Sites for teaching ESL, for ESL

students to use on their own, or as

assigned lab or out-of-class
activities
Compiled by Kristi Reyes, MiraCosta College
kreyes @ miracosta.edu, www.miracosta.edu/home/kreyes
Note: You don't have to type in the URLs!

Just go to http://mccesltech.wikispaces.com/Web+Sites to view the embedded document

and click on the links below.

Songs/music:
Angels Online

Karaoke English

Musical English Lessons

Songs with Lyrics

Movies, clips/trailers:
English Trailers

Lingualnet Learning English Through Movies

Teach with Movies Index

learnenglishfeelgood

Sites for conversation questions:

Daily ESL

ESLjunction

Karin’s ESL Partyland

The Internet TESL Journal

ESL Discussions.com

Sites for Grammar and Writing:

CUNY Write Site (academic and workplace writing)

English Tenses with Cartoons

EnglishPage.com
ESL Blues

ESL Writing Den

Grammar Bytes!

Grammar Games

Grammar Movies

Guide to Grammar and Writing

Internet TESL Journal Links

Isabel's ESL Site

Purdue Writing Lab

The Big List

UsingEnglish Quizzes

Sites for pronunciation:

American English Pronunciation

English Club

English Pronunciation

Eva Easton’s Authentic American Pronunciation

Listing of sites compiled at ESL Independent Study Lab

The Sounds of Spoken English

Sites for reading:

Awesome Stories

Bibliomania Free Online Books

Breaking News English

California Distance Learning Project *

CNN News

Critical Reading Steps

English Express

Free Books to Read Audio Library

Internet Public Library

Life in the USA: The Complete Guide *

Links to Reading Sites

News with Videos

Read, Write, Think (student materials)

 Reading Practice Tests

Reading Strategies

The Learning Edge

VOA Special English

Sites for Listening, Reading, and Writing:

NPR “This I Believe” Curriculum

The Art of Storytelling site (Delaware Art Museum)

Experience a Story: Listen to stories, read and view pictures inspired by our collections created by
visitors like you.

Tell a Story: Become a storyteller as you write and record a story inspired by works in the museum’s
collection.

Picture a Story: Create your own work of art using objects and characters found in some of the
museum’s most noteworthy paintings.

Interactive Fiction for Reading and Writing:

“computer based form of literature in which reader plays part of an important character”

See site “Teaching and Learning with Interactive Fiction”

Sample

Sites for Vocabulary and Spelling:

English Page

English Pronouncing Dictionary: gives pronunciation of words entered

Funbrain

Listen and Write Dictations

Spelling Bee @ Learner.org

Spelling City:

University Vocabulary Trainer

Voycabulary: enter URL, and words on site hyperlinks to online dictionaries, thesauri, etc.

WebWorkbooks

WordAhead

10 Vocabulary Builders
1. Did you know that in Microsoft Word, a reference library, translator, and a list of
synonyms is a click away? Here’s what you do (with PCs): right click on a word and
you will see a tool box. By choosing “Look Up,” you get automatic access to
dictionary definitions and a translator that will translate to or from English and a
selection of other languages. By moving the mouse to “Synonyms,” you can see a
list as well as a thesaurus link. Click on the synonym to replace a word. A good
exercise for students is to provide a list of words that they find synonyms for. Then
discuss the subtle differences between the words. Also useful is to have students
turn on the readability statistics. Here's how:
• Click the Office button in MS Word 2007.
• Click Word Options.
• Click Proofing.
• Under "When correcting spelling and grammar in Word," check the box for
"Show readability statistics."
• Explain to students the results, which are displayed after spelling checking
(Click Review tab and Spelling & Grammar or by pressing the F7 key) a
document. An instructor could tell students to revise and check spelling
and grammar again until their writing reaches a given grade level.
2. To learn about word collocations try these two websites that “map” word
associations: Think Map Visual Thesaurus http://www.visualthesaurus.com/ ,
Visuwords Online Graphical Dictionary http://www.visuwords.com/.

3. Web Workbooks
http://www.webworkbooks.com/vocabulary/vocabularyworkbook/index.php is a site
with sections that give word etymologies and illustrative sentences; word drills for
vocabulary study; roots, suffixes, and prefixes; words that are commonly misused
and misspelled, and interesting anecdotes about word origins.

