English
Freely available online resources for teaching English. Focus on the British Council, the BBC and other public broadcasters.
BBC Learning English
BBC · Open resource
Broad BBC offering with level-differentiated news, vocabulary and grammar series, plus podcasts. Authentic British English across a range of registers.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
Excellent gateway to authentic media use. The "6 Minute English" series works reliably even in heterogeneous groups.
Last link check: 2026-05-01
Breaking News English
Breaking News English (Sean Banville) · Open resource
Current news stories, each in seven difficulty levels with reading text, audio at several speeds, quizzes and discussion questions. Every story comes with extensive printable PDF worksheets. Ideal for handling one topic across mixed-ability groups.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11
Hand out the same story at different levels so everyone discusses the same topic. The discussion questions work well as a speaking warm-up at the start of a lesson.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Discovering Literature (British Library)
British Library · Open resource
Over 130 expert articles on English literature from its beginnings to the present, enriched with digitised manuscripts, first editions and videos. Covers Shakespeare, the 19th century and modern works. A well-grounded background source for upper secondary.
Matches: efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
Use as background reading for set texts and plays in upper secondary. Note: after the 2023 cyber-attack part of the content is currently served via a Padlet selection; check the link before use.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
ELLLO – English Listening Lesson Library Online
ELLLO (Todd Beuckens) · Open resource
Over 3,000 free listening lessons with authentic conversations by speakers from around the world, sorted by CEFR level A1 to C1. Most lessons include audio or video, a transcript, a vocabulary section and an interactive quiz. Plus worksheets for teachers.
Matches: efl_kl7, efl_kl8, efl_kl9, efl_kl10
The wide range of speaker accents trains listening beyond standard British/American English. Use the level filters to pick lessons that fit weekly plans.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
English Wikisource — Freie Quellentextbibliothek
Wikimedia Foundation · Open resource
English Wikisource is a free, community-built library with more than 600,000 English source texts: literature, speeches, historical documents and constitutional texts. Each text is verified against scans of the original page and exportable as EPUB or PDF. Especially valuable for Landeskunde and working with historical primary sources.
Matches: efl_kl10
Ideal for CLIL or history/politics lessons: e.g. original speeches (Lincoln, King) as reading sources. The proofread full texts split well into shorter passages for text work.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
ESOL Courses
ESOL Courses · Open resource
Large collection of free interactive exercises, graded reading texts, grammar and listening tasks from A1 to C1. Also games, puzzles and themed courses (e.g. life in the UK/USA). Clearly organised by level.
Matches: efl_kl7, efl_kl8, efl_kl9, efl_kl10
Use as a self-study pool for cover lessons or weekly plans: learners pick exercises at their level. The grammar games also motivate weaker learners.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
LearnEnglish Teens
British Council · Open resource
Broad platform with videos, reading and listening texts, grammar exercises and vocabulary trainers for ages 13–17. High editorial quality and pedagogically prepared.
Matches: efl_kl7, efl_kl8, efl_kl9
Particularly strong for listening with level-differentiated tasks. Videos come with transcripts. Some sections require a free login.
Last link check: 2026-05-01
LibriVox — Kostenlose Hörbücher (Internet Archive)
LibriVox · Open resource
LibriVox is a volunteer project that records public-domain books as free audiobooks; the recordings are permanently hosted and searchable on the Internet Archive. Its English collection spans thousands of titles from classics to short stories, streamable or downloadable as MP3. Both the texts and the recordings are in the public domain.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10
Pair a LibriVox recording with the matching Project Gutenberg text for parallel listening and reading (listening comprehension + pronunciation). Short chapters work as homework followed by retelling in class.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
ManyThings.org
Charles Kelly & Lawrence Kelly · Open resource
Ad-free, non-commercial collection for ESL learners with listen-and- repeat activities, pronunciation, vocabulary games and simple reading texts with audio (e.g. Tom Sawyer). Online since 1997 and still maintained. A solid base for lower levels.
