Ready to check out the 10 best websites to learn English?
There’s little doubt that the best way to learn English is to practice as often as possible.
Gone are the times when your only option was to attend an English class or use textbooks.
The Internet has made our lives so much easier and there are plenty of fabulous websites to learn from. It’s an extremely effective, easy and cheap option.
Sometimes you can even learn English for free!
However, given the infinite options of online platforms, it might be useful to get some advice from highly qualified, native, teachers.
Let our teachers guide you to find the most appropriate tools at every stage of your learning curve.
Our 10 best sites to learn English
Perhaps you’re looking to learn English from scratch, or improve your English pronunciation?
We will show you sites to expand your vocabulary and brush up on your grammar and listening skills. Here are our favourite 10 best websites to learn English online.
Easy, right?
We hope you like them as much as we do!
1. Elllo.org
Elllo.org is one of the best web pages if you’re interested in improving your British and American listening skills.
It has tons of recorded conversations (video lessons) complete with transcriptions, images, activities, and exercises.
You can listen to different accents to improve your pronunciation. It’s also easy to search by topics or difficulty levels, starting from “low beginner”.
Their 3000 free listening activities should take your English to the next level.
2. Daily Grammar
Struggling with grammar?
Learning grammar properly means you can improve your level of English faster.
Head over to the Daily Grammar web page to get your first dosage of syntax, adverbs, and rules! They also have a glossary of grammar Terms.
Sign up to get their language lessons sent by email every day. It’s an easy way to start a habit of continuously learning English.
- Related: The most popular Business English course online
3. LyricsTraining
As teachers, we love this creative learning concept!
Music can boost your memory and mood according to Harvard Health. And speeds up your learning!
LyricsTraining is a fun and easy way to improve your language skills through music videos and lyrics (lyrics are the song texts). All while listening to your favourite songs!
The best part of the website?
There’s a karaoke mode where you can sing along in English and enjoy the full lyrics.
Just mind the neighbours 😜.
- Recommended Reading: Vocabulary For Business English
4. Ororo.tv
If you’re looking for hundreds of English speaking movies and series with subtitles, Ororo.tv is your page.
You can adjust the reproduction speed if you prefer to listen to the dialogues at a lower speed. And practice while at it! Just like at any language course.
Ororo is an innovative website to learn English, similar to Netflix. You can use it for free for a limited amount of time every day. Videos include Ted-Ed (Ted talks with an educational aim, we’re big fans) classes from Oxford, Languages247 and the “Wow English TV” program.
This makes it one of the best websites to learn English.
If you are left wanting more, you can opt for the paid version.
- Recommended reading: Ace your English accent
5. Breaking News English
Breaking News English is one of the most popular webpages for learning English online. It might also be one of the ugliest 😂.
The nice thing about this page to improve your English is that they write news articles about current events and news.
They simplify each topic and build a variety of activities around the main theme for each article. So you learn both English, and keep up to date with the news and stuff going on in the world.
The news articles are classified into 7 difficulty levels. They offer activities to improve your listening capabilities, learn about current events, etc.
6. Cambridge Assessment English
Cambridge is a well-known brand in the world of learning English.
They have a free online test and plenty of lessons and material related to general English, and business English. They can guide your language skills toward achieving the Cambridge English Qualifications exams.
You simply select the skill you want to improve (verbs, writing, prepositions, vocabulary…), choose your level, and off you go.
They also have lessons and materials to help you get ready for Cambridge exams. I.e. C1 Advanced, IELTS, etc. An excellent source of resources for language students.
7. BBC Learning English
You probably already know the BBC, right?
Here you will find a comprehensive set of materials for English learners. They also offer great teaching and learning materials like videos on their website.
The BBC has materials from intermediate to advanced levels, all sourced from the BBC World Service.
They use simplified stories and news to present English in context. The BBC is simply one of the very best websites to learn English and is frequently updated.
Our favourite section is, without a doubt, the ‘6-minute English’.
8. British Council
A giant among English learning websites: the British Council. This is one of the most popular and best websites to learn English for free.
Check out the games, stories, listening and grammar activities, from the world-renowned experts at the British Council.
It’s also a fantastic resource for teachers to find lessons (if you’re one of our students, you might recognise the logo!).
You can easily download podcasts and mobile apps for free on their website. Or use their many videos for language lessons.
The British Council is a fantastic website to learn English for children, teenagers and anyone interested in business English.
If you regularly complete their vocabulary tests, your skills are sure to accelerate.
9. Grammarly
Grammarly is a fairly new service and has been a huge success since they launched their free writing app.
You know those silly mistakes you make when writing English? The software tool will guide you and improve your writing skills.
How good is your vocabulary? Grammarly is there to instantly correct your spelling, grammar and punctuation. This is one of the best webpages to speed up your English writing. And learning while at it.
We should know, this article was written using Grammarly! 🙂
Other resources include explaining English grammar rules, styles, and techniques. With Grammarly, you can finally feel confident every time you write an email, and save time on proofreading.
10. AutoEnglish
Autoenglish used to be one of the best webpages to learn English, but recently they’re not updating it as much, and you notice the lack of new content. The design might also not be the best.
This is a free, science-based, platform to learn English through interactive exercises and resources.
Most of the exercises can be printed: grammar, idioms, vocabulary, phrasal verbs, informal language and the most typical errors.
Studies show that more regions of the brain activate when you write by hand. In other words: you learn faster as it has important cognitive benefits.
From theory to practice
In this article, we presented a sample of the variety of available resources to learn English online.
Take advantage to improve your level of English this year!
Remember to practice as often as you can. Anytime, anywhere.
Having said that, the most effective way to learn English is to complement theoretical classes with conversational classes.
Particularly if you’re an adult learning Business English.
If you practice with a native speaker online it means you can apply your latest knowledge during the lessons, and instantly improve in an easy way.
This is particularly effective if you need better language skills at work, or take an exam like Cambridge, TOEFL, etc.
- Related article: 10 fun ways to practice English
Language courses to speed up your learning
Website resources are great for learning a language on your own.
Yet structured English courses with teachers are the best way to quickly help and correct mispronunciations, learn new slang, or ask for clarifications regarding grammar, etc.
If you’re interested in getting classes, read more about how others have improved their English with courses from Nativos Language Consultants.
And remember, learning a new language is all about having fun!
Focus on the why as you reach for your goal.
Jim Mc Laughlin
Head of Training & Translations at Nativos Language Consultants.
Jim's been teaching Business English in Barcelona since 2000 and translates from Spanish, and Catalan. He frequently shares his favourite advice on how to learn English on LinkedIn.
