ESL Websites? Well, I have been an English Language teacher for 27 years now! 

I started really young at a time when technology was important but not that important! Do you know what I mean?

So during my time as a teacher, one of the most relevant things I have done was to build up an English language resources notebook. 

Yes, a notebook! 

I am that old as a teacher…

We didn’t have files all over our computers, we had physical notebooks, paper, stuff! And although I know it’s completely outdated, I still like to keep some. 

My ESL websites list!
This notebook is one of these things I honestly like to keep.
I’ll leave a link for you to choose a beautiful line notebook, cute hand-stitched or even a dotted one. In paperchase.com you can even personalise your new favourite.

The development of an electronic archiving system covering all topics that I teach in the different grades is on the process; however, having this notebook allows me to add any website address at any time.

And what kind of resources have I gathered in this notebook? 

Easy. 

Mainly online ESL websites I could rely on whenever I needed. 

At any time I was out of ideas. 

Whenever I was in a hurry. Yes, because I have two sons and when they were 1 and 2, 4 and 5 or 10 and 11 years of age… I truly needed help!

Websites that had plenty of activities, teaching strategies, worksheets, templates, lesson plans and articles which somehow could help me in my work. 

Most importantly resources which saved me time and energy.

Check out the list below!

Adapting The ESL Websites List

Throughout the time I added websites to my list. This year, with remote teaching, I added a bunch! Nevertheless, I have to say I use some more often than others. Every school year, my classes are from different grades and, depending on the students, I have to adapt the resources I have…

My ESL websites resource list is still on paper, but you can save your language resources on any file, USB or back up drive.

And here are 9 of the reasons why you should start doing it!

9 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD BUILD A RESOURCE LIST (ONLINE or not!)

  1. saves time and energy
  2. softens time-consuming tasks
  3. gives you fresh ideas 
  4. may perfect your own ideas
  5. forces you to use different activities/strategies in your classroom
  6. puts things into perspective
  7. helps you to adapt your activities accordingly
  8. makes you grow when moving you out of your comfort zone
  9. helps you planning better

I am now listing some of my favourite sites and, although they are FREE, some of them require you to sign up.

TOP 15 Websites For ESL Teachers

top 15 websites for esl teachers
In need, download the PDF HERE.

#1

efltastic.wordpress.com

This is an amazing language resource for learning English. Firstly, you can find worksheets for different types of activities and different levels. Secondly, speaking activities are great: it’s a good website for higher levels and speaking practice. Thirdly, there are sections about everything – on ESL Forums (Discussion for learners and teachers of English), ESL Games (Mobile-friendly online games for real English progress), ESL Quizzes (Fun quizzes to test your English grammar, vocabulary and more), ESL Videos (Films with subtitles for English learners), Songs for Learning English (Songs in English with subtitles and lyrics), ESL Articles (articles about learning English), Jokes in English (Have a laugh and learn English at the same time) and ESL Chat (Chat online in English with other English learners).

Besides these, you can also find the Learn English with Professor Trump, English Language Reference (Everything from phrasal verbs to slang, sayings and quotations), Business English (Help & resources for Business English learners), English for Work (English for hotels, airlines, hospitals, police, tourism…), English Exams (Learn about exams like TOEFL, TOEIC, Cambridge…) and ESL Magazine (Short readings in easy English). Finally, English For Kids (Stories & puzzles for young learners) and English For Babies (Learn English with your baby) will help you with younger learners. A website to spend some useful time for sure!

But Do You Need Any Other After This one? Of Course You Do!

#2

www.teachingenglish.org.uk

This British Council website offers plenty of teaching resources in primary, secondary and adult teaching. Here you find Lesson Plans, Activities, Stories and Poems, Songs and several Teaching tools. It is also a great place to read several interesting articles related to current issues and events. Online activities are available as well!

#3

learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org

LearnEnglish Teens provides information, tips and resources to help teenagers learn English. You have sections about different Courses, Skills, Grammar, Vocabulary and different Exams. You can also find a section that has texts and videos with a UK focus where you can improve your reading and listening skills and learn about UK culture at the same time. There are exercises and worksheets on every page too. Their Magazine is written by young people from the UK. If you subscribe, you get the newsletter. Undoubtfully, an outstanding website with trustful resources to check anytime!

#4

www.esl-lab.com

This is one of the best ESL websites! You can find a listening activity related to almost any topic you can think of. I usually use it in my written tests; however, they are very good for activities in class or even homework. I have also tried some in remote teaching during the pandemic and they worked pretty well. The activities are levelled in easy, medium and difficult. Each listening has a pre-listening exercise (usually a general question to introduce the topic), listening comprehension questions (multiple choice), vocabulary activities (multiple-choice, short answer, mixed sentences, sentence and vocabulary matching) and post-listening exercise to practice the vocabulary (activities to complete based on the topic).

#5

www.onestopenglish.com

In this website, again, you can find almost anything about any topic. There are sections for different categories such as Business, ESOL, ESP, Exams, Grammar, Skills, Children, Teenager, CLIL, Methodology and Community. Lesson plans, stories, news articles, flashcards, writing prompts are some of the things you love! Lots of lesson plans too! Easily adapted to any level.

