Tutor Resources

Information: This website is divided into seven levels of instruction that each contain grammar video lessons and grammar quizzes. There are also lists of idioms, slang, and popular expressions for students to learn. The “Chat” section allows students to chat with other ESL students in the same level as them through “meebo rooms”, which is embedded in the page. The “Stuff for Teachers” tab includes sample conversation questions about topics such as crime, creativity, and housing, grammar worksheets, and the link to the learnenglishonline YouTube channel for access to all grammar instructional videos.

News Articles

www.english-online.at

audience: learners

level: intermediate

Information: English-Online provides “articles in easy, understandable English for [ESL] learners” on a truly wide variety of topics, including but not limited to: entertainment, health/medicine, education, government/politics, technology, sports, and travel. Each article contains bolded vocabulary words that are defined at the bottom of the page so students can expand their vocabulary while developing their reading skills simultaneously. For some topics, students can watch a news broadcast on the issue rather than reading an article, but the video still contains a list of vocabulary words from the broadcast that readers may be unfamiliar with that are defined at the bottom of the page.

ProLiteracy Education Network

www.proliteracyednet.org

audience: tutors and learners

level: all levels

Information: This website offers innovative and research-based techniques and strategies for teaching English as a second language. It not only offers interactive resources for learners, but it also provides constructive lesson plans, conversation topics, and other activities for tutors. Topics range from a focus on citizenship and passing the citizenship test to how to read a newspaper and a more specific focus on American culture. The material for learners covers a broad range of vocabulary and comprehension levels with various games to help reinforce key terms.

ESL Notes

www.eslnotes.com

audience: learners and tutors

level: intermediate-advanced

Information: ESL Notes offers a practical approach to vocabulary acquisition, based on the ideas that people internalize languages more easily when they are already familiar with what is being said. ESL students are able to read the synopses before seeing an accompanying film, which has been proven to increase their level of comprehension. Each individual movie guide functions as a synopsis of a popular movie that consisting of plot summary, a list of the major characters, an extensive glossary of vocabulary and various cultural references that even advanced ESL learners would often not understand, and questions for ESL class discussion. The site also offers helpful tips for tutors.

ESL Gold

www.eslgold.com

audience: learners and tutors

level: all levels

Information: ESL Gold provides free information and resources for both learners and tutors. Materials are organized by skill and level for quick and easy access. This site contains educational material for learners of all levels pertaining to speaking, listening, reading, writing, grammar and vocabulary. There are also additional pages for using English in business and learning idioms. For tutors, there are helpful tips in addition to information regarding standardized teaching exams. The site is very user friendly and easy to navigate. This site has relevant topics such as “Today’s News Stories” as well as a list of conversation topics.

Sounds of English

www.soundsofenglish.org

audience: learners and tutors

level: beginner-intermediate

Information: Sounds of English is a site operated by ESOL teachers, where they share their favorite links, handouts from previous presentations, English pronunciation pages – Activities and exercises for English pronunciation and listening, and tips for teachers. The site also has listening exercises with printable worksheets and teacher guides along with pictures, sounds, and videos to help with learning English pronunciation. This site does not have advertisements, nor does it require personal information to log-in.

English Club

www.englishclub.com

audience: learners and tutors

level: all levels

Information: English Club provides learners with lessons, games, quizzes, and videos to help them learn English. There also chat areas for learner and tutors to communicate as well as practice their language skills. For tutors, the site posts materials and pages designed to help in teaching English as well as volunteer/job opportunities. This site has advertisements.

Free Rice

www.freerice.com

audience: learners

level: beginner-intermediate

Information: Free Rice allows learners to access a helpful quiz tool to practicing their vocabulary and speaking without submitting any personal information to log-in. The site has an appealing presentation and is quite easy to use. Learners benefit from the range of vocabulary and meanings given in an easy format. As they learn they are donating rice to a food program by answering questions correctly.

English for Everyone

www.englishforeveryone.org

audience: tutors
level: n/a

Information: English for Everyone allows tutors to access a range of resources to help in teaching reading and grammar skills, as well as provides a list of lesson plans and ideas. Most of these exercises are geared for beginner level learners, and most of the materials are printable. There are some advertisements on this site.

