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Watch free videos of practical reading activities for teaching English as a foreign language.

In these playlist of short videos, staff from Victoria University of Wellington's English Language Institute demonstrate useful language teaching techniques and activities:
Language Learning Techniques Series 1 Language Learning Techniques Series 2

extensive reading

intensive reading

shared book

speed reading

substitution tables

word-card strategies.

These videos also include information about graded readers and how to find the vocabulary size of your learners. They are freely available to use. No permission is required to use them in lectures and teacher‑training courses. It would be good to acknowledge their source.

Keep looking at the playlist because new videos will be added as they are completed. Written descriptions of the techniques can be found in Nation, P. (2013). What should every EFL Teacher Know? Seoul: Compass Learning. This book is also available in electronic form.

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Watch free videos of practical reading activities for teaching English as a foreign language. In these playlist of short videos, staff from Victoria University of Wellington's English Language Institute demonstrate useful language teaching techniques and activities: Language Learning Techniques Series 1 Language Learning Techniques Series 2 extensive reading intensive reading shared book speed reading substitution tables word-card strategies.

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Read the mid-frequency readers including classic fiction and non-fiction adapted and graded for readers with various English vocabulary sizes.

Graded readers are reading material written in a controlled vocabulary. This page includes out-of-print graded readers and mid-frequency readers adapted for learners with vocabulary sizes of around 4,000, 6,000, and 8,000 word families. You can find more free graded readers at https://freegradedreaders.com.

Mid-frequency graded readers

These mid-frequency graded readers are books within a controlled vocabulary. They can be used in extensive reading programs or for individual study and enjoyment. They are designed to help learners learn mid-frequency vocabulary and to read texts that would otherwise be too difficult for them.

Most readers are available in three levels: one for learners who know 4,000 words, one for learners who know 6,000 words, and one for learners who know 8,000 words.

The readers are available free for advanced learners of English as a foreign or second language, but they must not be offered for sale. More information about mid-frequency graded readers is available. Also see Nation, I.S.P. & Anthony, L. (2013). Mid-frequency readers. Journal of Extensive Reading, 1(1), 5-16.

Fiction

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

A Christmas Carol is a novel written in the 19th century. It tells of the transformation of a mean-spirited man, Scrooge, into a generous and kind one. The transformation occurs when one Christmas he is visited by three ghosts who show him visions of Christmas in his past, present, and future. The author, Charles Dickens, writes in the style of his time and uses sentence structures and punctuation in ways that may not be familiar to the modern reader. He also uses a lot of descriptive language and some of the comparisons he makes might be unfamiliar. However, the story is clear and enjoyable.

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift

A Modest Proposal is a satirical essay written in 1729. It is a bitter attack on the poverty of Irish Roman Catholics under the rule of Protestant England. Its full title is A Modest Proposal for Preventing the Children of Poor People from Being a Burden to their Parents, or the Country, and for Making them Beneficial to the Public. Johnathan Swift's shocking proposal is intended to arouse disgust against the English Government's lack of concern for the starving children of Ireland.

Swift is also the author of the famous Gulliver's Travels.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

This famous children's story written in 1865 is an early example of the fantasy or nonsense genre. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland plays with time, imagination, logic, and language and for this reason remains popular with adult readers as well as children. You will meet many strange kinds of talking animals as well as characters from the pack of cards, and you will encounter unusual and interesting ways of using English such as 'curiouser' and 'uglification'.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Jane Eyre is a classic story of the treacherous path to happiness. After she loses her parents, Jane has a miserable childhood, first under her aunt's cruel care and then at a harsh boarding school for the poor. However, by gaining an education, Jane enjoys her early adult life working as a governess. Falling in love with the master, though, brings her both joy and terrible heartbreak. Only after facing many difficult choices and overcoming secrets, lies, and deception does Jane eventually find the life she deserves.

This famous novel is written in an intensely descriptive and poetic style, in the gothic tradition. It is set in 19th century rural England.

Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

Metamorphosis was written by German writer Franz Kafka in 1912. It begins: One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke, he found himself transformed into a horrible giant insect.

While Gregor's physical body has changed, he is still the same person inside. In the book, Gregor describes his changing relationship with his family and his surroundings, his feelings about his changed state, and his final acceptance. While the situation is ridiculous, Kafka writes about it as if it is perfectly normal. This is what has made the story a classic of early 20th century literature.