Matches: efl_kl7, efl_kl8, efl_kl9
The "Listen & Repeat" activities suit pronunciation and chunk training in years 7-8. Being ad-free, the site is safe for whole- class use.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Project Gutenberg — Englischsprachige Literatur
Project Gutenberg · Open resource
Project Gutenberg is one of the oldest digital libraries, offering tens of thousands of copyright-free books for free. Its English collection ranges from classics by Dickens, Austen and Twain to non- fiction, downloadable as EPUB, Kindle file or plain text. Ideal for authentic reading and working with primary sources.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10
For upper grades, use shorter stories or chapter excerpts as an alternative to a full class reader. Have learners mark word fields or stylistic devices in the original; the plain-text download is easy to paste into worksheets (works are public domain).
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
Purdue University · Open resource
Comprehensive writing lab from a US university with guidance on grammar, punctuation, essay structure and text types, plus citation styles (MLA, APA). Includes a dedicated ESL section and interactive exercises. A reliable reference for writing skills.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
Link it as a reference for essay types and grammar rules in upper- secondary writing lessons. The ESL section targets typical learner error sources.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Randall's ESL Cyber Listening Lab
Randall Davis (esl-lab.com) · Open resource
Listening-comprehension library grown since 1998 with authentic dialogues at three difficulty levels. Each activity offers pre- listening, a quiz, transcript and vocabulary work. Also interviews with native speakers and academic listening texts.
Matches: efl_kl8, efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11
The three-tier structure allows clean differentiation in listening. Release transcripts only after a second listen so that listening stays the focus.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Smithsonian Learning Lab
Smithsonian Institution · Open resource
Millions of digitised objects, images, texts and videos from the Smithsonian museums, bundled into curated themed collections on art, US history and the sciences. Teachers can build their own collections with tasks and quizzes. A rich source of authentic cultural studies.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
For US cultural-studies projects, build your own collection and assign learners specific objects with guiding questions. Image sources work well as prompts for speaking and writing.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Standard Ebooks
Standard Ebooks · Open resource
Carefully typeset, professionally proofread new editions of public- domain literature with modern typography and clean ebook formats. All editions are released under CC0 (public domain). Nicer reading quality than raw texts, ideal for class reading.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
Thanks to the clean typography, better for class reading than raw- text downloads. Distribute EPUB ebooks to learners reading on tablets.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Tatoeba — Beispielsätze mit Übersetzungen
Tatoeba · Open resource
Tatoeba is an open, collaborative collection of over 13 million example sentences in more than 400 languages, each with translations and some with audio. You can search English sentences alongside German and French equivalents to explore vocabulary and grammar in context. The data is Creative Commons licensed and freely reusable.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10
Use the language-pair search to quickly build your own sentence lists for translation or structure drills. As the sentences are CC- BY licensed, they may be reused in worksheets with attribution.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
TED-Ed Lessons
TED Conferences · Open resource
Short animated explainer videos on science, history, literature and society, each embedded in comprehension questions and follow-up tasks. Subtitles in 80+ languages aid understanding. Authentic English across a wide range of topics.
Matches: efl_kl9, efl_kl10, efl_kl11, efl_kl12
Use videos with English subtitles for listening-viewing comprehension; the "Think" tab provides ready-made questions for independent work. Well suited to cross-curricular projects.
Last link check: 2026-07-21
Wikimedia Commons — Englische Aussprache-Audios
Wikimedia Commons · Open resource
This Commons category collects over 100,000 pronunciation recordings of English words by native speakers (mainly Lingua Libre, Shtooka), including dialect variants. Files are ordered alphabetically, individually playable and downloadable, and serve as a pronunciation reference for Wiktionary among others. A free, reliable source for pronunciation and vocabulary work.
Matches: efl_kl5, efl_kl6
Embed the audio in digital vocabulary trainers so learners can compare British and American variants. Well suited to independent pronunciation practice and minimal-pair exercises.
Last link check: 2026-07-21