Englisch-Hilfen

www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/

audience: learners and volunteers

level: all levels

Information: Users can access information without logging on. This site is relevant to both learners of all levels and volunteers. It is a helpful tool for grammar, vocabulary, and lesson planning ideas. This site has multimedia, and it offers explanations of many grammar topics, exercises organized by level of learner, as well as games for learners.

Easy World of English

easyworldofenglish.com

audience: learners

level: beginner-intermediate

Information: The site gives learners the freedom and independence in their own learning process. The site’s material is separated into four components: Grammar, Reading, Pronunciation and a Picture Dictionary, which is great for beginner level learners. There also various multimedia resources to support motivation and facilitate understanding. The site is free, but users need to register to access all the lessons.

Azar Grammar

www.azargrammar.com

audience: tutors

level: n/a

pros: This site is a time-tested and proven tool for helping tutors in teaching ESL. It is operated and updated by professionals in the field, and the material is relevant and constructive.

cons: This site is as limited as the extent of the program. While there are updates from blog posts, the featured material consists of the established program without any other outside resources included.

information: Azar Grammar offers ESL tutors from around the world to connect and share experiences and resources with each other. The site functions as a support system in forming this community as well as offering free downloadable material to guide tutors. The site is based on a program, so it is limited to the confines of the material. Tutors write blog posts that are accessible to anyone viewing the site.

English Central

www.englishcentral.com/videos/

audience: learners

level: all levels

Information: English Central offers a clever way to practice pronunciation in a meaningful context. Learners choose a short video clip from a TV show, commercial, movie, or informational topic, and repeat what they hear, phrase by phrase, into their computer’s microphone. English Central’s speech recognition feature records it and rates it in comparison to the original phrase. Phrases can be played at a slower rate and definitions of unfamiliar words can be provided.

ESL Tower

www.esltower.com/grammarteachers.html

audience: tutors

level: n/a

Information: ESL Tower features several ESL Exercises for Tutors and Learners. There are English grammar & vocabulary quizzes, crosswords, word search and several fun puzzles that make the learning and teaching of English easy and fun. Tutors can access an array of downloadable and printable material to help structure their own curriculum.

Hopelink Adult Education

www.eastsideliteracy.org/tutorsupport/ESL/ESLIdeas.htm

audience: tutors

level: n/a

information: Hopelink Adult Education offers a bank of resources for Adult ESL tutors. Resources range from lesson plans and ideas to ice breaker type exercises. The site is operated by tutors, so there are also helpful practical and conceptual tips for tutoring. The FAQ section is helpful and expansive as well.

EnglishLearner.com

www.englishlearner.com/tests/

audience: learners

level: all levels

Information: EnglishLearner.com helps you learn English online with exercises on grammar, reading comprehension, vocabulary and listening at beginner, intermediate and advanced levels. Material and Resources are organized by level and subject matter is presented in exercises, informal activities, and games.

California Distance Learning Project

www.cdlponline.org

audience: learners

level: intermediate-advanced

Information: The California Distance Learning Project (CDLP) offers this site as a resource for an adult ESL learner to build their life skills and the language pertaining to them. Topics include: Law and Government, Family, Health and Safety, Housing, Money, Services, and much more.

Real English

www.real-english.com

audience: learners

level: all levels

Information: Real English combines ESL/EFL grammar and lexical items in conjunction people encountered during their filming campaigns to offer a unique educational experience for adults. The videos are based on grammar structures, lexicals, and social functions, providing an anchor and a counterpoint to the spontaneity of the street videos. The lessons include images and audio files directly related to what the speakers are saying in the videos, providing meaning for beginners and intermediate students alike.

GCF LearnFree.org

www.gcflearnfree.org/everydaylife

audience: learners

level: all levels

Information: The EDL project uses interactive, situation-based lessons to teach functional literacy skills. Each activity provides learners with the opportunity to test their knowledge of real-world situations and to develop the confidence and skills necessary to be successful in everyday life. Each learning scenario is comprised of prose, document, or quantitative literacy tasks, as defined by the NAAL, with an emphasis on task-based applications of literacy. Each lesson has specific educational objectives and is classified as one of the literacy task categories that the National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) measures (i.e., Document, Prose, and Quantitative), when applicable.