English Central

Are you looking for a website where you can practice your English listening and speaking skills while watching real-life video clips? Then you might be interested in English Central!

Unlike many of the websites I've reviewed, you will need to register to use this website, but it is free! And if you want instructions in Spanish or a few other foreign languages, just click on the drop-down menu under "English" at the very top of the home page.

So let's talk about how to register. At the home page (see above), click on the "Student" button under "Register. It's Free!" Once you do that, you need to supply your user name (it doesn't have to be your real name), your email address, and a password of your choice. Once you enter these, you will get to a registration page (see below) asking for your main interest. This will determine what videos English Central offers to you, but you can always choose others once you're registered.

Next, you will be asked what level you're at (see below). I suggest that you click on "Don't want to use any of those scales" and then select "Intermediate." Again, this does not restrict what you can watch at the website.

Finally, you will be asked to supply a little information about your country of residence, native language, and gender. You don't have to provide a photo to register!

Now you're registered and ready to use the website, so click on "Get Started!"

You'll be given lots of choices of videos to watch, so pick something that interests you. Since I love animals, I chose a TV story on a rescued puppy.

The great thing about English Central is what you can do when you watch a video. First, you can read all the words spoken on the video to help you understand it. If the dialogue is too fast, you can slow it down by clicking on the "Snail" button to the left of the video. If you don't understand the meaning of a word, or if you want to hear it pronounced again, just click on that word in the text box. If the video seems too hard (or too easy), you can find videos at a different level. There are 862 in all, and they are rated Easy, Medium, and Hard.

If your computer has a microphone, you can also practice your speaking. To the left of each text box, there is a red microphone button. Press on that and record yourself speaking the text in the box. Press on the button again to stop recording. After you have recorded a few lines, you will see your score above the video. I tried it and got an A+, but then I'm a native speaker :) I would be curious to know how you score!


English Central also has a premium membership which might be very helpful if you have a lot of time to study. I especially liked the Vocabulary section, but most of the content is available only if you have the premium membership. This costs $10 a month or $50 for six months. If you need to work on increasing your English vocabulary but have trouble studying on your own, this might be worth it!

Learn English Feel Good

Do you like taking quizzes to see how well you are learning English? Then Learn English Feel Good is the place to go!

 At the home page, click on English Grammar Exercises. As you can see below, there are lots and lots of different quizzes covering all sorts of grammar topics. Pay attention to the level of each quiz; they are marked B for Beginner, I for Intermediate, and A for Advanced.

Below is a Intermediate level quiz covering the use of the articles the and a. After you have marked all your answers, click on "Check Answers" and a new window will pop up telling you how you did.

At the home page, you can also click on Vocabulary Tests and try taking some vocabulary quizzes. Below is a quiz on words or expressions we might use in a restaurant.

Learn English Feel Good isn't the best website for learning English grammar (try Learn American English Online for that) but it is a great website to find out how much grammar and vocabulary you know and what areas you might need more practice in.

ESL Cyber Listening Lab

Do you need some help with your English listening skills? Then, ESL Cyber Listening Lab is definitely a website to check out! Below is a screenshot of the home page:

You should start with the General Listening Quizzes.They are grouped in three levels: Easy, Medium, and Difficult. The speakers speak at a normal speed but a little more clearly than you might hear in everyday American speech. Each listening quiz begins with a Pre-Listening description. This is written information about the topic. For example, in the Answering Machine listening exercise below, you can read about different phone services in the U.S. Here is a screenshot of the Pre-Listening Exercises:

After you read this, go to the Listening Exercise and press the play button. You can play it as many times as you like. After that, try to answer the questions about what you've heard. Press "Final Score" to see your score and the correct answers. Here is a screenshot of the Listening Exercises:

If you had trouble understanding something, you can see the written script (copy of what people said) by clicking on Quiz Script. The Quiz Script will also explain certain key vocabulary words and English idioms (common expressions). Here is a screenshot of the Quiz Script:

And finally, there are also vocabulary activities that will help you test what you've learned, and even post-listening exercises and online investigations. I don't think the last two are that important. Here is a screenshot of these last three activities:

Besides the general and basic listening quizzes, there are also more difficult listening exercises to help prepare you for tests like the TOEFL, as well as a few videos for practicing your listening skills. In general, this is a great resource for practicing your listening skills! There are a few ads that you need to avoid clicking on, but remember that if you click on an ad by accident, you can always hit your back button to return to the previous page!

