Online Resources
Welcome to WASC's extensive online library of resources designed to support and enhance your academic journey. Whether you are a student seeking to improve your writing skills, a teacher looking for useful teaching resources, or an individual pursuing self-improvement, our platform is here to help you. Our online resources include writing guides and manuals covering academic writing styles, grammar, and citation guidelines, as well as language and grammar tools to improve your linguistic precision. In addition, we provide access to sample essays, time management apps, digital learning platforms, mind mapping and note-taking tools, online reading resources, and language learning materials to support your self-study endeavors. Explore our collection of resources, which is designed to enhance your academic and personal development in a variety of ways.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English: English - English dictionary with great collocations and thesaurus parts.
Cambridge Dictionary: English - English - Turkish dictionary; good for starters of English who need both English and Turkish definitions
OZDIC: A comprehensive collocations dictionary that will help students produce natural-sounding English.
WIKIDIFF: A dictionary that explains the differences between two similar words searched by the student.
LUDWIG: A sentence search engine that helps write better English by giving contextualized examples taken from reliable sources. Also downloadable on desktop to check the appropriateness of the sentences written. An alternative to Grammarly.
REVERSO – Rephrase Function: A translation and grammar check tool that also gives different paraphrased versions of a sentence written.
Listening:
Listening Time: This podcast is for English learners who want to practice their listening comprehension in a natural way. In each episode, an American speaker talks about different topics without reading a script. Each episode includes transcrip, which you can use to help you understand the speaker.
Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab: Staged listening activities, intermediate+ academic listening tasks with script, interactive quizzes, explanations of vocabulary items, videos teaching idioms, games and quizzes.
ELLLO: Staged listening activities, standardized exam practice (for IELTS and TOEFL) with scripts, interactive quizzes and vocabulary/grammar exercises.
BBC Radio 4 Reith Lectures: Series of lectures on various topics, ranging from Artificial Intelligence to Law and Politics, with downloadable transcripts.
University of Reading Lectures: Wide range of lectures divided into three groups (Introductory Lectures, Lectures of General Interest and Subject Specific Lectures), with comprehension questions and transcripts)
BBC SOUNDS PODCASTS: Intermediate+ Authentic Podcasts
TEST ENGLISH: Staged listening tasks from A1 to B2.
BBC Learning English – 6 minute English: 6 minute listening tasks with transcripts and vocabulary study.
The Speech Accent Archive- English: hundreds of examples of people from different parts of the world reading the same paragraph aloud so that you can hear the difference in their pronunciation. There are 650 examples of English language speakers.
University of Reading Lectures
Time Management Apps
Time-management applications are indispensable tools for English language learners at universities. They provide features that facilitate planning, attention management, increased productivity, and daily routine management. These applications assist students in allocating their time effectively, blocking distractions, and incorporating techniques such as the Pomodoro method to enhance their productivity while studying. In addition, they allow students to manage their calendars, automatically mark off optimal study times, and integrate file sharing and note-taking.
In addition to their academic benefits, time-management applications promote the development of crucial time-management and self-regulation skills. University students studying English can use these tools to remain on top of their coursework, improve their language skills, and cultivate skills that will serve them well in their future careers and personal lives.
Here are the tools you can explore. Let us know if you discover other & better tools so that we can add them to the list:
RescueTime is a well-known time-management application that assists individuals in optimizing their digital behaviors and increasing their productivity. It operates by monitoring the amount of time users spend on various websites and applications, providing detailed information about their daily computer and smartphone usage. Users can regain control of their focus by setting objectives, receiving alerts for excessive screen time, and blocking distracting websites. RescueTime provides valuable data to assess how time is allocated, making it a useful tool for students, professionals, and anyone seeking to improve their time-management skills and overall productivity.
Pomodoro apps are time management tools founded on the Pomodoro Technique. These applications divide work into focused 25-minute intervals followed by brief 5-minute breaks. The objective is to boost productivity and maintain focus by utilizing brief, structured bursts of work. The majority of Pomodoro applications include customizable timer settings, task lists, and progress tracking statistics. Students and professionals use them frequently to maximize productivity, reduce procrastination, and establish a balance between work and rest during tasks.
Brain Focus Productivity Timer is an adaptable time management application that employs the Pomodoro Technique to improve concentration and productivity. It divides duties into intervals of 25 minutes with brief breaks in between. The application provides customizable timers, task lists, and productivity monitoring, making it simple to stay motivated and organized. In addition, users can whitelist particular applications and websites to ensure uninterrupted workflow. Overall, it's a user-friendly tool for anyone seeking to boost productivity and manage their time more effectively.
