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Breaking News English hosts news articles dating as far back as 2004 in varying difficulty levels, accompanied by activities related to the article to promote English learning. This website offers real-world applications of English to cater to the diverse proficiencies of students.

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Breaking News English - Easier News Lessons

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Breaking News English Lessons - 3,359 FREE Easy News English lesson plans. EFL/ESL graded news lessons, news in 7 levels, current events.

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Daily ESL offers listening segments in English covering various aspects of everyday life. After clicking on an activity, you will find a pre-listening question, the listening activity, comprehension questions, discussion questions, an online investigation activity, and links to related online listening practice.

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Epic Books offers educators and students free access to 20,000 books, as well as 20,000 additional titles, with a paid membership. This service also has a multilingual selection, including titles in Spanish, French, and Chinese, as well as educational reading videos.

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Free for educators! Give students unlimited in-class access to the best books & videos on Epic

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Made by Randall Davis, the creator of DailyESL.com, this website offers a similar format. Instead of reading and listening, students are exclusively testing their listening skills by answering questions related to the text, identifying idioms, related vocabulary work, pre- and post-listening exercises, and more online investigations. There are also links to additional English Listening Activities, such as English Interviews, Life Stories, and Culture Videos.

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Boosting Your English Listening Skills

Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab has been providing online English listening comprehension activities for ESL and EFL learners since 1998. Visit Randall's other Web sites at DailyESL.com, EZslang.com, and Trainyouraccent.com for more language practice.

General ESL Listening Quizzes

Activities focus on everyday English comprehension skills at three levels based on content, voices, vocabulary, and natural speed. A combination of adult, teenage, and children's voices are included.

Explore More English Listening Activities

Randall has created a variety of other ESL listening activities to improve your comprehension, speaking, vocabulary, and cultural awareness.

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Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab - English Listening

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Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab helps ESL and EFL learners improve their English listening comprehension skills through conversations.

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This app features bilingual audiobooks and music for all ages. Still, I was particularly drawn to the children's books due to my interest in education and my experience working with Kindergarten students. Translations in the user's native language are available while reading as a scaffold, and additional learning tools, such as flashcards and quizzes, are also provided.

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Bilingual audiobooks for children - Beelinguapp

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Discover the bilingual audiobooks designed by Beelinguapp so that you can learn languages in an entertaining and interesting way.

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Let's Learn English with Anna in Your Language

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Let's Learn English with Anna in Your Language

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VOA is a website that offers various resources for English students and instructors. However, the section that caught my attention features a series of videos in which "Anna" teaches English in various languages, including, but not limited to, English, French, Vietnamese, and Korean. The lessons are designed for students aged 8-12.

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VOA Learning English - Let's Learn English with Anna in Your Language

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Let's Learn English with Anna! is a new course to teach American English to children between 8 an 12 through asking - and answering - questions and experiencing fun situations in English along with other languages. The 40-episode series will also include printable activity sheets for learners and lesson plans for instructors, parents, and caregivers.

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Contains helpful ESL activities for all levels. Skills include grammar, speaking vocabulary, and writing.

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Online English resources for teaching and learning English are available for free. Use our free interactive speaking and listening lessons, reading and writing exercises, quizzes, and games to improve your English.

Take our free level test if you are unsure of your level. The Junior Level Test is for students aged 6 to 12, and the Senior Level Test is for students aged 13 and up. It only takes 15-20 minutes to determine which English language course to take. You can also choose to have your results emailed to you. So why waste your time? Take the English level test online right now!

Links to Different Levels of English:

Learn English with our free online English material for various levels. We regularly add new ESL exercises on grammar and vocabulary, as well as whole-text activities. In addition, we offer test preparation activities for students preparing for the Cambridge Assessment English Main Suite as well as English Language B for the IB Diploma. There is also content to help students prepare for the Cambridge Advanced courses.

Starters | Beginner | Elementary | Intermediate | Upper Intermediate | Advanced

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Free English Online Exercises and Activities for all levels

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Free English online resources for teaching and learning English. Practise your English with free lessons ESL exercises, ESL quizzes and games

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This article lists 10 games to play with students learning English, accompanied by descriptions, directions, and demonstration videos. The rest of the website contains information for English teachers looking to teach abroad!

