Tips for Learning English with Interactive Websites

Tips for Learning English with Interactive Websites

    Know your level. If the lesson is too easy, you’ll be bored. If it’s too hard, you won’t learn. So know your level and be honest!
    Know how you learn best. Find a website that will help you learn through your favorite learning style.
    Use a computer or phone with a microphone. Many of these websites and apps have activities where you can practice speaking. You’ll need a microphone for that.
    Find topics that interest you. When you use topics that you like, you’ll want to learn and listen or read!
    Schedule a time each day to study. You need to practice often and regularly to get better. Schedule a set time each day to study English, like while you have breakfast or take the train to work.
    Don’t forget to go offline as well! Even if you learn a lot with these websites, don’t forget to practice with real people as well!

The 8 Best Interactive Websites for Adults to Learn English
Babbel

the 8 best interactive websites for adults to learn english

Website or app: Website and mobile app
Price: First lesson free, $7 – $13 USD per month

Babbel lets you practice new vocabulary and grammar through interactive quizzes, and is somewhat similar to Duolingo below. However, Babbel allows learners a little more flexibility in choosing what they want to focus on each time they log on. You can choose listening and speaking, reading and writing, grammar or even listen to very detailed lessons on pronunciation.

And then, our favorite features are the travel dialogues and dictation exercises. With the travel dialogues, you can quickly learn essential vocabulary for an upcoming trip. In the dictation exercises, turn on your microphone to practice speaking, and Babbel will help you learn to pronounce new words better!
BBC Learning English

the 8 best interactive websites for adults to learn english

Website or app: Website
Price: Free

The BBC always has high standards, so it’s no surprise that they have held these high standards with their “BBC Learning English” website. Unfortunately, this also means that their lessons are better for people with some previous experience in English, not beginners.

This website is designed for intermediate and advanced English learners to study English by learning BBC style videos and radio broadcasts. These focus on topics like stories in the news, the latest English words and phrases, and even a series of videos that focus on English pronunciation in incredible detail.

Although there is no interactive speaking feature, each of their podcasts and videos include post-listening activities for you to check understanding. Overall, this is a great resource for practicing listening skills.
British Council

the 8 best interactive websites for adults to learn english

Website or app: Website and mobile app
Price: Free

Although we’re including this on a list of resources for adult learners, the British Council actually has three separate sections on their website for different ages: kids, adults and teens. Each section features a huge variety of interactive lessons, videos, games and podcasts to learn just about any skill. This means that no matter what level you are at or what topic interests you, you’ll always find something on British Council.

After you are finished listening or watching, each video and podcast has an exercise for you to complete so you can make sure you understood everything. Also, there are discussion boards under many of their activities so you can talk about what you learned with other students. The mobile app version of their lessons lets you learn on the go!
Duolingo

the 8 best interactive websites for adults to learn english

Website or app: Website and mobile app
Price: Free

Duolingo helps you learn new vocabulary and grammar through interactive games and quizzes both online and on their easy-to-use mobile app. Duolingo separates each lesson by category (food vocabulary, family vocabulary, the verb “to be,” etc.) and—on the desktop version at least—includes helpful tips and notes in case you need more explanation.

Our favorite feature? There is a strong emphasis on pronunciation since you will listen to new vocabulary and then right away practice saying those words. Duolingo also lets you set goals and shows your progress as you use the program. You also have to complete lessons to “unlock” new lessons. All of this is great for lazy language learners who need a little extra motivation!
FluentU

the 8 best interactive websites for adults to learn english

Website or app: Website and mobile app
Price: Free version or $8 – $18 per month, $80 – $180 per year

I don’t know about you, but I love learning languages in ways that also entertain me.

It probably sounds great to learn English with the video content that native English speakers actually watch. But that’s easier said than done, right? When you listen to native English speakers, it can be hard to understand every single word that.

A fantastic way to practice careful, active listening is to start using FluentU.

FluentU is all about learning with real-world videos like music videos, TV shows, news, cartoons and more.

Once you’re there, how you learn is entirely up to you. While browsing hundreds of awesome videos, you’ll have the freedom to choose which ones are most relevant to your personal learning experience.
English Videos with FluentU

FluentU App Browse Screen

The more you listen to this authentic English, the better you’ll understand how to speak English naturally. As you watch your chosen videos, FluentU’s subtitles let you view the definition of any word that’s spoken.