Introduction to English learning sites
ASSIGNMENT:
Part 1: Comparison
Discuss which sites would be most useful to you and why.
A.Grammar:
1. Grammar Slammer Online http://englishplus.com/grammar/- - Includes letter writing, confusing words, and easy search engine.
2. Grammar Safari http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/web.pages/grammarsafari.html
I think that Grammar Slammer Online is a better site than the other. Because the first page has a list of the category in the site. The contents are well organized. The site is fairly simple, but it gives clear descriptions about grammatical structures. It also has enough examples under each category. On the other hand Grammar safari has too many information (too long) on its first page. I didn't know what i was looking for. I didn't know what the links stood for. I searched through the site, and found it fairly useful, but the organization of the site was rather poor compared to Grammar Slammer.
2.
B. Large General Sites
1 Dave's ESL Cafe http://www.eslcafe.com/
2.BBC English http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/index.shtml- - part of BBC World Service - uses radio, magazines, and cassettes to teach English as a second language.
I liked both of these sites. I liked the quizzes in the eslcafe. (I actually spent some time doing some of them). It was convinient because you can check your answers right away. I also read through all the slangs and found them useful and funny. There are a lot of link pages in eslcafe, but they are well organized and easy to understand. The introductions in the link pages are clear, and the instructions for some of the activities are also well written.
The BBC English site is also a useful one. I also believe that studying "English" is not the only way to learn English. And I think that's what this site is all about. They gather news articles and help the readings to be better readers by giving short descriptions of some of the words and idioms in the article. They also have listening materials for listening and pronounciation skills.
If i was an esl student looking for a useful site, i would say that the first site is better because it is a site specially made for esl students. And if I was somewhat comfortable with English but want to improve it, then i would go for the second site.
Part 2: Make an annotated list.
As you explore, make an annotated list of learning sites that you particularly enjoy or find useful. Give the URL and put a very short description of what you can find or do there--one or two lines. You can add these links to your web site after your comparisons. How you present this assignment is up to you.
1.http://english-zone.com/reading/index.html -You can find reading materials (for different levels), grammar guides, vocabulary, and other information that are useful for English learners. I especially like the "Teachers' Zone" that provides drills and activities that teachers can use to help their students learn English more effectively.
2. http://www.quia.com/dir/ -Is a site with collections of quizzes from many categories such as Math, English, History, Economics, Psychology, Languages, and so on.