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ESL Resources for Students

For a list of all of our ESL handouts, please visit our ESL index page. We also have more resources related to writing in our Internet resources section.

List of topics on this page:

• General resources
• Online courses
• Grammar and spelling
• Idioms
• Vocabulary
• Help with specific tasks
• Quizzes, tests, software and interactive sites
• MUDs, MOOs, email lists, and conversations
• Other interesting sites

General Resources

• 1-Language.com is a comprehensive ESL Site that has forums, realtime chat, jobs, links, worksheets, flashcards, Flash listening and TOEIC modules, helplines, reading library, games, multilingual support, and much more!
• ApplyESL.com is a free web-based research and application resource for students interested in studying abroad at an English language school.
• Dave Sperling's ESL Cafe is a great place for getting started, with lots of things to do and places to explore.
• English Daily offers many resources for learning English, including learning about slang and advertising.
• English Forum offers general resources for students, including a message board, interactive exercises, and school guides.
• ESL Gold offers hundreds of pages of resources on listening, speaking, reading, writing, vocabulary, pronunciation, idioms, TOEFL prep, and more, all categorized by skill level.
• ELTWeb offers lots of free resources for learning and teaching English.
• English Jet offers free resources for students and teachers of English.
• English Study Direct offers comprehensive links to various resources for students learning English, including links to language activities, language testing, and useful web tools.
• English Tide offers a Chinese interface for students learning English.
• The ESL Study Hall, maintained by the George Washington University, offers an excellent set of resources for anyone involved in ESL, including annotations and background.
• The Frizzy University Network provides courses, tutorial help, handouts, and more links.
• The ESP-EFL British Civilisation Home Page offers lots of resources for learning English and close to 2000 exercises.
• The Internet TESL Journal has a list of links for students of English as a second language.
• Flo-Joe offers resources for students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE).
• The Kent State University ESL OWL offers a number of resources for ESL help.
• Marie Nuzzi's ESL Page links is a great compilation of lots of ESL-related links.
• Mark's ESL World offers a multitude of links for those interested in learning and teaching English, as well as a bulletin board, a voice chat room, a photo gallery, forums, and other helpful on-site ESL information.
• Nellie's English Projects offers information about many aspects of writing and lists of links for ESL learners.
• Ohio ESL: English Student Resources has many categories of resources for ESL students.
• Karin's ESL Partyland offers help for both teachers and students.
• Antimoon.com offers a site written in simple English with advice about how to learn English successfully.
• Tower of English has hundreds of fun websites where you can practice your English. Each website review has a suggested activity which can be done at home or in the classroom.
• Using English has resources for learning the English language for ESL, EFL, ESOL, and EAP students and teachers.
• Wordskills offers EFL help for teachers and students.

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Online Courses

Note: the following links MAY contain information on learning English online, but they don't all necessarily offer such courses.

• Basic English Plus is a free online English course that runs for ten weeks that combines e-mail based lessons and online audio lessons.
• PeakEnglish provides customized online English lessons.
• Study.com provides a free course in ESL.
• ESLGo has free online English classes as well as resources for learning and practicing English.
• ESL Online Distance Learning Centre offers RealAudio grammar and courses.
• The Globewide Network Academy has a catalog of distance education courses--search for one that suits you.
• Spectrum Virtual University has a variety of classes for a small fee.
• Peterson's Distance Learning Guide catalogs programs at 75 universities.
• English Practice offers you a chance to practice your English skills and learn new ones.
• Wordskills offers EFL help.
• Aspera Private Teacher offers online English classes.
• Englishtown has online courses.
• Gotham Writers' Workshop offers online classes in Fiction Writing, Memoir Writing,Poetry, Nonfiction Writing, Playwriting, Children's Book Writing, and Screenwriting.
• Yahoo's selection of distance learning links.
• University English offers a searchable database of English departments all over the world.
• GetTOEFL offers free practice for the TOEFL.

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Grammar and Spelling

• The Grammar Safari
• Dave Sperling's Phrasal Verb page
• The Grammar Exchange has questions and answers about grammar which provide insight into some tricky parts of using English.
• A Glossary of Grammar Terms provided by Using English explains both the meaning and usage of each expression.
• iScribe has a site devoted to grammar basics and definitions of grammatical terms.
• The University of Aizu, Japan's Working with the future tense page
• Edufind's Online English Grammar
• Jack Lynch's Grammar and Style Notes
• Paul Brians Common Errors in English Site has an extraordinarily comprehensive list of errors in English usage and advice for how to avoid them.
• Rose of York Grammar School has free online grammar lessons (with answers) for you to complete.
• A 30 Unit Online Spelling Course from Splashes from the River.

From the University of Aizu

• Capitalization Exercises
• Using Numbers in Academic Papers
• Punctuation Rules and Exercises

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Idioms

• Dave Sperling's Idiom page
• Test Den offers an idiom of the day via email.