4. Three Web sites that students can use when they are using the internet and
encounter words that they do not understand or that they want to pronounce are
Lingro http://lingro.com/, and Voycabulary http://www.voycabulary.com/, and VozMe
http://vozme.com. With Lingro, copy and paste a URL, and the words on the Web
site become links that can be clicked to get definitions, hear pronunciation, and
translations. Registered users can create word lists that are converted to flashcards
to study. Voycabulary similarly converts words on a Web site to links that with a click
can be looked up in many types of online dictionaries, including a thesaurus, an
antonym dictionary, Wikipedia, even a medical dictionary. With VozMe, copy and
paste words or type in entire passages to hear pronunciation (though it is a
computer voice). The site also gives the option of downloading the text as an .mp3
sound file.

5. At WordSmith.org http://wordsmith.org/ you can subscribe to A.Word.A.Day

http://wordsmith.org/awad/to get a vocabulary word emailed to you daily. The words
are based on weekly themes, and emails often include links to websites about
linguistics, language issues in the news, and more. For fun, try WordSmith.org’s
Internet Anagram Server http://wordsmith.org/anagram/index.html. When I entered
“I want to improve my vocabulary,” I was provided with a list of 38462 anagrams
including "Cube Vinyl Vomit Wormy Port," "Bionic Vet Portly Rummy Vow," and
"Vincible Mop My Tour Vow Try." L10 http://www.learn10.com/ is site that sends
registered users ten words every day in English and one of 20 other languages. With
the free sign-up, users can learn the lists, take tests, listen to the words, see
translations, and record their own pronunciation of the words via telephone. The L10
widget can be embedded on a Web Site or blog.

6. ESL-Library.com http://www.esl-library.com/has a large selection of beginning-level

vocabulary flashcards that can be downloaded even if you are not a subscriber.
While you are there, check out the Lesson Plan Library. Merriam-Webster Visual
Dictionary http://visual.merriam-webster.com/ and The Visual Dictionary
http://www.infovisual.info/ are online picture dictionaries.
7. UsingEnglish.com http://www.usingenglish.comhas a “Check a Word’s Grammar
and Usage” tool. When I entered the word “fun,” this is the information I was
provided: Length: 3 characters, Syllables: 1, Grammatical Information: Uncountable
Noun, and Lexical Information: Common word- this is one of the thousand words
most frequently used in English. The site also contains links to numerous word lists
including an Academic Word List, Basic English list, and Business English Verbs.
The site’s English Language Reference section includes a glossary of English
grammar terms. There is a lot more at the site to explore.

8. Gamesare a fun way to learn, practice, and reinforce new words. Free-ENGLISH
http://www.free-english.com/Games.aspxhas six interactive vocabulary games
including one for matching slang expression to meanings, one for understanding
differences between near-synonyms, and a reverse idiom dictionary game. The
games are free but registration is required. There are also grammar, listening, and
spelling games. A site with interactive games for beginners is located at
http://www.vocabulary.co.il/. There are word searches, crosswords, and matching
and scrambled word games.

9. Ever have an idea or concept in mind but can’t think of the word? That can be
annoying! OneLook Reverse Dictionary http://www.onelook.com/reverse-
dictionary.shtmlmay help. Type in a description to get a list of words. You can also
explore related concepts, generate a list of words in a category, even cheat on
crossword puzzles by typing in puzzle clues and finding words if you only know
some of the letters.

10. Last, a site that has been featured on the national evening news is Freerice.com
http://freerice.com/. The developer of the site has secured sponsorship so that each
word that visitors to the site get right, 20 grains of rice to the United Nations "World
Food Program. A recent technology list serv participant wrote this about Freerice:
"Freerice.com is an excellent web site, but the easiest level is still too
difficult for many students. I created this screencast as a way to help students
-- young and old -- experience a higher degree of success with the easier levels
of Freerice. You can see the screencast on YouTube at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3pOWrBTS_A . You can download several
version of this screencast in a ZIP file. One of these versions runs well on older
Macintosh computers -- as far back as 1994. The other is for viewing on the iPod
and iPhone. I've uploaded the ZIP file to the Internet Archive. You can download it
from this link. http://tinyurl.com/5zw7wt."