More William by Richmal Crompton

More William is about a very amusing set of stories about a young English boy who is always getting into trouble. The original (available from Project Gutenberg) contains a lot of deliberate mis-spellings to represent dialect pronunciation and children's writing errors. These have been regularised in this adapted version.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes is a collection of 12 stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a Scottish doctor and writer. The stories were first published together as a book in 1892. Sherlock Holmes is famous for his ability to use logical reasoning and science to solve difficult and unusual crimes, and also for his ability to take on any disguise. The stories are told by Dr Watson, Sherlock Holmes' colleague in crime detection.

The Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield

The Garden Party and Other Stories are thought to be based on Katherine Mansfield's recollections of her childhood in New Zealand. There are 15 stories in the collection. They are available for download in the table above as zip files. The name of the person who kindly adapted each story to be a mid-frequency reader is listed on the first page of each story.

The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

This 1925 novel tells the story of upper-class socialites in the American 1920's, a period known for economic growth and evolving social trends. It focuses on a mysterious man who has become a popular figure in the community while simultaneously remaining a mystery to those who know him. Extravagant parties and festivities are key components of the story and the community, and occur in stark contrast to the underlying problems faced by the characters which continue to unravel throughout the novel.

The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

This 1886 novella questions the nature of man, his morals, and his choices. It tells the story of a morally righteous scientist who desperately wants an opportunity to indulge his darkest desires and impulses. Eventually he discovers a means by which he can live two lives, one as the upright academic and valued member of the community, and one as the brash and reviled monster that dwells within him. After giving his inner evil freedom, however, he discovers that it is not easy to put the monster back in its cage.

The Time Machine by H.G. Wells

This 1895 classic of science fiction tells the story of an inventor who creates a time machine and travels into the distant future. However, his initial expectations of future humans are far from what he finds, and he desperately tries to make sense of his new world while also searching for a means to return to his home time. This text is an early example of a time travel story written by an eminent author in the science fiction genre.

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

One of the most popular 19th century novels, Wuthering Heights is a dramatic and horrifying story of passion and revenge, racial and social discrimination. This is quite a difficult work, but one which rewards the patient and attentive reader. The relationships between characters and the similarity of many names may cause some confusion for readers. A useful diagram on the genealogy of Wuthering Heights can be found on the website, The Reader's Guide to Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Switching angles of narration and the time span of this novel are also quite complex, so this summary of the novel may also be useful.

Readers who are new to the works of the Brontë sisters are advised to start with Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë. This has a more accessible style, a single narrator, a more linear plot, and provides a good introduction to the life and times of the Brontë novels.

Non-Fiction

The Burning Bed by Paul Nation

This is a simple story told by Paul Nation of an amusing experience he had in his hometown.

Free Culture by Lawrence Lessig

Free Culture is a non-fiction text subtitled how big media uses technology and the law to lock down culture and control creativity.

Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan by Lafcadio Hearn

Lafcadio Hearn visited Japan in the 1890s and fell in love with the country. There is a statue of him in Matsue, where the house where he stayed is preserved as a tourist attraction. Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan is about Hearn's stay in Japan, the places he visited and the people he met. In addition to his book he wrote English versions of Japanese folk tales. The book contains quite a few Japanese words, but these are explained in the text.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

Frederick Douglas was born into slavery into the USA before the civil war that made it illegal. He escaped his slave masters at great personal cost and moved to the North where black people could live more freely than in the South. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is his autobiographical story.

It came as a shock, even to the 'liberal' world in 1845, that a man with almost no formal education could leave the horrors of slavery and write such a literate, literary, horrifying, and detailed account of his ordeal. The scenes described here are disturbing, but perhaps they ought to be read about, so that we do not forget. Be prepared for graphic accounts of physical abuse perpetrated on slaves. His account includes insights on human nature that are still, sadly, applicable today. Students of language may be interested to learn how a man in his position learned to read and write and what effect his new found literacy had on him. The process of 'becoming' initiated by new learning can be painful.

The Art of War is an adaptation of a translation from the original in Chinese. It consists of very practical advice on how to conduct war. Recently, the book has been studied so that the general principles can be adapted to the world of business. For further information see the Wikipedia entry, The Art of War

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli (4000 level only)

The Prince, by Nicolo Machiavelli, is an important text in literature (it influenced many Elizabethan writers like Shakespeare), political science, history, and psychology. It is a partly ironic description of how a leader should behave. Because the advice is largely given for practical purposes, Machiavelli gained an undeserved reputation for giving little consideration of morality.

