Useful links for EFL teachers and learners

by ucclangcent

I have been compiling this list of useful links over the past few years.  I would love to hear of any other links you may have. Please email me or let a comment below and let me know. Thanks!

Lesson Ideas

There are many sites out there which will provide lesson tips, plans and ideas. Some require registration and will ask you to upload your own ideas and plans before you can download. Others will provide them free. Many of these sites will provide materials to practise the four language skills (Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening) and also grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation).

• The Guardian newspapers has an excellent list of useful links.
• EFL Resource is a good starting point.

• BBC provides an excellent one-stop-shop for all things EFL.

• About.com does many things so well and its EFL resources is another fine example.

• English Grammar Secrets – the name may not be the most inspiring, but it does have good resources.

• Another excellent site with excellent resources.
• Breaking news… EFL lessons based on current news stories
• News presented for different levels of English.

• English Daily – more valuable and interesting resources.

• The Language Point is a great starting point for all things EFL/ELT. They have a daily newsletter with tips, lesson plans and so on.

• The Guardian’s teacher network is another marvelous resource for all things EFL.
• Some good resources here for teachers from InformED.

• The British Council has fantastic online resources. Another one-stop-shop!

• Interested in football? Many of your students will be. Here is a wonderful resource for all football fans. English lessons based on the English Premier League.

• scribd.com has many books available in e-form on their site. Here is Swan’s Learner English.

• Side Vibe allows you to turn any webpage into lessons.
• Free English lessons in video form here.
• From the University of Victoria’s English Language Centre, an excellent self-study resource.
• Songs for teaching.
• Want to create quizzes for your students? This is a very simple and fun way to do so.
• Tubequizzard – This site will create quizzes for any YouTube video that has subtitles.
• Not so much a resource for lesson ideas, but one for free language teaching courses – Future Learn.  Their teaching online course is fantastic and free!

Writing

• Oxford Dictionaries provide excellent resources for all areas of writing. While there check out the other great resources they have.

• Purdue University Online Writing Lab provides a full online resource for academic writing.
• Here is another excellent Online Writing Lab from D’Youville College.
• And another great OWL from the University of Ottawa.
• How to teach punctuation – an interesting article from The Guardian.
• Style Guide Resource
• Phrasebank is a resource from University of Manchester for those who are writing academic English papers.
• UEFAP (Using English for Academic Purposes): Comprehensive website for grammar, vocab, skills etc for EAP
• This site helps with all your academic English language needs, including writing.
• Cambridge English Write & Improve – this is an excellent site to get immediate feedback on your writing from Cambridge ESOL.
• The Academic Collocation List

 Pronunciation  

• Let’s start with the online site of the classic pronunciation book – Ship or Sheep.
• What are the common pronunciation mistakes for different languages when speaking English?
• For different varieties of accents (including Irish) this site is excellent.
• How about a game to practise stress patterns in English.
• Wondering what the phonetic transcription for reminisce is – this site will transcribe into phonemes as you write.
• Useful videos and resources here contrasting American and British accents and pronunciation.
• Explore the world of British English vocabulary in a sound integrated guide.

Vocabulary  

So many sites out there to help you prepare vocabulary lessons; here are a few of the best.

• Create flashcards and how to create a set of flashcards.

• Want to know whether it is more common to say needs doing or needs to be done? This site will tell you. Just type in the word or phrase and it will give you the most commonly occurring collocations.
• Collocations ‘dictionary’ with visual for collocation strength  

• English Page provides a lot of practice for vocabulary too.

• Another fine site is English Gold.

• ESL-Lab may be better known for its listening resources, but its vocabulary section is excellent. It has interactive exercises available too.

• Practise your spelling here. And here

• Confused between the meaning of affect and effect or other confusing words. This site can help you.
• This site can help you to improve your English vocabulary –

• Now this is a fine resource for learning vocabulary from Spelling City.
• Want to test your understanding of vocabulary, this site is practical and great fun.
• Here is a good iPad app for help with spelling.
• Rewordify allows you to find an easier way to say and phrase things
• This site helps with all your academic English language needs, including vocabulary.
• PlayPhraseMe – write in an English phrase and hear it used in so many different movies. Give it a go!
• Tubequizzard – This site will create quizzes for any YouTube video that has subtitles. Great for vocabulary exercises.
• Academic Collocation List
• Puzzlemaker allows you to make among other things crosswords, word searches etc.
• Half a crossword is another good resource for this.
• UsingEnglish.com is a fabulous resource. Here is a link to their vocabulary pages.

Grammar Here are some reliable online English grammar resources. Also, check some of the sites mentioned in Lesson Ideas section for more grammar resources. There are so many English grammar sites.