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Vocabulary

• Everyday English is a good resource for vocabulary building and includes listening lessons that you can download.
• A Word a Day has audio files so that you can hear the way the word is pronounced.
• Lingua Press offers articles and word guides for ESL students.
• The University of Picardy Jules Verne (Amiens) Resource Centre has exercises, glossaries, and useful links for people learning various types of English for specific purposes.
• Word Surfing offers vocabulary learning strategies for students of all ages.
• LEMMA offers an online vocabulary quiz.
• Remittag's Word A Day offers new words and quizzes to help you improve your English vocabulary.
• English Vocabulary Guide an excellent site that helps you learn the pronunciation and spelling of thousands of words
  using an image-based interface.
  

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Help with specific tasks

Help with taking exams

• Instructions on taking in-class essay exams including the TOEFL writing exam
• Offshore English has a course related to IELTS task 1 (describing graphs and tables for academic work) available on their web site.
• GetTOEFL offers free practice for the TOEFL.
• The Free TOEFL site offers access to a full-length practice Structure exam online, as well as demos of Listening and Reading sections.
• Flo-Joe offers resources for students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE).

Help with English for specific purposes (ESP)

• Online Medical English focuses on the many problems doctors, nurses, or anyone in the medical profession, may encounter while working
  in English speaking countries.
• English exercises for special purposes contains many online exercises that help you practice medical English, business English, and other specific English sitautions.

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Quizzes, Tests, Software and Interactive Sites

• About.com's ESL Reading Resources site offers links to sites that help ESL readers at all levels.
• Abroad Languages offers free language games you can play to learn English.
• Better English offers free online exercises and quizzes as well as a mailing list for teachers and students.
• Boggle's World has lots of resources, including crosswords, flashcards, and wordsearches.
• Business English Revision Exercises from the University of Dauphine in France.
• The ENA ESL site offers various Flash-based games for practicing your English.
• English Forums is a great place to learn and discuss the English language with help from professional teachers. Topics include Business English,
  letter writing, Medical English and student chit chat.
• ESL Game offers games to help beginners (and children) learn the rules of English phonics and practice reading.
• English Student has some free games, quizzes and puzzles that you can play online.
• The ESP-EFL British Civilisation Home Page offers lots of resources for learning English and close to 2000 exercises.
• Flo-Joe offers resources for students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE), Certificate in Advanced English (CAE) and Certificate of Proficiency in English (CPE).
• Free English offers free English games and software for download.
• Free English Games offers free games in English.
• GetTOEFL offers free practice for the TOEFL.
• Galludet University's ESL Department offers some interactive exercises for practicing various aspects of English.
• Language Games has free online games in English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
• Learning Vocabulary Can Be Fun has excellent online games, including Hangman and Wordsearch. Requires Flash plugin.
• L2ED is a bilingual (French and English) educational resource for parents, teachers and students.
• My Language Exchange is a community where language learners can find a native speaker partner to help each other improve foreign language skills. The site facilitates online language exchange learning via email (pen pals), text chat and voice chat by providing guidelines, and also offers fun games such as Online Hangman.
• Nada's ESL Island offers various free materials for teachers and students, and organized links and resources on ESL.
• Offshore English, an ESL site from New Zealand, contains online lessons , games and activities for teachers and students.
• Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab offers free audio and video quizzes (including related software) for all levels of English learners.
• Real English offers interactive video lessons for free download.
• Dave Sperling's ESL Quiz Center
• Internet TESL Journal's Self-Study Quizzes for ESL Students
• More ESL quizzes at the Quiz-Zone.
• Internet TESL Journal's Crossword Puzzles
• The English Learner Website has tests, games, jokes, and puzzles, plus a free weekly newsletter.
• The J Site has a language match game (requires a Flash capable browser).
• The Free TOEFL site offers access to a full-length practice Structure exam online, as well as demos of Listening and Reading sections.
• If your computer can handle it, check out the Cutting Edge CALL page with interactive quizzes using Shockwave and other advanced software.
• WorldWide Writing is an on-line writing centre which allows students to edit and check their writing in Dutch, English, Spanish, German and French.

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Conversations, E-mail Lists, MOOs, and MUDs

• Brian's Brain is a fun biweekly newsletter for hardworking students of English around the world.
• English Consultor offers a free weekly e-mail newsletter for ESL students with motivational articles, reading help, grammar tips, vocabulary help, and question and answers from readers.
• English Forums is a great place to learn and discuss the English language with help from professional teachers. Topics include Business English,
  letter writing, Medical English and student chit chat.
• The Tower Tipsheet Newsletter sends out a new website and activity by email each week.
• 5 Minute English offers a free daily newsletter to ESL students with grammar tips, vocabulary, study advice, short quizzes and more.
• Dave Sperling's ESL Discussion Center and Graffiti Wall
  
• Friends in English is an online community composed of people from all around the world who are learning English as a second language; you can join the community or visit their companion website.
• SL Lists International's List of ESL/EFL Student Listservs
• MOOESL is a MOO for ESL learners and teachers. 

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Other interesting sites

• World Language contains resources for teaching and learning in hundreds of languages. The site includes a catalog of movies to purchase.
• Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) Online Writing Lab (a Chinese OWL)

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