I get a lot of emails and messages from beginner English learners who need help. My website is mainly for intermediate & advanced English learners, but I know that English can be very overwhelming for beginners. I have put together a list of free online resources to help beginners get started.

If you are a beginner, if you know someone who is a beginner, or if you teach beginners, here are some free resources that may be useful to you. All of these resources are in English

 

Videos

Hungry for English [American]
“We want you to learn to speak English in the same way that we all learned to speak our native languages as babies – by hearing it instead of reading it.”

JenniferESL [American]
“English for Beginners! No scripts. No actors. Real lessons. Real learning.”
Jennifer is an English teacher who is teaching her friend Natasha to speak English. This is an ongoing series of lessons, so check the list often for new lessons!

Mister Duncan [British]
This list of video lessons is more for elementary & intermediate students, but they are a great way to learn new vocabulary. All his videos include subtitles (text).

 

Vocabulary & Grammar

ESOL Courses – Online course for beginners [British]
ESOL Courses – Online English lessons, exercises, games and quizzes for beginners [British]
Helping You Learn English – English course for beginners [American]
Learn English Online – Online course for beginners [British]

The Most Common English Words
100 most common words in English (video)
1000 most common words in English: [Esl.about.com] 1-250, 251-500, 501-750, 751-1000
1000 most common words in English (in alphabetical order)

Verb Forms
Perfect English Grammar – Memorize the past simple & past participle forms of irregular verbs
Macmillan Dictionary – Test your knowledge of irregular verb forms with the ‘Irregular Verb Wheel Game’

 

Reading

Read Theory – Read, listen, & answer questions
Super Easy Reading – Read, listen, & do activities
Simple English Wikipedia – 90,000 articles written in simple English!