Other sites worth the surf:

For fun, make word art
• Wordle wordle.net/
• Shockedpoetry www.shockedpoetry.com/ (fridge magnet poetry)
• or Typogenerator typogenerator.net/index.php (word art)
To make animated text for PowerPoint slideshows, for example, try 3dtextmaker
www.3dtextmaker.com/image_editor.html
To find meanings of the latest slang on the streets
• Urban Dictionary http://www.urbandictionary.com
• Internet Slang Dictionary http://www.noslang.com/
To learn vocabulary for the human anatomy and workings of the body
• Human Anatomy Online http://www.innerbody.com/htm/body.html
• Kids Konnect Human Body http://www.kidskonnect.com/content/view/337/27/
• MEDtropolis The Virtual Body tour http://www.medtropolis.com/VBody.aspalso in
Spanish
• Visible Body: 3D Human Anatomy http://www.visiblebody.com/
Interesting related sites:
• The Visual Dictionary project http://thevisualdictionary.net/ a catalog of more than
7500 images represented more than 4000 words, contributed by the public; sign
up to contribute an image
• 80 Million Tiny Images http://people.csail.mit.edu/torralba/tinyimages/ a semantic
image map you have to see to understand

Sites for Idioms:

Online idioms dictionaries

Freedictionary

rong-chang list

Using English.com

Other sites

Go English
 Idiomsite

Self-Study Idioms

Integrated Skills Web Sites

5 Minute English

A4ESL Quizzes

Cambridge Touchstone Arcade

E.L. Easton English Online

English Banana

English Club

English Daily

English for All

English Galaxy

English Page

English Works

ESL Gold

ESL Lounge

ESL PartyLand

ESL Wonderland

Go4English

Interesting Things for ESL Students

Learn English

Learningline

Mansion Ingles (for Spanish speakers)

TV411

To find online, print activities:

Boggles World

Sites for Teachers

ESLTower.com

Fun/other Web Sites:

20 Questions (good for practicing question formation)

Grammar Ninja (for parts of speech)

English Games (vocabulary, grammar games – need to register)

LingualNet Learning English Through Movies

Online English Games

Tutpup (math and spelling games)

What was there? (memory, vocabulary)

Podcasts: audio files broadcast on the Internet for listening

a4esl podcasts

China 232

Citizenpod

Discovery Channel

ELLLO

English Idioms and Slang (discontinued but past postings still available)

ESLPodcards

First Amendment Minute

Grammar Girl

In English

Many Things

NPR

US Citizenship Podcast

VOA Special English

Still can't find an online site for students to practice a specific English skill or
grammar point?
see Ressources pour le college (some headings are in French, but there is an enormous list here)

Free downloadable programs for teaching, practicing speaking/pronunciation:

1. Praat

Using Praat for pronunciation improvement article

How it works:

Instructor records model; student records self; shows students' pronunciation in comparison to a model
by audio waves (waveforms) on two parallel tracks

More information: Guide

2. Audacity

How it works:

Similar to Praat, but less sophisticated; an audio recorder/editor

 Instructor can record model on one track; Student can record model on second track; compare
waveforms

Instructor can provide oral feedback on a particular segment

Demo *

Audacity Manual

Tutorial

TeacherTube videos

3. DL Recorder (Dartmouth College Language Recorder) also displays waveforms

4. Wavepad, a product from Australia, very similar to Audacity

Videocasting (vidcasting): like podcasting, but with video

California Distance Learning Project

Daily English Show

English for All

TeacherTube vidoes in World Languages

YouTube EDU search results “ESL” (mostly teacher-training vids)

YouTube search results “ESL”

Chatbots: grammar (question formation), reading, writing

Chat with Alice *

See Nik’s Learning Technology Blog entry

Virsona: develop own AI chatbot

Avatars: writing, speaking, online interactions

Voki: make an avatar that speaks (text to speech, record your voice, upload or phone in audio)

My sample voki (can leave text comments or comment via a voki)

Others (text to speech only):

Mow-tor Mail

Gamespot

Gizmoz

Odd-cast
PowerPoint -- Online templates:
Game templates online
Verb tables
Vocabulary flash cards

• http://jc-schools.net/tutorials/PPT-games/ and
http://teach.fcps.net/trt2/links/powerpointgames.htm and
http://www.littlewoodscasino.com/education-resources/power-point-games.htm and

• http://www.elainefitzgerald.com/gametemplates.htm (among other places).