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Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Whether you're teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students will leave the classroom wanting more.

Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when you're tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play with your students. EFL games are used to test vocabulary, practice conversing, learn tenses - the list is endless.

This list of ten classic ESL games every teacher should know will help get you started and feeling prepared. Having these up your sleeve before stepping into the classroom will ensure your lessons run smoothly, and, should things get a little out of control, you'll be able to pull back the attention of the class in no time.
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1. Board Race

There isn't an EFL teacher I know who doesn't use this game in the classroom. Board Race is a fun game that is used for revising vocabulary, whether it be words from the lesson you've just taught or words from a lesson you taught last week. It can also be used at the start of the class to get students active. It is a great way of testing what your students already know about the subject you're about to teach.

This is best played with 6 students or more - the more, the better. I've used it in classes ranging from 7-25 years of age and it's worked well in all age groups.

How to Play:

Split the class into two teams and give each team a colored marker.

If you have a very large class, it may be better to split the students into teams of 3 or 4.

Draw a line down the middle of the board and write a topic at the top.

The students must then write as many words as you require related to the topic in the form of a relay race.

Each team wins one point for each correct word. Any words that are unreadable or misspelled are not counted.

2. Call My Bluff / Two Truths and A Lie

Call My Bluff is a fun game which is perfect at the start of term as a 'getting to know you' kind of game. It is also a brilliant ice breaker between students if you teach classes who do not know one another -- and especially essential if you are teaching a small class size.

The game is excellent for practicing speaking skills, though make sure you save a time for after the game to comment on any mistakes students may have made during the game. (I generally like to reserve this for after the game, so you don't disrupt their fluency by correcting them as they speak).

With older groups you can have some real fun and you might be surprised what you'll learn about some of your students when playing this particular EFL game.

How to play:

Write 3 statements about yourself on the board, two of which should be lies and one which should be true.

Allow your students to ask you questions about each statement and then guess which one is the truth. You might want to practice your poker face before starting this game!

If they guess correctly then they win.

Extension: Give students time to write their own two truths and one lie.

Pair them up and have them play again, this time with their list, with their new partner. If you want to really extend the game and give students even more time to practice their speaking/listening skills, rotate partners every five minutes.

Bring the whole class back together and have students announce one new thing they learned about another student as a recap.

3. Simon Says

This is an excellent game for young learners. Whether you're waking them up on a Monday morning or sending them home on a Friday afternoon, this one is bound to get them excited and wanting more. The only danger I have found with this game is that students never want to stop playing it.

How to Play:

Stand in front of the class (you are Simon for the duration of this game).

Do an action and say Simon Says [action]. The students must copy what you do.

Repeat this process choosing different actions - you can be as silly as you like and the sillier you are the more the children will love you for it.

Then do an action but this time say only the action and omit 'Simon Says'. Whoever does the action this time is out and must sit down.

The winner is the last student standing.

To make it harder, speed up the actions. Reward children for good behavior by allowing them to play the part of Simon.

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4. Word Jumble Race

This is a great game to encourage team work and bring a sense of competition to the classroom. No matter how old we are, we all love a good competition and this game works wonders with all age groups. It is perfect for practicing tenses, word order, reading & writing skills and grammar.

How to play:

Write out a number of sentences, using different colors for each sentence. I suggest having 3-5 sentences for each team.

Cut up the sentences so you have a handful of words.

Put each sentence into hats, cups or any objects you can find, keeping each separate.

Split your class into teams of 2, 3, or 4. You can have as many teams as you want but remember to have enough sentences to go around.

Teams must now put their sentences in the correct order.

The winning team is the first team to have all sentences correctly ordered.

5. Hangman

This classic game is a favorite for all students but it can get boring quite quickly. This game is best used for 5 minutes at the start to warm the class up or 5 minutes at the end if you've got some time left over. It works no matter how many students are in the class.

How to play:

Think of a word and write the number of letters on the board using dashes to show many letters there are.

