Practical Hints for Better Writing

The fourth edition of The Write Stuff: Writing Across the Curriculum, published internally by Collin County Community College District (CCCCD), contains an excellent appendix of practical guides to writing in English, all of which can be accessed for free at its website. Entitled Practical Hints for Better Writing, this great section of the publication offers a handy collection of essential writing tips that will be useful to both university students and learners of English as a second language.

Prepared by writing professors at Collin College, these guides will help students improve their writing skills by learning:

• How to organize and write coherent essays
• How to write good introductions and conclusions
• How to write effective thesis statements
• How to use the comma
• How to use the active and passive voice
• How to use transitional words and expressions
• How to use reporting verbs in quotations
• How to avoid pretentious expressions, weak intensifiers, redundancies, euphemisms, jargon, and clichés
• How to avoid comma splices and run-ons in compound sentences
• How to recognize commonly misspelled words

Site URL: http://iws.ccccd.edu/WriteStuff/appendix.html

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English Pronunciation Pod

English Pronunciation Pod is a website that provides free American English pronunciation and accent reduction lessons for English learners at all levels. The lessons are prepared by accent reduction specialist Charles Becker and offered in the form of MP3 podcasts that can be easily downloaded to any portable devices.

Features:

• Covers all aspects of American pronunciation: vowels, consonants, intonation, stress, and connected speech
• Provides clear, easy-to-follow instructions along with numerous practical tips and a variety of exercises designed to help students learn to speak like a native speaker
• Full transcripts available for all podcasts (ideal for students at lower levels)

Site URL: http://www.englishpronunciationpod.com/index.html

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Free Online English Dictionary with Multi-Lingual Search at AllWords.com

AllWords.com provides a free online English dictionary with translation capabilities for English learners at all levels. The dictionary is especially useful to ESL learners those who speak Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish as their first language.

Features:

• Powerful search engine capable of finding words that begin with, end with, contain, or match certain letters
• Built-in translation function that allows users to find equivalents in Dutch, French, German, Italian, and Spanish
• Featured words of the week, each with a definition, an expanded discussion about meaning and usage, information on etymology, and translations into other languages
• Categorized links to online language learning resources, including blogs, dictionaries, glossaries, thesauri, word games, crossword puzzles, word trivia, quotations, slang, songs/lyrics, lesson plans, and translation services

Site URL: http://www.allwords.com/

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David Appleyard's English User Guides

David Appleyard has prepared and made available from his website an excellent collection of quick reference guides to the English language. The guides cover a range of topics, from grammar and vocabulary to spelling and pronunciation, and will be useful to any ESL learners who need to review essential points of English language usage.

Features:

• English grammar glossary (divided into 6 sections: parts of speech, syntax, the moods, the tenses, pronunciation, style)
• Bilingual English grammar glossary for Japanese students and teachers
• Guide to using articles in English
• Guide to using tenses in English
• Guide to using irregular verbs in English
• Guide to pronouncing the 44 basic sounds of English (20 vocalic/diphthongal sounds and 24 consonantal sounds), complete with sample pronunciations in MP3 audio format
• Guides to using correct punctuation and spelling in English
• Guides to understanding American English and British English
• Other resources: list of territory-related words, list of words that are often confused, list of mnemonic initials, links to online dictionaries, links to online vocabulary builders, online multi-measurement converters

Site URL: http://www.davidappleyard.com/english/index.htm

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Internet Talk Radio Archives

An invaluable collection of authentic listening materials consisting of 26 early radio programs is currently available for English learners to download for free from the website of Internet Talk Radio, the first radio station on the Internet. These programs were broadcast years ago in the early days of the Internet and are now archived in their original state, each on its own page with direct links to downloadable audio files in various formats.