Forest is a productivity-enhancing software that employs a novel concept to enhance concentration. Users cultivate virtual trees by remaining attentive to their duties; if they become distracted, the tree withers. The application provides customizable timers, task lists, and monitoring of productivity. Users can earn virtual currency by unlocking various tree species and supporting tree-planting initiatives. Forest is a straightforward yet effective instrument for reducing distractions and boosting productivity.
Mind mapping and note-taking applications have evolved into indispensable companions for college students, providing invaluable assistance in attaining academic excellence. These applications enable students to create comprehensive study plans, manage to-do lists efficiently, and access their duties across multiple devices. These tools provide a creative space for students to capture ideas, elucidate their thoughts, manage complex information, and facilitate brainstorming sessions. They play a crucial role in facilitating students' ability to recall and assimilate information, whether for their coursework or when writing essays and assignments.
Here are some of the effective mind mapping and note-taking tools, highlighting their benefits for enhancing learning and academic success:
The Google Keep program is a lightweight and intelligent note-taking application. Users can manage multiple notes efficiently and synchronize them across multiple devices. The application also allows users to create notes using Google's voice assistant. Integration with other G-Suite applications, including Google Slides, is one of its notable advantages.
SimpleNote is an easy-to-use note-taking application that facilitates the creation of various categories of notes. You can include URLs, images, and more in your notes, which you can access on multiple devices. It also enables you to store and share your notes in the cloud. SimpleNote is free and comes with built-in tag, search, and filter options for improved organization.
Brainio is an app that combines note-taking and mind mapping features, providing college students with an all-inclusive academic aid. Students can efficiently plan their study schedules, manage their to-do lists, and organize their social and academic obligations with Brainio. The mind mapping feature enhances students' comprehension of course materials by enabling them to visually map complex concepts and generate ideas. The note-taking feature enables students to simultaneously document and organize lecture notes, highlight important information, and attach multimedia resources, ultimately enhancing their academic performance.
MindMeister is an online note-taking application designed to facilitate the efficient use of the mind map technique. It encourages the extraction of essential information via keywords and brief phrases as opposed to transcription in its entirety. The use of colors, images, and a graphical structure facilitates the communication of hierarchies and connections between notes, resulting in more meaningful and organized notes during meetings, lectures, and presentations.
Duolingo: This app offers interactive lessons and exercises to help you learn English grammar, vocabulary, and more. It includes a game that makes learning fun and engaging. (Duolingo can also be accessed online).
Babbel: This app provides interactive courses to help you learn practical conversation skills in English. It also includes a speech recognition feature to improve your pronunciation.
Rosetta Stone: This app uses an immersive, interactive approach to help you practice your speaking, reading, and listening skills in context. It offers a variety of lesson types and tracks your progress as you learn.
Memrise: This app uses a combination of flashcards and interactive exercises to help you learn English vocabulary and grammar. It also has a community feature that allows you to connect with other learners and compete in language-learning challenges.
Busuu: This app offers interactive courses in various languages, including English. It focuses on helping you learn practical conversation skills and includes a speech recognition feature to improve your pronunciation.
English Central: This app uses videos and interactive exercises to help you improve your listening, speaking, and vocabulary skills in English. It offers a variety of lesson types and tracks your progress as you learn.
English Grammar in Use: This app offers interactive exercises and explanations to help you improve your understanding of English grammar. It includes a variety of lesson types and tracks your progress as you learn.
Hello English: This app offers interactive exercises and games to help you improve your English language skills. It provides different lesson types and tracks your progress as you learn.
HelloTalk: This is a language learning and language exchange app that connects users from around the world to practice and improve their language skills through conversation with native speakers.
Lingoda (paid): Lingoda is an online language learning platform with native-speaker teachers. It offers live and recorded classes in multiple languages and allows students to schedule classes at their convenience.
Voscreen helps you improve your English language skills on your own through short video clips.
Lyricstraining Discover a new and fun way to learn English and other languages by playing with the videos and lyrics of your favorite songs.
English Central is a YouTube channel that offers a variety of English language learning resources, including lessons, quizzes, and exercises.
English with Lucy is a YouTube channel hosted by a British English teacher that offers lessons, quizzes, and exercises to help learners improve their language skills.
English with Jennifer is a YouTube channel featuring lessons and exercises taught by a native English speaker.
