Kim Oliver ESOL Web Links
Tech up your teaching! Every good teacher knows that the resources outside the classroom are as important as those inside for students to improve their mastery of the English language! The internet is now a gold mine of resources, but some are more helpful than others! So I have created a page with the best of the best web resources available for ESL teachers and students.
Video
ESL Video
http://www.eslvideo.com/index.php
This is a wonderful resource; the videos are divided in to different levels and range from music videos to commercials to TV programs to TED videos. The most useful part are the comprehension quizzes and transcripts.
TED Talks
Even though this has no ESL content, it has so many applications for higher level listening and vocabulary development. Note that most videos have a transcript in which any word or phrae can be clicked, and the video will jump riight to that part of the video.
Big Think
This is similar to TED Talks, although this site has video and blogs. Very useful for advanced practice on current topics.
Real English
Over 70 videos, produced by Real English, organized generally around grammar points (especially the lower levels). The first view is without closed captioning, then the second view is with. Most of the videos have comprehension questions as well. There is a "record and compare" tool coming soon.
Sozo Exchange
This site has a series of videos with idioms, pronunciation, quizzes, etc.
Monkey See
Again, not an ESL video, but really useful, short how-to videos; great for process listening/note-taking.
Instructables
Similar to MonkeySee above, but some of the processes are more in powerpoint/printed form.
Audio Only
Multi-level
ELLO online listening lab
ELLLO is a free online listening resource of over 1,000 listening activities designed especially for ESL and EFL students and teachers. Most listening activities include images, an interactive quiz, transcript of the audio and downloadable MP3
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
http://www.esl-lab.com/
Great Site!! Listening exercises, vocabulary, real life situations.
Talk English
Talk Englishhttp://www.talkenglish.com/
This site has three levels of conversation, followed by comprehension questions and full text. There are also nice lessons on speaking, using common phrases, etc.
Listen and Write
http://www.listen-and-write.com/
Twenty-one levels of listening dictation with simple news stories.
NPR
Public radio podcasts
Beginning levels
Simple News stories
http://www.simpleenglishnews.com/
Simple (As in only about three sentences!) news stories with the option to listen, some vocabulary highlights
Language guide
http://www.languageguide.org/english/
This is a beginner visual vocabulary guide. You choose the topic (i.e. fruits), and picturers pop up. You listen to the pronunciation as you roll over the word. Great for beginners.
Songs
Teaching English with Songs
http://www.isabelperez.com/songs/
Songs with vocabulary work, cloze exercises, listening exercises and discussion questions.
Songs and Activities for English Learners
Over 200 songs with activities, including links to grammar points
Lyric Training
http://www.lyricstraining.com/
This isn't an ESL site, so there aren't any overt language learning lessons, but it is basically a cloze-fill site, with three different levels. It could be adapted to classroom listening at the lower levels--fun for students who love singing along with the music!
Useful non-ESL listening sites
Scientific American 60-second science
http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/
Once again, not specifically for ESL, but for specialized and advanced students, the topics are interesting and often from current events.
Voice of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/portal.cfm
In addition to news, this site has some useful exercises for learning English, with listening and reading
NPR: National Public Radio
http://www.npr.org/
Great news and social topics in a slower presentation