Resources for learning vocabulary 

Students of English as a foreign language improve their vocabulary when they read any of the web pages which are in English or write a task or assignment of some interactive web sites. Nevertheless, a good deal of vocabulary acquisition material is carried on the web, either for idioms or for single words, usually included in more general sites. Some of them are highly interactive while others are not, although they are equally practical and efficient. We should not forget, finally, the different dictionaries available on the net. 
 
 

idioms and phrasal verbs 

  • The Comenius Group's Weekly Idiom , provides a new idiom every two weeks to assist students of English. With the idiom there comes a definition, an example dialogue and The Weekly Idiom Index , with a complete list of all past idioms and their links. There is also the possibility to listen to a brief dialogue which includes the idiom.

    •  
  • Dave Sperling's ESL Idiom page offers a collection of idioms, with their definitions and examples.

    •  
  • ESL Phrasal Verb Page, where you can learn a new phrasal verb at the click of your mouse. From this page you can also access to the complete list of phrasal verb collection, with definitions and examples.

    •  

vocabulary

  • The Daily Word. The Daily Word Web site and mailing list are devoted to recently-coined and interesting words and phrases. Each day, a new word is presented, with its definition, and a usage quote. You also get extra goodies such as background on the word's formation, quotations related to words and language, and more. The site also offers you the possibility to subscribe to the Daily Word mailing list, and the list will send the current Daily Word directly to your mailbox. There are also several ways to search for a previous Daily Word. 

    •  
  • A.Word.A.Day. This is the web-page for the mailing list A.Word.A.Day (AWAD), which mails out a vocabulary word and its definition (with occasional commentary) to the subscribers every day. Like in The daily word this site offers a new word every day, with its pronunciation, examples and sometimes with a quotation. The words are related to a different topic each week.

    •  
  • Cool Word of the Day. This is perhaps the site which offers a more complete information about the word of the day: pronunciation, function, etymology, examples, a list of synonyms and a pronunciation key. It is not linked to any subscription but to the Webster dictionary. From here you can acess to the Word Game of the Day, another efficient net available resource for your classroom.

    •  
  • Word Watch offers the Cobuilder's weekly commentary on current English. Each week cobuilder, digs up a word or phrase out of the Bank of English and holds it up for inspection and comment. When you're working with the real language of the Bank of English corpus you frequently uncover some interesting details about words and their meanings, and the WORDWATCH feature gives Cobuilder a chance to tell you something, anything, about words. You can check out every week's WORDWATCH or browse through some of the back numbers from previous weeks. You can also suggest Cobuilder to have a go at something that particularly interests you. This site would be interesting for advanced students.
 

dictionaries 

Similar to the sites described above, there are a few sites available on the net with on-line dicctionaries. I will not devote much space to this section as, in my opinion, ordinary dictionaries are easier and perhaps quicker to use than electronic ones. Nevertheless, you might like to show your students that definitions, translations, synonyms and examples of words can also be found on the net in the form of on-line dictionaries.(be patient, though!!!)  
 
  • The Newbury House Online Dictionary 

    • Includes definitions and example sentences. 

     
  • Webster Online Hypertext Dictionary This site is intriguing because of the amount of detail it gives about the definition of a word. Not only can one receive multiple definitions, but one can also access a thesaurus to scan synonyms. There are examples of correct usage which are helpful to understanding the searched-for word. At first, it seemed to me to be rather difficult to understand the mechanics of how to search for a word, but with practice it got easier. This might prove to be a useful tool in expanding or enhancing vocabulary. I recommend using this tool only with upper intermediate or advanced students, though. 
 

Go back to links for teachers
 
  
 please, report dead links to  dpermany@pie.xtec.e