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Graded readers | School of Linguistics and Applied Language Studies | Victoria University of Wellington

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Read the mid-frequency readers including classic fiction and non-fiction adapted and graded for readers with various English vocabulary sizes.

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I've been collecting slang and and publishing books about it for 30 years. My database contains 125,000 words and phrases and they keep coming.

One thing I've learnt - the more slang changes, to half-inch the well-known phrase, the more slang stays the same.

Politically correct, even polite: I fear not. But humanity at its most human, absolutely.

As examples I offer a selection of terms that display some of slang's nuts and bolts.

It was there in the first ever glossary of slang, the collection of criminal jargon published c.1532, and it's still going strong. Booze: Alcohol, drink, and as a verb, to drink. It came from Dutch buizen, to drink to excess (and beyond that buise, a large drinking vessel) and the first examples were spelt bouse. Over the centuries it spread its wings. We find the boozer (both pub and person), the booze artist, - gob, - head, - freak, -hound,- hoister, - rooster, -shunter and - stupe, all drunkards. There are the pubs, saloons and bars - the booze barn, -bazaar, - casa, - crib, - joint, - mill, - parlour, - factory, - foundry and - emporium. Across the mahogany (the bar counter) stands the booze clerk, -fencer or -pusher. If we hit the booze too heavily, we get a booze belly, and maybe a trip on the booze bus, Australia's mobile breath-tester.

Slang, being subversive to its very core, doesn't have much time for rules but like all language it has to accept one - words are always older than you think. Let's take diss. Meaning - disrespect. Origins - African-American, spread like so much of that slang-filled language via the worldwide success of hip-hop and rap music. Date - ever since the late 1980s. Except, with the exception of the meaning, all that is wrong. Go back, search among the vast number of online databases that are lexicography's gift from the internet. Look, digitally, at the Sunday Times of Perth, Western Australia. Specifically at 10 December 1906 and find: "When a journalistic rival tries to 'dis' you / And to prejudice you in the public's eyes." The next example is 1981. The only question now - what about the examples in between?

I had met slang earlier - you couldn't read writers such as Sapper or PG Wodehouse and fail to note that not all language was restrained to the standard - but I doubt if I really started thinking "slang" till the 60s. Groovy, heavy, bag (of which Papa had a brand new...), uptight (and outasite), thing, cool, dope... such were hippiedom's key words. That they came, unaltered, from an American black vocabulary that was around 30 years old was irrelevant. Ignorance, if not bliss, did not impede our use. Some were laid to rest; others flourish. Dope still means drugs, as well as affirming excellence. Cool marches on, re-minted for every youthful generation. As for groovy, it began life meaning conservative ("stuck in a groove"); now the young use it to mock those who pose as latter-day freaks.

The original hipster wore Italian suits, listened to Charlie Parker's brand of "cool" jazz, shot up heroin and doubled as what Norman Mailer, in a famous essay of 1957, christened "The White Negro". Mass-marketed, he was the idealised stud of Hugh Hefner's "Playboy philosophy", at his incomparable best the taboo-shattering stand-up Lenny Bruce. Something cooler and blacker than the beatnik, he was a cut above the hippie, which, pre-bells and beads, signified a failed or at best wannabe hipster. He vanished around 1960. Now he's back (and she too) and the Urban Dictionary describes "a subculture of men and women typically in their 20s and 30s that value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter". Been there, dare I say, done that too.

Slang fails on caring, sharing and compassion but it does a good insult. Modernity lacks the 18th Century's excellent "you are a thief and a murderer: you have killed a baboon and stolen his face" but there is much on offer. Slang, as noted, pooh-poohs political correctness and has no time for euphemism, however justified, and while mental-health professionals might deplore the fact, lists a wide range of terms it defines as "mad". The over-riding image is "not all there". Take your pick from: A couple of chips short of an order, a butty, a happy meal or even a circuit-board, a few bob short of the pound, a few snags short of a barbie, one brick short of a load, one sandwich short of a picnic, one stop short of East Ham (yes, "barking") or two wafers short of a communion.

