Google Translate

You can use Google Translate (translate.google.com) to translate sentences to and from English.

• Think about how you would translate a sentence to or from English. Then use Google Translate to check your understanding of English vocabulary and grammar.
• Type a sentence in English and see it translated to your choice of 103 other languages. Or type a sentence in one of these other languages and see it translated to English. (Note that computer translations sometimes contain mistakes.)
• Click a phrase in the translation to highlight the corresponding phrase in the other language and list alternative translations for the phrase.
• Double-click a word in either language to show the word's definition and list alternative translations for the word. (This works for some languages.)
• You can listen to the pronunciation of sentences in English (and in some other languages).
• Google Translate is also available as a mobile-phone application.

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Microsoft Translator

You can use Microsoft Translator (www.bing.com/translator) to translate sentences to and from English.

• Think about how you would translate a sentence to or from English. Then use Microsoft Translator to check your understanding of English vocabulary and grammar.
• Type a sentence in English and see it translated to your choice of 53 other languages. Or type a sentence in one of these other languages and see it translated to English. (Note that computer translations sometimes contain mistakes.)
• Click a word in either language to highlight the translated word in the other language. This can help you see where the two languages arrange word order differently.
• Clicking a word also lists alternative translations for the word.
• You can listen to the pronunciation of sentences in English (and in some other languages).
• Microsoft Translator is also available as a mobile-phone application.

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El Book

El Book (at fluenz.org) is a very basic English self-learning course for Spanish speakers.

• The downloadable course includes a printable book (pdf) and audio recordings (mp3).
• The book has eight short chapters that use Spanish to teach 50 words and phrases of essential English. These lessons include written exercises.
• The eight audio recordings use Spanish to explain the English vocabulary from the book and help with pronunciation.

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Duolingo

Duolingo (www.duolingo.com) is a free online language course that can help you learn English (or several other languages).

• English word meanings and grammar are explained in 21 languages: Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese.
• More than a thousand English words are taught in more than one hundred short lessons.
• The lessons are presented as games in which you practise reading, writing, listening and speaking.
• You can use flashcards to review the words you have learned.
• Duolingo is also available as a mobile-phone application.

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Other resources for learning English

Reading definitions in a learner's dictionary (like Learn These Words First) can help you understand the meanings of new English words. But if you want to remember these words and their meanings later, you need to practise using the words.

Here are some ways you can practise:

• When you are reading and find an unfamiliar word, write down the word and its meaning.
• Make flashcards and use them to review new vocabulary words.
• Translate sentences from English into another language you know. Look at sentences other people have translated.
• Read sentences aloud and notice words in context. Read aloud with a recording.
• Study an English course and do the exercises to learn vocabulary and grammar rules.
• Talk with an English speaker or exchange written notes over internet.
• Watch videos with English captions.

What do you do that helps you learn and remember new vocabulary?

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Bilingual dictionary or monolingual dictionary?

Second-language English learners often feel more comfortable using a bilingual dictionary (English-Spanish, for example), since each English headword is given a translation or brief definition in the learner's native language.

Using an English-English monolingual learner's dictionary may require more effort, but can be beneficial to second-language learners:

• Monolingual dictionaries immerse the student in the target language. As students read definitions, they get practice with the English words in the defining vocabulary and see how these words are used in sentences to explain meanings.
• Second-language English students working in a group can share the same monolingual dictionary and discuss word meanings, even if they do not speak the same first language.
• Some language pairs lack good bilingual dictionaries. After looking up a word in a bilingual dictionary, students can double-check the word's meaning and usage in a monolingual dictionary.
• English monolingual learner's dictionaries often have more extensive information for second-language students: better explanations of multiple word senses, example sentences showing collocations, usage and grammar notes.

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Easy English Bible

The Easy English Bible (www.easyenglish.info/bible) is a translation of the Bible for people who are learning English as a second language. It was translated by Wycliffe Associates UK.

• This translation of the Bible is written using EasyEnglish Level A (1200-word very easy vocabulary and simple sentence structure).
• Words outside of the EasyEnglish Level A vocabulary are written in italics. If you click these words or look at the end of the page, you can see their definitions.
• The www.easyenglish.info website also contains commentaries and other articles written using EasyEnglish Level B (2800-word easy vocabulary).
• Words outside of the EasyEnglish Level B vocabulary are marked with a *star and are defined at the end of most pages.

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