Watch this short video of a student who didn't quit. (esl.about.com) --Mike
1. Ron's original ESL site (rong-chang.com) This is one of the earliest, most comprehensive, and most popular ESL sites. (Try this--go to google.com and type ESL into the search bar.) And, it's one of our two sister sites.
2. Ron's second ESL site (eslfast.com) (And our other sister site.) The same 365 stories/exercises that we have on eslyes.com, plus practice speaking with talking robots, Ask Expert Teacher, and more!
3. Dave's ESL Cafe (eslcafe.com) Dave's ESL Cafe is "the Internet's meeting place for ESL and EFL teachers and students from around the world!" His site includes slang, podcast, chat, jobs, teacher and student forums, and more.
4. Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab (esl-lab.com) Sharpen your ear with hundreds of listening and vocabulary exercises, plus links to Randall's six (!) other web sites.
5. Using English (usingenglish.com) Among many other things, this site includes more than 3,000 idioms.
6. Activities for ESL/EFL Students (a4esl.org) Thousands of contributions from teachers, including tests, puzzles, exercises, bilingual quizzes, and iPhone/iPod. A project of The Internet TESL Journal.
7. Many Things (manythings.org) Fun and interesting things, including tongue twisters, jokes, and Voice of America material.
8. 4 Teachers (4teachers.org) "Teach with Technology." This site is primarily for teachers, but it has lots of material for ESL students, too (just click on the many different links). It has a Spanish version, too. It needs donations to keep running, so please chip in if you can.
9. English for All (myefa.org) Audio-videos plus text. Learn helpful English skills as well as important life skills. The 20 DVDs are also available for purchase. Funded by the US Department of Education.
10. OTAN (Outreach and Technical Assistance Network) (otan.us) "OTAN provides electronic collaboration and information, and support for instructional technology and distance learning to literacy and adult education providers in California." Site includes resources for ESL teachers and students. Visitors must register. Students can register using their school name. If you don't attend a school, register by entering the info for the last school you attended. After you register, use this path to get to 232 ESL links: Teaching Tools and Resources>By Program Type>ESL>Sites to Use with Students>Program Areas>ESL>GO = 232 ESL links!
11. U.S.A. Learns! (usalearns.org) A site for students to improve basic reading, writing, listening, speaking, and life skills. Beginning, low intermediate, and intermediate levels. Lots of videos and exercises. English and espanol.
12. The Free Dictionary (thefreedictionary.com) The world's most comprehensive dictionary: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, Greek, Russian, Medical, Legal, and Financial Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms and Abbreviations, Idioms, Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one!
13. Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) An encyclopedia written by volunteers in many languages, Wikipedia is by far the most popular reference site online. Beware, though--like all written material, some articles might contain errors, because a few writers have a hidden agenda or an ax to grind.
14. English 4 All (english4all.org) Fourteen tabs at the top include Irregular Verbs, Numbers, and English Stories. The column on the left lists many Grammar topics, including Will/Would, Active/Passive, and Pronouns.
15. English Grammar Online 4U (ego4u.com) An English/German site. Read and Learn English, Business English, Games and Riddles, Chat, E-Cards, and Daily English lessons with audio.
16. Peter's Online Typing Course (typing-lessons.org) Typing lessons for everyone, starting with where do your fingers go (the home keys). Lots of typing lessons and exercises.
17. TypeRacer (typeracer.com) Who's the fastest gun in the West? Who's the fastest typist on the Internet? Do you think 85 wpm is fast? Think again! This is a great site for improving your typing skills and for challenging the world's fastest online typists, live and personal!
18. Sense-lang (sense-lang.org) Touch-typing program, beginner to advanced, plus keyboarding tutor, typing games, regular keyboard and Dvorak layout, and keyboards in 20 different languages, including Arabic, Spanish, French, German, and Russian. Also has a feature for teachers.
19. Advanced English Lessons (englishpage.com) Weekly lessons, mini-tutorials, reading room, listening lounge, games, student forums, interactive exercises, and more.
20. Adult Learning Activities - CA Distance Learning Project (cdlponline.org) Audio and video stories and exercises. Topics include Working, Law and Government, Family, School, Nature, Housing, and Money.
21. Learn English Online (englishlearner.com) This site offers lessons and tests at all levels, using interactive tests and exercises. Categories include grammar, vocabulary, reading, crosswords, hangman, and more. The site also offers English lessons by e-mail at three levels every week - completely free!
