Tutorials for English language learners

Tutorials for English Language Learners

If you are ready to practice English on your own, these tutorials for English language learners can help. They are designed to provide you with different ways to practice reading, writing, listening and speaking. Take some of the activities on these sites and make up your own ways to practice English using the activities as a starting point. Try all of the sites to find ones you like, but be sure to practice all four areas of English to become a proficient English speaker.

News

BBC World Service Learning English

Voice of America Special English

Breaking News English

These three sites offer news in English. They are designed to provide the most up-to-date news in a format that English language learners can understand and learn from. Listen to the stories on your computer before you listen again, this time reading the story as you listen to it at the same time. Listen for new words you have not heard before. Complete the exercises for stories you read on Breaking News English. Several writing exercises accompany each story. Start by picking a story that interests you from the long list of stories available.

Listening and Speaking

Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab

ESL Fast

Listen to conversations in English online using these sites. Practice role-playing the conversations while listening to the conversations. Listen to other types of listening exercises as well. Try summarizing what you hear to practice new words, sentence construction and pronunciation. Write down your summary after you say it out loud.

General and Grammar Tutorials

Penn State's ESL Tutorial

Penn State's online ESL Tutorial offers students the chance to take a 15-minute assessment of their English language abilities before they dive into the variety of lessons offered on the ESL Tutorial site.

Purdue's Online Writing Lab

The Purdue Online Writing Lab offers a multitude of resources for the ESL student. This page has a list of tutorials categorized by grammar topics.

University of Cambridge ESOL Examinations

This is the page where English language learners preparing to take the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) exams can find many resources and tutorials to help them not only understand the structure and content of the examination better, but also practice reading, writing, listening and speaking in English in general. Resources for both general and academic English are available.

These are just a few of the many tutorials for English language learners available online to help you practice English. They are a good starting point for you to begin using and practicing English outside the classroom. Do extra activities based on what you see on these sites. Watch a video twice, listening for new words; write a summary of a news story you read; print out and study a grammar handout; or record yourself practicing a conversation you heard on a listening practice website. Listen to the original recording again to practice correct pronunciation. Use the activities you find on these sites as guides to help you learn as much about English as possible.