Browsing Bonanza: 6 Outstanding ESL Websites Loaded with Great Teaching Materials

Fresh and exciting new ESL material is at the tips of your fingers!

Seriously, it’s all just a tap or click away.

You may be aware of this already, considering you clicked your way over here, and we’re about to present you with some of the freshest and most exciting stuff out there for English educators.

Discovering new and exceptional ESL websites is pertinent to what you do, and your students will love you for keeping material relevant and hip, while still being highly informative.

Browsing the World Wide Web for exceptional ESL websites will directly impact your students in a positive way. An up-to-date ESL teacher with a passion for finding new ESL material will have an eager class passionate to learn.

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Benefits of Browsing ESL Websites

There are truckloads of ESL websites scattered throughout the vast Internet ocean.

Some ESL websites are spectacular and others may be a bit less spectacular, however, any new ESL information is worth the browse.

ESL websites are useful for teachers in any period of their teaching profession. Maybe you’re just starting out and looking for new information to build up your lesson plan list, or maybe you’re a “tried and true,” veteran ESL teacher in need of a few new, innovative ideas.

Whichever category you fall into, ESL websites are exceptional for all teachers, from beginners to seasoned experts. They;re wonderful for teachers to pick up a new ESL method, new ESL books or even a few great ESL activities. You’ll stay abreast of all the issues, research and conversation topics in your field. You’ll even have opportunities to network, interact and share with fellow teachers, swap materials and spot promising job postings.

Here are the six best ESL websites we’d recommend for achieving all of the above.

6 Exceptional ESL Teaching Websites That Make for Highly Productive Browsing

English Listening Lesson Library Online (Elllo)

Elllo is an ESL website with tons of essential, targeted ESL material for both teachers and students. You can browse through Elllo’s great list of audio material utilizing specific filters like ESL level, student country, topic, games and news.

This ESL website is wonderful for classroom integration if you have the technological means. You can develop your lesson around ESL audio, scripts, vocabulary and speaking exercises included in each specific section.

There is also a cool “Teacher Tips” page explaining all the different ways ESL teachers can develop their lesson plans around Elllo’s various materials. The “Teacher Tips” cover the use of Elllo in class, printing Elllo lessons and utilizing Elllo for homework purposes. Elllo also features a page specifically designed for the teachers of beginner students. This can be extremely beneficial if you’re searching for new ESL beginner material to spice up your beginner lesson plan.

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Study Zone from University of Victoria

Study Zone is yet another exceptional ESL website produced by the University of Victoria English Language Center ESL Lab. Study Zone is all about reading, vocabulary and grammar with an easy, interactive homepage you can browse with little issue. The only downside to Study Zone is that it doesn’t have a 0-200 Beginner level. Students starting their ESL journey may find Study Zone a bit more challenging than some ESL websites which focus on lower beginner levels.

The material you adopt from this ESL website will benefit your students thanks to the depth of the material alone. You can build on specific ESL levels as you and your students work through the material you adapted from Study Zone.

Here are the ESL levels represented on Study Zone:

Upper Beginner (200 level). This ESL level contains grammar, reading, vocabulary and puzzles. This Study Zone level offers tons of exercises you can pull from and add into your lessons as well as use to develop a few worksheet ideas.

Lower Intermediate (330 level). This ESL level only contains grammar and reading material, however, it offers a perfect selection of ESL grammar material for you to develop your lesson plan around.

Intermediate (410 level). The Study Zone intermediate level covers grammar, reading and vocabulary. The vocabulary section links to an external site for all the vocabulary lessons and quizzes you could hope for. From idioms to phrasal verbs, you can draw from this material and develop a perfect vocabulary lesson plan.

Upper Intermediate (490 level). This level offers a reading section covering timed reading, cloze exercises, writing exercises and crosswords. If technology permits, you and your students can cover a section in class, making your classroom atmosphere fun and interactive.

Advanced (570 level). This Study Zone level is perfect for different types of ESL reading. The advanced level offers themed reading with ESL activities based around pre-reading exercises, timed reading, vocabulary, grammar, critical reading and even a scavenger hunt activity.

Online Writing Lab from Purdue University

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) Purdue University is the perfect ESL website, benefiting you and your students. The Online Writing Lab isn’t completely for ESL students and educators, however, it can easily be adapted and more than essential for all your students’ needs. There’s an ESL exercise section which focuses on paraphrasing and summary writing for ESL levels from basic to intermediate.

You can develop your students’ abilities to read and develop concise summaries of information through explanation and writing. There’s a step-by-step process you can follow and each activity and page is available for printing, useful for creating class worksheets for your eager to write students.

The other ESL aspects OWL Purdue University covers are grammar, punctuation, vocabulary, spelling, sentence structure, sentence style and number writing exercises. Each activity is printable and you can easily piece together an excellent writing lesson utilizing the material from this exceptional ESL website.

TOEFL Go Anywhere

There may be a time in your ESL teaching career when you will teach a TOEFL class or two. ESL students who advance through the ESL ranks will eventually find themselves studying for an ESL test, and the TOEFL is one of the major options.

The TOEFL is utilized by universities, companies and other professional and academic organizations to see a students English proficiency. With textbooks and study material in hand, your students will turn to you for TOEFL help.

TOEFL Go Anywhere is the ESL website for all things TOEFL, it’s officially endorsed by the test-makers and it’s a perfect place for you to pick up some TOEFL teaching material to get your students moving in the right direction. The TOEFL site offers study tips, test preparation material, a TOEFL TV channel and even TOEFL crosswords you can utilize when developing your TOEFL lesson plan. One exceptional resource in this ESL website are the PDF practice tests available for you and your students to take together, answering questions as they arise during your lesson.

English Club

English Club is an all-in-one ESL website, offering a range of all things ESL from beginner to advanced levels. They even go up to near-fluent levels, and you may well find yourself stumbling a bit if you choose to try one of their more advanced ESL crosswords. English Club offers two choices from their homepage, one for teachers, Teach English, and one for students, Learn English.

The benefits of this exceptional ESL website are vast for you and your students. It would be an excellent advantage to your students’ learning experience if you recommend this site to them, and if you utilize it yourself.

Here are a few materials you’ll find here:

ESL Worksheets. Here you’ll find conversation worksheets and other specific ESL material. You’ll also find the standard ESL worksheets including, grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, reading, listening, writing and speaking.

ESL Handouts. In this English Club section you’ll find useful handouts for your students to enjoy while learning new material covering prepositions of time, prepositions of place, floors of a house or building, numbers, abbreviations, phonetics, expressions and much more.

ESL Activities. This section is all about ESL activities and is an exceptional resource for all teachers, new and veteran. You can never have enough ESL activities in your teacher’s toolkit and this section will supply you with what you and your students need. The activities are organized by ESL level, from elementary to upper-intermediate. Exploring this ESL website for activities is a must!

ESL websites are exceptional for gaining a few new ideas to boost your ESL class enthusiasm. You can find multiple worksheets, handouts, fun exercises and engaging activities with just a little casual browsing.

Whether you’re a new ESL teacher or confidently know your way around a classroom, ESL websites are beneficial for you and your students.

Share these fun and informative ESL websites with your students and open their eyes to an exciting way for them to learn English in class and at home.

Stephen Seifert is a writer, editor, professor of English and adventurer. With over 7 years of teaching experience to students worldwide, he enjoys the many aspects of culture and traditions different from his own. Stephen continues his search for writing inspiration, boldly enjoying life to the fullest.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)