic Poetry Aloud – Listen to some of the greatest poems in the English language read aloud beautifully.

English Central – Choose from a wide variety of fully transcribed videos that focus on topics of interest to you. Record yourself speaking videos in your own voice and get instant pronunciation feedback. British and American English. You have to register, but it’s free. Subscription options available.

Everyday Language Learner – Lots of excellent ideas, resources and motivation to help you become an independent, self-directed language learner.

Exam English – Free practice tests for learners of English e.g. IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC and Cambridge.

IELTS Interview Skills – these videos from the British Council are very useful for helping you prepare for the IELTS speaking module.

Learn English Idioms on YouTube – if you can access YouTube in your country, these short comedy videos are a fun way to learn English.

Luke’s English Podcast – authentic British English podcasts for learners of English. An interesting and fun way to listen and improve your English.

Magazines in English – from Issuu. Lots of magazines in English, covering categories such as English language, nature, film and music, business and marketing, news and politics, auto, and travel.

Newsy – multisource video news analysis. Practise your English listening skills with short news videos from across the globe. Also available on mobile devices.

Oxford University Press – interactive exercises, useful downloads, games and weblinks. Practise your gramar, vocabulary and pronunciation, listening and reading. Levels Beginner to Advanced.

Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab – improve your listening skills with these free listening activities.

RhinoSpike – upload any English text to RhinoSpike and a native English speaker will upload a recording of that text for you. You can read your English text and listen to the recording, and practise your listening skills. Free to use.

Shakespeare Resources  – an excellent source of free Shakespeare resources, including play texts and podcasts.

Voice of America: Learning English – helping people whose native language isn’t English learn American English while they learn about American life, and stay informed about world news and developments in science.

Yabla – learn English by watching videos. Yabla English is an online video magazine for language learners who wish to improve their English skills. Authentic English videos include television programs, music videos, interviews, documentaries, and travel.

Grammar

Conjugation.com – multilingual verb conjugation

English Grammar from BBC Skillswise – lots of help with things like tenses, verb-subject agreement, apostrophes, making sentences and adverbs.

Grammar Errors – a light-hearted look at some of the most common errors made by native English speakers, and a great resource for anyone needing help to improve their understanding of English grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Grammar Videos – from Learn English with the British Council. If you can view YouTube videos, this channel has a good selection of short vidoes to help with many different aspects of English grammar.

Internet Grammar of English – a free online course in English grammar written primarily for university undergraduates, but useful for everyone who is interested in the English language. IGE does not assume any prior knowledge of grammar. Also available as an App for iPhone and iPad etc.

Irregular Verbs Learning Game from Macmillan Dictionaries – Spin the wheel to test your knowledge of irregular verb forms. It’s addictive!

Pronunciation

American English pronunciation from Rachel’s English – videos to help people improve their American English pronunciation.

Rachel’s English Facebook page.

howjsay.com – a free online talking dictionary of English pronunciation. British and American spellings are provided. Pronunciation is in Standard British English, with World English alternatives.

 Learn English Phonemes – Cambridge English Online mobile apps.

Phonetizer – transcribe text into phoentic script / spelling. RP version of pronunciation.

Pronunciation App – mobile English pronunciation aid. Helps you study, practise and play with pronunciation wherever you are. From OneStopEnglish.com

Pronunciation tips from BBC Learning English

Received Pronunciation – what it is, and where it’s used. From the British Library.

Standard British Accent (RP) – learn a standard British accent with The Complete Guide to the British Standard Accent from the Dialect Blog.

Professional English

Academic English – from English Scholar.com. A large collection of useful web links for students studying English language and literature.

Aviation English – English for pilots, flight attendants, ground crew, mechanics and aviation business executives.

Using English for Academic Purposes – a guide for students in Higher Education

English for Information Technologies – a free online English course for IT students or IT professionals.

English for Tourism and the Food Service Industry – key English phrases to help you learn the English you need to improve your career.

Environmental English – specialist language services for environment professionals. Services include language courses, translation and proofreading.

Environmental Language – Top 10 green buzzwords in English. From the Macmillan Dictionary blog.

Spelling

Oxford Dictionaries Spelling Challenge – Test your spelling skills with this interactive spelling challenge. Simply listen to the word and type in the correct spelling. Levels range from tricky to fiendish, so there is something to test everyone.

Vocabulary

Free Rice – Practise your English vocabulary with this free website run by the United Nations World Food Progamme.

Test Your Vocabulary – How many English words do you know? Take this test to check your vocabulary level, and learn some new words as well.

US Elections Vocabulary – do you know what a caucus is? Or Super Tuesday? Have a look at this US elections jargon buster from Oxford Dictionaries.

VOCABsushi – expand your English vocabulary with VOCABsushi. See how English words are used in real-world sentences and get a deeper understanding. You can also build your own vocabulary list and chart your progress, plus listen to MP3s of words. Requires a monthly payment.

Vocabulary.com – a very good way for more advanced learners to practise and improve their English vocabulary. If you register with the site it keeps a record of the words you are learning, and your progress. You can listen to the words (American pronunciation) and get a full definition from their excellent dictionary.

Wordsmith Word a Day – subscribe to the free Wordsmith a word a day emails and improve your vocabulary with a new word every day, plus pronunciation, meaning, etymology and usage.

Word Spy – The Word Lover’s Guide to New Words

English Language Homestays

Live and Learn Homestays Ltd, UK – Live and Learn Homestays Ltd is a small English language homestay company based in Birmingham, the “Heart of England”, in the UK. Owned and managed by Lorna Allen, Live and Learn Homestays combine high-quality English language courses with friendly, welcoming accommodation in the tutor’s own home: a unique opportunity that allows students to not only learn English intensively, but also to experience family life right in the centre of Britain.

English Language Schools

SoloIdiomas Language School in Madrid
“SoloIdiomas language school based in Madrid offers a wide range of language courses which are suited to the level and schedule of every student. You can choose English general courses which are divided into 6 levels to meet all your needs. If you are planning to pass one of these exams PET, FCE (First) y CAE (Advanced) you can enroll in our preparation courses (intensive or alternate). Our experienced teachers are native speakers. They use contemporary techniques based on communicative methodology. We believe that our personalized learning approach and classes focused on communication skills practise will help you to achieve fluency in the language you’re studying. To get more information visit: http://www.soloidiomas.com ”

Articles

Debunking Grammar Myths

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