• englishpage.com is very comprehensive and has many downloadable materials.
• English Grammar Today – from Cambridge English based on book by Carter, McCarthy, Mark & O’Keeffe 
• What about frequently made grammar mistakes? Interesting article here. 
• Instant Grammar Checker
• Here is a site that allows you to gamble and improve your English grammar (not real money!)
• BBC English 6 Minute Grammar Podcasts. 
• Tubequizzard – This site will create quizzes for any YouTube video that has subtitles. Great for grammar exercises.
• UsingEnglish.com is a fabulous resource. Here is a link to their grammar pages.

Listening

• One of the very best online resources for practising listening for EFL – randall’s cyber listening lab.  Check its vocabulary section also.

• Ello.org is an another good site for practising listening skills for all levels.

• Also, don’t forget youtube.

• iTunes podcasts offer so much for EFL students too.
• 6 Minute Grammar – a BBC English podcast. 
• English Language Learning : Listen & Read
• PlayPhraseMe – write in an English phrase and hear it used in so many different movies. Give it a go!
• Fun site with a nice interactive game. You get to listen to audio and choose in which language the audio is. Here.

Reading  

• Check some of the sites mentioned in Lesson Ideas section for more grammar resources.
• And don’t be afraid to try to design your own reading materials from reputable English language sites.
• How fast can you read? Check it out here?
• English Language Learning : Listen & Read
• 100 free reading and audio books here for ESL students.
• How fast can you read? Spreeder can help you.

Speaking

• Learn real English with the excellent Phrasemix.
• This is a great way to get a qualified teacher online.

Dictionaries

• Cambridge learner’s dictionaries.
• Oxford
• Vidtionary 
• A dictionary which helps you with pronunciation.

Examinations

The most popular and prestigious examinations are:

• Cambridge suite of examinations
• IELTS
• TOEFL

And of course, you will find a plethora of exam practice sites:

• IELTS
• Cambridge FCE
• Flo-joe has an excellent practice site for all Cambridge exams
• TOEFL

Here is a link to a glossary of terms for the Cambridge examinations.

Using Internet in Class

If you are in a classroom with internet access the following can help you with incidental vocabulary items which may arise in a classroom setting.

• Google images – try explaining the difference between a screw and a nail – google images does it instantly.
• It’s a yellow flower – what is? This is!
• Youtube is another really valuable resource if you have internet access.
• Click through the following to see how it could help you explain the difference between fall off, fall over, and fall down.
• Want to help your students understand the polysemic swear word f***? Youtube can help.
• A great site that combine cinemas and learning English is Film English.

News

• Want news stories? Want them at your level of English? Here you go!
• Want another great site with brekaing news stories for English language learners? Here you go!

Useful Links for TEFL Jobs 

• http://www.tefl.com
• http://www.eslcafe.com
• http://www.teflireland.com
• http://www.tefl-jobs-abroad
• http://ie.indeed.com/Tefl-jobs
• http://jobs.theguardian.com/jobs/education/tefl/ Online teaching jobs
• http://www.openenglish.com/en/careers/teachers/
• http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2013/06/26/teaching-english-online-opportunities-pitfalls
• https://www.englishtown.com/online/teacher-careers.a
• www.weteachkorea.com

Twitter

Twitter is an excellent resource. Use it! Here is an old, but still excellent article on how EFL teachers can use Twitter from Russell Stannard.

And here is the UCC Language Centre’s Twitter page – follow us!

Facebook  

Similarly, Facebook offers much to teachers and learners of English. Most of the sites mentioned in Lesson Ideas have Facebook accounts. Here are some of the better ones:

• British Council
• UCC Language Centre

Blogs

There are some excellent blogs online. Here is a selection of some really useful and informative ones.

• Ana Cristina Pratas is one of the very best blogs online. Follow her on Twitter to get regular updates. She will lead you on to some amazing online resources for teaching and learning.
• Nik Peachey has a wonderful blog, full of tips and resources for EFL teachers.
• Dominic Cole’s excellent blog on all things for IELTS.
• Russell Stannard’s YouTube channel for teaching and learning English.
• The excellent Stan Carey’s blog on all things to do with language and linguistics.
• Oxford Dictionary’s blog. 
•  Scott Thornbury’s – An A-Z of ELT      
• The guru of the English Language – Sir David Crystal’s blog.
• Chronicle of Higher Education – Language and writing in academe blog. 
• Another excellent blog is Jo Gakonga’s.

Apps for Learning and Teaching English

• Looking for apps to learn English? Here is a good place to start.
• Cambridge University Press apps for learning English.

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