Ask students to suggest a letter. If it appears in the word, write it in all of the correct spaces. If the letter does not appear in the word, write it off to the side and begin drawing the image of a hanging man.

Continue until the students guess the word correctly (they win) or you complete the diagram (you win).

6. Pictionary

This is another game that works well with any age group; children love it because they can get creative in the classroom, teenagers love it because it doesn't feel like they're learning, and adults love it because it's a break from the monotony of learning a new language - even though they'll be learning as they play.

Pictionary can help students practice their vocabulary and it tests to see if they're remembering the words you've been teaching.

How to play:

Before the class starts, prepare a bunch of words and put them in a bag.

Split the class into teams of 2 and draw a line down the middle of the board.

Give one team member from each team a pen and ask them to choose a word from the bag.

Tell the students to draw the word as a picture on the board and encourage their team to guess the word.

The first team to shout the correct answer gets a point.

The student who has completed drawing should then nominate someone else to draw for their team.

Repeat this until all the words are gone - make sure you have enough words that each student gets to draw at least once!

7. The Mime

Miming is an excellent way for students to practice their tenses and their verbs. It's also great for teachers with minimal resources or planning time, or teachers who want to break up a longer lesson with something more interactive. It's adaptable to almost any language point that you might be focusing on.

This game works with any age group, although you will find that adults tire of this far quicker than children. To keep them engaged, relate what they will be miming to your groups' personal interests as best as possible.

How to play:

Before the class, write out some actions - like washing the dishes - and put them in a bag.

Split the class into two teams.

Bring one student from each team to the front of the class and one of them choose an action from the bag.

Have both students mime the action to their team.

The first team to shout the correct answer wins a point.

Repeat this until all students have mimed at least one action.

8. Hot Seat

This is one of my students' favorite games and is always at the top of the list when I ask them what they want to play. I have never used this while teaching ESL to adults, but I imagine it would work well.

Hot Seat allows students to build their vocabulary and encourages competition in the classroom. They are also able to practice their speaking and listening skills and it can be used for any level of learner.

How to play:

Split the class into 2 teams, or more if you have a large class.

Elect one person from each team to sit in the Hot Seat, facing the classroom with the board behind them.

Write a word on the board. One of the team members of the student in the hot seat must help the student guess the word by describing it. They have a limited amount of time and cannot say, spell or draw the word.

Continue until each team member has described a word to the student in the Hot Seat.

9. Where Shall I Go?

This game is used to test prepositions of movement and should be played after this subject has been taught in the classroom. This game is so much fun but it can be a little bit dangerous since you'll be having one student in each pair be blindfolded while the other directs them. So make sure to keep your eyes open!

It is also excellent for the adult EFL classroom, or if you're teaching teenagers.

How to play:

Before the students arrive, turn your classroom into a maze by rearranging it. It's great if you can do this outside, but otherwise push tables and chairs together and move furniture to make your maze.

When your students arrive, put them in pairs outside the classroom. Blindfold one student from each pair.

Allow pairs to enter the classroom one at a time; the blindfolded student should be led through the maze by their partner. The students must use directions such as step over, go under, go up, and go down to lead their partner to the end of the maze.

10. What's My Problem?

This is a brilliant EFL game to practice giving advice. It should be played after the 'giving advice' vocabulary lesson has taken place. It is a great way for students to see what they have remembered and what needs reviewing. This game works well with any age group, just adapt it to fit the age you're working with.

How to play:

Write ailments or problems related to your most recent lesson on post-it notes and stick one post-it note on each student's back.

The students must mingle and ask for advice from other students to solve their problem.

Students should be able to guess their problem based on the advice they get from their peers.

Use more complicated or obscure problems to make the game more interesting for older students. For lower levels and younger students, announce a category or reference a recent lesson, like "Health", to help them along.

These games will keep your students engaged and happy as they learn! Remember, these are just ten on the hundreds of different EFL games that you can plat with your students. As you get more confident in the classroom, you can start putting your own spin on games and eventually make up your own.

