ESL homework activities to boost your learning

There are plenty of free resources to practice English on the internet. Check out our guide below.

Podcasts

Podcasts are a fantastic homework because they help you improve comprehension and teaches you vocabulary. Here are some of our recommendations.

Beginners to intermediate

ELLLO – Elllo offers a treasure trove of hundreds of short podcasts, in various accents, along with a transcription. Levels start from beginner and go up to intermediate.

Link: https://www.elllo.org/

Intermediate to advanced

6 Minute English – The brilliant 6 Minute English from the BBC is a great resource for ESL students of pre-intermediate or above. The podcasts are fun, informative and come with a transcript and vocabulary set to help students learn more vocabulary.

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english


Videos

If you are an upper-intermediate or advanced level student, International newspapers and magazines have some fantastic channels on Youtube for you to watch. Here are some of our favourites.

Economist magazine (Accent UK): Great for content about business, environment, news and politics.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheEconomist/videos

Wall Street Journal (Accent US): Great for content about business and technology.

Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/wsj

Financial Times: Great for content about business and finance

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@FinancialTimes

BBC Reel (Accent UK): Great for content about history, science and geography.  

Link: https://www.youtube.com/c/BBCReel

Vox (Accent US): Great for content about society and popular culture

Link: https://www.youtube.com/@Vox/videos


Grammar exercises and quizzes

Gap fills and quizzes are great homework activity to reinforce understanding of a language point.

Perfect English Grammar

This site is great for interactive grammar exercises, with hundreds of activities covering A1-B2 grammar.

Link: https://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/grammar-exercises.html

ELT Base

ELT Base offers word-ordering and multiple-choice quizzes on a range of grammar and vocabulary points.

Link: https://www.eltbase.com/quizzes

BBC English

BBC English offers, podcasts, videos and short courses on English grammar and vocabulary. Some videos also have a short quiz at the end.

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/upper-intermediate

Link: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/course/intermediate/unit-6


Phrasal verbs

Phrasal Verb Demon teaches phrasal verbs by preposition (or particle) rather than the verb. For example, the ‘on’ in phrasal verbs has the meaning of ‘to attach’ (e.g. ‘put on a jacket’) or ‘to continue’, (e.g. ‘carry on with your work please’).

Link: https://www.phrasalverbdemon.com/index.html

Then, take a deep-dive into the 101 most common phrasal verbs with this quiz.


Reading

Great for beginners, read with parallel text in your own language with Parallel Text.  Classic texts available such as Jane Ayre or Sherlock Holmes.

Link: http://paralleltext.io/

What internet resources do you use for your ESL study? Tell us in the comments below.


Back to learner resources →

Build your knowledge with our study guide

Advanced level resources

Take your English to the Next Level with 50 Lessons to Improve your English Conversation.

Written by your Skyrocket English teacher, Next Level English is packed full of real-world vocabulary and advanced grammar, plus exercises, to help you speak naturally and fluently – all in one, easy-to-use manual.​​​​​​​

Designed for upper-intermediate to advanced learners and those taking IELTS, TOEFL or Cambridge exams, Next Level English is the perfect book to build your confidence in spoken English. Available on Amazon

Discover more…


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *