ESL video quiz site

This free site looks very interesting to practice listening.  Short video clips at all levels with an accompanying video.  When you have completed the quiz send your results with your name top me using my teacher code:- JeanG

VOA News.Com - Special English

VOA News.Com - Special English. This is a Voice of America website designed to communicate by radio in clear and simple English with people whose native language is not English. There are many current short radio stories on this site that can be downloaded into an MP3 file with printer friendly transcripts. The stories are read slowly with short sentences and limited vocabulary. There is an easily accessible archive with a vast wealth of stories going back to 2001. Also, their little search window is easy to use and a fast way to access various topics you may want to learn. This is a FREE WEBSITE.

ELLLO Podcasts

I will post a number of podcast sites here for you. they are all free and will help you practice your listening skills. They all have transcripts with them to make the activity easier to follow for lower level learners. Have fun exploring. The forst site I will introduce you to is (ELLO) English Listening Lesson Library Online

Homophone matching game

Homophones are words that have the same sound (pronunciation) but different meanings and (usually) different spelling. Some simple examples are: •to/two •see/sea •made/maid In these homophones matching games you have to find the homophones that match each other, and drag them side-by-side. This is a really fun way to improve your English pronunciation and your spelling at the same time.

What to do when there is an earthquake

What to do when there is an earthquake. We should all know what to do in an earthquake, and that's DROP COVER HOLD. Watch this video as Peter Elliot explains what to do when an earthquake happens. It could save your life.

Try "Listen a minute .com" for Easy listening texts

This site Listen a minute .com" has  Easy listening texts for independent study.  Why don't you give them a try. 

One minute a day is all you need to improve your listening skills. Focus on new words, grammar and pronunciation in these short texts. Doing the online activities, discussion, survey and writing will help. Listen many times - enough for you to you understand everything. Listen A Minute.

See "News English Lessons.com" for Easier news stories

This site  News English Lessons .com has easier news stories that will be a valuable study aid for listening.  Please try our some of these stories in your independent study time.

"Howjsay." How to pronounce any word

A free online talking dictionary of English pronunciation.  This site "Howjsay" allows you to type in a word and hear how it sounds.  You can also browse through an index of words click on  a word and it will give that word and some similar words that you can click on to hear them pronounced.

My English lessons-combination skills

This site "My English lessons" is good for getting a grounding of the basics of English and covers sentence work, grammar, parts of speech, spelling, writing and vocabulary. It gives rules for language use, lessons and quizzes to check what you have learned.  Note that some of the links do not open and I have not, as yet, found out why; but there is plenty of other useful material here to explore. Why not check it out.  :-).

English club .com

This free site English club .com looks to be most promising with lots of practice materials for:- listening (with news), idiomatic language, this week in history, language tools and much more. Why don't you check it out for your independent study time.  Have fun. :-)

Summer Olympics London 2012

Test you knowledge of the olympic games by trying out these quizes.   Have fun

This next site gives information abut the 26 sporting events that will be ontested at the summer Olympics in London.

(CILL) Centre for Independent Language Learning

Here is a new site that looks promisiing for practicing all English language skills. It is run by the Hong kong Polytechnic University.  Please try to find tiime to explore it soon.

Top 48 most motivational and inspirational websites

Procrastinators lament:

Procrastination is a sin,

It brings me endless sorrow,

I really must stop doing it,

In fact I'll start tomorrow.

Need a boost to get you off the couch, setting goals, and moving towards them. This site is a one stop shop for motivational tools. Here you will find the 48 of the most motivational and inspirational websites on the Internet.

Time management

Time management: Tips to reduce stress and improve productivity

This site gives tips for effective time management.

Effective time management is a primary means to a less stressful life. These practices can help you reduce your stress and reclaim your personal life.

Develop academic and general vocabulary skills

This site give an excellent range of practice exercises for developing vocabulary skills.

Loch Ness monster..fact or fiction?

Getting your head around the present perfect tense

Are you struggling with when where and why you might use the present perfect tense?  Then this site is for you. 

Common linking words

This is a link to a page with 4 different exercises that allow you to practise common linking words that express contrast / purpose / reason / time, (such as ‘although’ , ‘despite’, ‘moreover’, ‘in addition’, ‘as a result’, ‘owing to’, ‘at first’, ‘eventually’). Useful practise for essay writing!

Also, check out the “Word Bank” on the left hand side of this page – it has a new phrasal verb/word formation/collocation each day to learn and practise.

The WORD BANK that pops up at the side of the page these exercises are on looks interesting – they have a new word every day that they can do an exercise on.  Have fun.

Writing an opinion text

This site 'Writefix.com' gives a step by step guide to planning and writing an essay that requires you to give an opinion.  It also has model essays that allow you to notice how to structure an essay.  You can see how other learners are writing and post comments on their work and/or write you own essay on the given topic and post it to the forum for others to comment on.  There are IELTS speaking materials and practice tests. It also has practice materials for TOEFL, and TWE tests.
There is much more to this site however.  Check out all of the links and explore for yourself.

Writing an opinion text

This site ESL learning and more has useful strategies/tips for structuring a written  opinion text and much much more.  Check it out today!