Whatever the age of your students, they're guaranteed to love playing EFL games in the classroom. An EFL classroom should be fun, active and challenging and these games are sure to get you heading in the right direction.
This article was originally published in October 2013; we redesigned and updated this article in May 2018.
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10 Fun ESL Games and Activities for Teaching Kids English Abroad

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Want to make your ESL classroom a more fun and educational place to be? These 10 great games will help teach your students during your time as an ESL teacher abroad.

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This website contains clips from popular movies and TV shows, as well as academic and skills-related clips in English. There are clips from Frozen, Minions, Moana, and more, but it is essential to use this website with supervision, as it also features clips from adult television shows and movies, such as Friends, The Last of Us, and Pulp Fiction. When the website advertises all ages, they mean it.

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Improve English Listening - Listen in English

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Improve your English listening skills with engaging ESL lessons from TV, movies, and academic sources. Perfect for all levels.

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This website offers a vast collection of free games designed for English learners. Games range from content to syntax and provide an enjoyable and perhaps more independent way for ESL learners to work on their English skills.

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Free online ESL games to help students learn English in a fun and interactive way.

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As someone who grew up with BrainPOP, I was pleased to see that they have materials designed explicitly with English Language Learners (ELLs) in mind. There are videos paired with various activities to keep students engaged and to reinforce their skills. Several levels are offered, along with a placement test to determine where students fall.

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BrainPOP ELL is BrainPOP’s English language instruction site for English Language Learners of all ages. The curriculum is comprised of short, animated movies as well as games, quizzes, and interactive features. Users practice the four principle language skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The movies feature the characters Moby and Ben, who model conversational English while seamlessly presenting the target vocabulary, language, and content.

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A place for ESL teachers to post questions, resources, advice, and anything else to do with ESL Teaching. Another place I like to lurk is r/Teachers, but this subreddit is particularly good if you're looking for topics related solely to ESL teaching.

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Teachers often use IXL to integrate technology into their lessons. IXL offers an ESL curriculum, as well as the ability to translate Math and Science courses into other languages, including Spanish.

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IXL helps schools drive academic gains for English language learners at all levels. Find out how your ELL students can build confidence and increase academic language proficiency.

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TeachersFirst: Ideas and Resources for Parents of ESL/ELL Students

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TeachersFirst: Ideas and Resources for Parents of ESL/ELL Students

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This website has compiled a list of various activities, online resources, reading, etc., to share with the families of ESL/ELL students in order to provide enrichment and support at home as well as at school. The website also offers suggestions on how these resources can be adapted for the classroom.

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TeachersFirst: Ideas and Resources for Parents of ESL/ELL Students

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This website offers lessons and activities that utilize songs to teach English. Lessons progress from very basic to more advanced, and the songs cover a variety of decades and artists. The website also offers suggestions for ESL classroom activities that incorporate music.

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ESLSongs | A collection of song lyrics to teach English vocabulary and grammar in the ESL classroom

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ESLSongs.com is a collection of nearly 150 well-known, hand-picked, pop, rock & folk songs whose lyrics are perfect for presenting or for practising specific grammar or vocabulary in the ESL classroom with teenagers and adults. Most of the songs also come with an easy-to-use worksheet that you can download in pdf format!

The lyrics of every single song on this website contain at least 5 different examples of the grammar or vocabulary that it is designed to practice, which guarantees a pragmatic and efficient use of the song in your classroom.

To get started, click on the grammar or vocabulary you want to practise from the menu, or have a look at the site's most popular song lyrics below...

A song for Christmas!

Mariah Carey - All I want for christmas is you
Celebrate christmas in your ESL class with this classic song, All I want for christmas is you by Mariah Carey. These song lyrics include 15 examples of christmas-related vocabulary: christmas, presents, christmas tree, stocking, fireplace, Santa Claus, toy, christmas day, snow, mistletoe, North Pole, Saint Nick, reindeer, sleigh bells & Santa
Click here to see more Christmas songs.

All-time top 10 most popular songs for the ESL classroom

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ESLSongs.com | The best pop song lyrics to teach ESL English

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ESLSongs is a collection of the best pop songs to study grammar & vocabulary in ESL classes. Find great song lyrics to teach English with worksheets!