Library Databases - Test Prep, Practice Tests, Learn English & Other Languages
Peterson's Test Prep Take practice tests and use test prep eBooks, search thousands of college and graduate schools, and identify scholarships.
Lingo Lite Learn 260 terms in 30 languages through images, text, and native speaker video to help you learn vocabulary. This database is only accessible by patrons holding Largo Public Library cards.
Pronunciator Pronunciator is an online language-learning system that can help you learn over 100 languages! It includes ELL for speakers of 50 non-English languages.
Computers and Technology
GCF LearnFree.org provides quality, innovative online learning resources anyone who wants to improve the technology, literacy and math skills needed to be successful in both work and life.
Current Events/News
Breaking News English – Versatile and highly interactive website. Printable English lessons in 7 levels. Handouts for complete lesson plan based on each article, 2 page mini-lessons. Covers listening, reading, grammar, spelling, vocabulary with online flash cards.
News for You Online has easy-to-read news stories that can help you learn English. To sign in use the passcode 006222. NFY Online provides access to the current weekly issue, past issues in the archives, the online word search, tips for teachers, and more. You can also listen to each story in full or sentence-by-sentence.
Simple English News is designed to help learners of English improve their vocabulary by reading and listening to simple and interesting news in English on an everyday basis. Articles include world news, sports, history, health, fashion, music, as well as simple recipes.
VOA Learning English – Audio, Video, learning resources from Voice of America. Subscribe to weekly email newsletter, RSS, and podcast. Highly recommended website.
ELL Self-Study
Cambridge English Language Learning - Interactive lessons from the Cambridge Ventures series. Good companion site for students using the Ventures textbooks. Can also use as a stand-alone online program.
Easy Stories for English Learners Learning a language is hard. With Easy Stories in English, you can learn English the natural way, without studying lists of vocabulary or complicated grammar rules. Every week, Ariel Goodbody, author and language teacher, will present a story adapted to your level of English. The stories will be hilarious, dramatic, and entertaining, but never too difficult. If you’re learning English and are tired of boring textbooks, then this is the podcast for you. Stories are rated: L1 – Beginner, L2 – Pre-intermediate, L3 – Intermediate, L4 – Advanced. NOTE: there are ads as well as trigger warnings.
ESL Cyber Listening Lab focuses 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.
ESL Gold has lots of resources for students and teachers - hundreds of lessons including common phrases for conversation, grammar, idioms, vocabulary, pronunciation, etc.
Englishpage.com offers hundreds of free online English grammar and vocabulary exercises.
Real English has video interviews of real-life English speakers that teach basic listening, vocabulary, and grammar.
TEDTalks has a wide variety of videos and podcasts. Feed your curiosity and enjoy TED Talks on your favorite devices. Watch TED Talks on the go or at home with its award-winning mobile, tablet and smart TV apps. Listen to TED podcasts for a variety of original content or use voice commands to play TED Talks on your smart speaker. TED Talks are subtitled in over 100 languages.
Tips-O-Matic- A handy tool for quick reference - grammar rules, helper words and other writing tips.
USA Learns is a project of the U.S. Department of Education for beginning and intermediate levels. Focuses on practical skills related to everyday life, family, health and the workplace. USA Learns also provides citizenship and nursing assistant job skill courses and it is device friendly, so you can easily use it on your smartphone or tablet.
Health
MedlinePlus Videos & Tools presents high-quality, relevant health and wellness information that is trusted, easy to understand, and free of advertising, in both English and Spanish. Anywhere, anytime, on any device—for free. Additionally, you can browse health information in multiple languages, including Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, Haitian Creole, Portuguese, Serbian, Tagalog, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and more.
Idioms and Expressions
The Idiom Connection provides an extensive list of expressions, phrases and idioms with good definitions for ELL students.
E-Z Slang - Learn idiomatic expressions and slang to both understand and communicate with native English speakers This site is specifically designed to help low-intermediate to advanced learners improve their survival skills in many different situations.
Literacy Organizations/Tutor Help
Busy Teacher - Practical and ready to use suggestions for teaching English for all levels. Up-to-date article that change content regularly.
Florida Literacy Coalition Tutor Help Center ESOL you will find teaching strategies, lesson Plans, teaching Tips and student handouts. Excellent resource for free downloadable materials.
ProLiteracy Education Network - Explore the many excellent resources this site offers, including free online courses for tutors. There are instructional resources for ELL learners, too, including short self-paced courses, interactive activities, and video lessons. Topics covered include reading, writing, math, citizenship and basic life skills.
- Largo Library ELL tutors can create a personal account and access and gain support from ProLiteracy's Education Network. Email ell@largo.com to request the Library's organizational membership number.
Pinellas County
Pinellas County Official Government Website has practical and useful information about living in Pinellas County such as: hurricane preparedness, recycling, lifelong learning, the Police, how to get help in an emergency, etc.
Pronunciation and Phonetics
EnglishMeeting.com on YouTube has entertaining and helpful pronunciation videos. Part of a series on YouTube.
Train Your Accent will help you to improve your accent and rhythm in English and learn daily expressions. Listen to samples of relaxed, North American English that reflect everyday activities and help you sound more natural.
Reference
Purdue Owl Writing Lab is a good website for reference. This page is an example of a specific topic that you could cover in a class. Look through the list of topics in the left-hand column for other ideas, especially grammar. To print the page scroll down to the bottom and click on the printer icon. Also check out the English as a Second Language link for more resources.
Quick and Dirty Tips content is available via podcasts, newsletters, videos, books, downloadable guides, and infographics. ELL students and tutors will find the Grammar Girl section of QDT particularly useful.
U.S. Citizenship
Access Library databases Peterson's Test Prep and ProCitizen within Pronunciator for U.S. Citizenship test practice.
Websites:
USCIS Citizenship Resource Center is the primary source for official information on naturalization requirements, the citizenship application, and the citizenship test. Includes study tools for the English and Civics tests.
Resources on Citizenship test preparation
U.S. Culture
USAHello is a platform that serves as a hub for trustworthy information and educational resources for immigrant communities with the information and resources they need to thrive. The information is written in plain English and translated into additional languages to ensure it is accessible to as many people as possible. They also have an app called FindHello that can connect people to local services.
EduPASS has information about the nuances of life in the US and an introduction to some of the more important cultural differences. Good for class discussion.
Vocabulary
Internet Picture Dictionary Use flash cards, fill-in-the-blanks and word scramble games to increase your vocabulary.
Language Guide - Wave the mouse over a picture and hear the word pronounced. Available in 17 languages.
Memrise is a language learning platform is a game-based learning app that can be used for boosting vocabulary. Note: the free version does include ads.
Vocabulary.com offers English language learner resources, including building everyday vocabulary, academic vocabulary, preparing for US citizenship, and standardized tests.