With "older than you think" still in mind, there's dosh - money. Like many of slang terms for cash, the inference is "something you need", e.g. the needful, bread, as in "the staff of life" or quid, from the Latin for "what", with "one needs" left unspoken. Dosh, which started life around 1850, may come from a mix of "dollar" and "cash" but the root lies more likely in doss, a sleep, bed or lodging house, itself rooted in Latin's dorsus, the back, on which one rests. Dosh was the money required to get that very basic necessity.

Slang, being what Americans would term a contrary cuss, is never happier than when rendering its topics and terminology inside-out, upside down and generally turning all available arses about-face. Never more so than with those alleged poles of morality, good and bad. It is a vocabulary, after all, in which do good means to make substantial profits from crime and get good to become drunk. And bad? Quite simply, in slang's looking-glass environs, bad means good. Albeit with a special sauce of sexiness and outsider cool.

It all starts with rum. In cant, the language of criminal beggars, rum meant good. The reason is lost, though there may be links to Rome, both as a former imperial capital and in Romeville, cant for London. The image is of the great and powerful city epitomizing something desirable.

"Good" rum offered over 120 compounds. There was rum booze, which was good strong beer, there was a rum diver who was a competent pickpocket and a rum doxy who was a pretty girl. A rum kiddy was a smart young villain and rum nantz the best-quality brandy (from Nantes, whence it was exported). Then, around 1760, it all changes. We meet the rum cove, an odd or eccentric character, the rum phiz, a deformed face ( phiz as in physiognomy), and of course the rum 'un, a dubious individual.

"Bad" rum's descendants start emerging in the early 19th Century. There is terrible, nasty, awful, mean and hell. There is also, though today's young might find this surprising, wicked, which turns up in 1842. Then it promptly disappears and does not re-emerge until 1908, often describing food (a "wicked ragout") or drink (a "wicked punch"). One can also shake a wicked foot. Exclamatory wicked! arrives in the 1970s (in the 50s musical Grease, though the "real" fifties offer no examples) and really gets going - stand up, Jamie Oliver - in the 90s.

Much is owed to hip-hop. Ill appeared in 1987, dank and skanky (used elsewhere of drugs and floozies respectively) in 1989 and ghetto in 1996. The new century has added roughneck, beasty and treacherous.

Why do people read slang dictionaries? Not for the spelling, nor the pronunciation. What they want is the etymologies - the stories behind the words. Usually we can give them, although a surprising number are simply playing with standard English. Thus dog, with its compounds, offers 161 meanings in slang. But sometimes we can't. What, for instance lies behind the phrase the whole nine yards? We know that it comes out of US regional use, and is so far first recorded in 1907. But its origins? Most suggestions involve standards of measurement, from the dimensions of a nun's habit to the capacity of a cement truck and the length of an ammunition clip to that of a hangman's rope. However, few, when checked, actually run to nine yards. It may be no more than the use of nine as a form of mystic number. Your guess, dare I admit, maybe be even better than mine.

Slang may stay the same but the lexis evolves. Standard English laid down such terms as drunk or sexual intercourse centuries ago. Slang, not so much a language (where's the grammar?) but rather a vast compendium of synonyms, has respectively 3,000 and 1,750 terms for each. That the former tend to suggest some form of physical ineptitude and latter, sadly, too often boils down to "man hits woman", does not mean there won't be more. But there are real novelties. Nang, meaning first-rate, is an example of slang's current cutting edge, Multi-ethnic London English (MLE). This mix of Jamaican patois, American hip-hop, Cockney classics and the coinages of youthful Londoners has added much to slang's vocabulary. Nang, imported from the Caribbean where it means ostentation or style and rooted in Mende nyanga, showing off, is one of the better-known examples.

Slang is ephemeral. So runs the critique. As booze and thousands of other terms make clear, this is far from the rule. But yes, some things don't last. Yolo - you only live once - was the flavour of the month, even year, not that long ago. Today few slang users worthy of their attitude would be heard using it. It is far from alone. In 1840 Charles McKay, in his book Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions, listed a number of defunct, yet once hugely popular catchphrases. Among them - has your mother sold her mangle? walker! quoz! flare up! and there he goes with his eye out! Each, as Mackay noted, was "the slang par excellence of the Londoners, and afforded them a vast gratification". And now? All gone, not to mention forgotten.

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10 slang phrases that perfectly sum up their era

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I've been collecting slang and and publishing books about it for 30 years. My database contains 125,000 words and phrases and they keep coming. One thing I've learnt - the more slang changes, to half-inch the well-known phrase, the more slang stays the same. Politically correct, even polite: I fear not.

