Hi there, you seem like a very bright minded and keen language learner, searching the internet for amazing content to help you master this crazy language we call ‘English’. Either that or you’re just trying to avoid doing any work, and you’d like to be distracted for a while. Well congratulations, you’ve come to the right place.
Here are some websites that you might find useful for learning English. I’ve also included in this list a few other websites that aren’t specifically devoted to English learning, but which I think are generally quite fun or interesting. Enjoy!
Learn English from BBC News
BBC Learning English – Words in the News
Read some short news stories with some vocabulary definitions and exercises. You can also listen to the audio of the story, and download it as an mp3. There are also loads of short videos that are designed to help you learn English with the news. I’d love to work for the BBC one day. Hey, BBC – give me a job!
Time-wasting Quizzes and Brain Games
Sporcle.com
Can’t be bothered to do any studying? Love challenging your general knowledge? Should you be doing something more productive with your time but just can’t stop procrastinating? Then this website is for you! Sporcle has loads of little quizzes and games to help you waste time, and to keep your brain fresh. Have a look here.
Pronunciation Practice
BBC Learning English – Pronunciation Tips
Here you’ll find lots of ways to explore British English pronunciation. There are online exercises, an interactive phonemic script and some videos to help you to practise making different sounds in English.
Just for Fun
9GAG is a very simple site that presents images, cartoons, gifs, memes and other funny stuff. It is visited by millions of people every day, and new content is uploaded every few minutes. It’s really addictive and time wasting, and a bit immature, but sometimes it is genuinely hilarious. It’s also a quick way to keep up with what’s going on in the world. Users range from teenagers through to ‘middle aged people’.
Learn English with Song Lyrics
Lyrics Training and LyricsGaps both help you to learn English with song lyrics. You can listen to the song online and do lots of different language practice exercises while you listen. There are lots of different exercises for lots of different levels, and there are loads of songs to choose from.
Proper London Youth Slang
The London Slang Dictionary Project is a fascinating study into the slang used by modern young people in London.
Where in the world am I???
Geoguessr
I love this website so much. It’s basically a game in which you have to guess where you are in the world. It uses Google Street View. First the site randomly places you somewhere in the world. Then you have to look around using Street View and then guess where you are by dropping a pin on a map of the world. The closer you are to the right place, the more points you get. It’s really addictive and fun, and a great way to explore the world from your computer. After a while you start to get good at it. Use clues like the weather, cars, and writing you can see to get the right answer. Go for it!
Learn More about British Accents and Dialects
The British Library – Sounds Familiar?
The British Library commissioned a study into British accents and dialects and then produced this really great website. Here you can explore a map of the UK, listen to samples of spoken English in different accents, and read some linguistic and phonological analysis. It’s a must if you like exploring the different types of English that you can find in the British Isles. British English is truly a rich tapestry of different voices.
Google Hot Trends
This page allows you to see a live visualisation of the most popular google searches from around the world. The searches are displayed on different coloured boxes. You can control the number of boxes that you see on the screen, and you can choose to see searches from different countries, or the whole world. It’s really hypnotic and is also a good way to find out what is going on in the world. Click on a box and you’ll see different news stories relating to that topic. You’ve got to check it out! Have a look at it here.
It’s a London Thing
The London School of English Blog
My mates at the London School of English write this blog and it’s a pretty good read. It’s a nice way to find out what’s going on in London, and what life is like from a Londoner’s point of view (as written by some language teachers). You can also learn some interesting bits of vocabulary.
Shameless Self Promotion
Of course there’s also this amazing podcast which you can download and listen to anywhere, at any time. It’s recorded by a really experienced English teacher who is also a stand-up comedian, so you can learn loads of English from him, and have a good laugh while you do it. What’s it called… Erm… Looks English Potcats or something… I can’t remember… ;) Anyway, you can check it out here.
That’s it for now. Do you have any good websites to recommend?
Leave your comments below. CHEERS.