Here is an excellent list of links to sites offering reading practice to learners of English.

This site provides links to Business English courses and training in the UK. Business English UK is accredited by The British Council.

US-based directory of English course providers world-wide.

This is a growing collection of out of copyright literature. You'll find fiction, non-fiction, poetry, children's literature and drama. It's particularly strong on 19th century works, and the collection is interesting; they've chosen pieces with a discerning eye. The children's section is full of stuff that is difficult language but good stories, as well as some great 19th/ early 20th century sentimental gunk.

Total News is a fabulous list of news sites from everywhere around the world. A wonderful way to investigate stories and to promote discussion is to look at how different countries report the same story: almost all the sites are in English, and it’s made clear if they aren’t. An extra tool to help with research and discussion tasks is the search facility that gives you the reports from around the world in which a search word appears.

The BBC news site is very good. Stories are concise and well illustrated, and there are related stories listed next to them so that discussions can be based on a wider view of the subject.

These pages are special reports that give facts and opinions on stories and issues. It’s very good, with interactive reports and photo stories. Great presentation of current affairs.

A collection of ‘strange but true’ stories that is updated daily. A lovely resource, in that students can re-write them and keep their peers interested.

Online radio stations based in the UK. This page goes straight to the player links so you don't have to look around for the music.

Lots of good worksheets and web-based activities for high-school students. Some of the worksheets use information on pages that no longer exist: they’re usually news sites that have taken them out of the archive. There is plenty that is interesting and useful though.

This is a site for English teachers in the UK. It has a range of materials, including copyright-free stories and poems, that are aimed at UK Secondary (High) schools. The ages of the target students isn’t particularly relevant, but Key Stage 3 is for students who are 11 to 13 years old, Key Stage 4 is 14 to 16, and 5 is 16 to 18.

Extremely useful: a wide range of subjects covered within the ‘Language Arts’ section, but it covers science, maths and other subject areas, and you may well find useful language projects to do in those areas too.

A page of links to help teach story-telling. They’re good ones, but it looks the sort of page that might disappear, so get the info while you can!

More good stuff here.

All the rhymes you’ve ever heard of, and an awful lot more! They are also cross-referenced in themes, so it’s a very useful site.

Children’s songs, some of them with the music: it’s a great resource. There are two lists, one with lyrics (the words of a song), the other with music. Some of the lyrics have music too.

Proverbs are a lovely resource for getting ideas for things to talk about, and the starting point of stories and drama. This site gives proverbs and their place of origin, so there's plenty to talk about. What do they mean, and what do they tell you about the people who use them?

This is what you want: lesson plans posted by teachers. There are lots, particularly for primary-age children. Most are for English-speakers, but can be used with non-native English students just as effectively.

Want to find a poem?