Some of My Favorite Websites for English Language Teachers

If you google something like "ESL lesson ideas" or "ESL Games" or really any topic related to teaching English as a foreign language, you will literally get millions of results in less than a second. To make this search a little less daunting, in this blog entry I'm going to give you some of my favorite websites for English language teachers. In the comment section or on my Google+ page please let me know about some of your faves.

Dave's ESL Cafe ( http://www.eslcafe.com)
Besides being one of best websites for finding teaching jobs around the world, this website also has a great discussion forum on all things ESL, tons of great teaching ideas and even resources for students who want to learn English. This site is very easy to use and is continuously updated.

Busy Teacher (busyteacher.org)
Need a worksheet for your class, then look no further than BusyTeacher.org. This website contains over 17000 printable worksheets, lesson plans and awesome lesson activities that you can use for free. It's also a great place to buy discounted books and e-books on teaching English.

LearnEnglish - British Council (http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/)  
LearnEnglish is an amazing interactive website where students of any level of English language proficiency and any age can go to study English. If you have access to computers at your school or in your classroom this is a great site to send your students to for extra help.

Azar Grammar (azargrammar.com)
While the website does offer many grammar worksheets that teachers can download for free, I mainly wanted to include this site in my list because of the grammar books Azar produces. In my opinion, and many of the people I have worked with, these books are the Bible of English grammar. The easy to follow grammar steps and explanations make these books great resources for teacher and students.

The Internet TESL Journal (http://iteslj.org)
While this site might not be the prettiest, it's packed with lots of resources for teachers and students. Teachers can find lesson plans, articles, teaching techniques, and a searchable database of more than 5,000 links of interest. The Activities for ESL Students section includes more than 1,000 activities: self-study quizzes, games, crossword puzzles, and treasure hunts. Also included is a Daily Page for ESL/EFL Teachers to help teachers keep up with what's new on the Web. I found the discussion question section of this website particularly useful when teaching conversation classes.

The University of Victoria's English Language Study Zone
(http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone/)
I know I'm a bit biased with this one as I work at the University of Victoria, but this website has been showing up on a lot of bloggers pages as one of their favorites. The Study Zone was first designed for UVic's ELC students to use as a study tool at home, but now it is available to anyone anywhere. The site contains thousands of self-study lessons for students at any level of language proficiency.

Breaking News English (http://breakingnewsenglish.com) 
Breaking New English is a great website that uses recent news stories as a means of capturing the interests of English language learners. Each news story comes in various levels of difficulties and its own lesson plan focusing on activities such as  reading comprehension, spelling, discussion, listening, etc. On top of this, each new story comes with up to 30 quizzes that teachers can use to assess their students. Updated news stories are posted every 2 days, so this is a site you can use frequently in your class.

The Purdue Online Writing Lab - OWL (https://owl.english.purdue.edu)
The Purdue Online Writing Lab is not only great for teaching ELL's how to write, but it's incredibly useful for everyone. I finished my Master's degree a few years ago and I often used this page to help me with my APA references.This site contains a section for ESL students and instructors that covers grammar, pronunciation, sentence and paragraph structure, vocabulary and a number of writing exercises. Instructors can easily print out activities that can be applied to many different lesson plans.

https://www.facebook.com/uvictefl/

 https://continuingstudies.uvic.ca/education-learning-and-development/topics/teaching-english-as-a-foreign-language

Comments

  1. Laura19 December 2017 at 04:39

    Great entry! Very helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Park Wood11 January 2019 at 19:39

    Dear Customers.

    We invite you all to participate in our new business and project funding program, We are currently funding for Business start-up Business developments, Business acquisition Business expansion, Project funding and Working capital etc.

