Sites Of The Month 2012

English Grammar Secrets

English Grammar Secrets is a very basic site for learning and practising English grammar on your own. The index of lessons and exercises includes many of the grammar points teachers cover in class. After you review the grammar, you will get a chance to do several interactive exercises to prove to yourself that you understand what you learned.
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Renshaw Internet School of English

If you’re preparing for a standardized test such as TOEIC, TOEFL, or IELTS, be sure to check out Jason Renshaw’s Internet School of English. When teachers are asked for a good online resource for test preparation practice, this is often the first one that comes to mind. On this site you will find video tutorials, practice tests, and sample responses.
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GCF LearnFree.org

The Goodwill Community Foundation’s Learn Free website offers practical online lessons for everyday living. The site includes interactive audio lessons, such as using the bank machine, paying with a debit card, and reading a subway map. There are also lessons on computer and career skills.
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Tiny Texts in English

Tiny Texts in English offers free listening and reading materials for English learners based on interesting news stories that may not make the headlines. Each entry includes a short reading with an audio file and glossary. The recordings are provided by an English teacher with a Scottish accent.
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ESLPod

ESLPod is full of English listening materials that are free for English learners and teachers. Two American professors who specialize in ESL run the site and record the podcasts. The dialogues in the podcasts use everyday English at a pace that is quite a bit slower than natural. The language and scenarios are explained in easy English following each dialogue. Topics range from travel and business to small talk and relationships. Serious learners who want more than listening practice can subscribe to ESLPod for a monthly fee.
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Interactives: Spelling Bee

Interactives Spelling Bee is a site from Learner.org that is extremely useful for English learners who want to improve their listening skills. You will need to experiment a bit to find the appropriate level of activity since these cloze exercises are actually designed as grade school spelling tests. The Grade 1 level is suitable for English beginners, and the Grade 11-12 exercises are useful for advanced learners. Just like EnglishClub’s Weekly News pages, you have to listen to the audio and type in the missing words.
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JenniferESL

Jennifer is an online English teacher who has been uploading lessons to YouTube as JenniferESL since 2007. Jennifer has recorded pronunciation lessons, grammar lessons, vocabulary lessons, and mini-lessons on holidays and customs. You can also catch Jennifer on EnglishCafe’s Jim and Jen show, also available on YouTube. Her lessons are popular because she is a good teacher with a clear voice, and she understands the difficulties that ESL students have.
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If you enjoy learning English through music, try uWall. This is an alternative to YouTube, and can be useful for language practice. Discover new music genres by choosing from a variety of categories or photos. You can also choose music based on your mood. A single click will take you to a playlist of music that you can listen to for free. Choose “lyrics” to watch videos with lyrics.
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Listen and Write

Listen and Write is a dictation site for language learners. Start by creating a login so that you can save your scores. Take a test to see what your listening level is. Note that your typing must also be good to get a high score! There are three different modes to use.
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Hungry for English

Hungry for English is a free ESL Video series on YouTube. The current videos are suitable for beginner English learners, but new videos are being added regularly. The online lessons contain very little text. The main characters, “Joe” and “Jesse,” want learners to pick up the language by hearing it instead of reading it. The Hungry for English team hopes their simple videos will make it unnecessary to translate what you hear into your native language. The actors are playful and silly, and the outtakes remind English learners that language learning can be fun.  
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Espresso English

If you have time for a daily coffee, you have time for a daily English lesson. This is the premise behind Espresso English, a new site for self-studying English learners. The site offers regularly updated short lessons and quizzes on English learning topics including Vocabulary, Business, and Pronunciation. Many of the lessons come with streaming audio. You can listen to a native speaker as you read along.
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English Practice

Learning a language online can be difficult. The best sites for English learners have a basic layout with simple navigation. English Practice has these important features. The home page features an index full of practice categories that are useful for English learners. These include standard topics that you will find on many practice sites such as grammar, punctuation, and IELTS.
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