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TEFL/TESL Sites |
| Dictionaries | Learning | Miscellaneous |
| Directories | Literature & Poetry | Resources |
| EFL Teachers | Media | Teaching |
Online dictionaries, grammar references, thesauri, and etymologies.
Cambridge International Dictionaries Online. Search online Cambridge dictionaries of English, American English, Phrasal Verbs, and Idioms. Very useful.
The DICT Development Group. A project to develop a protocol and tools to develop and query online natural language databases. The site currently features an interface to several online English dictionaries, allowing the user to query all or any of them at one time using advanced search criteria.
Dictionary.com. Online searchable English dictionary, including links to other English and non-English online dictionaries and a glossary of English jargon terms. Learners can also create flash cards for vocabulary revision.
Hyperdictionary (née The Exploding Dictionary). A sort of 'meta' search form for various publicly-available English dictionaries (including Websters, the Hackers Dictionary, and the Jargon File) which generates definitions of a term from these dictionaries in both plain and hypertext format, so that you can follow links to related material.
FreeDictionary.org. A meta search engine, which searches one or more online English-language dictionaries (eg Websters, Free Online Dictionary of Computing). You can search for words, prefixes, substrings, or even Unix-style regular expressions. There's also an anagram word game, although it's not entirely obvious how to play it.
Geordie Dictionary. A dictionary, on one page, of one of the most impenetrable regional dialects in the UK.
Hypertext Webster Gateway A searchable online version of the Webster English Dictionary.
The Jargon Dictionary. A searchable and browsable dictionary of English jargon and slang terms, with particular reference to hacker slang (eg troll, hacker, phreaker).
KnowPlay Reference. A 'meta search engine' which allows you to search various dictionaries, thesauri, and encyclopedia from a single form.
Online English Grammar. A comprehensive reference hosted by St. John's Wood School of English, London.
Oxford Reference: English Dictionaries and Thesauruses. Online, searchable versions of Oxford English dictionaries and thesauri, giving full definitions and etymologies, with a useful cross-reference feature to follow leads.
Roget's Thesaurus. An online search form for the famous English thesaurus.
Slang Dictionaries and Language Links. A categorised and annotated collection of links to slang dictionaries worlwide, though concentrating almost exclusively on the English-speaking world.
Wiktionary. An open contributory multlingual dictionary, by the folk who brought you Wikipedia. Searchable by term, browsable by language.
Wordsmythe English Dictionary-Thesaurus. An online English dictionary with a difference, as the search produces related words and phrases as well as definitions.
World Wide Words: exploring the English language. A fascinating and highly browseable site containing the derivation and history of hundreds of English words and phrases, including very recent terms. Indexed and searchable. Recommended.
Online directories of EFL products and courses.
GlobalStudy's "English Programs Around the World". A comprehensive list of links to ESL programs on the Web, sorted by country.
Sites aimed specifically at teachers of English, such as jobs listings, professional journals and newsletters, professional associations, and bulletin boards.
CactusTeachers. An admissions service for internationally recognised TEFL qualifications, such as the Cambridge CELTA and Trinity CertTESOL. The site has detailed information on various EFL schools worldwide teaching recognised qualifications, including each school's application form. There's also advice on applying for courses, and articles from first-time EFL teachers 'in the field', plus useful links for novice EFL teachers.
ESLWorldwide.com. Advice and job listings for English teachers abroad. The site has bulletin boards for jobs offered and wanted, and for English teachers to exchange ideas and experiences.
EFL/ESL Jobs in Japan. Listings of currently available jobs for English teachers in Japan.
ELT News. A newsletter for ELT teachers in Japan.
ESL Employment. An online 'labour exchange' for employers and TEFL teachers. Teachers can register for free to view and receive job listings. There's also an online teachers forum.
ESL Magazine. A bi-monthly magazine for ESL professionals.
IATEFL: International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language.
The Internet TESL Journal. A monthly web journal for TEFL teachers, with articles, lesson materials, and links. A section of the site - Activities for ESL Students - has activities for learners of English.
Teachers of English in Austria. TEA is a professional organisation for TEFL teachers working in Austria. As well as information about the organisation and its activities, the site has links to useful TEFL-related sites.
Teaching English in Taiwan. A survival guide for English teachers who want to work in Taiwan.
TEFL.net. A resource centre for teachers of English, including a Job Centre, discussion fora, and an online store where you can buy teaching materials.
TEFL Professional Network. A resource for TEFL teachers, including an up-to-date list of jobs sorted by country and links to TEFL resources on the Internet.
TESL Electronic Journal. "TESL-EJ is a refereed electronic journal publishing articles in the research and practice of the teaching of English as a second or foreign language."
TESOL Online. The website of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages, Inc.