    This Funding program allows a client to enjoy 3% low interest rate and payback period of 1 to 35 years. We can approve a loan/funding for up to $500,000,000.00 or more depending on the nature of business we are currently funding for and we satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed

    Application Available
    Apply via email: standardonlineinvestment@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. micheal pan7 May 2021 at 07:03

    BE SMART AND BECOME RICH IN LESS THAN 3DAYS....It all depends on how fast 
    you can be to get the new PROGRAMMED blank ATM card that is capable of
    hacking into any ATM machine,anywhere in the world. I got to know about 
    this BLANK ATM CARD when I was searching for job online about a month 
    ago..It has really changed my life for good and now I can say I'm rich and 
    I can never be poor again. The least money I get in a day with it is about 
    $50,000.(fifty thousand USD) Every now and then I keeping pumping money 
    into my account. Though is illegal,there is no risk of being caught 
    ,because it has been programmed in such a way that it is not traceable,it 
    also has a technique that makes it impossible for the CCTVs to detect 
    you..For details on how to get yours today, email the hackers on : (
    atmmachinehackers1@gmail.com ). Tell your 
    loved once too, and start to live large. That's the simple testimony of how 
    my life changed for good...Love you all ...the email address again is ;
    atmmachinehackers1@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Jennifer Davison9 January 2022 at 04:21

    I can't believe that this man is so real, how can I thank you enough, I can't fail to testify about the good things you have been doing for me and now you still went ahead and do same for my friend, please everyone if you have anything disturbing you please your solution is hear with Dr.osupalagba the great spiritualist who can solve any problem in a twinkle of an eye. No matter the problems, whether spiritual problem, you want to get your ex back, promotion in your workplace, spiritual cleansing, fruit of the womb, mental illnesses, protection for gun, protection for cutlass, protection for bottle, protection for snake and scorpion bites and cure. Are you a victim of any of the above listed setbacks, you can contact Dr.osupalagbavia Email: osupalagba.temple@gmail.com


    Call/WhatsApp +2347051667586

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

English Only Classrooms: Beneficial or Detrimental to English Language Learners?

Image
One of the first rules/polices that new TEFL teachers will have to establish in their classrooms, is whether students can only speak English in class or if they can speak their languages as well. I think it's natural to assume that if students are immersed in an English only environment that this will be beneficial to not only the students' acquisition of the new language, but also for the teacher. But is this really the case? Do students learn better in an English only setting? Is it easier for teachers to teach, when English is the only language spoken in their classrooms? In this blog entry, I'm going to talk about the advantages and disadvantages to an English only classroom, as well as give you some of my own personal opinions on this topic. In the past I had the opportunity to teach in schools that strongly enforced an English only policy and in other schools that were much more relaxed about what languages are spoken in their school. Advantages - An English
Read more

These Acronyms are Making Me CRAZY: ESL, EFL, EAL, ELL, TEFL, TESL, TESOL, CELTA....

Image
As someone who promotes English teaching-training programs at a university for a career, I'm constantly being asked by potential students, institutions, and even experienced teachers what all these acronyms stand for and what's the difference between them. I get questions like "Should I take a TEFL class or a TESL class?" or "What's the difference between ESL and ELL?" all the time, so I wanted to write a quick blog entry to address the confusion. Before I start to break down some of these acronyms, it's important to note that so many acronyms exist simply because the field of English language education is constantly evolving and becoming more specialized; especially over the last couple decades. Some of these terms may sound similar and may lead you to wonder, why do they all exist, however these slight differences can impact significant decisions like: Which type of course is best suited to my career goals? What are my students greatest needs
Read more

Teaching English in Thailand - What you need to know

Image
I love Thailand. Although I haven't had the chance to teach English there yet, I was lucky enough to visit this beautiful country a couple times when I lived in Korea. With it's rich culture, friendly people, amazing food and breathtaking scenery, it's no wonder why this country is such an attractive place to live and teach. In this blog, I'll want to discuss somethings you need to know if you want to teach there. Much of this info comes from my friends who taught there and passed on their experiences with me, and my own research, as a couple years ago I had seriously considering going there to teach. Requirements To teach in Thailand, you must have completed a university degree, and although not necessary for all jobs, a TEFL or TESL certificate or diploma is highly recommended (For reasons why you should take a TEFL program read this entry ). Past teaching experience is not necessary as well, but very beneficial if you have it. If you want to teach at a univer
Read more