Integrated Skills: Using online or student video

See Nik’s Learning Technology Blog Entry on 12 Seconds TV and Daily English Blog for many other activities for
integration video in general

See Roger Drury Phrasal Verb Dictionary and many other video and PowerPoint projects on his home page

My recent student video projects: “Speaking with the Stars” and “Successful Job Interview” and video resume
(not posted)

See TESOL EVO Video Sessions for many ideas on integrating video, see my pages Using Video for list of video
sites, and Using Movies to Teach English

Recommended text: Using Authentic Video in the Language Classroom, Jane Sherman, Cambridge Handbooks
for Language Teachers and article “Using Video to Develop Writing Fluency in Low-Proficiency ESL Students”

Integrated Skills: Webquests

Nellie Muller-Deutsch’s collection of WebQuests

Collection of ESL and other Webquests

World-English WebQuests

E-books (free online books for reading online or for download) for reading
(and listening on some sites):
http://www.rong-chang.com/ (more than 300 stories beginning and intermediate level with audio)

http://tarheelreader.org/

http://www.download-esl.com/

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

http://www.ebooks.com/

http://www.free-ebooks.net/

http://e-library.net/
Some Resources to Better Understand Technology Integration in General and
to Stay in the Loop:
4Teachers.org Teach with Technology

Adult Education Technology Integration on The Adult Education Literacy Wiki

Atomic Learning Some free online tutorials

Computer Using Educators

Discovery Education Speakers Bureau http://www.discoveryedspeakersbureau.com/node/119

Education World: ESL Lessons for Adult Students

EdutopiaArticle: The Word and the World: Technology Aids English-Language Learners

EON Foundation Check out the Teaching English in a Mobile and Networked World and The Living Classroom
Network Initiatives.

Eschool News: 6 technologies soon to affect education http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/?i=57910

(from Horizon K-12 report)

Horizon Report 2009: http://wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/

Internet 4 Classrooms (i4C) Technology Tutorials on the Web

Jane’s e-learning http://janeknight.typepad.com/

Language Learning & Technology Journal for Second and Foreign Language Educators

Language Learning and Technology Journal http://llt.msu.edu/

Larry Ferlazzo http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/,http:/www.larryferlazzo.com/english.html

Mashable http://mashable.com/

National Education Technology Plan (Jan. 2005)

Nik Peachy's blogs http://nikpeachey.blogspot.com/, http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com/,

http://quickshout.blogspot.com/

NPR All Tech Considered http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97097438

Online edition of edweek http://www.edweek.org

Blogs such as http://www.marianthacher.blogspot.com/, http://adultedmatters.wordpress.com/ ,

http://davidjrosen.wordpress.com/,

Geek Brief with Cali Lewis at http://www.geekbrief.tv/

PC World, http://www.pcworld.com/

Research on Tech on The Adult Education Literacy Wiki

Russell Stannard's Teacher Training Videos http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com/

StumbleUpon, http://www.stumbleupon.com/

T H E journal http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/subscription/default.cfm
Tech Learning Great ideas for integrating technology in the classroom, software tips, and computer news. Can
subscribe to free online publications including Technology and Learning magazine, Educators’ e-zine, and Digital
Media in the Classroom (a quarterly e-book)

TechLEARNING journal http://techlearning.com/

The Adult Literacy Education Wiki http://wiki.literacytent.org/index.php/Technology

The Advantages of Using Technology in Second Language Education

The National Institute for Literacy's Technology electronic discussion list (NIFL-Technology) and other e-lists
http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/discussions.html

The U.S. Department of Education study with the first-ever data on distance learning in elementary and
secondary schools (2005)

tucows http://www.tucows.com

Using Technology to Help ESL/EFL Students Develop Language Skills

Video examples of integrating technology in the adult education (including English language learning) classroom,
see the OTAN Video Gallery

ZD net http://www.zdnet.com