All of these links should be free, though some may require registration. Opinions follow *, and are in bold and italics.
Disclaimer: Links lead to outside websites which may not all be accessible to some students
Table of Contents:
Vocabulary, reading, practice using a mouse
http://www.newtongue.com/abc/english.html
Practice the alphabet, numbers, things in the classroom, months, fruit, vegetables, animals... new exercises each week. Kurt Robinson's site.
*This CCSF site has good matching exercises and computer mouse practice ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Learn the alphabet and read short words.
*For kids, but lots of useful practice with letters and sounds ⭐⭐⭐
Vocabulary
alphabet, letters, colors, numbers, dialogs, games
*For kids. Make English learning fun! ⭐⭐⭐
Vocabulary, Listening
http://www.learningchocolate.com
lots of vocabulary words
"Good place to practice and learn vocabulary. Change the site to Chinese, Japanese or Spanish. It has topics from A-Z ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, vocabulary
http://www.languageguide.org/english/vocabulary/
Listen to basic vocabulary with translation into many languages.
*Good for learning words and their translation, but it can be confusing.
*Translation includes French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, Mandarin (simplified and traditional characters), Japanese, Korean, and Thai. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ventures textbook arcade
http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/venturesadulted/venturesarcade/index.html
*Good games here! Level 1 students should begin by clicking on the yellow B. ⭐⭐⭐
Grammar, reading, listening and pronunciation
Chosen by CCSF faculty, Links to other websites. online articles, games, and grammar resources for levels 1 & 2
*Teacher approved resources! Instructions in Chinese.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Grammar, and Pronunciation. Brand new resource!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCldz5X7M8rrZV_yhqrpWybg
Rick Kappra's new youtube channel has videos for this level.
*Watch this resource grow! ⭐⭐
Reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar
Watch videos and see lessons. Learn new words. Practice speaking and pronunciation too.
*Click Start Now to skip the introduction. This site now requires registration.
* Beginning students should start with the 1st English Course.
*Great site! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grammar and Reading
https://www.easypacelearning.com/all-lessons/english-level-2
British website. Learn grammar reading about important topics of your day.
*Good for grammar lovers. ⭐⭐
Listening Lesson Library Online
http://www.ello.org/english/beginner/index.htm
Learn English and common grammar points with lessons featuring a downloadable book, audio, and an interactive quiz.
*Very professional site. Cool animation. Download the free book, but avoid the ads. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Videos, reading, listening, vocabulary
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/p/5609.html
Let's Learn English - Level 1 and Level 2 are for beginning English learners Ask a Teacher is a new program where learners can ask questions and teachers answer them. News Words is a short video explaining a word or term used in news stories.
*USA national government website. These beginning lessons have captioned audio and are read slowly. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vocabulary, grammar, listening, and games
http://www.manythings.org/e/easy.html
Play games, study grammar, and learn new words. This link is for Easy Things for Beginners
*Lots of activities for many levels here, including readings with audio from VOA in special English. ⭐⭐
Listening
http://www.englishclub.com/listening/dictation.htm
Listen and type or just click “show” to see. Beginning, Intermediate, and advanced levels.
*Good online dictations. Avoid the ads. ⭐⭐⭐
Reading, listening, vocabulary, writing
http://www.rong-chang.com/index.html
Dialogs with audio. Stories with audio, vocabulary and cloze. Grammar and dictation exercises.
*Watch out for ads at the top and on the sides that seem like part of the page.
* lots of useful audio clips.
* Has Chinese translation. ⭐⭐⭐
Grammar, reading, listening and pronunciation
Chosen by CCSF faculty, Links to other websites. online articles, games, and grammar resources for levels 3 & 4
*Teacher approved resources! Instructions in Chinese. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening
http://www.elllo.org/english/level3-beginners-high.htm
30 lessons for high beginners. Listen to conversations and interviews. You can read the words and take tests.
*People from all over the world post audio and video on many topics. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening
Practice listening at the high-beginning level and learn vocabulary.
*This dedicated teacher's site has great audio clips and quizzes.
*May not be easy for everyone.
*Watch out for the ads. ⭐⭐⭐
Grammar and Reading
https://www.easypacelearning.com/all-lessons/english-level-2
British website. Learn grammar reading about important topics of your day.
*Good for grammar lovers ⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Vocabulary
Read many kinds of articles. At level 4, change the "MAX" button to "400L"
*A news website with great resources.
* May not be free for students not studying at CCSF. CCSF students should log in using their RAM ID ( Google Account). ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening and vocabulary
Listen to songs and learn about sports and vocabulary.
*Some news and people articles with exercises and a lot of music by many popular artists with lyric sheets. ⭐⭐⭐
Reading, writing, listening, speaking, and grammar.
Watch videos and see lessons. Learn new words. Practice speaking and pronunciation too.
*Click Start Now to skip the introduction. This site now requires registration.
*Great multimedia site, lots of useful on-the-job videos.
* Level 5 students should start with the 2nd English Course. It starts easy, but gets more difficult after Unit 1.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Grammar, reading, listening and pronunciation
Chosen by CCSF faculty, links to other websites. Funny and helpful online articles, games, and grammar resources for levels 5 & 6
*Teacher approved resources! Instructions in Chinese.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pronunciation, Conversation, Vocabulary, Writing, Reading Grammar, Business English
*Nice articles colorful presentation, a minimum of ads.
*Fun to browse, but can be confusing to search ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening
https://www.esl-lab.com/intermediate/
Practice listening at the intermediate level and learn vocabulary.
