Feb

The 50 Best ESL Resources and ESL Blogs

Wherever you are in the world, having knowledge of the English language is essential if you want to be successful in academic pursuits or in business. Students of ESL need the best help they can get to master such a difficult language, and these resources offer assistance to students of all ages, parents and teachers.

As well as having the materials to learn English, it is vital that you also have the right encouragement. So, in our list of the 50 Best ESL Resources and ESL Blogs we have included blogs written by teachers of ESL who offer insight into some of the difficulties students of all ages experience and how they can be overcome.

ESL Resources for Kids

4 Kids ESL – A great resource for ESL teachers, with printable worksheets and suggestions for word learning games to encourage the use of English between young students

English Avenue – English Avenue makes learning fun and rewarding, with kids earning virtual “coins” as their skills improve and they progress through further stages

123 Listening – Audio downloads for English teachers with accompanying worksheets

Boggle´s World – A great selection of math and language worksheets for grades K-7

ESL Kids Stuff – Interactive online games and songs to help children learn English

ESL Kids World – Teach children to speak English easily with a packed phonics section

Illustrated Vocabulary – Multi-language guide with plenty of vocabulary-assisting picture cards

L.A. Times – The Los Angeles Times hosts its own ESL “Kids Reading Room”

Vocabulary – Showing that learning vocabulary can be fun with a site full of games

ESL Writing Wizard – Teaching children how to write and recognize English in easy stages

ESL Resources for Older Students

Cartoon English – Great online resource for children of all ages, but the content is probably more suited to the older student with access to a computer

Many Things – Simply laid out site for the older student just beginning to get to grips with English

Rong Chang – Vocabulary and verbs feature heavily in this site geared towards exam success

Ello – Listening lessons and activities geared towards young adult pursuits

Real English – A guide to English used in the streets rather than the classroom

ESL Galaxy – Excellent source of lesson planning material for teachers

Super Nature – Nice resource focusing on the vocabulary of ecology and nature

English Zone – Good resource for older children with plenty of relevant study aids

Colorín Colorado – Excellent English/Spanish site with no mention of the Centennial State at all!

Takako´s Great Adventure – A serialized story about a Japanese boy´s adventure in Canada

ESL Resources for Adults

Hopelink – Very much a complete adult resource, with help for learning and understanding the words and phrases that you would use every day

A4ESL – Activities for students with many bi-lingual quizzes to aid students of all nationalities

English Media Lab – Quizzes and videos provide an entertaining way for adults to learn English

Talk English – Covers topics such as business, travel and interview English

English Med – Teaching English in a medical setting with animated dialogues

Linguarama – English instruction with a business theme and specific reading exercises

ParaPal – Online English exercises for the business community including official letter writing

Speak Speak – General online English course with particular focus on business English

Business English Pod – Over 200 business English lessons to download and play on your iPod

– Fun, games and even a relax zone feature on this comprehensive site

ESL Resources for Everyone

Dave’s ESL Café – Contains tips and advice for parents, teachers and students of all ages, plus an international job board and helpful podcasts

World English – Exceptionally comprehensive site which provides teaching aids and lessons for students of all ages and standards.

Magellan´s Log – This area of the site focuses on pronunciation pairs – words which are spelled the same way, but have completely meaning

Language Guide – Specifically designed to help native Spanish speakers learn English vocabulary

English Ladder – Over one thousand quiz items to help teach students of all ages

Purdue Online Writing – Provides advanced teaching tools for teachers of all age groups

REEP – REEP is a comprehensive lesson planning system for teaching ESL to adults

English Page – A good resource for students and teachers alike, with an easy-to-follow menu

News For You – The current news in text and audio versions for more advanced students

Idiom Site – A site listing many of the day-to-day phrases that we use completely out of context

The Best ESL Blogs

Jamie Keddie Dot Com – Useful advice based on personal experience about downloading ESL teaching guides

ESL Tutor – As well as some useful tips gained through experience, this site offers advice on teaching one-to-one and being a self-employed tutor

The English Blog – Reviews, news tips and ESL teaching trivia created by a teacher in the English Department at the Normandy Business School in Le Havre, France

ELT Notebook – A teacher with 30 years experience shares her tips for teaching English

Dear Ai – Ai acts as an agony aunt for ESL students who write into her site

Ron´s ESL – Simple, yet interesting, notes on some of the nuances of the English language

El Civics – A teacher´s blog dedicated to important issues in ESL tutoring

ESL Pod – Intelligent and absorbing blog with podcasts for students to help them follow the text

Reach to Teach – Blogs written by teachers experiencing ESL in Asia

ESL Daily – News and information about teacher ESL compiled by teachers