Online lessons, exercises, and learning materials for students of English.
Accents in English with eViews. Weekly comprehension exercises based on recorded interviews (MP3, RealAudio) in different English accents, which subscribers can download from the site. Subscription is charged to EFL teachers, but is free to students. There's also a list of EFL-related Internet links, some of which are annotated.
The Amazing Cognate Poems Homepage: Laugh and learn. A few French and English lessons based on funny poems.
Dave's ESL Cafe. "Where learning English is Fun!". A friendly website for students and teachers of ESL, with language resources and online chat rooms.
English@WSL. A large number of interactive quizzes, sorted by level, for learners of English, plus a database of annotated links for English learners, searchable by category, and links to current news stories. The site has been created by students at the College of Foreign Languages in Czestochowa, Poland.
English through the Internet. A 'virtual course' using the Internet to teach English via distance learning.
ESL House. Resources for students and teachers of English, including directories of schools and services, an illustrated slang dictionary, short stories, and audio clips. The site uses a house and room design metaphor.
English@home. A large compendium of resources for people learning English at home, including grammar and vocabulary, "Real lifeEnglish", a "Radio Room" where you can listen to English radio stations online, online fora, and a free email newsletter.
EnglishClub.net. Lots of resources, including reference materials, study aids, and quizzes, for teachers and learners of English.
English School on the net. Free online English classes for beginners to advanced students.
ExamSpeak. An interesting approach to preparing for Key English Test (KET) exams, using a gaming engine to create a Second Life-style virtual simulations of English tests so that the student can approach the experience of a real live interview. Sample questions and lessons are available for free, as is the speech comparison test - the full question bank, and live exam test, require a €20 subscription. The simulations require the installation of the Unity 3D gaming engine.
FCE Blog. A weblog written, and continually updated, by Claudia Ceraso, a teacher of English in Argentina, which she describes as "a webguide to online practice for students preparing for the Cambridge FCE [First Certificate in English] exam. It offers guide and advice on all parts of the test as well as reflection on how students may become more autonomous learners. "
FreeEnglish. Games for English learners (developed in Flash) and downloadable EFL software for users who sign up to free site registration.
Interesting Things for ESL Students. Interactive activities using Flash, Javascript, and Java, for students of English, including quizzes, sentence generators, and Hangman. The focus is on American English.
Internet Grammar of English. An online course in English grammar written primarily for university undergraduates, including Javascript exercises and a glossary of grammatical terms.
International Writing Exchange (IWE). An email project, based at the University of Helsinki, Finland, for students of English worldwide.
Learn English. The British Council Website for learners of English. The site has a range of literacy materials, information about courses and links to other Websites. Learners can enter the site using their first language and identify the learning zone appropriate to their learning level. Languages currently available are Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish.
Learning Chocolate. Lots of cute interactive vocabulary learning resources, using pictures and audio clips implemented in Adobe Flash, and sorted into categories (eg animals, camping, body, etc). There's also a small collection of links to resources.
Learning English with the BBC. Learn or improve your English with this interactive multimedia website run by the BBC, which uses authentic audio and video clips. Beginners lessons are available in an eclectic selection of source languages, including Mandarin, Russian, and Ukrainian.
La Mansion del Ingles. A free multimedia beginners English course for Spanish speakers, comprising 12 lessons, interactive exercises, and useful additional resources (grammar, vocabulary, song lyrics). The audio clips are in .wma format and require the Winamp player (full version), and unfortunately the site is currently only usable in Internet Explorer. Site text in Spanish.
The Many Roads to Japan. A downloadable interactive hypermedia book (PDF) by Robert W Norris which tells the story of a Vietnam War war resister's journey of self discovery. Aimed at ESL students and teachers (intermediate and above levels), the book includes hyperlinks, essay and comprehension questions, and exercises. The website also has a reading by the author in Real format.
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab. Lots of English listening quizzes using audio and video materials. Each quiz has Pre-listening, Listening, and Post-Listening activities, and the transcript of each clip is available with popup definitions of target words. There's also a Bulletin Board and Chat Centre.
Tom Robb's page. Email projects of Japanese students learning English (in English and Japanese), publications by Prof. Robb, and a few links. Hosted by the Dept of English, Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan.
Wicked stuff for English learners. Interactive multimedia activities, most of which require browser plug-ins (Shockwave, RealAudio).
The On-Line Books Page. A searchable database of links to over 12,000 books online, the vast majority English-language. There's also a page of links to online libraries of non-English-language texts.
English-language newspapers, TV & radio stations, and journals. Only a few of the thousands of English-language media are listed below - the excellent Kidon Media Link is the best database of media across the world, in all languages and regions.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The largest media website in the UK, and quite likely in the world, containing news, broadcasts, programme details, educational materials, and a lot more.
