English Language Resources
Use these resources anytime, anywhere to enhance English communication ability.
Speaking Fluency and Articulation Clarity
| Resource & Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Academic Terms by Discipline | This free site contains lists of audio and written academic words by discipline as well as a variety of other English language practice resources. |
| Blue Canoe | This app has free and paid versions and uses brain science and a virtual AI teacher to help users learn the sounds and rhythm of English with the Color Vowel® method. This is the ETCS Director's most recommended program for improving comprehensibility - just 10 minutes a day! |
| Elemental English | This channel is a free collection of instructional videos about pronunciation, connected speech, prosody and grammar topics, with a focus on everyday English use in North America. |
| ELSA SPEAK | This is a personalized mobile application, first released in 2016, that provides targeted pronunciation and sound articulation practice for $3.99 per month or $29.99 per year. |
| Home Speech Home | This free site has extensive word lists for each North American English sound as well as countless exercises for discriminating sounds. |
| Pronuncian | This free site offers minimal pairs, word lists, and lessons for all North American English sounds. |
| Rachel's English | This free site contains a plethora of videos, exercises, and examples of North American English pronunciation and connected speech features. |
| Speech Sounds Visualized | This app, developed by a speech language pathologist, uses a combination of x-ray images, audio recordings, and written instructions to guide users in forming standard North American English sounds. The app costs $9.99 and only works for iOS. |
| Perfect English Grammar | A free and thorough English Grammar site covering many of the accuracy issues common in complex language use; worksheets, quizzes, and helpful handouts are available for download. |
Listening Fluency
| Resource & Link | Description |
|---|---|
| English Central | Customizable listening and pronunciation exercises are provided on this free site, via hundreds of short videos. |
| TED Talks | A free, searchable website full of many interesting lectures on a plethora of topics; transcripts and subtitles can be enabled for listening, prosody, and pronunciation practice. |
| VoiceTube | A free, customizable site that allows users to listen to and repeat various level-appropriate videos on different topics |
| Youglish | This free site allows users to search words or phrases in English and see videos of these words/phrases being used in real contexts. |
Interactional and Discourse Competence for Teaching Speech
| Resource & Link | Description |
|---|---|
| Texas A&M Video about Communicating with a Mask | This 15-minute video from Texas A&M Univerisity about teaching with a mask is an informative, research-based explanation of issues with and strategies for wearing masks while teaching. |
| MIT User-Friendly Classroom | Five short videos (2-9 minutes) that include advice from undergraduates and international TAs as well as examples of TA-taught classes, all with interactive transcripts and analysis questions. This resource is completely free. |
| Utah State University International Teaching Assistant Training Videos | A series of helpful videos of pragmatic tips from international teaching assistants and faculty for teaching courses in the U.S. |
| Common Student Questions | The University of Minnesota staff have created this free resource for international TAs to become familiar with common student-asked questions and typical teacher responses. |
| University of Washington's Resources for ITAs | This comprehensive site contains insightful articles that give tips, tools, and expectations for teaching in the U.S. |
| Vanderbilt University's Guide for International Teaching Assistants | This site is another free, in-depth resource for expectations, norms, and strategies for success as an international teaching assistant in the U.S. |