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Voice of America - Learn American English with VOA Learning English

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Learn American English with English language lessons from Voice of America. VOA Learning English helps you learn English with vocabulary, listening and comprehension lessons through daily news and interactive English learning activities.

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The Brazilian Report - News from Brazil in English | Politics, Economics

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20 hours ago * Gustavo Ribeiro and Laura Quirin

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Latest US news, world news, sports, business, opinion, analysis and reviews from the Guardian, the world's leading liberal voice

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graded readers ebooks - best choice to learn English. Download or read online for free!

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Audio bank: Rants and raves

Rants and raves is an audio bank of short monologues to use in class with a range of levels. Each recording introduces students to a variety of different accents and contains up-to-date colloquial language and expressions.

Students can listen to:

Rants. Speakers give their opinions on a variety of topics that they feel strongly about, such as queuing, reality TV, and saying 'please' and 'thank you'.

Raves. People talk about some of their favourite activities and possessions, for example going to the gym or electronic gadgets.

Age and level

The audio recordings and lesson materials are aimed at adult learners of English, but most can be used with teenage students. They are aimed at learners with an CEFR A2-B1 level, but the tasks can be adapted for all levels.

Guidance and tips

Each resource includes downloadable guidance and advice on how to use the recordings with students. There are a series of suggestions for pre-listening, while-listening, and after-listening tasks and activities. Some of the audio files include a short lesson plan.

See the list of the audio recordings below
TV talent shows
In this recording, students listen to a man from Scotland complaining about the amount of talent shows there are on television at the moment. The recording can be used as a starting point for a range of speaking or writing activities in the online or face-to-face classroom related to fame and why so many people enter television contests.

In this audio recording, students listen to a woman living in the UK, talking about all the reasons why she doesn't like winter. The recording can be used as a starting point for a range of speaking or writing activities in the online or face-to-face classroom to discuss favourite and least favourite seasons.
Please and thank you
In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a person's reflection of using 'please' and 'thank you' in conversation. They will match how its done in other languages and complete a listening comprehension activity. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of manners to practise specific areas of grammar.

In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a persons reflection of queuing etiquette in the UK. They will match adjectives to synonyms and antonyms and complete a listening comprehension activity. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of queuing to practise specific areas of grammar.

In this short lesson, students will listen to a monologue about a persons reflection of reality TV. They will put the monologue in order and answer comprehension questions. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of reality TV to practise specific areas of grammar.
Breaking up
In this recording, you a hear a woman, Jenny, leaving a message on her friend's answering machine, telling her that her boyfriend has just told her he wants to split up with her.
Going to the gym
In this recording, you hear a woman talking about how she joined a gym and was worried at first that she might be wasting her money. She talks about how much she loves it now and wonders whether she's become addicted to going.
Technology
In this recording, you hear a man talking about how technology dominates his life during the working week. He talks about how he likes to switch off his mobile phone and computer at the weekend and enjoy the peace and quiet of where he lives in the countryside.
TV recorder
In this recording, you hear a man raving about how fantastic his new TV recorder is. He talks about how easy it was to set up and use as well as what it can do.
Mobile phones
In this lesson, students will listen to a monologue about mobile phones. They put the monologue in the correct order and listen to check answers. There are also suggestions for developing the theme of mobile phones to practise specific areas of grammar.

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Rants and raves is an audio bank of short monologues to use in class with a range of levels. Each recording introduces students to a variety of different accents and contains up-to-date colloquial language and expressions. Students can listen to: Rants.

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TED Talks are influential videos from expert speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity, with subtitles in 100+ languages. Ideas free to stream and download.

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BBC Ideas: Short films and videos for curious minds

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Tired of clickbait? Satisfy your curious mind with this selection of thought-provoking short films and videos from the BBC.

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ELLLO - English Listening Lesson Library Online

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ELLLO stands for English Listening Lesson Library Online and features natural English lessons that come with quizzes, vocabulary training, and free printable worksheets. ESL students and teachers can access over 2,000 free lessons that feature World English with speakers from over 100 countries.

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Breaking News English - Easier News Lessons

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English News Lessons in 7 levels with graded multi-level listening and variable scrolled-reading, and all-skills activities.

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English news and easy articles for students of English

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News in Levels « World News for Students of English

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We write news in three different levels of English. We want to help you understand English more. Now all students can enjoy reading and listening to news.