Download the freebie list in PDF! Another black & white version of the freebie list HERE.

#6

www.linguahouse.com

Linguahouse is another website to check for sure! It’s one of my favourites. Find resources for language learners and ESL/EFL teachers, including over 500 downloadable worksheets, 20-course plans, online phrasebooks, and so on… ESL Worksheets and Lesson Plans for English teachers. Here teachers can find a variety of general English and business English worksheets, lesson plans and resources, created by their team of British and American native speakers (suitable for the classroom, one-to-one and online teaching). There is also a Lesson Plan Search (enter a keyword or use the search filters). Most of the lesson plans are not indicated with a padlock symbol and are therefore free to download!

#7

www.teachitenglish.co.uk

I promise you won’t regret spending some of your time with this one! Everyone can access all of their PDF resources for free – you just need to register and log in. As a Teachit English subscriber, you’ll get access to all of the resources, including Word documents, PowerPoints and interactive activities. There are two refreshing sections, the Teaching Packs and Interactive Resources, where you can find different worksheets, games or texts. Dive in!

Happy So Far? Wait Until You See The Following Ones!

#8

www.bogglesworldesl.com

In here you will find a collection of free, printable worksheets for teaching themes related to the different topics. There are crosswords, word searches, word jumbles, cloze activities, videos, games and much more! Moreover, the resources include lesson plans, songs, flashcards, job listings and teaching forums. So there’s plenty of stuff to create great activities both for adult and young learners.

#9

www.eslflow.com

Here you have a newsletter to subscribe to get full access to the latest and best resources. Then you will receive entertaining, high quality, and up-to-date teaching resources regularly. In the website, you will find multiple activities and worksheets for elementary, pre-intermediate and intermediate levels and both adults and children. There’s a section for IELTS activities and the contents are well organized by level, theme and grammar points. Therefore, a very helpful resource bank!

#10

islcollective.com

You have to log in to access the resources available in six languages. Then you will find plenty of ESL Worksheets, ESL Powerpoints and Video Lessons uploaded by different teachers all over the world. There are great activities to download and use right away inside your classroom or, if you want, adapt to your group of students. This is a very nice website to spend some time and to find interesting teaching materials from people who are doing the same in another part of the globe!

…The Last 5 ESL Websites!

#11

www.englishwsheets.com

Englishwsheets is a website with lots of free resources – ESL Printable Grammar and Vocabulary Worksheets, English Exercises, EAL Handouts, ESOL Quizzes, EFL Activities, TEFL Questions, TESOL Materials, Fun Crossword and Word Search Puzzles, Tests, Picture Dictionaries, Classroom Posters, Matching Exercises, Flashcards For Kids… Finally, Grammar, Vocabulary and Reading sections where everything is downloadable! One to stop by!

#12

www.english-zone.com

English-Zone.Com is a fun site for students who are learning English as a Second Language, or studying English in general. You can learn some idioms, practice with English verbs, test your grammar, check out the fun stuff page, write a silly story, or visit links to other English sites! It is also a useful site for teachers. English-Zone.Com has a Teacher’s Zone filled with ready-to-print materials usable for ESL teaching guides, worksheets, handouts, or quizzes. There are dozens of links to other sites for teachers as well. If you love the English language, you will also find enjoyable pages relating to English as a language, its inconsistencies, jokes, and other fun language nonsense, too!

#13

www.film-english.com

Film English was founded by a freelance writer. This website has won a British Council ELTons Award for Innovation in Teacher Resources, the most prestigious European media in education prize, as well as other awards. The website offers help on how to use film and video critically and creatively in the language classroom. Lessons are therefore designed around short videos which provide input for students to talk about. You can get downloadable materials too. Subscribe to Film English to receive notifications of new lesson plans.

And Last But Not Least…

#14

www.englishclub.com

English Club is a website for with free online resources for learning English or teaching it. There you will find anything from easy guides to grammar to fun games and quizzes and more technical information too. It has sections with Vocabulary, Grammar, Listening, Reading, Speaking and Pronunciation resources including the top pages in each. You have to have a look at this one too!

#15

lab.english-club.tv

Language Lab. is one of the best resources to watch and learn English online. More than 50 000 people use the service where a bunch of programmes that will compare to your level of English will be provided. All you need to do is to choose the level of your students and make them start watching programmes with native speakers. Programmes will train their listening skills and fill their vocabulary with new usable and popular words! You have to subscribe though but for free you get access to the Article archive and Vocabulary topics. Try it!

These Will Always Be Handful, Trust Me

In conclusion, I would recommend using these websites to help with your teaching practice especially for lesson planning. You can read my post on the Last English Zoom Lesson and see how I adapted some of the ideas I got from these websites.

They may be particularly useful when starting teaching, however, they are as helpful as you can imagine when you need help with different ideas and activities. On-screen or in the classroom!

If you need more ideas, spend a little time here and you’ll find plenty of other resources to help you.

You can also find FREE DOWNLOADS, FREE TEMPLATES and different RESOURCES FOR ESL. Take some time to check them out! 

Don’t forget to scroll down till the end of the pages to find what you are looking for.

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