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Helpful ESL Links

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On-line Dictionaries

Longman Web Dictionary (http://www.ldoceonline.com/) This is the dictionary that some classes use at the U of S Language Centre. It uses IPA to show the pronunciation and even has pictures. .

Encarta (http://dictionary.msn.com) You can hear the pronunciation.  You can also type in the way you think a word is spelled.  If you spell it incorrectly, it will give a list of possible ways that it may be spelled correctly.

Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/) This site has a good dictionary and thesauruses.

Newbury House Online Dictionary (http://nhd.heinle.com/) It also uses IPA to show the pronunciation and has many example sentences.

Merriam-Webster (http://www.m-w.com) It is one of the most common collegiate dictionaries in North America. It includes the origin of the words. This is also a thesaurus.

Yahoo Dictionary Listing (http://dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Dictionaries) There are links to many, many other online dictionaries from this site.


Learning Vocabulary

English Word Lists - If you want to improve your vocabulary, but you don't know which words are good to learn, check out these words lists.

English Prefixes, Suffixes, Roots - Understanding basic word parts is a great way to guess the meanings of new words. Click here to download a list of the common English prefixes, suffixes, and roots (10 pages).

Collins Cobuild Direct Corpus Sampler (http://www.collins.co.uk/Corpus/CorpusSearch.aspx) Type in an English word and see short examples of how it is actually used. The examples come from a corpus "composed of 56 million words of contemporary written and spoken text."

Learn Vocabulary Using Maclean's (http://homepage.usask.ca/~dul381/common/vocabexercise.html) Here is an exercise to learn vocabulary using the Maclean's magazine website and an online dictionary.

"Interesting Things" (http://www.manythings.org/it/sitemap.html) A general ESL web site with many activities to learn vocabulary.

"The Idiom Connection" (http://www.idiomconnection.com/) This is a great site for learning all sorts of great idioms in English.


Grammar Explanations and Exercises

EnglishPage.Com (http://www.englishpage.com) Free online English lessons & ESL / EFL resources. Great explanations and exercises.

Grammar for English Language Learners from Ohio ESL (http://www.ohiou.edu/linguistics/esl/grammar/index.html) Lots of links other grammar sites.

Learning English Grammar Online (http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar_list/alle.htm) Many grammar exercises and explanations.

The Grammar Corner (http://joaojardim.no.sapo.pt/the_grammar_corner.htm) Lots of grammar practice.


Tips for Writing an Effective Paragraph

Dewey's Tips for Paragraph Writing (click here) Step-by-step instructions using an example that Dewey has used in his English classes.


Listening Links on the Internet and for Practice

Great Sites for University Prep

YouTube Lectures for IELTS Practice on How to Describe Graphs - These are lessons for describing various type of charts and graphs.

YouTube Lecture on Economics (http://youtube.com/watch?v=gaEY-p-21F8&feature=related) This is an 8-minute lecture talks about economics.

YouTube Lecture on Dangers of the Sun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQSJNbiH480&feature=related) This is a 14-minute documentary from Australia about the dangers of getting skin cancer from too much sun exposure.

YouTube Lectures on Sun Damage - This is a 3-part lecture about the dangers of the sun on skin.

Open Forum Listening Textbook (http://www.oup.com/elt/global/products/openforum/2) This site has lots of listenings, quizzes (with the answers), and transcripts from a series of listening textbooks, high beginning to advanced.

Free Classis Audio Books (http://www.freeclassicaudiobooks.com/) If you like to listen to stories, this site is great. There are around 40 different classis stories to choose from.

CNN Student News (http://edition.cnn.com/EDUCATION/) Up-to-date CNN Student News Videos, questions, and transcripts. Click here for the archives of past shows.

Another CNN Site from California w/script and quizzes (http://literacynet.org/cnnsf/home.html) Here's a great site for you to practice your listening on your own. You can watch the video, hear the story, read the story, and there are even quizzes for you to take. Try it out.

Living on Earth (http://www.loe.org) This site is from a radio program about the Earth and environment. There are hundreds of stories with transcripts (some short and some long).

Pulse of the Planet (http://www.pulseplanet.com) Great 2-minute stories about the Earth (with transcripts). 

CBC (http://www.cbc.ca) The Canadian Broadcasting Corp.

Quirks and Quarks (http://www.radio.cbc.ca/quirks/) A show from the CBC where you can learn about the latest in science, technology, medicine, and the environment.

As It Happens (http://www.radio.cbc.ca/asithappens/) Light news and entertainment from the CBC broadcast on the radio on AM540 weekdays at 6:30pm.

Ideas (http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/) A one-hour show produced by the CBC radio with lectures/discussions on various current issues.

The National (http://www.cbc.ca/national/) Evening news on CBC television. Check out the ARCHIVE for lots of videos.

