Language Links, Resources, and FAQs

The following is a comprehensive collection of resources that students and teachers of English might find helpful. Feedback and input is welcome! Please send comments and suggestions to Dan Honert. 

Sprachpraxis Resources

• Everything you need to know about the Language in Use exams
• Everything you need to know about the Moodle Language Courses I and II (MLCs I and II)
• Language Terminology – Syntactic Form and Function
  • Sprachpraxis Syntactic Form/Function tutor
• MS Teams / Moodle links:
  • Sprachpraxis UdS English - Students Team (A team that we encourage all students who are taking courses within the department's Sprachpraxis section to join)
  • Sprachpraxis UdS English Students - Resources (A Moodle course chockful of useful resources; enrolment key: LandUmocks)
    • Digital Language in Use Intermediate mock exams
    • Paper-based Language in Use (Intermediate and Advanced) mock exams
    • Flow chart ‘Are you ready for the Language in Use Intermediate exam?’
• The New York Times — Word of the Day
   

Online Dictionaries and other Grammar and Vocabulary Resources

• Oxford English Dictionary (The UdS is an institutional subscriber)
• Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
• Cambridge English Dictionary
• Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
• Merriam-Webster Online
• OneLook Reverse Dictionary — Describe the concept and find the matching word(s)

• Online Etymology Resource

  Collocations Dictionaries

• English Collocations Dictionary (Ozdic)
• English Collocations Dictionary (Collins)

• English Collocations Dictionary (Oxford; paywalled)

  Vocabulary and Grammar

• English Right Now (An insight into British English grammar, vocabulary, and culture)
• John's English page (Grammar and vocabulary at C1/2 level)

• Lexicallab's Chunk of the day

  Cambridge C1/C2 Exam Preparation

• Official Cambridge English C1 website
• Official Cambridge English C2 website
• Cambridge Use of English Pro (Not free of charge but highly recommended) C1 Advanced / C2 Proficiency
• Cambridge exam prep: https://www.flo-joe.co.uk
• Cambridge exam prep: Engxam

• Cambridge exam prep: Practice English

  Language Learning Tools and Resources

• Personalised vocabulary lists, e.g. from the NYT — Word of the Day
• Anki — Vocabulary recall and spaced repetition
• Quizlet — Flashcards, study guides, and more
• Language Reactor — Turn Netflix, YouTube, webpages, and imported texts into language-learning material
• Practise your English with a tandem partner: https://www.tandem.net
   

Corpora and Authentic Usage

• English-Corpora.org — COCA, BNC, NOW, etc.
• Skell: learner-friendly corpus tool
   

Writing and Academic English

• Academic Phrasebank — University of Manchester
• Writing and punctuation
• Cambridge Write & Improve
• UdS Writing Center Writing Tips & Resources
   

Pronunciation and Phonetics

• Adrian Underhill's Pronunciation site
• Seeing Speech
• Sounds of Speech — University of Iowa
• Speech Accent Archive — George Mason University
• YouGlish — Authentic pronunciation samples
• Playphrase.me — Search for a word, expression, or grammatical construction and hear it repeatedly in film and TV dialogue
   

Teaching Materials/Resources, Blogs

• British Council / BBC: Teaching English
• British Council LearnEnglish
• Michigan Language Assessment
• Check grammar/vocab against the CEFR: https://www.english.com/gse/teacher-toolkit/user/lo
• English Grammar Profile Online (C1; Excel spreadsheet [*.xlsx])
• English Grammar Profile Online (C2; Excel spreadsheet [*.xlsx])
   

Reading and Current Affairs

• BBC News
• BBC Culture
• The Economist
• The Guardian
• The Independent
• The Irish Times
• National Public Radio News
• The New York Times (The UdS is an institutional subscriber; see footnote 1 here)
• Orion Magazine
• The Progressive
• The Times
• The Times of India
• Aeon Essays
   

Radio/Podcasts

• The Guardian Audio
• RoPeCast - A Saarland University podcast for learners of English created by the late (and much-missed) Roger Charlton and Peter Tischer.
• ABC podcasts | Australian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio National
• BBC podcasts | British Broadcasting Corporation
• CBC podcasts | Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• NPR podcasts | National Public Radio (U.S.)
   

Professional Organisations/Associations/Publications

• International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language
• Internet Teaching English as a Second Language Journal