22. NonStop English (nonstopenglish.com) Click on one of the flags at the top to learn English in Chinese or 9 other languages (English too, of course). Practice your English grammar and vocabulary skills with interactive tests. Receive free email tests. Register and login to see which tests you have done and how successfully. These tests are really motivating. New tests are added every week.
23. Free Educational Software and Games (educational-freeware.com) This site reviews (with links to) high-quality free learning software and websites from the Internet - mostly for kids, but also for grown-ups. Many software titles are multilingual. Categories include math (lots of it), science, typing, K-12, kindergarten, videos, music, reading, and 3D.
24. Free English Exercises (agendaweb.org) "The best free english exercises from the best free websites. Hundreds of free exercises to learn English online: grammar, verbs, vocabulary, listening, songs, and videos. Worksheets and handouts. English teacher resources. Phonetic. Translators, dictionary."
25. Learning English Online (englisch-hilfen.de/en) A dual English-German site. Learn English words, practice grammar, look at basic rules, prepare for exams, do tests or just have fun playing games. More than 650 exercises online. English forum and daily English lesson.
26. ESL Podcast (eslpod.com) More than 600 podcasts spoken at a slower speed and using everyday expressions, with explanations of these expressions.
27. Learn English Online (learn-english-online.org) 52 lessons aimed at the beginner. Includes numbers, rhymes, songs, and quizzes.
28. World-English (world-english.org) "The one-stop resource for the English language and more..." Activities, exercises, and tests include vocabulary, grammar, speaking, reading, listening, and puzzles and quizzes.
29. Quia (quia.com/shared/) More than 100 topics to study, including English, ESL, Spelling, Reading, and Vocabulary. Each topic contains hundreds of activities. The ESL topic has more than 600 activities, and English more than 1,300. "Quia Web is one of the world's most popular educational technology Web sites." (Teachers must pay an annual subscription rate to put their own activities on the site.)
30. Learn English Today (learn-english-today.com) "Free lessons, vocabulary, idioms, proverbs and business English, plus exercises and word games, for English learners of all levels. Links to English newspapers and radio, with podcasts. Fun activities: Jokes, Riddles, Games, Brainteasers, etc."
31. Business English Grammar Lessons (better-english.com) Caroline and Pearson Brown have been helping people to learn Business English online since 1998. They started these online lessons to help their own students. They send out a free English lesson by email most weeks.
32. English Grammar Lessons (english-grammar-lessons.com) This is another of several sites created by Caroline and Pearson Brown. Many explanations, examples, and exercises, from present continuous to third conditional, from shall to should.
33. About.com: English as 2nd Language (esl.about.com) Videos, idioms, listening, speaking, reading, writing, tests, grammar, vocabulary, and more.
34. Online English Grammar (edufind.com) "The free online reference and guide for English grammar, writing, punctuation and learning." Watch video English lessons (english4today.com), ask grammar questions, and more.
35. English-Zone.Com (english-zone.com) "...the BEST English-Learner's site on the 'Net!" "Zones" include grammar, reading, verb, basic skills, fun stuff, teacher, and idiom.
36. Yahoo! Babel Fish (babelfish.yahoo.com) Translate a block of text (up to 150 words) or a web page. Also, you can translate directly from your browser using a Yahoo! toolbar.
37. Google Translate (translate.google.com) Translate text, a webpage, or a document. Google also offers translation tools and a Google Translator Toolkit.
38. SDL Free Translation (freetranslation.com) "SDL FreeTranslation.com is a free translation website allowing you to translate web pages and text into different languages. For professional, human translations see Click2Translate.com"
39. Dictionary.com (An Ask.com Service) (dictionary.reference.com) Type or paste your text into the box.
40. Concise ESL Support (athabascau.ca/courses/engl/155/support/) This Canadian university site presents grammar information in easy-to-understand charts. For example, are you confused about could, should, and would? Visit this page.
41. Concise ESL Support (athabascau.ca/courses/engl/glossary/glossary.html) This Canadian university site presents short definitions of grammar terms from A-Y (yes, Y) in plain English. Remember to click on "Transitional Devices."
42. Concise ESL Support (athabascau.ca/html/services/counselling/english/websites.htm) This Canadian university site displays links to various ESL sites. Yikes! Our Canadian friends also rate these websites from 1 to 5 ("poor" to "excellent"--yes, there are some 1's and 2's)!
43. Guide to Grammar and Writing, Dedicated to Dr. Charles Darling (grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/) Is there anything about English that this comprehensive site doesn't have? For example, why is "news" singular, and why isn't "family" plural? (Go to Index>Plural Noun Forms). Confused about Do and Make? Go to the Index. Donations are welcome.