Sound Medical Advice (http://www.fhradio.org/archives.html) 2-minute listenings about health

Stillwell Science News (http://www.youtube.com/StillwellScience) YouTube video site with videos of news about science.

Earth and Sky (http://www.earthsky.com/) Audio files related to Earth and Sky and teacher's booklets to go with them. Students can listen to the programs, comment on them, and view other students' comments.

Friends Scripts (http://www.friendscafe.org/scripts/) Scripts of all of the episodes of Friends. Great for listening, reading, and speaking practice.

ABC (http://www.abc.net.au) The Australian Broadcasting Corp.

BBC (http://www.bbc.co.uk) The British Broadcasting Corp.

CNN (http://www.cnn.com) Cable News Network

NPR (http://www.npr.org) National Public Radio (USA) Sites with lots of Podcasts/MP3s

Podcast Alley (http://www.podcastalley.com/) A directory of 100s of podcasts available on the web with a list of the most popular.

Odeo (http://www.odeo.com/) A directory of 100s of podcasts available on the web with a list of the most popular.

Our Media (http://www.ourmedia.org/) A directory of 100s of podcasts available on the web with a list of the most popular.

Listening Web Sites (http://www-writing.berkeley.edu/TESL-EJ/ej17/m3.html) This page has links to some great listenings with quizzes and transcripts. Try them out!

Dewey's Listening Page (http://homepage.usask.ca/~dul381/listenings/) Exercises, quizzes, and links to Internet listening opportunities for various levels.

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab (http://www.esl-lab.com/) This is a great site with various levels for general listening practice.

Okanagan University College (http://international.ouc.bc.ca/pronunciation/) English Pronunciation

E.L. Easton (http://eleaston.com/pronunciation/) American English Pronunciation Practice

American English Pronunciation Practice (http://www.manythings.org/pp/) Lots of practice with pronunciation, especially with minimal pairs, like "bus" and "boss"

American English Vowel Sounds (http://www.utexas.edu/courses/linguistics/resources/phonetics/vowelmap/index.html) A simple site to hear the basic vowel sounds of North American English along with the phonetic symbols.

Listenings about Business

BizNet (from the CBC) (http://www.cbc.ca/biznet/) This is a 15-minute show on CBC Radio One broadcast Monday - Friday at 5:45am.

Business Story of the Day (from National Public Radio) A page with three or so interesting stories about business.

  • Click here to go to the page.


Reading Help

Improve Your Reading Through Double-Entry Journals (http://homepage.usask.ca/~dul381/common/dej.html) Instructions and examples for an interactive approach to reading.

Saskatoon Public Library (http://www.publib.saskatoon.sk.ca/) You can search the catalogue to find all sorts of books, magazines,videos, and more.

Online Newspapers and Magazines:

Canadian Geographic (http://www.canadiangeographic.ca/) A magazine focusing on places in Canada and environmental topics.

Discover (http://discovermagazine.com/) A popular magazine about science and nature.

Maclean's (http://www.macleans.com) A Canadian news magazine similiar to Time.

National Geographic (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/) A popular magazine about geography, science, and nature around the world. A great interactive site.

National Post (http://www.nationalpost.com) A Canadian national newspaper.

Reader's Digest Canada (http://www.readersdigest.ca) A popular magazine of human interest stories. They have some full-text articles.

Toronto Star (http://www.torontostar.com) A national Canadian newspaper.

Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com) A magazine with more scholarly-type articles.

US News & World Report (http://www.usnews.com) An American news magazine similar to Maclean's and Time.

Writing Help

U of S Learning Centre (https://www.usask.ca/ulc/?q=node/9) Once you are a registered student of the U of S, you will have access to the many services of the U of S Learning Centre including help with your essays.

Research Papers - Here are a couple of examples of good research papers from past terms:

Unfair Divorce Property Decisions

Nontraditional Wedding: Goodbye Tradition

APA Electronic Reference Format (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html) Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association

U of S Library How-To Site (https://library.usask.ca/howto) Lots of links with advice on finding books and writing research papers, including guides to how to cite your references.

U of S Library ESL Help (Stuart's Page) (https://library.usask.ca/subject/ESL/articles) This is the page of the U of S librarian, Stuart, who taught you how to finds books and journal articles. If you need some help, email or phone him.
General ESL Sites

Dave's ESL Cafe (http://www.daveseslcafe.com) This is one of the most famous ESL sites on the Web. There are many things to do and learn!

Rong-Chang Li's Site for English as a Second Language (http://www.rong-chang.com/) This site has many, many links to sites about English as a second language, including reading, writing, grammar, pronuciation, etc.

BBC English Radio - English language teaching (http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/) The site is intended to help you improve your learning of the English language. Throughout the site you will find short courses, quizzes, grammar, vocabulary, audio and video.

Last Revised: June 21, 2008
Copyright © 2007 (Dewey Litwiller)