Listening

Links for practicing auditory English skills, including videos and podcasts with transcripts so you can practice listening and reading along. Some websites have a suggested level assigned to them, so that you can self-pace your learning and choose resources appropriate for your abilities. These are organized by topic: News & General, Citizenship, and Academic.

NEWS & GENERAL

Voice of America News – Good for beginners and intermediates.

NPR News – High interest listening and video materials in the news. Advanced. 

NEWSELA – Delivers daily news articles at five reading levels from grade 3 through 12. Articles are accompanied by comprehension quizzes and other activities to ensure that the readers engage thoughtfully with the content. New articles daily!

Newsy – Features short news segments across a variety of topics from business to entertainment, international to US news. Each video is posted with a transcript of the news report, giving ESL students the choice of just listening, or listening and reading. Advanced level.

Breaking News English – This website features short news stories at seven different levels in addition to various activities that accompany each story.

Current English – Designed to teach natural English vocabulary, idioms, expressions, slang, phrasal verbs, pronunciation, and grammar that you need to take your English to the next level. Comprehensive site with natural sounding fluent speakers at different speech paces. 

Randall’s ESL Café – Short 30-60 second video clips about dozens of cultural/daily life topics and comprehension questions afterward. 

English Listening Lesson Library Online – Fluent speakers with different accents on audio and video tracks speak about a variety of topics, incl. current events and grammar. Transcripts are included. Some games, workshops and lessons as well. 

English 101 – Top 25 English phrases. Alisha hosts this “English 101” YouTube channel. You can find episodes on just about anything!

Many Things – Short to long narratives shown line by line and spoken slowly. User can have the program repeat each sentence multiple times.

Real English – Videos of people recorded in public places in the USA with exercises, beginning to intermediate levels.

StoryCorps – Short, natural, very personal conversations and monologues, many on difficult topics, organized by theme, good for high intermediate or advanced learners.

REEPworld Health English Practice – Health interactive language activities for ESL beginners.

REEPworld Family English Practice – Family interactive language activities for ESL beginners. Includes very simple real family stories and life skills, such as parent teacher conference prep. 

REEPworld Work English Practice – Work interactive language activities. Stories from real people about dealing with real problems at work. Slow reading for beginners with visual back-up. 

CITIZENSHIP

USCIS Government Website – Student self-guided study and information about the test.

Civics Flash Cards – Flash cards for the naturalization test.

Civics Practice Test Videos – These short videos simulate the civics portion of the naturalization test.

ACADEMIC

REEPworld – A collection of resources loosely organized by level. Look under the section titled ‘Student Links’. The ‘Story Lessons’ on the front page are also particularly useful. 

Larry Ferlazzo – Varied list of topics with many English practice sites. 

Activities for ESL/EFL Students – Quizzes, tests, exercises and puzzles to help you learn English as a Second Language (ESL).

Khan Academy – Free online content from different academic areas for learners of any persuasion. Great way to learn English via academic content–good for international TAs. 

USA Learns – This website has online books, videos, texts, audio files, and all sorts of resources. 

Michigan Corpus of Academic Spoken English – High interest listening and video materials in the news. You can search through the list for specific academic disciplines and find transcripts and tapes of real academic speech at a U.S. university. 

Sozo Exchange – This site contains pronunciation, vocabulary, and culture videos for professional English language development. Warning: contains many ads. 

English Listening: Varied Levels – Variety of speakers, levels, and difficulty. Some sources are free, others require a fee. 

English Central – Videos and courses on a variety of topics and levels, addressing a variety of skills; response to oral input of user. Requires free registration for extensive access. 

Ted Talks – Fascinating talks on all sorts of topics for change. Can watch with subtitles or read the transcript in English. Advanced.

This American Life – High interest podcasts with lots of cultural information. Advanced.

Coursera – Free courses online taught by verified university professors for self-paced learning. Advanced.

Free Rice – Games involving English language vocabulary, will donate 10 grains of rice for each correct answer. 

Writing Commons – Comprehensive, peer-reviewed open text for students and faculty in college-level courses that require writing and research. Advanced.