ELL Lessons:
Tips & Resources For Learning English

Are you looking for ELL lessons that will help you learn English?

This page will outline some of the things you need to learn and give you some resources to do so. Here we go!

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As you probably already know, there are many aspects of language that need to come together whenever someone wants to learn another language. (These aren't listed in any particular order.)

This website focuses on just one of these aspects of language: grammar. It is helpful if you have a fairly good grasp of vocabulary before you start learning grammar. As you can see above, there are also other aspects of language besides vocabulary and grammar that you need to learn as well. How are you going to do it? Eek! My hope is that this page gives you some resources, direction, and encouragement for practicing each aspect. You can do it!

If you feel that you're already comfortable enough with vocabulary to start studying grammar, jump over to these five steps for learning grammar or learn with our grammar video lessons.

Whenever you start to study a new language, learning words in that language is probably the best place to start. Why? Because before you can learn how to put words together, pronounce words, or read words, you need to know some words. :)

Vocabulary Resources


• The YouTube channel engVid has many videos on how to learn English. This video gives some good tips for learning vocabulary.
  
  

• This 51-page PDF from Cambridge English gives you a list of vocabulary words to get started. https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/84669-pet-vocabulary-list.pdf 
  
  
• This next resource is the website Perfect English Grammar, and the following page teaches a bit about vocabulary and gives you some good tips for learning. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/english-vocabulary-and-collocations.html
  

Grammar! As you know, this is my specialty. Once you have a good grasp of vocabulary, and you're interested in learning how words fit together, learning grammar is a great step.

One way that I do things a bit differently than most people is that I teach grammar in a visual way. This really helps people, especially ESL students, learn grammar. I use what are called sentence diagrams. Sentence diagrams are pictures of sentences, and they help show you how the words in sentences are related. Here's an example of a sentence diagram.

Grammar Resources


• Download the ebook version of this lesson, and I'll add you to our email list. I'll send grammar lessons to your inbox every other Thursday. Yay!
  
  

• Our website has many, many lessons on grammar. You can see them all here on our sitemap page.
  
  

• You can also find many videos on our YouTube channel.
  
  

• If you'd like to learn from the very beginning with sentence diagrams and video lessons, I'll be your teacher in our Get Smart Grammar Program.
  
  

Reading in English is a great way to learn the language. When you read, you are introduced to not only new vocabulary words, but also to the grammar of sentences. Reading helps you internalize how to structure sentences.

Reading Resources


• Penguin ELT readers are books that are designed to help ESL students learn English.
  
  
• When you know enough vocabulary, reading quality literature is also a wonderful way to learn more English - and be swept up in a story as well! I love young adult books. Here are some of my favorites.
  
  
  • Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
    
  • The Trumpet of the Swan by E. B. White
    
  • The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy
    
  • Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery
  
  You can often find these available for rent at your local library as well.

Listening to someone speak English, especially when you can read a transcript of what they are saying, is an amazing way to learn more. Most YouTube videos these days have closed captions, and they are usually pretty accurate. Just be sure the "CC" button is clicked in the play bar, and the words should pop up for you.

Listening Resources


• Audio books, which are often freely available at your local library, are a great resource. You can often also check out the printed version of the book so that you can follow along with what is being read.
  
  

• You can watch movies and television shows in English with subtitles in your native language (or in English if you also want to practice your reading).
  
  

• This page from Perfect English Grammar gives some good tips for improving your listening. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/english-listening.html
  
  

Writing is a great way to solidify the vocabulary and grammar that you learn. It's also a great way to discover questions that you might have. When you write things out, you're responsible for every word, and that helps us pay more attention to how words are put together.

Writing Resources


• If you're feeling too shy to share what you're writing with others, just get started with your own journal. If you don't know what to write, you can simply copy a sentence or two from a book you are reading. That's it! You can start with this sentence: I am an amazing person, and I am doing a great job learning English. :)
  
  

• If you'd like to share your writing with someone else and be a bit more social, finding a pen pal is a great idea. The Facebook group Worldwide Snail Mail Pen Pals will help you get started.  https://www.facebook.com/groups/267019763720515/
  
  

• Here's another great article from Perfect English Grammar that gives you five tips for writing. https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/english-writing.html
  
  

Speaking English, of course, will help you learn it. You can start by sounding things out on your own and talking aloud to yourself. (Don't worry. There's nothing wrong with talking to yourself!)

Speaking & Pronunciation Resources


• Finding a friend or tutor who speaks English is the best way to get practice speaking. There are many websites that can help connect you with a tutor if you can't find an English-speaking friend. :) Just search "English speaking tutor," and you'll find them.
  
  

• The YouTube channel Pronunciation Pro has many great videos that will help you with your pronunciation. (The creator, Annie Ruden, teaches American pronunciation.)
  
  

• This page tells you all of the sounds of English, and gives you recordings to play each one. They also offer a PDF chart of the sounds on the page. Nice!