*This dedicated teacher's site has great audio clips and quizzes, and he has made some nice videos.
*Watch out for the ads ⭐⭐⭐
Grammar and Vocabulary, Idioms
Study and take quizzes.
*Lots of phrasal verbs and idioms practice. Watch out for ads at the side and on top. Avoid links that require $$.
⭐⭐
Reading, vocabulary
http://newsforyouonline.com/index.asp
Popular newspaper offers news in simple English, crossword puzzles, and audio.
Not a free site, but it does have free samples of current news articles and a free two-week trial, which requires registration, if you want to see the complete articles. ⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Reading
stories with audio
*Thousands of stories and conversations
* Level 5 students should start at intermediate levels
* Avoid the ads. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Vocabulary
Read many kinds of articles. At level 5, change the "MAX" button to "740L"
*A news website with great resources.
May not be free for students not studying at CCSF. CCSF students should log in using their RAM ID (Google Account). ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Videos, listening, vocabulary
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/p/5610.html
U.S. and world news, Health and Lifestyle, Science and Technology, Arts and Culture, and other topics.
*American government website. These intermediate lessons and videos have captioned audio and are read slowly. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Reading, Vocabulary, Grammar, Pronunciation
Lots of quizzes and listening
*Good exercises and great listening. Recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Pronunciation
http://www.englishcentral.com/videos
Listen and watch videos, then practice pronunciation. Business English, Travel English , Social English, Media English, Academic English, Young Learners.
*Cool! This requires registering, but it's easy! ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Listening
American government and history lessons, life skills, work skills, American geography. Lots of activities!
*Recommended. Avoid the ads. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Reading
Intermediate and advanced, audiobooks, songs, radio dramas
*Cool site. ⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Reading
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
Longer news stories with transcripts and audio.
*Avoid the ads! ⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Vocabulary
Read many kinds of articles. Level 6 students should try 850L articles.
A news website with great resources. May not be free for students not studying at CCSF. ⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Vocabulary
https://www.esl-lab.com/difficult/
Practice listening at the difficult level and learn vocabulary.
*This dedicated teacher's site has great audio clips and quizzes.
*Funny acting. Fun way to learn idioms.
*Watch out for the ads. ⭐⭐
Listening, Reading, Vocabulary, Writing, Math and Science
Lessons and learning activities based on the TV411 television series to help adults improve basic skills.
*Learn academic skills by watching videos related to the news. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Listening, vocabulary
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/p/5611.html
Advanced English learners can read classic literature with American Stories, learn idioms and expressions with Words and Their Stories, study with Everyday Grammar, and follow innovations and trends in Education in the U.S. and around the world. Let's Teach English and News Literacy are free online training programs for advanced learners and English teachers.
*Read, Listen & Learn. Huge site with lots and lots of resources. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Vocabulary
Read many kinds of articles. Level 8 students should try articles set at the 1040L.
A news website with great resources.
May not be free for students not studying at CCSF. CCSF students should log in using their RAM ID ( Google Account). ⭐⭐⭐
Listening, Grammar, Vocabulary and Pronunciation
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/
General and business British English, recipes, crosswords, travel, news.
*Good news source. The audio is a good way to hear that British accent. Follow the audio program The Flatmates. ⭐⭐⭐
Grammar, reading, listening and pronunciation
Chosen by CCSF faculty, links to other websites. Funny and helpful online articles, games, and grammar resources for levels 7 & 8
*Teacher approved resources! Instructions in Chinese. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Video, News, Listening
Ted Ed and Ted Talk Radio Hour
Not an ESL site. Search TED talks by themes and find lessons. Both sites provide closed captioning TED talk videos as well as transcripts.
Teacher-recommended. ⭐⭐⭐
Reading and Vocabulary
Read many kinds of articles. Level 9 students should use the MAX articles.
A news website with great resources. ⭐⭐⭐
News, Video,Listening
Newsy - Multisource Video News
*Not an ESL site. A good listening website for higher level students - it has short news videos with transcripts- click on CC- below the video. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reading
http://www.englishpage.com/readingroom/readingroomintro.html
Free online reading: Newspapers, magazines, books and more.
*Not ESL. Vast amount of free online material ⭐⭐⭐
Newspaper Reading
https://onlinenewspaperlist.com/
Free English and other language newspapers from the USA, UK, China, Russia, Canada, , India, Pakistan, and others.
More Free Newspapers from around the world. ⭐⭐⭐
Newspaper Reading San Francisco Culture
local weather, sports, politics, food, music, movies, culture etc.
*Not an ESL site. Find out what's happening in San Francisco. ⭐⭐⭐
Listening
NPR. National Public Radio
*Though not strictly an ESL site, here is a great listening resource for the higher levels ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ventures Textbook Practice
http://www.cambridge.org/us/esl/venturesadulted/venturesarcade/index.html
Click on the red, white, and blue Citizenship link at the top of the page.
*Easier resources.
*Good games here! Students should begin by clicking on the Citizenship link. ⭐⭐⭐
Reading, Listening
https://www.elcivics.com/civics.html
Lots of government and history lessons, puzzles, pictures, worksheets and quizzes.
*Recommended. Avoid the ads. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Videos, Reading and Listening
https://learningenglish.voanews.com/p/6353.html
American government website.
* These history lessons are related to the US Citizenship exam. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking, and Grammar.
California state government website. Watch videos and see lessons. Learn new words. Practice speaking and pronunciation too.
*Click Start Now to skip the introduction. This site now requires registration.
*Great multimedia site, lots of useful on-the-job videos.
* Citizenship students should start with the US Citizenship Course. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