TalkEnglish

TalkEnglish is a free website whose goal is to help you speak English more fluently. If you have trouble understanding all the instructions, the first thing you should do is click on the dropdown "Select a Language" menu at the top right of the home page. Written instructions are given in 20 different languages.

Home page of TalkEnglish.com

The basic pattern you need to follow is to: click on the sentence, listen to the audio, repeat with your voice. There is a huge number of different lessons at this website! Besides learning all the basics and important phrases for travel and job interviews, you can find lessons in talking about your feelings, various sports, movies, eating out, going to the doctor, and even smoking (both asking for a light or for saying that you don't like smoking!).

Here are some basic interview questions you can practice saying.

 One thing I really like about this website is the large number of listening comprehension exercises. For those of you who struggle to understand what people are saying, click on the Listening Lessons. There are three levels: Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced. You will listen to a short dialogue and then answer questions about what the people are saying. If you don't understand something, you can click on "Show Conversation Dialog" .... but try not to do this until you have listened several times! The speakers use American English and speak quickly, like most Americans do, so you have to listen carefully. 

This is the dialogue from an Intermediate Listening Lesson.

If you can't spend much time working at your computer, you can download every single exercise to your MP3 player for a charge of around $19. To do this, you have to go to the English Download page. The total file size is over 1GB, so make sure you have the room! The payment is made through a secure site, so your personal information should be safe.

Learn American English Online

Several of my students (lookin' at you, Fabiola and Alaeddin!) have mentioned using the website Learn American English Online, so I thought I would check it out. 

Home page of Learn American English Online

I'm very impressed. This website was created by one teacher, "Teacher Paul" Lawrence in 2003 and is still updated daily. It's a free website, open to all learners from beginners to advanced, and although there are a few ads from sponsors, they do not clutter up (take too much space on) the page. If you click on one by accident, just hit your back button to go back to the LAEO website.

If you want to learn English grammar, this is a great place to do it! Lessons are divided into seven different levels, starting with Blue (beginners) and ending with Violet (most advanced). The subject matter proceeds in an orderly, logical way. The very first lesson covers the verb "to be." There are audio bars to click on so you can hear Teacher Paul's pronunciation, helpful verb charts with pictures, a video of Teacher Paul teaching the lesson and, finally, a quiz to test you on what you've learned. You can't complete the quizzes online; you have to write your answers, but you can get the correct answers at the website.

First lesson in the Blue (beginner's) Level

In addition to learning lots of English grammar, you can also work on your pronunciation, "talk" (in text only) to other students in a chatroom, explore American slang, learn the "word of the day" at Teacher Paul's blog, review lots of vocabulary words in categories such as "Clothing" and "Animals," watch a video about the city of Chicago, or practice your reading in the "Reading Room" (there's one for each level).

I think what I liked the very best about Learn American English Online is this helpful page on how to learn English. Teacher Paul gives you lots of suggestions about how to study. I agree with Teacher Paul that you can't learn English by just going to a website (even one as good as this!) or just going to an English class. The more different ways you try to practice your English, the more you'll learn and the more quickly you'll progress!

Here are Teacher Paul's suggestions for learning English.

Many Things

Many Things isn't the most exciting website you've ever seen.

Home page of Many Things

The home page is a little drab (not much color) but, on the other hand, there are no confusing ads and other distractions like at the English Media Lab website.  That's because Many Things is a non-commercial website; it isn't trying to sell you anything. The only thing the creators of Many Things want you to do is to learn English :)

 If you want to work on your listening comprehension, try one of the many Listening & Reading exercises. You can download a 15-minute story (such as the biography of McDonald's founder Ray Kroc) to your MP3 player or listen on the computer. There is a written transcript (copy) of the story so that you can read along. The storytellers speak slowly and clearly to help you follow along.