List of radio programs in the archives:

• The Fifth Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy (1995)
• National Press Club Luncheons (1993-1995)
• Common Ground: Radio Series on World Affairs (1994-1995)
• Communications Revolution (1994)
• Dialogue (1994)
• The Fifth Annual Chef's Best (1995)
• Geek of the Week (1993-1994)
• HarperAudio!
• Hell's Bells: A Radio History of the Telephone (1993)
• Joint Economic Committee (1995)
• What to Listen for in Music
• The Snow Queen (1995)
• What is Jazz?
• Young Performing Artists Showcase (1996)
• The Ballad of Ned Ludd (1994-1995)
• Discovering a New World of Flavor (1995)
• The Internet Minibar
• NASA's Space Story (1994-1995)
• SoundBytes
• Soundprint
• TechNation (1993-1994)
• United Nations' 50th Anniversary - Closing Ceremony (1995)
• Unformatted
• Cliff Stoll's Performance Art Theater and Networking Security Revue (1994)
• Monitor Radio (now redirects to The Christian Science Monitor)
• Parler au Quotidien (Radio France International)

Site URL: http://museum.media.org/radio/

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Everyday English and Slang in Ireland

Gerry Coughlan's Everyday English and Slang in Ireland is a great website on Irish English, offering English learners a unique insight into English as it is spoken by the Irish, with a special emphasis on slang expressions. In addition, the site has a collection of informative articles on Irish culture that will be much useful to anyone trying to get to know the country.

Features:

• A-Z dictionary of Irish English words and phrases (available in both online and printable versions)
• Extra materials on Irish culture, providing information on a range of topics from Dublin to what it means to be Irish
• Links to more sites about Irish slang, Irish culture, and English learning

Site URL: http://www.irishslang.co.za/

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Learn English with Teacher Joe

Designed for ESL students from elementary to advanced level, Learn English with Teacher Joe contains a wide range of free practice exercises and study tips that will help them learn English better. The site is also useful to ESL teachers, who can make use of these resources in their classes as well as consult the free teaching tips offered in the special section for them.

Features:

• Exercises to help students learn English (grammar, vocabulary, idioms) and practice the four basic language skills (listening, speaking, reading, writing)
• Exercises on other topics of interest to ESL students: IELTS preparation and study abroad, English for travel, business English, American culture
• Articles on how to learn English effectively, specially written to help ESL students build their study skills
• Teaching ideas for ESL teachers
• Links to useful ESL websites

Site URL: http://www.teacherjoe.us/index.html

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Rachel's English

Rachel's English is an excellent website for people who wish to improve their American English pronunciation. It provides a series of how-to videos on how to make individual sounds in American English. Besides, there is a blog about specific pronunciation issues and a 1-on-1 pronunciation evaluation service, which is offered free if you are willing to allow your video to be used on the website.

Features:

• Detailed discussion of all vowel, diphthong, and consonant sounds in American English, each with a sample pronunciation video and an instructional video showing learners how to pronounce the sound
• Sound chart outlining the different ways in which a letter can be pronounced in American English, complete with examples and links to explanational videos
• Blog posts on issues related to American English pronunciation, fully illustrated with video clips
• Guide to effective pronunciation study using materials from the site

Site URL: http://www.rachelsenglish.com/

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ESL PodCards

ESL PodCards offers podcards, MP3 audio postcards which can be downloaded to iPods and other portable devices. Podcards contain information about places and people in different countries around the world and are useful for students of English who want to improve their listening skills and cultural understanding. Teachers can also use the podcards, along with accompanying worksheets, as supplementary materials for their classes.

Features:

• Two levels of podcards: low-level slow-speed podcards for beginners and pre-intermediate students and high-level normal-speed podcards for intermediate students and above
• Downloadable MP3 audio files for all podcards
• Worksheets containing comprehension activities and transcripts (also available for download in PDF format)
• Interactive crosswords (for students to check their comprehension after listening, also available in printable format)
• Links to related sites, including ESL resource sites, ESL directory sites, and country-specific sites
• Audio recordings of all irregular verbs in English

Site URL: http://www.eslpodcards.com/index.php

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Kent Uchiyama's Verb Tense Book

English Verb Tenses by Kent Uchiyama is a very good verb tense book for learners of English as a second language. Available for free download, this 174-page PDF e-book explains all the verb tenses of English in an informal manner and gives students all they need to know to use the tenses correctly.

Features:

• Introduces the ESL student to English verb tenses and how to use them
• Explains in detail all the tenses of the English language: simple present, present progressive, simple past, past progressive, future, future progressive, present perfect, present perfect progressive, past perfect, past perfect progressive, future perfect, future perfect progressive
• Gives additional information on how to make questions about the subject and a list of useful ESL books and websites for further reference

Site URL: http://www.chabotcollege.edu/languagearts/esl/verbtensebook.asp

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Active IELTS

Active IELTS provides free information and tips for students preparing to take the IELTS (International English Language Testing System). Interested students can also purchase an IELTS practice pack which contains preparation materials for all four parts of the exam.

