Ten underrated sites to help you learn English

There are many resources for learning English. Some of them are very popular, others are less, some are very useful, others are not. And there is another type of resource - underestimated. Edition Lifehacker chose 10 trusted sites that few have heard of.

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Testyourvocab.com

Online tests for determining the level of English and the breadth of vocabulary are biased - at least due to technical limitations. A reliable assessment of your abilities can be obtained only on a "live" test with a teacher.

However, this does not mean that all tests are completely pointless. They can still give an approximate guideline.

At testyourvocab.com, you can check out the wealth of vocabulary in English. The time for passing the test is 5 – 7 minutes.

Newsinlevels.com

“Read News in English” is a popular tip from language teachers. It is not bad, but for an unprepared person with a level of “taught at school eight years ago” news on The New York Times or The Washington Post, or even on the BBC is an impossible task. Newsinlevels.com will help with this.

It contains current news and adapted to different levels of English. The information is real, so you can keep abreast of events and at the same time improve your text comprehension skill.

On the subject: Speak as a native speaker: 40 + English conversational expressions

The most interesting experience in this practice is to return to the level from which we started six months later and be surprised: “And how could something not be understood here? It's elementary! ”For the sake of this sensation, it’s worth trying.

Youglish.com

A golden rule for anyone who wants to enrich English vocabulary: all words must be learned in context. Without this, efficiency will fall dozens of times.

Youglish.com is the top resource about context. It works very simply: go to the site, enter any word in the search bar, and the system finds the video on YouTube, where it is used in different contexts. Just a holiday!

And another important point for those who want to remember all unfamiliar words in general: if Youglish at your request found only 4 – 6 cases of using a word, then you do not need it.

Context.reverso.net

The necessary assistant site with corrector, grammar block, translation of documents and other joys, but most use only functions with translation in context. The mechanism is this: write a phrase in Russian, the site selects the closest analogue in English or another language, there are many of them.

It works well, but blindly trusting the results is not worth it. Although suitable for private correspondence.

On the subject: English words whose ambiguity can be confusing

Thepunctuationguide.com

English punctuation is a dark forest for most language learners. We weren’t taught this much at school, and then everyone somehow forgot. This site is a guide for anyone who wants to finally understand English punctuation.

If suddenly there is not enough patience and strength to master all this, then at least remember what the different signs are called. Also useful.

Hinative.com

The idea is very simple: any of your texts, for example, responsible e-mail, can be sent to native speakers for verification. Is free. It is understood that you, as a native speaker of Russian, will find a few minutes to help others.

It makes sense to try if you often have to use written English. Although the site’s capabilities are not limited to this language.

Typing.com

If you want to learn fast typing in English, this site can help. Is free. It will not be easy, because monotonous practice and repetition of the same will not suit everyone. However, if you still overcome the difficulties, then in return you can get a cool useful skill and save a lot of time in correspondence.

On the subject: 30 English proverbs that will be useful in different life situations

Ororo.tv

Ororo.tv - a service with thousands of films and series in the original with subtitles. A built-in translator is screwed on the site, new words can be added to the dictionary, and then uploaded to Excel.

A couple of drawbacks: there is no application, although the browser from the phone is also normal. Design is not divine, but it is not critical.

Of the main advantages: you can use it for free, but some of the series will not be available. If you buy, it is relatively inexpensive - about $ 5 per month. Promotions are often held when access is sold at half price. And most importantly - almost all conceivable series and films are collected here.

Madbook.org

A site with books in English, created by the hands of one enthusiast. He really wanted to read books in the original online, but nowhere was there a built-in translator. As a result, I had to do it myself.

Madbook.org has enough books for both beginners and advanced. There is an application on Android. The thing is not without flaws, but it is completely free.

On the subject: 20 subtleties of living English, which are not told in school

Vocabulary.com

An excellent online dictionary, lost among the famous Oxford Dictionaries, Merriam ‑ Webster and Cambridge Dictionary. Plus, here the words are explained in simple language and with examples from life. A good online simulator is bolted on, a lot of prepared collections of words. The site is convenient and works great.

Among the shortcomings: the application was last updated, it seems, about five years ago. There is no official extension for the browser to immediately add new words to your account from any site.

Read also on ForumDaily:

Speak as a native speaker: 40 + English conversational expressions

English words whose ambiguity can be confusing

20 subtleties of living English, which are not told in school

16 text abbreviations you need to know for fluent English

One verb - 15 meanings: what word can not do in English

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