English with Max is a YouTube channel that offers a variety of English language learning resources, including lessons, quizzes, and exercises.
Arnel’s Everyday English is a YouTube channel featuring videos on grammar and vocabulary.
BBC NEWSROUND: News on various topics. Intermediate+
TEST ENGLISH: Staged reading tasks from A1 to B2.
British Council – Reading Practice: Staged self-study reading lessons with reading tasks.
USA Learns is a free website financed by the United States Department of Education to help immigrants learn or improve their English abilities as they integrate into American society. The site was created as an online aid for learning English outside of the classroom. It provides contextualized practice tasks in listening, reading, writing, speaking, and life skills required for success at work and in the community.
News in Levels: World News for English Learners in three levels. The site helps develop reading and listening skills as well as vocabulary.
Nat Geo Reading: Interactive Reading Texts at all levels.
East of the Web-Short Stories: A large online library of short stories with monthly features and additions.
Breaking News English: Stories on current events and topics of interest to adult learners and ESL students
EnglishClub is a free website aimed to help English language learners from beginner to high level strengthen their English skills. Learners can find activities and materials to help them learn and practice listening, reading, pronouncing words, grammar, and vocabulary. The website features audio tracks, movies with subtitles, interactive quizzes, and forums where students may engage with other English students from around the world.
A Digital Workbook for Beginning ESOL: This free online book includes three levels of interactive grammar lessons and reading activities for beginner ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students. The grammar portion contains a carefully selected set of YouTube videos, and the three original readers offer short picture or chapter stories. Each session includes self-correction activities.
5 Minute English: Short lessons and explanations on a number of topics, including reading, grammar, hearing, pronunciation, vocabulary, and idioms, are available to students. Following each lesson, there is a short comprehension quiz to measure learners' understanding.
Bow Valley Readers: ESL students can read stories written for adult learners at seven different levels. Each story focuses on a different learner and includes a listening track so that students can listen as well as read the story.
https://collegedunia.com/exams/toefl/toefl-reading-practice
https://www.examenglish.com/TOEFL/TOEFL_reading1.htm
https://www.bestmytest.com/toefl/reading
https://englishteststore.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=651&Itemid=1110#gsc.tab=0
https://www.test-guide.com/free-toefl-practice-tests.html
https://www.mometrix.com/academy/toefl/toefl-reading/
https://www.graduateshotline.com/toefl/reading-comprehension-test-1.html
https://www.esl-lounge.com/student/toefl-reading.php
https://www.marianas.edu/media/TestingServices/TOEFL/TOEFL_Practice_Questions.pdf
https://ielts-up.com/reading/ielts-reading-practice.html
https://www.examenglish.com/IELTS/cbIELTS_reading.htm
https://mini-ielts.com/reading
https://ieltsliz.com/ielts-reading-lessons-information-and-tips/
Vocabulary Exercises for the Academic Word List: http://zbenglish.net/sites/voca/AWL/id21.htm
Academic Word Exercises: https://ccaps.umn.edu/esl-resources/students/vocabulary/academic-word-ex...
English Vocabulary Exercises: https://depr.englishvocabularyexercises.com/academic-word-list/index.html
Academic Vocabulary Worksheets: https://www.internationalschooltutors.de/English/activities/vocabulary/a...
British Council Learn English Speaking Resources here
Learn English Teens Speaking Resources here
Talk English here
My Speech Class here
English Central Resources here
WordWall Community Speaking Activities here
BBC Learning English Resources here
BBC The English We Speak Resources here
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 1
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 2
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 3
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 4
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 5
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 6
Ielts Speaking Part Practice Materials 7
TED-ED is a website which offers shortened versions of the TED Talks with supporting exercises for English learners. You can choose a topic you are interested in. Read the pre-watching questions. Watch the video. Complete the comprehension and vocabulary questions and check your score.
Here is a list of the topics we recommend:
What happens if you cut down all of a city's trees? - here
Why don’t we cover the desert with solar panels? - here
Why we should draw more (and photograph less) - here
What would happen if you stopped brushing your teeth? -here
Why perfect grades don't matter? - here
Why humans are so bad at thinking about climate change - here
Why Starbucks failed in Australia - here
EAP Foundation is an interactive website in which you can have access to resources and exercises on study skills, academic vocabulary, listening in the form of lecture and note-taking and several other skills. Here are some of our suggestions on the website:
Listening to Lectures at university here
Note-taking in lectures here
The Learning Cycle here
Learning Styles here
Podcasts related to EAP here
Academic Writing here
Essays here
