You can read my latest posts below or use the tools on the right hand side of the page to search for posts that interest you.
Find a speaking partner
You can practice most things alone, but to really practice speaking you need a partner. And you can find native speakers to practice with at SharedTalk, LiveMocha or Conversation Exchange (REMEMBER: Always protect your privacy online). These sites will all help you find someone who speaks English and wants to learn your native language so you can practice in tandem. You might speak 20 minutes in English and 20 minutes in your mother tongue. Your partner won’t be a teacher, but they will certainly be able to help you with vocabulary and...
read morePodcasts for every interest
Podcast Alley has hundreds of podcasts about anything you can imagine. Choose a genre from the pull-down menu on the top left and listen to something that interests you.
read moreThis American Life
This American Life is a 60 minute weekly radio program produced by National Public Radio in the US. There is an incredible variety of stories on this show, just click the “Radio Archives” link on the top of the page, choose a year and start browsing. The length of the program allows the presenters to speak at a relaxed pace and really explore their subject material sensitively and in depth. One particularly good episode is The Giant Pool of Money, which explains and interviews people involved with the start of the economic crisis in...
read moreListen to every kind of British accent
The British Library has a really incredible resource: a map of the United Kingdom that you can click on to hear the accents in different regions. It’s really remarkable how different they are, even within the same city! This means that many of the recordings are quite difficult to understand, but sometimes transcripts are provided.
read moreElllo.org: short interviews with people from around the world
Elllo.org has a searchable database of hundreds of interviews with native and non-native English speakers from around the world with a short comprehension quiz at the end. Use the search box to find something that’s interesting to you! Some of the interviews have transcripts and some don’t.
read moreEnglish blogs for English readers
Do you have English websites that you like to read? Here are some blogs and journals that are updated regularly, maybe one of them will make its way into your bookmarks bar! Boing Boing Wonkette Jezebel You Are Not So Smart Bad Science Lifehacker Monbiot News of the Weird
read moreWeekly or monthly news sites
Do you have English websites that you like to read? Here are some magazine sites that are updated frequently, maybe one of them will make its way into your bookmarks bar! The Economist The Atlantic Monthly Harper’s Mother Jones The New Republic Dissent Adbusters Salon Slate Wired Utne Reader Boston Review Esquire The Onion (satire) San Francisco Bay Guardian Village Voice (New York City) Chicago Reader The...
read moreDaily news sites
Do you have English websites that you like to read? Here are some news sites that are updated daily, maybe one of them will make its way into your bookmarks bar! The Guardian The Independent BBC The New York Times The Los Angeles Times ABC CBC Google News Yahoo News
read moreIntermediate level English news sites
These sites have short articles written with relatively simple grammar and vocabulary Orange news Simple news website, check the “quirkies” section for some funny and strange articles. USA Today Very simple American newspaper.
read moreAdvanced reading activities from the Guardian
The Guardian is an excellent newspaper which is written at a high level. They also publish classroom material with reading and vocabulary activites for beginning and advanced students. Perfect if you want to do some practice exercises after reading, and they have an extremely wide range of topics to choose from.
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