• Introduction to the IELTS and its component tests (Reading, Writing, Speaking, Listening)
• Guide to choosing the right IELTS version (Academic or General Training)
• Answers to frequently asked questions about the IELTS and IELTS score interpretation
• Collection of IELTS preparation and test-taking tips
• Directory of links to IELTS preparation websites, including general information sites, IELTS practice sites, IELTS forums, and sites for specific IELTS skills

Site URL: http://www.activeielts.com/index2.html

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English on the Run!

English on the Run! is a useful website where students can learn English online for free. There are quick lessons on reading, writing, and English grammar, along with classroom-ready activities for teachers. The authors of the site are Ana Clara Sanchez and Gabriel Obando, from the University of Nariño at Pasto, Colombia.

Features:

• Review of key reading techniques (skimming, scanning, using context) and important points to remember when writing in English (the paragraph, how to write a paragraph, transitional signals, punctuation rules, capitalization rules, the essay)
• Lessons on essential English grammar points: the present simple tense, the present progressive tense, the past simple tense, the present perfect tense, the future tenses, conditionals, reported speech
• Ready-made activities for teachers to use in class, complete with lesson plans and links to supporting Web resources
• Essays written by students of the University of Nariño at Pasto, providing useful cultural information about Pasto
• Guide to using email and searching the Web
• Links to other useful English learning websites

Site URL: http://www.geocities.com/gob72/englishontherun.html

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New Zealand English

New Zealand English is a website that provides information on New Zealand English, the variety of English that resembles Australian English but still has its distinguishing characteristics. Written by John Newman of University of Alberta (Canada) and linguistic experts from New Zealand, the site is useful to students planning to study in New Zealand and all those interested in studying New Zealand English.

Features:

• Introduction to the origins of New Zealand English
• Overview of social variation in New Zealand English
• Audio recordings of a native speaker's pronunciation of words that have been identified as diagnostic of New Zealand English
• Bibliography of New Zealand English
• Index of research projects on New Zealand English
• Reports of research into the the phrases "All Blacks" and "Wallabies" and the word "Choice"

Site URL: http://www.ualberta.ca/~johnnewm/NZEnglish/home.html

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Improve Your English and Help End World Hunger with FreeRice

A partnership between the United Nations World Food Program and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, the non-profit website FreeRice is where you can play educational games and at the same time help hungry people around the world. For every answer you get right, FreeRice will donate 10 grains of rice to the United Nations World Food Program.

Features:

• A range of quizzes are available: students can choose to play quizzes on English (grammar and vocabulary), other languages (French, German, Italian, Spanish), or other subjects (art, chemistry, geography, math)
• The difficulty level of the quizzes is automatically adjusted: if students get a right answer, the next question will be harder; if their answer is wrong, the next question will be easier
• Students can hear vocabulary words pronounced by clicking the speaker symbol to the right of each word
• Students can do as many questions and donate as much rice as they like

Site URL: http://www.freerice.com/index.php

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Big Dog's Grammar: A Bare Bones Guide to English

Big Dog's Grammar: A Bare Bones Guide to English is a practical guide to English grammar and writing that has been prepared for native speakers of English but can also be used by ESL learners. Using a playful conversational tone to explain 'dry' grammar rules, the guide will help you review the essentials, or bare bones, of English grammar and build your confidence when it comes to writing in English.

Features:

• 15 English grammar lessons covering essential grammar points: subjects, verbs, prepositions, fragments, comma-splices/fused sentences (run-ons), joiners, subject-verb agreement, pronoun-antecedent agreement, dangling modifiers, misplaced modifiers, parallel structure, reference, pronouns, consistency, active/passive constructions
• Interactive exercises for students to test themselves after each lesson
• Guide to MLA (Modern Language Association) citation style

Site URL: http://aliscot.com/bigdog/

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OneLook Dictionary Search

OneLook is an excellent dictionary search engine that can look through thousands of online dictionaries to provide you with the definitions of any English words and phrases, from those currently used in the news to obscure ones that seem to have been forgotten. It is also capable of finding translations of English words and phrases into other languages, including Chinese, French, German, Italian, and Spanish.

