ESL: Bilingual Vocabulary Quizzes

http://iteslj.org/v/ Many languages are covered:

Arabic-English Chinese-English Czech-English Dutch-English Finnish-English French-English German-English Greek-English Hungarian-English Indonesian-English Italian-English Japanese-English Korean-English Kurdish-English Lithuanian-English Malay-English Nowegian-English Persian-English Polish-English Portuguese-English Romanian-English Russian-English Spanish-English Swahili-English Swedish-English Tagalog-English Thai-English Turkish-English Ukrainian-English Urdu-English Vietnamese-English Zulu-English

ESL: Idioms/Quizzes

http://a4esl.org/q/h/idioms.html Self Study Idiom Quizzes

Levels from medium to difficult.
Animal Idioms (Kaye Mastin Mallory)
Change Idioms to Plain English (Larry Kelly)
Idioms (Similes - as ... as) - Matching Quiz (Vera Mello)
Idioms with Body Parts - Matching Quiz (Vera Mello)
Idioms with Numbers (Sion Baldwin)

ESL: Vocabulary

http://www.rong-chang.com/ Use the menu on the left of the page to access 'Vocabulary'

English Vocabulary. Learn the pronunciation and spelling of thousands of words using an image based interface.
Vocabulary Test. Free vocabulary test for TOEFL, GMT, SAT, GRE and more.
Vocabulary Level Test. Take a test to find out your vocabulary size.
Vocabulary University Learn English vocabulary in context (grades 5-12) with free word puzzles.
Irregular Verbs A complete list of irregular verbs in alphabetical order.
Vocabulary Training. Test your vocabulary on different subjects.
Building a Better Vocabulary. A good article to guide your study of vocabulary.
5000 Collegiate Words. A list of words in alphabetical order with concise definitions.
SuperKids Vocabulary Builder. Word of the day, hangman, hidden word puzzles, and word scrambler.
Everyday Vocabulary Anagrams. Anagram quizzes by Charles I. Kelly & Lawrence E. Kelly.
for English Language Learners. Vocabulary activities for all levels.
E. L. Easton Vocabulary Multilingual dictionaries, vocabulary quizzes by E. L. Easton Online.
Learning Vocabulary can be fun. Word search, hangman, quiz, and match game.
Vocabulary Improvement Program. Learn English words by studying the roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

ESL: Idioms

http://www.rong-chang.com/: Use the menu on the left side of the page to access 'Idioms'

Self-Study Idiom Quizzes. Including phrasal verbs, and slang, divided into medium and difficult levels.
Pocket English Idioms Hundreds of idioms. Click a keyword and get the idiom with an example sentence.
Dennis Oliver's ESL Idiom Page You can see a complete list, or meanings and examples.
Commonly Used American Slang Nineteen pages of slang collected by Charles I. Kelly & Lawrence E. Kelly.
The Idiom Collection A big collection and many categories.
English Idioms, Sayings and Slang An online dictionary of idioms, sayings and slang.
American Idioms A good selection with good examples.
Animal Idioms A few interesting idioms containing animals' names.
Idioms at Interlink Language Center Multiple choice questions, match the meaning of an idiom.
Idioms and Proverbs Match the meanings of about thirty idioms.
Idioms http://www.speak-read-write.com/ Sally Jennings: hundreds of idioms and phrasal verbs with context examples
Slang City. Yeah, baby! Check out this cool online guide to American slang, including explanations of popular songs and movies, bad words, pronunciation and more.
Idioms Site.Hundreds of idioms in alphabetical order. It also tells you where and when the idiom originated.

ESL/IEI: Grammar

http://www.rong-chang.com/: Grammar skills Use the menu on the left of the page to access 'Grammar' . Some of these sites are excellent, others need to be reviewed for level applicability. Can also be used for GED students.

