10 Learning Communities for ESL students

Participating in an online language learning community is a good way for ESL students to improve speaking and writing skills. The average community provides language partners to chat with in addition to other learning tools. Here are 10 online learning communities that can be joined for free. EnglishForums.com - EnglishForums.com is the world's largest EFL/TEFL social network....

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20 Free Online Libraries and Reading Rooms

Reading online is a great way for students to practice and improve English reading skills. There are many free libraries and reading rooms that allow you to read books, articles, historical documents, and reference materials online. Here is a list of 20 online libraries worth exploring: The Free Library - The Free Library by Farlex features over 5 million articles and books...

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Virtual Social Networking Conferences in November 2009

From November 5th to 8th, 2009, there will be an open-knowledge event, Social Networking, organized by AVEALMEC and ARCALL, two LatinAmerican associations, one based in Venezuela and the other one in Argentina, interested in promoting the use of ICT in the language classroom. It will be completely online and free, and its aim is to encourage practioners to reflect the role...

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Docking at the Right Harbour

Have you ever had problems to find useful resources on the net for teaching English? Have you ever wonder what are the best ESL/EFL resources, the best Edubloggers in the English teaching field? Many times when we want to use Internet as an education tool, we get lost due to the great amount of information contained on the net. In order to avoid this, Gorka Palazio, professor of the University of the Basque Country, has developed two great sites: English Harbour and English Tube. English Harbour, a RSS website where you will find a selection of...

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20 places to study english grammar online

If you are looking for a fun and interactive way to study English grammar, you can find almost everything you need on the Internet. There are exercises, tests, study guides, quizzes, and many other materials that make studying English grammar both simple and entertaining. Here are 20 resources to try: Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - The Purdue OWL offers a wide variety...

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SpellQuizzer - Help your students master their spelling

Today, I was contacted by Dan Hite, a corporate software developer, who talked to me about his useful educative programme for Windows, SpellQuizzer. SpellQuizzer helps students that need help learning their spelling and vocabulary words and it has very nice features. SpellQuizzer was not designed with any one spelling curriculum in mind. In fact, it should compliment virtually...

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Speak N' Spell

If you students need help with pronunciation, listening and writing, Speak N' Spell can be the perfect software to recommend them and use in the classroom. How does it work? The first time you open it, if you want to add a specific word list for your students you have to open the Word Maintenance, clear the table and add your own words saving your own list. Doing this, they...

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To Teach or Not to Teach Grammar? - That is the Eternal Question

This morning, while browsing around the net, I stopped on an ESL forum post that called my attention and made me think: "I think that grammar is useless for learning to speak fluently...what do you think?" someone said.This topic has been quite controversial for decades. Should or shouldn't we teach grammar? If the answer is affirmative, how and when should we teach it? In the late 1970s, Chomsky, Krashen and others pointed out that the learning of a language should be like a child ´s natural acquisition. I mean, when we start speaking our mother...

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My English Images - when a picture is worth more than a thousand words

A lot of researches have been done over years on the importance of using visuals in the ESL/EFL classroom for our students' learning process since images allow them to infer, deduce and provide the context to clarify the meaning of written texts. A great resource for teachers that I discovered three days ago is My English Images, a website created by F. Michael Kloran, an...

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Language Social Networks - Don't Stop Learning!

Due to the globalized world we live in, many people decide to learn a foreign language for different reasons and purposes. The best opportunity to learn it is being immerse in the context the language is spoken but not everybody can afford to live in a foreign country. However, learning English has never been so easy, interactive and social since social networks appeared on...

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20 Websites to Practice and Learn the English Language

Some students need extra practice outside of class. Fortunately, there are many different websites to practice and learn English online. Here are 20 free sites to recommend to your students: Learn English Livemocha - Livemocha is a popular language learning site used by millions of people around the world. Students can learn from online language lessons and chat with other...

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Improve your English and be supportive!

Today, David García, from Aprende Inglés Online (Learn English Online) sent me an e-mail inviting me to participate in the great campaign he is carrying out to fight hunger through FREE RICE. Freerice is a simple and well-designed website where you can practise English vocabulary and grammar but also other subjects such as Art, Geography, Maths, Chemistry, French, German,...

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Considering ESL teaching in Asia? 3 great places for ESL teachers

The need for ESL teachers is growing throughout the world, particularly in Asia, as English is quickly becoming the international language of choice; if you’re interested in pursuing this profession and moving abroad, check out these three great places for ESL teachers: 1. Hong Kong Although Hong Kong can be one of the most difficult ESL teaching markets to break into, the rewards are great—particularly financially. Hong Kong offers some of the best ESL teaching wages in Asia; monthly stipends can reach upwards to $5,000. Not surprisingly, many...

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