Resources for Practicing English Alone or In Class

I. READING COMPREHENSION:
News Reports:
1. CNN: http://www.cnn.com/
2. USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/
3. Newsweek: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/
4. BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk
5. Newsweek International: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3037881/site/newsweek/
6. Time Magazine: http://www.time.com/time/

II. LISTENING COMPREHENSION:

News Broadcasts:
1. VOA America Radio: http://www.voanews.com/english/index.cfm – news reports are read at a slower speed
with limited vocabulary.
2. National Public Radio (USA) –http://www.npr.org/
3. BBC Radio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/
4. Story telling: http://www.storyteller.net/stories/audio
5. Listening Lab: http://www.englishlistening.com/startListeningNow.do

Speeches: These are famous speeches, movie clips and radio broadcasts. Some are written out as well.
www.americanrhetoric.com

Music Lyrics: If students want to practice English by listening to American music, the lyrics can be VERY helpful.
1. www.azlyrics.com,
2. www.lyricspedia.com

Dictation
1. Stories and excerpts: http://www.fonetiks.org/dictations/ or (alternate link) http://www.dictationsonline.com/
2. Real-life situations (medium level): http://www.englishclub.com/listening/dictations-medium.htm
3. Real-life situations (high level): http://www.englishclub.com/listening/dictations-long.htm
4. News dictations: http://www.listen-and-write.com/audio

IV. WRITING:
1. Purdue University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl
2. Chicago Style Manual http://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/tools_citationguide.html

V. GRAMMAR, VOCABULARY and TOEFL practice:

Grammar:
1. http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_toefl1.htm - 33 questions, gives answers after you answer the question.
Questions in structure format
2. http://esl.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?zi=1/XJ&sdn=esl&cdn=education&tm=5&gps=294_499_1276_6
21&f=11&su=p897.3.336.ip_&tt=2&bt=0&bts=1&zu=http%3A//www.testmagic.com/Knowledge_Base/TOEFL
/Structure/index.htm - in written expression format. Different levels. Pick the bottom 3.
3. http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/toefl_structure_1.htm
Reading:
http://www.eduers.com/toeflibt/Sample-TOEFL-Reading-Questions.htm
Vocabulary:
1. http://www.freerice.com/
2. http://esl.about.com/library/quiz/bl_toefl2.htm
3. http://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/toefl_vocabulary.htm
4. http://freetoefl.net/ - do this one with a partner. Race to see who finishes first and has the best score.

VI. BUSINESS ENGLISH

1. http://www.englishclub.com/business-english/index.htm
2. http://www.business-english.com/
3. http://www.better-english.com/grammar.htm
 Helpful Sites for Planning Classes and Discussions in English Clubs
GENERAL INFORMATION
1. Dave’s ESL Café - http://www.eslcafe.com/

DISCUSSION STARTERS AND IDEAS

1. www.esldiscussions.com
2. Short interesting videos to discuss: www.ted.com
3. American Stories (culture, listening and reading) www.storycorps.com

ENGLISH CLUBS
1. Excellent site for starting and maintaining a club: http://www.englishclub.com/index.htm
2. Example of club site in Tajikistan http://www.english.tj/main_en.html

COMPLETE LESSON PLANS

1. Lower Level with complete lesson plans: www.breakingnewsenglish.com

FORUMS AND DISCUSSIONS

1. http://www.speakoz.com/english-directory/english-learning-groups.html

AMERICAN CORNER WEBSITES: try looking at for ideas of what other ACs are doing
1. Albania: http://tirana.usembassy.gov/ac.html
2. Cyprus Greece: www.americanembassy.org.cy/americancorners/
3. Russia: http://amcorners.ru/
4. Hungary: http://www.americancorner.hu/htmls/americancorner.html

LIST OF MORE RESOURCES

4. List of EFL/ESL resource websites http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html