Guide to Grammar and Writing. Study grammar at sentence level, paragraph level, and essay level.
An On-Line English Grammar Book. An online grammar book with a lot of example sentences.
English Grammar Book.With high-quality English lessons and exercises to help English learners learn English grammar online.
Grammar Index. Discussion of about 400 topics on English Grammar.
Revelle Humanities Grammar Handbook. Explanation of various aspects of English grammar.
Grammar Safari. . A project that requires students to hunt for sentence structures on the Web by using SEARCH and FIND functions. Developed by the Intensive English Institute.
Guide to Grammar and Style. This site explains grammar rules, comments on styles, and suggest usage. A lot of advice on how to write better English.
Grammar Slammer. It has an easy-to-use format to help you find what you're looking for, and provide rules and tips about writing clear English.
Zozanga Grammar Lessons. A free and independent web site for EFL/ESL learners and teachers.
The Internet Grammar of English. An online course in English grammar written primarily for university undergraduates.
Rose of York Learning Resources. Free grammar lessons online.
English Grammar FAQ. Some of the postings made to the newsgroup alt.usage.english by John Lawler, Professor of Linguistics.
English Forum Free English language help. Post your questions here and will be answered by someone.

ESL: Business English

http://www.rong-chang.com/ : This site has wonderful tools for helping students work on Business English skills. Use the left hand menu and click on 'Business English' to access any of the sites listed below:

Business English for Teachers and Learners. This is a page maintained by Linda Thalman, with a big collection of links to business English sites.
Business English Exercises. There are over 140 exercises of different types, crosswords and hangman games.
Bull's Eye Business Writing Tips. An archive of over 300 tips on how students can improve their business writing skills.
Guide to Basic Business Letters. It provides the phrases that are usually found in any standard business letter.
Business English Market The site provides an Instructor's Guide and Lesson Modules that include plans, exercises, and ideas.
American Business Jargon. Over a hundred of American business sayings are defined.
Accounting Terminology Guide. An educational tool for journalists who report on and interpret financial information.
The Devil's Derivatives Dictionary. A huge online Business English dictionary.
Business English for Different Topics. A large collection of English reading materials under different topics.
Business English Links for ESL. Including Mock Job interview, Business Meeting Quiz, Business Writing Links, and Professional Organizations.

ESL/ABE/GED: Writing Assistance Sites

http://www.rong-chang.com/: Writing assistance for ABE/GED and ESL

Paradigm Online Writing Assistant. A lot of information about how to write informal essays, thesis/support essays, argumentative essays, and exploratory essays.
Online Writing Collaboration Project is the meeting place on cyberspace for English teachers and learners.
The Purdue University Writing Lab Handouts. One of the earliest online writing lab. The Handouts section provides excellent guide to academic writing. There is also a section of English as a Second Language.
Essay Info. Basics of essay writing, writing tips, essay types, citation styles, and so on.
Online Guide to Writing and Research University of Maryland University College (UMUC) prvides this site, like an online writing textbook.
Writing Help. Detailed discussion of academic writing, business writing, and technical writing. An excellent online writing handbook.
A Guide to Grammar and Writing. This site gives you help on your grammar. The site also contains computer-graded grammar quizzes.
Research Paper Writing. This site has an idea directory in which you may find research questions you are interested in. The Writing Center section discusses general writing concerns as well as English grammar.
Writing for the Web Research on how users read on the Web and how authors should write.
Essay Writing A step-by-step guide to essay-writing.

ESL: Listening Skills

http://www.rong-chang.com/ : Listening Skills Use the menu on the left side of the page to access 'Listening'.

Phrases for Conversation. Commonly used expressions in conversations provided by ESLgold.
Q/A Approach to Learning English. Listening to the 50 stories, and do the questions & answers exercises.
Wired for Books. Streams hundreds of hours of spoken audio in English - classics, poems, short stories, lectures, and author interviews.
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab. One of the largest ESL listening training resource on the Web with various interesting topics for three different levels.
English Trailers. Study English using movie commercials, created by Andrew Johnson.
Real Movies. Watch the most recent movie trailers online with the free RealOne Player.
Focus English. A conversation site created by John Liang, University of California, Riverside, with contents added frequently.
Learning Oral English Online. An online conversation book with ten lessons including Meeting Friends, Apartment Hunting, and Shopping in USA.
Foreign Languages for Travelers. An excellent site for people who want to quickly learn some useful English or other foreign language phrases.

ESL/ABE: Reading

http://www.rong-chang.com/ Reading for ESL students. This is a wealth of information for low level readers.