Capital Radio. London's main commercial radio station online, with live RealAudio broadcasts.
CNN. The world-famous US news service online, including a live RealAudio feed. Broadcasts in Spanish and English.
Daily Mirror. The online edition of the popular English tabloid newspaper.
Electronic Telegraph. The online version of the English daily broadsheet. For registered users only, although you can register online for free.
The Guardian. The English daily broadsheet (now in "Berliner" <cough> format) online.
The Herald. The Glasgow-based Scottish daily online.
The Independent Online. Full news stories and articles from the UK broadsheet.
The Scotsman. The Edinburgh-based Scottish daily online.
This is London: Evening Standard Online. The London daily evening newspaper online.
The Times. The online version of the English broadsheet newspaper, including online access to back issues.
UK Newspapers and International Newspapers with English Versions. A compendium of links to websites of newspapers in the English-speaking world, and to non-English language papers which publish English versions. There are also selected links to non-English papers, and to other sites listing papers and periodicals.
EFL-related sites that don't really fit into any other category on this page.
foreignborn.com Detailed practical information for foreigners coming to the USA, which could be of particular use to EFL students wishing to study English in the USA.
Merlin.University of Hull Foundation courses in English for business and general communication, which can be followed from anywhere in the world using the Internet-based Merlin learning environment.
General resources for anyone interested in English in general, or TEFL in particular.
British Library: Language and Literature. An authoritative reference and guide to the English language as spoken in the UK, with sections on poetry, history, changing language, and more. A particularly interesting section is "Sounds familiar", on regional accents and dialects in the UK (eg Geordie, Scouse) with recordings from native speakers, which learners of English might find useful to understand 'non-standard' English. Recommended.
Business English Special Interest Group (BESIG). A SIG for the international business English teaching community. The website has back issues of BESIG publications and a discussion forum.
The English Centre at the University of Hong Kong. Information about the Centre and links to other EFL/ESL resources.
TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ESL/EFL/ESOL Links. A categorised and searchable collection of over 3000 links for teachers and students of ESL. By using HTML code provided on the site you can use the site's search engine on your own TEFL website.
Tower of English. Lots of links to ESL sites, sorted by category on different 'floors' of the Tower.
Tukudoo. A search engine for TEFL teachers which returns links to textbooks on Amazon. Search by string and category. Note that the search button is in the page footer.
Wisconsin Online Resource Center. This large repository of Reusable Learning Objects (RLOs) has 18 RLOs, at the time of writing, in a ABE/ESL section, with titles such as Essay Writing and Leaving a Telephone Message. The RLOs, and indeed the site as a whole, are implemented in Flash.
Teaching resources for teachers of English.
1-language.com. A free resource site for EFL teachers and learners, including grammar quizzes, a teacher 'job centre', worksheets, a library of texts, games, chat and forums, online TOIEC tests, and more. Some parts of the site require the Macromedia Flash plugin. Site text in English and Korean.
5000 SAT preparation words. An alphabetical list of 5000 English words with brief definitions.
Aardvark's EFL Resources. Links, resources and contacts for students and teachers of EFL. There are Interactive Exercises practising grammar, vocabulary and idioms at mixed levels, and a Flags & Countries Quiz.
Boggle's World: ESL activities for adults. Stacks of free printable (MS Word format) teaching materials and activities for teachers of ESL to adults. The site also has a site directory for ESL teachers.
Education Guardian: TEFL. Hosted on the website of The Guardian, this site has lots of resources for EFL teachers and students, including a directory of annotated links, lesson plans based on news stories, and a teacher's forum.
EFL Tech - France. A website for EFL for Mechanical Engineering, with teaching resources.
ELT Calendar. A calendar of forthcoming events of interest to English teachers in Japan, viewable by date and location, and including a Call for Papers section.
ESL Herald. International job search for ESL teachers, across all continents. Includes country guides with essential survival information. Free to use for jobseekers.
Flo-Joe for Cambridge exam preparation. A resource for teachers and students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE) and the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). Includes exam information, interactive practice tests, strategy training, a Writing class and forums.
Graphwords. This innovative resource for English language teaches is a 'visual thesaurus'. Type in a word or short phrase to generate a visual mindmap-style visual map of related words and phrases, each of which is clickable to generate a map on that word/phrase. You can save the map as a PNG image for use offline. An entry on Nik Peachey's ELT blog describes the resource in more detail.
Guide to Grammar and Writing. Lots of English grammar references and interactive exercises (written in Javascript and CGI). An excellent resource for both teachers and learners of English. Recommended.
Sarah and John's TEFL Pitstop. Free EFL teaching materials and CALL software. There's also a Spanish version of the site.
