It's always good to know another language. Read on to see some awesome ESL blogs.
1. Mondo's World
Students and teachers alike can take advantage of the numerous video lessons, song lessons, and writing classes on this resource-rich blog. There are also cartoons, suggestions for discussions by level, writing topics, podcasts, and grammar lessons. There are links to newspapers, books, and useful videos. Blog posts cover all of the above and more. This is a great site that can be used inside and outside the classroom!
2. Kalinago English
Find loads of links and resources for teachers and students, including blogs, lessons, tips (broken down by category), helpful Web sites, recommended books, and more. The author also conducts workshops. A very professional site that's well organized and should be bookmarked by any ESL teacher!
3. Inspiration Lane
Students and teachers alike will find plenty to be inspired by at this site, which is full of resources for the classroom. There are quotes, articles and recipes of the day, as well as activities for singing grammar lessons, writing comic captions, and writing poetry. There are useful links for ESL games, dictionaries, a daily challenge, and more. The most recent blog post uses the finale of Lost as a teaching lesson, with a sample dialogue, discussion questions, and grammar points.
4. Larry Ferlazzo's Web sites of the day…
Larry Ferlazzo does exactly what the name of his blog says: He posts about a different Web site each day that are helpful for teachers of ESL, ELL, and EFL. He also does a "best of” series for the month and for the year. Larry has received several awards for his blog from the EduBlog Awards 2009, and he has written two books: English Language Learners: Teaching Strategies that Work and Building Parent Engagement in Schools.
5. The English Blog
Video clips, cartoons, and the latest headlines are used as instructional tools on this hands-on site that features a diverse array of resources for teachers. There are reviews on products and services, as well as links to lesson plans, useful teaching resources, and ideas for the classroom. This is a great site with lots of content that teachers will find useful for planning lessons or filling in classroom activities!
6. Teaching ESL to Adults
This blog, written by a private tutor of ESL, is in its fourth year and includes lesson plan ideas, resources for handouts, information on grammar points, helpful web sites for ESL resources, and even links to ESL job sites. Some noteworthy, useful posts include 10 Conversation Starters for the ESL Classroom, Functions of the Present Perfect, and Steps for an ESL Reading Lesson Plan. The author also shares stories about her students and tips on becoming a self-employed tutor.
7. TEFLtastic with Alex Case
This blog offers articles, reviews, worksheets and teaching ideas from a teacher and teacher trainer who has worked in Greece, Turkey, Thailand, Spain, Italy, the UK, and South Korea. There are also numerous helpful links to resources and other ESL blogs.
8. The English Desk
This Canadian blog features podcasts of narrated passages of text to help students practice their listening and pronunciation skills. Each podcast is accompanied by the written text, which students can use to check listening comprehension or to read aloud to practice pronunciation. The podcasts are also available for download, and there are companion exercises and activities.
9. Teach ESL to Kids
Shannon Sensei writes this blog and teaches ESL preschool in Japan. Her informative blog includes lots of useful resources for teachers, including games, crafts, ideas, lesson plans, suggestions for classroom management, and specific ideas for teaching and connecting with babies. Blog posts cover a variety of topics related to teaching and best practices, but there are also posts on finding ESL jobs and professional development.
10. Jamie Keddie.com
Part blog, part resource bank for teachers, this informative site is managed by Jamie Keddie, an English teacher and teacher trainer. He is also a trainer at the Norwich Institute for Language Education, the author of Images, which "examines the possibilities for using a wide range of original images and resources including art, photography, advertising, the Internet, and student-generated images,” and the creator of TEFLclips.com, a site for using YouTube in the classroom. His site includes lesson plans, articles and a wide array of informative blog posts on different teaching methods and ideas.
11. EFL 2.0
This blog about teaching English as a second language, social media, and web learning is run by an English lecturer in the Department of Applied Linguistics at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia in Spain.
12. An ELT Notebook
Part resource guide for teachers of all experience, and part forum in which to share ideas and hold discussions about teaching ESL, this blog is run by a EFL teacher and teacher trainer with over 30 years experience. There are lesson plans and guides according to topic of interest, as well as links to various resources such as books and Web sites.