Introduction to the United States of America. Online Culture Lessons by Paul Sparks.
Adult Learning Activities. California distance learning project, where you can read and listen to short essays about America.
Antimoon.com - Learn English effectively. Articles on how to learn English effectively, based on the experiences of successful learners.
E-Bookster. A tool for either helping young kids to learn how to read, or to help people learn english as a second language.
PanaVox Speech Server. Broadcasts text as live synthesised high quality speech to users who are using 33 or 56 k or faster modems.
VoyCabulary Reading Assistant. With this program you can check the meaning of any words in the Web page you are reading.
CNNSF Learning Resources. A selected news story is published each week with video, audio, full text, abridged text, and story outline for educational use.
Yahoo Daily News.Quickly updated news, classified into different categories.
This Day in History.A short passage each day describing an historical event in American history. Holidays in the U.S. Description of all the holidays from January to December.
The Quotations Page. The largest and oldest Quotations Page on the Web with about 30 categories such as Great Leaders, Sarcasm, and Wisdom.
Key to College Success. About 10 pages of sincere advice about how to be successful in college. You must read it if you are preparing to study in the States.
A Word a Day. Definitions and example sentences are provided. You can also click to hear its pronunciation. The word is usually difficult.
Online Children's Stories. Many stories from well-known children's books. They are easy and interesting to read.
Public Domain Books. Hundreds of books you can free download or open to read.
Life in a New Country. ESL students writing about the American culture.
Reading Materials Search. Searching reading materials by subject, type, and level.
The English Learner Movie Guides a detailed synopsis of 100 popular movie with an extensive glossary of vocabulary and various cultural references.

ESL: Citizenship

http://www.rong-chang.com/ ESL Citizenship

Use the menu on the far left and choose 'Citizenship'. There are great sites available for topics such as citizenship, American History, the flag and other topics.

ESL: English Grammar Explained in Spanish

http://www.rong-chang.com/ :English grammar explained in Spanish. A good site for students struggling to understand the English grammar listed below:

Simple Present
Present Continuous
Present Perfect
Present Perfect Continuous
Past Simple
Past Continuous
Past Perfect
Past Perfect Continuous
Future Simple
Future Continuous
Future Perfect
Future Perfect Continuous

Use the listing under 'Spanish' from the menu on the left to get to this site.

Commentary: Sotir: Comments on Technological Literacy

Educational theorist E.D. Hirsch, Jr. noted that 'literate people in every society and every culture share a body of knowledge that enables them to communicate with each other and make sense of the world around them. The kinds of things a literate person knows will vary from society to society and from era to era; so there is no absolute definition of literacy.'

Today's society and culture demands that technological literacy be a necessary component of literacy in general. So much of our life is defined by the development and usage of technology. There is no greater indicator of the impact of technology on our society than the Y2K terror at the beginning of this millennium. People were frozen in fear that they would awake on January 1 without computers. Many were nearly paralyzed as a craze worthy of 'War of the Worlds' hit business and individuals alike. Of course, January 1 dawned with none of the fears realized, and everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief. However, it illustrates how deeply technology has impacted society in about 30 years. Although computers have been around for much longer, it was the advent of the personal computer that redesigned the world as we know it. Since the first Apple computer was created and housed in a handcrafted koa wood case, personal computers have become integral to business, science, research and education.

In 1943, Thomas Watson of IBM said 'I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers.' To be fair to the less than visionary Mr. Watson, even as late as the 1960's a Univac computer cost about $1.6 million and covered an area nearly as large as a ball field. Even less visionary was Ken Olsen, founder of Digital Equipment Corp. who in 1977 declared 'There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home'. Mr. Watson was 34 years away from the vision of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1975. Mr Olsen should have known better.

However, since the first Apple in 1975 and the first meeting of IBM and Bill Gates in 1981, computers have become ubiquitous to our society. While Jobs and Wozniak hired out a cabinet maker to make the original housing, by 1982 Gates and IBM were selling their PC's at Sears. Even national elections have been defined by the original punch cards invented in 1801 (remember hanging and pregnant chads?). But while we are still utilizing old technologies for voting, society is overwhelmed by the lightening speed that new technologies are developed. Punch cards went to 8" floppies. We then moved quickly through 5.25" floppies, 3.5" not so floppies, to CDs in '85, DVD's in '96 and keydrives in '00. A single CD can contain over 1000 average novels. Bluetooth standard allows any sort of electronic equipment...from computers and cell phones to keyboards and headphones...to make its own connections without wires, cables or any direct action by the user. Information is just there, in the air around us.