Teaching Children Vs. Teaching Adults

Image
Teaching Children Vs. Teaching Adults One of the biggest questions that someone has to ask themselves when choosing to go teach English in a foreign country is: Do I want to teach children or adults? As someone who has experience teaching children and adults abroad, and in Canada, I'll do my best to weigh these two choices for potential TEFL teachers. Before I start weighing these options, one thing I wanted to quickly address is this notion that children learn languages quicker and easier than adults. While in the past this was thought to be a fact, in recent years many studies have come out that suggest otherwise. Younger students do have better memory retention than their older counterparts, but factors like an individual's motivation, patience, perseverance  and their instructor's abilities and expertise also play a huge role in language development. Many researchers now believe that these variants may have a larger influence on second language acquisition
Read more

Teaching English in the Czech Republic

Image
Situated in the middle of Europe, the Czech Republic  is home to beautiful art and music, grand architecture, picturesque red roofs, and a never-ending supply of beer. While most tourists only visit the capital of Prague, there are so many other facets to this landlocked country that are fairly unexplored by most travelers. Rural areas are surrounded by rolling hills, hidden lakes, and old growth forests in which residents can enjoy the traditional country lifestyle of times forgotten in other parts of Europe. As the country’s economy continues to strengthen, so, too, has residents’ need for speaking English. Although the Czech Republic is constantly full of English speaking tourists, public schools, universities, and private language academies are still in need of native speakers to give their students the boost they need in order to compete in the global workplace. In this blog entry I will provide an overview of what its like to live and teach English in the Czech Republic an
Read more

Tips for Teaching Korean Students

Image
It's no secret that Koreans are some of the most dedicated and prolific English Language Learners (ELLs) in the world. If you travel to South Korea to teach, you'll notice that it seems like the entire country is studying English. If you decide to teach English in an English speaking country you'll undoubtedly find yourself teaching Korean students at some point. As a result, I thought I'd write a blog entry with some tips on how to best meet the needs of Korean ELLs. This advice will be based on my own experience teaching Koreans (about 5 years) and some popular tips found from doing a bit of research. 1. Know your Role According to Confucian ideals, teachers are supposed to be supposed to be highly respected in society. This respect your receive from your students can be something that you can definitely use to your advantage (especially with classroom management), but it also comes with certain expectations. As a teacher in Korea, you are supposed to be pr
Read more

Teaching English to Absolute Beginners

Image
Undoubtedly, one of the biggest challenges that English teachers will face in their careers is being asked to teach students who have zero English knowledge or ability. In an ideal world, these students would be placed into classes with teachers who are bilingual and can use the students 1st language to help in acquiring the 2nd language...the problem though, is this isn't an ideal world, and many teachers, who can only speak English, are regularly asked to teach students who cannot speak a word of English. So where should you begin? What are the best approaches to teaching absolute beginners? What part of the language should you focus on first? How do you overcome the huge language barrier that separates your from your students? In this blog entry, I want to provide some popular strategies that English teachers will use in these situations, and also give you some of my own personal insight into teaching beginner English language learners. Change your mindset First and for
Read more

My Top 5 ESL games

Image
It's been a little while since my last post, so I wanted to come back with something fun and practical for teachers to use in their English classrooms. Below are 5 of my favorite games that I use in my own classes that can be used with a variety of learners. Two Truths and A Lie    Two Truths and a lie is a great game which is perfect for the beginning of a new class as it is a 'getting to know you' kind of game. This game is also wonderful for practicing speaking and listening skills. Why use it? Ice-breaker; Speaking / Listening skills Who it's best for: Appropriate for all levels and ages How to play: Have students write 3 statements about themselves on a piece of paper, two of which should be lies and one which should be true. Pair the students up and have them ask each other questions about each statement and then guess which one is the truth. If you want to really extend the game and give students even more time to practice their sp
Read more