13. English for University
This blog is meant to help international students prepare for and do well in college. Students can find a wide variety of useful guides, including "How to write your introduction,” "How to survive your summer course,” "How to develop a paragraph,” and "Writing topic sentences.” The author, a university lecturer in the UK, also posts on points of language and includes references to outside resources to help supplement study. There are dozens of linked resources, sorted by category, on everything from academic writing to student welfare.
14. Listen to English — Learn English
This podcast blog was named "Top language blog 2009.” It features two short (3 to 5 minutes) podcasts each week that can be used to improve listening and pronunciation skills. The podcasts are often linked to grammar and vocabulary notes, quizzes and exercises. The podcasts can all be downloaded. The site also features relevant teaching articles, news stories and a chat function.
15. Azar Grammar
The tagline for this blog is "Teachers helping teachers,” and that's just what it does. Six teachers contribute to the site, writing posts on topics such as "Make 'Em Laugh: Expanding Students' Descriptive Vocabulary,” "Considering World Englishes in our Discussions of ‘Culture’,” and "Making Real Conversation Happen.” There are also links to classroom materials, grammar resources, and teacher's guides.
16. ESL Lesson Plan
Just as its tag line states, this blog offers "ESL lesson plans, teaching locales, tips, tricks and budgeting advice for novice and veteran ESL instructors.” There are also links and information for ESL activities, certification, industry events, jobs, teacher development, workplace issues, and more. Teachers can also subscribe to a monthly newsletter.
17. English 360
A business English teacher in Caracas started this blog in 2005 with an eye towards using blogs for language teaching. Now there are three contributors who write on a variety of topics related to teaching English as a second language, including teaching, management, assessment, and teacher training. The blog is a branch of the English 360 site, which "is an easy-to-use web-based learning platform that lets business English and ESP teachers create and deliver personalised learning.”
18. Separated by a Common Language
This blog features observations from an American linguist living in the UK on the differences in British and American English. Posts are inspired by a variety of sources, including South Park and a trip to the men's room. Each post is sprinkled with bolded vocabulary highlighting the differences in the language. This is a great site for teachers who want to pursue a cultural approach to teaching English!
19. Pain in the English
Grammarians will delight over this blog, which explores technical aspects of learning and teaching English, from grammar rules to spelling to proper usage. The site "encourages discussions of such gray areas of the English language, for which you would not find answers easily in dictionaries and other reference books.” Examples include “His being chosen” vs. “His having been chosen” and “went missing/gone missing.” All teachers of English — not just teachers of English as a second language — should find this a most useful site!
20. Real English
Students and teachers can find news and tips on learning English on this informative blog. There are also links to video tutorials for beginner, intermediate and some advanced students. Posts talk about usage, idioms and more.
21. ESL Trail
The ESOL Director and Curriculum Manager at Reading Horizons, UT, writes this blog to share her experiences with creating curriculum and teaching ESL and shares her tips with other teachers. Some posts include "Phonics for Arabic speakers,” "Strategies for Reading Faster and Speed Reading,” and training for adult students. There are also links to ESL and Literary resources.
22. Readable Blog
Adult English language learners can find helpful tips and information to improve reading, listening and speaking skills. Mixed in with informative posts, the author also writes posts in simple, easy to understand English about her daily life as another outlet for students to learn everyday English.
23. English for Academic Purposes
A PhD candidate writes this blog, which talks about the ins and outs of research and teaching. There are also posts about grammar and language points that could be useful for ESL students or teachers.
24. EL Civics for ESL Students
Cultural studies are a part of learning a new language, too, and this site will help ESL learners understand history and current affairs in government. The site offers 50 state lessons, power points, crosswords, lessons and worksheets.
25. Marxist TEFL Group
Don't expect to find funny videos or classroom resources on this site: The authors take a socio-political approach to their writing, which focuses on the everyday experiences of teachers and students. "We believe that learning languages is a positive and creative human enterprise but we also recognise how this activity is distorted under capitalism and how much extra pressure and burden is placed on people to learn a foreign lanuage despite other competing needs.”
Want more ESL resources? Here are more high quality ESL websites.