This is the transcript of the story about Ray Kroc

If you have only a short time each day to practice English, you might try going to the "Daily Page" (listed under "Other" near the bottom of the home page). This page is updated every day and has features such as "Slang of the Day," a "Quiz for the Day," and Daily Listening and Pronunciation Practice exercises.

This is the Daily Page

Although Many Things doesn't have all the "bells and whistles" that some other websites have, it's a good place to practice your English and is easy to navigate (find your way around) without getting confused or distracted.

Free Rice

Free Rice home page

Free Rice is a fun website where you can learn English vocabulary and grammar while fighting world hunger! It is a non-profit (doesn't make money for itself) website run by the United Nations World Food Programme (in American English we spell it "Program"). For each answer you get right, the program donates 10 grains of rice to help end world hunger. It's fun to get the right answer and watch your "bowl" quickly fill up with rice!

When you go to the home page, you'll probably see a question on English vocabulary. Select your answer and, if you're right, the program will give you a slightly harder question. If you miss it, you will get an easier one. The questions you get wrong will be repeated later, so be sure to pay attention to the correct answer!

This is a sample English grammar question.

If you want to practice English grammar, click on "Change Subjects" to the top right of the question box. Or click on "Subjects" on the toolbar at the top. In addition to English vocabulary and grammar, you could also practice your English by trying some of the other subjects. For example, "Flags of the World" can help you to learn the English names of many countries, as well as their flags!

These are all the subjects you can study on Free Rice

English Media Lab

English Media Lab is a very busy website!

Home page of English Media Lab

You may find it a bit confusing ... the home page has a lot going on, including lots of ads! If you click on one of those, you may find yourself going somewhere else on the Web, so be careful! Some but definitely not all of the games and exercises are more suitable for children, but you may still find them fun. I thought the videos were a little boring but see what you think. If you do any of the listening exercises, notice that the speakers may have British or Australian accents. They may not sound like the people you hear in the U.S.

When you click on an exercise or game, you will need to scroll down the page a little to find it. There is almost always another window above that's really an ad for another website. If you click on one of these by mistake, you'll be directed to another website. You can tell by looking at the URL address on the address bar at the top of your computer screen. If you go somewhere by mistake, just hit your "back" button and you will get back to the English Media Lab.

Here's a website I went to by mistake. The URL on the address bar says I'm now at Jumpstart.com. I pressed the back arrow at the top left to get back to my game.

Daily Deal Websites

In our class, we discussed daily deal websites like Groupon and Living Social. Some students had used them and some had not. A recent study showed that "while 37 percent of Americans are members of a daily deal site, 56 percent of Americans do not subscribe to any such sites and 42 percent 'do not like anything' about the sites." Also, the study found that most of the people who use these websites are younger and more affluent (have more money).

One important thing to remember before you buy a "deal" is to check the "fine print." The fine print means certain limits and conditions about your deal. For example, I bought a $50 gift certificate at a Lexington restaurant for $25. It sounded like a good deal! But when I looked at the "fine print" on my gift certificate, I found out that there were many weekends in April, May, and June when I couldn't use it. So check carefully to make sure that your deal is really a good deal!

Livemocha

This is the home page.

Livemocha is a website that you should definitely check out if you want to practice your English. To join Livemocha, you need to click on the link, go to the homepage, and tell them what language you speak and what language you want to learn (English, I hope)! You need to give them your email address, make up a password, and you're ready to start!

These are the three questions.

• After you answer a few questions about what your goals are, you will get to your "Welcome [your name]" home page. 

This will be your home page.

Under "My Activities" (on the left-hand side), click on "Start a Course." The "Active English" course is great, with videos and helpful information, but it does cost money. The "Basic English" course is free. Once you join, you'll probably get emails from Livemocha offering you a free trial period of Active English, so take advantage of that! You can take the Active English class for $9.95 a month, and that's a good deal if you have lots of time to spend working on your English.

These are the two types of courses. Active English costs money; Basic English is free.

One thing I really like about Livemocha is that you can get feedback on your written and spoken work from real English speakers. They might also become your "friends." And you can also help people who are learning your native language.

If you have any questions about using Livemocha, please add a comment to this post and I will try to help you.