In this first article from our new Teachers for Teachers section, George Chilton interviews 4 ESL teachers about their favourite resource websites.
Search the web for TEFL resources and you’ll be inundated with results. From lesson planning websites, to online testing resources, teaching podcasts and downloadable materials…it’s almost impossible to know where to start.
Unfortunately, while there are literally thousands of free and paid ELT resource sites out there, it can be extremely time-consuming finding the right materials for your classes and even harder finding good quality, level-appropriate materials.
What the experts recommend…
In order to make it a little easier on you, I spoke to some highly experienced ELT teachers and writers to find out what they recommend. Here are some of their recommended teaching resource websites.
Rachael Roberts
Rachael Roberts, Teacher, teacher trainer and ELT writer, named three great online resources.
“Obviously I have to mention my resource site, elt-resourceful.com, which has a large selection of free to use materials, usually based around youtube videos,”
I’ll certainly back that up. The multi-award winning blog features downloadable materials, lesson plans and a range of high quality resources for teachers to use in their classes right away.
“Teaching English has a vast collection of free resources, and I also highly recommend Alex Case’s site, TEFLtastic,”
Teaching English from the British Council is indeed an excellent resource – and is also home to some excellent ELT bloggers, be sure to check it out. And TEFLtastic is updated regularly with fresh content for teachers and is well worth a look. You’ll find game ideas, worksheets, exam preparation materials and a lot more.
Laura Hesse
Laura Hesse, Barcelona-based teacher and member of SLB cooperative, told me about her favourite TEFL resource website for preparing students for the Cambridge First Certificate Exam. (FCE)
“I really like Flo-Joe. It breaks it down into the most common grammatical forms that will appear in each part of the use of English,”
Not only does the Flo-Joe website offer free practice tests and information about the exam, but it offers students the opportunity to join a newsletter and a number of paid resources too.
Phil Wade
Phil Wade, teacher and ELT writer, told me:
“I really like the new Cambridge site as it has lots of short useful mini lessons for my students that I set for homework.”
Find the Cambridge website here. It’s very easy to filter lesson activities by level, skill, and time needed to complete. Offering a whole range of activities types, from vocabulary exercises to listening, there’s something for every student and every type of class.
Mandeep Locham
Mandeep Locham, an English teacher based in Barcelona, says:
“All our students should be familiar with the concept of collocation. General dictionary skills are important to encourage autonomy but working with a collocation dictionary is particularly motivating for students struggling to move off the intermediate plateau.”
Mandeep recommends Free Collocation as a resource. The website may look basic, but it’s extremely valuable. Acting like a dictionary, it provides words and phrases which are commonly collocated with the search term. It’s excellent for developing natural-sounding speech and writing skills and an even better resource for IELTS and TOEFL teachers.
And me!…
Finally, I’ll leave you with my own recommendation: Kieran Donaghy’s Elton Award winning Film English is a snazzily designed TEFL blog with regular updates. It offers free, engaging lesson plans for a range of abilities and objectives, all based on film clips and short films. The blog has been running for several years and I have often used the lesson plans in my own classes.
Before you go, let us know what you think – do you have any favourite TEFL resource sites? And what do you look for in a lesson plan website? We’d love to hear your thoughts!
18 Unmissable Resource Websites for ELT teachers
If you’d like to see a longer list of resources, check out my Linguabanca article 18 unmissable resource websites for busy ELT teachers. And don’t forget that Linguabanca has loads of free classroom materials for English teachers, including printable vocabulary sheets on fruit, vegetables, the car, common construction/DIY/mechanic tools and the restaurant.
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