Test yourself to improve your grammar

English Language (ESL) Grammar Quizzes

Test yourself at this site with our selection of 277 free English language quizzes covering grammar, usage and vocabulary for beginner and intermediate level English students. Simply answer all of the questions in the quiz and press submit to see your score and other statistics. Each ESL quiz is also available as a printable teacher handout. We also have a range of phrasal verb quizzes in our reference area. Our full set of 492 quizzes, including extra exercises for both levels together with additional quizzes for advanced level students are available in the Members' Area.

Adjectives

Here is a site that explains the function of adjectives in written text.  It lists a number of categories of adjectives such as adjectives of shape, size, feelings, time, quantity, taste etc.  It also gives a comprehensive alphabetised list of adjectives.  Have fun exploring.

Find synonyms and antonyms easily and everything else you ever wanted to know about a word.

Just can't find the word you need for that essay?  Have a word, and you are not sure of the meaning then this is the site for you. Just type the word you are interested in, into the search space, and you will be given the following information:- the part of speech, the definition of the word, a range of synonyms and antonyms, example sentences using the word, an audio sound bite to give you the pronunciation and correct syllable stress, the word written in syllables and in  the International Phonetic Alphabet(IPA). 

Moreover if you are compiling written text in a word doccument use the shortcut keys:- shift and F7 after highlighting the word you want to replace and a dialogue box will pop up with an instant thesaurus, giving a range of synonyms and antonyms and the part of speech for the word.

Grammar monster.com

You are going to love this site. Everything you always wanted to know about punctuation, parts of speech, daily grammar tips, easily confused words, common grammatical errors, weekly grammar tips and online tests with answers. Also if you have a grammar question you can type it in and get an answer.

Literacy Net learning resources

This site contains useful reading materials pitched at around intermediate level. Each module includes the full text of each story and interactive activities to test comprehension. The learner can choose to read the text, listen to the text, and view a short video clip of the story. Each module is designed for ease of use so the learner can use it independently. The instructor can also incorporate any story into class activities and lesson plans.

Study Zone-reading site

Study Zone, is a graded reading site that allows you to practice reading, answer comprehension questions and also do a number of other post reading activities. Please use this site daily to improve your reading skills.

CDLP California distance Learning Project

This site has many stories contained within eleven different topic areas to help you develop your listening skills.
You can read the story, listen to the story with or without the text and some stories have accompanying video clips. After listening try the activities. You can:- learn new words and hear the correct pronunciation for these words, practice spelling the words from hearing as you hear them, play a matching game (matching the word to a definition), and answer multi choice questions. When you have finished all of the exercises you can mail your results to your teacher. Have fun with this site. :-)

Idioms using the word heart

Hi everyone. We have been using some idiomatic language in class recently using the word heart.. Here is a site with many of these idioms. You may like to have a look at these and see if you can work out from the context what they mean. Have fun exploring! :-)

Why not try a quiz now by clicking this link to test your knowledge of idioms concerning the heart.

Join a fun club, meet new friends and improve your English.

Hi everyone. On Wednesday we (level 2-4) will go to the Clubs and Societies open day to find out the sorts of services that they provide. Click here for more informaton on Clubs and Societies.
There are all sorts of groups you can join
Activities include:- kickboxing, boxing for fun, kendo, Ceroc, yoga, Pilates, tai chi, Squash, vipassana meditation, managing your own stress, women’s self defence, ballroom dancing, belly dancing, ukulele, singing for beginners, first aid, salsa, burlesque dance, Indian dance, rock n roll, Mandarin, Italian, German and Spanish languages; Indian cooking, Italian cooking, car basics, wine tasting, life drawing, café coffee-making, African drumming, Doumbek drumming, Capoeira, knitting, fibre craft demo night; chess, snooker, pool and table tennis tournaments and heaps more. A brochure containing our first semester course programme is available from Clubs and Societies reception..
FACILITIES you can use. These include a sauna, cricket nets, a pool table, a snooker table, a vehicle workshop, a dance studio, fantastic newly refurbished men’s and women’s showers, craft rooms, pianos, sewing machines, guitars, squash courts with racquets for hire, and lots of meeting rooms of varying sizes. You can also check out the excellent value $3 vegetarian lunches provided by the Hare Krishna Society and Community Support, Monday to Friday, during the semester.
Have fun!! :-)

ELLO

ELLLO (English listening lesson library online), has a vast resource of easily understood listening materials for listening practice for English language learners.
News Center is an animated newscast with six stories. Newscenter can help students learn academic English and develop test taking skills for standardized listening tests such as TOEFL®, TOEIC® and IELTS®. Stories can be played with or without text and have accompanying questions and answers. The news is delivered at a medium speed from a reader with a clear voice. This site should prove to be most useful. Have fun with your listening.

Join Freecycle

Otago Polytechnic is a leader in the area of sustainability (or finding ways to make the most of the worlds valuable resources). "Freecycle Dunedin" has the same objective and can make your money go further.

On the Freecycle site you can ask for things you want, and also get rid of things you no longer have a use for. Everything on this site is free so no money changes hands. Everyone is happy and potentially useful items get to be used again and are kept out of the landfill. When you sign up you say what suburb you come from. I will be happy to help anyone join up if you need assistance. Happy freecycling.
:-).