Features:

• Indexes 1,009 online dictionaries with a total of 13,549,061 words
• Includes dictionaries for specialized subjects: art, business, computing, medicine, religion, science, slang, sports, technology
• Offers a reverse dictionary, which enables users to search for words and phrases related to a certain concept
• Presents most popular words for the day and the hour
• Allows users to customize and save search settings

Site URL: http://www.onelook.com/

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Sozo Exchange: Where Adults Learn English & Exchange Ideas

Sozo Exchange provides free English lessons for busy professional adults who need to improve their English. Among the resources offered by the site, there are downloadable video lessons, daily pronunciation videos, and online listening quizzes, all available for free access by any user with an Internet connection.

Features:

• Downloadable general English video lessons, complete with MP3 audio exercises, PDF transcripts, and PDF study guides
• Downloadable daily pronunciation videos showing how to pronounce difficult words in English
• Downloadable videos explaining the meanings of commonly used English idioms
• Online listening quizzes and crosswords vocabulary videos
• Guide to improving pronunciation and listening skills using the materials provided by the site

Site URL: http://www.sozoexchange.com/

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Free English Course from Linguasnet

Linguasnet offers a free English course consisting of 14 lessons for beginning ESL learners. By providing learning activities that have been designed to consolidate learners' listening and speaking skills and at the same time expand their vocabulary, this course will help non-native English speakers prepare better to study, work, or live in an English-speaking environment.

Features:

• 14 lessons ranging in level from easy to difficult and focusing on 14 different topics: 1/ Introduction; 2/ Colors and Numbers; 3/ Time: The Hours and the Calendar; 4/ Health and the Human Body; 5/ Buying Food, Buying Clothing; 6/ In the Town; 7/ A Place to Live; 8/ The Family; 9/ Transportation, Public Transport; 10/ The Professions - Looking for a Job; 11/ The Application Process - The Interview; 12/ Government Agencies - Rules and Regulations; 13/ The School; 14/ Banking and Finance
• Each lesson has 5 components: 1/ Vocabulary (students look at pictures and learn new vocabulary words); 2/ Dialogue (students listen to a sample dialogue); 3/ Exercises (students check their comprehension by doing various types of exercises); 4/ Listen & Repeat (students listen to sample phrases and repeat them); 5/ Games (students try multi-level games to review important language points)
• All activities are fully interactive and answers can be checked instantly online

Site URL: http://www.linguasnet.com/lessons/home_en.html

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Web-Pop Portal: Web-Enhanced Reading Adventures

Stephen Cosgrove's Web-Pop is a web site dedicated to providing online learning resources for children in the 3-7 age group. Here parents and teachers can find a useful collection of free books, stories, jokes, songs, and coloring pages specially designed to help children learn and play at the same time.

Features:

• Free online books and stories which children can read, listen to, and print out to keep
• Free downloadable MP3 songs and coloring books
• Reviews of useful educational sites for children
• Links to online resources for parents and teachers

Site URL: http://www.web-pop.com/portal.html

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The Writing Center of George Mason University

The Writing Center of George Mason University offers free writing resources for university and ESL students at all levels. The resources have been designed to help students improve their writing skills for general as well as specific writing situations and include both online and downloadable materials.

Features:

• Free online workshops on a range of writing topics: writing research papers, writing in the workplace, writing for the natural sciences, writing for the social sciences, writing for literature classes, editing one's written work, general writing, ESL writing
• Downloadable PDF handouts on the writing process, citation styles, grammar and mechanics, and specialized types of writing
• Links to further references on writing and grammar and special online resources for ESL students

Site URL: http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/

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Free GRE and GMAT Preparation Resources from 800score.com

The test prep site 800score.com offers free preparation resources for students planning to take the GRE and GMAT. The emphasis of the resources is on preparing students for the CAT (computer-adaptive test) format of the exams, which calls for good time management skills on the part of the test-takers.

Features:

• Introduction to the GRE (Graduate Record Examination) and GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test)
• Free tips on how to answer GRE and GMAT essay questions
• Free timed GRE and GMAT practice essays (students get an analysis of the essay question and sample essay answers via email)
• Free practice tests for GRE and GMAT Quantitative Section (students can take the tests online or download the EXE versions for offline self-study)

Site URL: http://www.800score.com/index.html

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Behind the Name: The Etymology and History of First Names

Behind the Name enables you to find all you ever want to know about first names, or given names, from all cultures and periods of time, even from mythology and fiction! Launched in 1996 by Mike Campbell, the site has grown to be an authority on the subject, with a huge database of 15,345 names and a host of other useful resources for learning about names.