What does this imply for education? The need for more and more dollars to support the technology habit that we as a society employ. Children, who have never known a world without computers, are born cable ready. Just point them in a direction of a computer and let them go. A two year old who watches PBS can tell you that the web address is ' http://www.pbskids.org . Perhaps they are not clear on the concept of a web address, but they know it is necessary to reach the home of Teletubbies, Boobah and Barney. They just KNOW.

Our job as educators must move at the same rapid rate. In a relatively short time, the digital immigrants born before 1975 will be outpaced by the digital natives born after that date. We need to keep up with, and more importantly, accept the changes that come into our lives daily. Some changes are easier than others. Most people can accept the idea of cell phones, even though there is a question of whether they make our lives easier or bring the potential for even more stress. Emily Post never dealt with the etiquette of proper use of a phone in a public setting, and yet we have all had the frustration of someone's phone ringing in church or in a concert or theater. But change, in this technological society, is inevitable. After all, YOU are reading a BLOG.

GED/ESL: Health and Wellness: Dental

http://www.dentalwellnesscenter.com/page3.html Dental Wellness Center

This is a small site, but does deal with dental health from the adult education perspective. Check it out!

General Information: Statistics

• 
  The American Management Association reported in 2001 that more than one-third of all job applicants given literacy tests by mid-sized or larger companies could not pass.
• 
  A 1997 survey conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers and Grant Thornton LLP revealed that while roughly six in ten companies receive more than 5 applications for each position, one-third of those applicants are rejected for inadequate reading or writing skills, and nearly one-quarter for poor communication or math skills.
• 
  The same survey revealed problems in those already employed: more than half of the companies reported serious shortcomings in math, written language and communication skills among workers.

from the Adult Learning Quarterly, KET, Spring 2005

ESL: Health and Wellness

http://hlunix.hl.state.ut.us/hrm/ethnic/pamphlet.html

Brochures, medical information and explanations in the following languages:
Cambodian Chinese Korean Hmong Laotian Russian Samoan Spanish Tagalog Thai
Tongan Vietnamese

GED/ESL: Health and Wellness

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html
165 Interactive Health Tutorials
The tutorials are interactive health education resources from the Patient Education Institute. using animated graphics each tutorial explains a procedure or condition in easy-to-read language. You can also listen to the tutorial.

Includes a dictionary, encyclopedia and other resources

ESL: Health and Wellness

http://literacynet.org/vtd/ Literacy.Net Dialogues

This is web site for ESL students. If you have recently come to the United States from another country, a visit to the doctor can be a strange experience. Not only is there new language, but customs may seem be different as well. With this web site you can practice the language you need for getting medical care. Actual sample dialogues included in this site. Wonderful for ESL students!
Beginning to Intermediate ESL level dialogues on visiting the doctor

GED/ESL: Health and Wellness

http://familydoctor.org/ Family Doctor

Large Website with information on:
Healthy Living
Parents and Kids
Women’s Issues
Men’s Issues
Seniors
Health Tools
Search Engine

GED/ESL: Health and Wellness

http://www.kidshealth.org/ Kid's Health

Areas of interest include:
For Parents
Practical parenting information in English and Spanish
For Kids
Easy to understand with lots of pictures
Simple words and definitions
For Teens
Topics that target teen issues

GED: Spanish

http://litlink.ket.org/begin_gedconnect.aspl

Although this is the link to the English site, I have information that the GED Connection Website will soon also be available in Spanish. Keep an eye on the site if you are interested!

GED: Main ideas

http://www.teachers.net/lessons/posts/1174.html How to Write A+ Essays! Teacher's Net

Not a lot of substance, but a good review of basic methodologies and concepts for writing essays.

GED: Main Ideas

http://www.ucd.ie/adulted/main/pages/stu_essays.htm

Though this is from Dublin, it's a good piece on main ideas for essays. There are hints, transition word lists and other checklists which could be of use.