ESL Resources on the WWW

The World Wide Web offers many opportunities to students of English as a Second Language - games, quizzes, vocabulary building exercises, TOEFL preparation and much, much more. Use this page as a starting point for exploring English on the Web!

Starting Points

Interesting Things for ESL Students
A website containing "quizzes, word games, word puzzles proverbs, slang expressions, anagrams, a random-sentence generator and other study materials" for ESL students.

Dave's ESL Cafe
Described by its creator as "The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!" this site offers chat, discussion, idioms, slang, and a huge list of links.

English Online
Links to many, many sites, arranged by category. Interesting browsing.

Vocabulary Builders

Pun of the Day
Broaden your vocabulary through puns, or plays on words.

Vocabulary.com
This site, targeting American high school students, has lots of great vocabulary-building puzzles.

A Word A Day
Sign up for this e-mail service, and have a new vocabulary word mailed to you every day.

Dialect and Slang

The Dialectizer
"Convert English to any of several comic dialects>"

AmeriSpeak
This site offers a collection of colorful words and expressions used in various regions of the USA.

American Slanguages
This site will help you talk like the local residents in a number of American cities.

The College Slang Page
Do you want to know what slang is hot on American college campuses? Check this out!

American English
Differences in spelling and usage between British and American (and some Canadian) English.

E-mail "Keypals"

Dave's ESL E-mail Connection
Find another learner and practice writing in English! At this site, you can leave a message about yourself, or read messages others have written.

International ESL/EFL E-mail Student Discussion Lists
These lists were "established in February 1994 to provide a forum for cross-cultural discussion and writing practice for college, university and adult students in English language programs around the world."

A Beginner's Guide to Effective E-mail
Like any other form of writing, e-mail has a style. This site shows you how to become "more efficient, clear and effective" in your e-mail communication.

Business Netiquette
The emphasis here is on company-to-company e-mail, "keeping international business in mind."

Fun and Games

The Tongue Twister Database
Try some of these if you want to challenge your English pronunciation.

Sounds of the World's Animals
No, they don't all speak English...yet.

eLibs.com
Play this interactive "mad lib" story game by entering words, names, etc.

Car Talk Hate Mail Generator
Another variation on mad libs, where you can enter words and names, and generate a funny/angry letter to your ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, politician, noisy neighbor, etc.

"English" Signs From Around the World
Test yourself - can you find the humorous mistakes in these signs?

Webpage Translators

Alis Translation Solutions
Enter the URL of a webpage and choose from eight languages to translate it.

Voycabulary
Voycabulary "makes the words on any webpage into links so you can look them up with just a click!"

TOEFL Resources

ESL Independent Study - TOEFL
Links to online practice resources.

toefl.org
The official website for the TOEFL test.

ESL Independent Study Lab - TOEFL
Links to TOEFL resources, ranked according to your level in English.

ESL Programs

Global Study's English School Directory

ESL Directory
A directory of ESL programs around the world.

E-Zines for English Language Learners

Topics Online Magazine
If you're looking for a presentation topic, this could be a good starting point. Food, customs, cultural issues, and more, representing cultures from around the world, and presented by ESL students.

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Back to ELP Online!
This page prepared by:
Cliff Stevens
English Language Program
UC Berkeley Extension

Last updated on 1/14/02