Features:

• A-Z index of all names included in the database (also browsable by gender)
• Index of names by geographical region (European names, worldwide names) and by category (Biblical names, theology names, history names, literature names, popular culture names, astronomy names, mythology names, ancient names)
• Advanced search engines that can search for names and extra information about names such as related names, sound-alike names, rhyming names, popular names, namesakes, and name days
• Additional name tools and resources: message boards, interactive polls, name translator, random name generator, anagram names, name themes, names for twins, glossary of name-related terms and concepts

Site URL: http://www.behindthename.com/

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HarperAudio! Recordings of Literary Works

A nice collection of HarperAudio! recordings of well-known literary works can be downloaded for free from the website of Internet Town Hall. Produced by HarperAudio! (a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.), these audio recordings offer students of English a great way to enjoy classic works of literature including novels, poems, short stories, plays, speeches, and fables, many of which are read by the authors themselves.

Works featured:

• Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse-Five"
• Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl"
• Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"
• May Sarton's poems
• Emily Bronte's "Wuthering Heights"
• Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun"
• Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"
• Anthony Burgess's "A Clockwork Orange"
• Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities"
• Emily Dickinson's poems and letters
• John Donne's poems
• Frederick Douglass's speech
• T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land"
• William Faulkner's "The Old Man", "As I Lay Dying", and "A Fable"
• Robert Frost's poems
• Robert Graves's poems
• Lorraine Hansberry's "To Be Young, Gifted, and Black"
• Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"
• Frank Herbert's "Dune"
• Langston Hughes's "Simple on Indian Blood", "A Toast to Harlem", "Last Whipping", and "Feet Live Their Own Life"
• Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"
• Coretta Scott King's "My Life with Martin Luther King, Jr."
• Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" and "The Purloined Letter"
• Will Rogers's live radio broadcasts
• Anne Sexton's poems
• William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and "Julius Caesar"
• Wallace Stevens's poems
• Bram Stoker's "Dracula"
• J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings"
• Dylan Thomas's poems
• James Thurber's fables
• John Updike's "The Persistence of Desire", "Fanning's Island", and "Couples"

Site URL: http://town.hall.org/Archives/radio/IMS/HarperAudio/

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Vocabulary Can Be Fun

Vocabulary Can Be Fun by Jacob Richman provides free vocabulary building games for K-12 and ESL students. The games allow learners to explore English vocabulary by topic and consist of various types, including crossword puzzles, hang mouse (similar to hangman), vocabulary quiz, word scramble, and word search.

Features:

• Crossword puzzles: 53 topics, 6,641 clues/words, 2 levels of difficulty
• Hang mouse: 219 topics, 10,353 words
• Vocabulary quiz: 16 topics, 1,627 questions, 2 levels of difficulty
• Word scramble: 103 topics, 7,406 words, 3 levels of difficulty
• Word search, Match game, Letter blocks, Clueless crossword
• SAT vocabulary game and Slang game
• Fun videos for learning science

Site URL: http://www.vocabulary.co.il/

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Online English Grammar

Online English Grammar offers free resources for learning English grammar and writing that English learners at all levels will find useful. In addition, there is a nice collection of free interactive English tests and games of various types designed to help learners review and practice important language points.

Features:

• Comprehensive guide to key points of English grammar: adjectives, adverbs, determiners, direct and indirect speech, -ing form, nouns, passive, possessive, relative clauses, the infinitive, to get, verbs and verb tenses
• Guide to English punctuation and capitalization rules, with clear explanations of when and how to use commas, periods, question marks, exclamation marks, parentheses and brackets, semicolons, colons, apostrophes, hyphens and dashes, quotation marks, and capital letters
• Guide to writing in English, featuring a full list of easily confused words, complete with audio pronunciations, definitions, and examples
• Free English tests and games, browsable by category (grammar, vocabulary, writing, general English), level (beginner, basic, intermediate, upper-intermediate, advanced), and type (Flash Q&A, crossword, quiz, word search, multiple choice)

Site URL: http://www.edufind.com/english/grammar/index.cfm

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