Online Resources for Practicing English

There are many online possibilities to improve your English skills (vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening) in your own time. Here is a list of some reliable websites.

GENERAL ENGLISH LEARNING WEBSITES

BUSINESS ENGLISH

TECHNICAL ENGLISH

VOCABULARY

There are many ways of learning new words. Here are some general tips:

1. Learn a new word in context
Never learn a word on its own. You might remember the meaning later, but you might not know how to use it in a sentence correctly. So, write a sentence or two for yourself using the new word.

2. English to English
Learn the meaning of the word in English.

3. Find more about a word
Find the parts of speech; i.e. noun, verb, adjective. This will automatically increase your vocabulary pool. It also gives you a good grasp of word functions.

4. Read more
Read as much as you can. It helps you increase your vocabulary pool.

5. Use the original
Try to read texts or watch films in the original. If you are a fan of playing games, change the language into English.

6. Back to the roots
Have you learnt Latin at school? If so, you have better chances of learning English quickly! Try to learn the roots, pre-fixes and suffixes. This develops your ability to guess the meaning of new words without using a dictionary.

Online dictionaries

English collocations dictionaries

English vocabulary exercises

GRAMMAR

Knowledge of grammar assists accuracy in language use. Here is a list of some websites where you can learn about grammar rules and practice online.

READING

Reading helps you improve your vocabulary and increase your knowledge of English language use. You can read books, magazines and newspapers in English. If you find authentic text too difficult, browse through the following websites which offer simplified reading texts for English language learners.

WRITING

For many language learners writing is considered as the most challenging skill. The following websites might help you to learn more about the organisation of the text and punctuation rules.

LISTENING

The more you listen, the better you can speak. These two skills are closely related. There are many possibilities for practicing your listening on the internet; e.g. online radio, youtube, podcasts, etc. The following list contains listening practice for English learners.