Reading and Listening

Reading and listening are a crucial part of language immersion, as it allows learners to hear the speech patterns of native speakers and be able to replicate them. Below are some resources that I have found helpful in that regard.

Storyline Online

This site features a collection of children's books being read aloud on video. Captions are available on all videos, as well as the ability to adjust the playback speed.

LingQ

This website features audio recordings of simple, day-to-day habits. All of them have transcriptions. Many of them have the option to click on words within the transcription to reveal their pronunciation and meaning!

Voice of America (VOA)

This site features videos that are catered to a wide audience. There are videos created for absolute beginners, as well as videos that offer a bit of a challenge, such as figurative speech and obscure words that are uncommon in daily speech.  

Vocabulary and Pronunciation

Vocabulary is an arguably the foundation of the language acquisition process. Without vocabulary, grammar is not necessary, because grammar requires vocabulary of some kind. Thus, below I've linked helpful resources that mainly focus on vocabulary!

Many Things

Like many other sites, this one also offers a wide range of resources that are not limited to vocabulary and pronunciation. My favorite aspect of this site is the "bilingual sentences" function, which allows learners to see and hear phrases both in English and their home language!

A4 ESL

This site offers vocabulary quizzes. It has an English only function, as well as a bilingual function. All vocabulary is sectioned into categories.

Language Guide

This site serves as a visual dictionary, starting from the absolute fundamentals to the intricate details of everyday life. From the alphabet, to categories of food, to parts of clothing (yes, that detailed!), this website is the perfect resource for acquiring basic vocabulary.

Dave's ESL Cafe

This website, while very helpful, contains high level vocabulary, such as slangs, idioms, and phrasal verbs. It is perfect for advanced ESL students, or any student for that matter who is up for a challenge!

Other Resources

Jisho

This is a Japanese-English Dictionary. It is very highly recommended, and the most useful dictionary that I have used.

Papago

Designed in South Korea, Papago is particularly remarkable for its more accurate and natural-sounding translations between English and East Asian countries as opposed to Google Translate. 

Twinkl

This website has free resources for teachers to use in their classrooms. It incorporates both English and Japanese in nearly every material.

Colorín Colorado

This website offers resources for ELLs, teachers of ELLs, and families of ELLs.