There are thousands of great websites for practicing English, learning new words, and exploring more about the language. Here, though, we’re going to showcase 19 of the best websites to learn English online.
We have selected a variety of different websites here so no matter your age, interests, or preferences for learning a new language, there should be a few that suit you. These sites will help you with grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension, listening skills, and even speaking English.
Most of the resources listed here are free English learning websites, although some charge a fee for premium content, courses, or membership. We hope this list helps you discover some new tools to help you improve your English and become more confident as you learn.
19 Great websites for learning English
BBC Learning English
Highlights: Free English courses plus lessons on specific topics such as grammar, pronunciation, and learning new English words.
Level: Easy, Medium, Hard
Price: Free
No list of the best websites to learn English would be complete without this one! BBC English is one of the most respected resources worldwide, with quizzes, tests, and English learning tips to suit students of all levels. There are also helpful resources for parents and English teachers here.
There are even worksheets, videos, and podcasts that you can download to enable offline learning.
Improving Your English
Highlights: A great learning resource for native and non-native English speakers. Discover new English phrases and idioms and clear up common grammatical errors.
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Price: Free
Yes, you’re already on one of the best websites related to English development! Browse thousands of phrases and idioms or brush up on easily confused words so you can avoid common errors in your writing.
Voice of America (VOA) – Learning English
Highlights: Engaging lessons that teach English through video, news articles, poetry, and more.
Level: Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced
Price: Free
Each VOA lesson comes with an audio recording and a transcript that highlights important vocabulary to help you learn new words. With a focus on real-world topics such as health, politics, finance, food, business, and entertainment, you can learn the language in a meaningful way.
There are several ‘sister’ sites that let you study English by reading books and learning about important days in history.
The Free Dictionary
Highlights: Dictionary, thesaurus, idioms, and grammar help all in one place.
Level: All levels
Price: Free
The Free Dictionary is our go-to resource for looking up words, phrases, and synonyms. With each search you enter you will see definitions from multiple dictionaries, so you get a better understanding of what a word means and even how it is used in American vs British English.
You’ll also find tips and help with commonly confused words, such as you’re and your, and other grammar topics related to your search.
There are many other good dictionaries for English learners, both online and printed, that you can try.
Grammarly
Highlights: A free tool to check your grammar, spelling, and tone of voice so you can learn from your mistakes.
Level: All levels
Price: Free Basic plan, $12/month for Premium features
Using a proofreading tool like Grammarly not only ensures that your writing is free from errors, but it’s also a great way to learn from your mistakes. Every time Grammarly makes a correction, you can pause to check the reason for the change. Over time, you’ll learn to make fewer mistakes.
The free Basic plan is enough to correct your grammar, spelling, and punctuation. With the Premium plan, you’ll receive more detailed suggestions that help you stay consistent with your writing and communicate in your desired tone of voice.
You can also use Grammarly’s website to learn English, as they have hundreds of helpful articles on different topics. English is one of the hardest languages to learn, especially when it comes to grammar, so take all the help you can get!
News in Levels
Highlights: Learn English by reading world news stories at a level to suit you.
Level: Each news article is presented in 3 levels
Price: Free
News in Levels is a good tool to learn English as a foreign language while also engaging in international current affairs and human interest stories. New articles are added every day, so make this one of your regular websites to learn English for free.
Check out our tips for learning English with the news, plus some more websites like this one.
British Council LearnEnglish
Highlights: Resources for adults and kids learning English, with optional courses and lessons for greater teaching and learning.
Level: A1 to C1
Price: Free online resources with classes from $11 each
Here is another that appears on almost every list of top English learning websites. British Council has materials for both general and business English students, and you can browse content by skill and topic.
They also offer courses and live classes – both group and private lessons. So, if you’re worried you won’t learn British English pronunciation so well from written resources, these classes could be worth considering.
Gymglish
Highlights: A website and app with AI-powered, personalized language courses to help you learn effectively.
Level: A2 to C2
Price: 1 month free, then from $17/month
One of the fastest methods to learn English is with personalized lessons, and Gymglish provides just that. Their courses are customized according to your English level, and you receive a reminder each day via email or app notification so you can access your next lesson wherever you are.
Gymglish courses cover a wide range of topics and all the essential elements of English grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation. They are fun to work through and only take 10-15 minutes per day.
Daily Grammar
Highlights: Hundreds of lessons on practically every grammar topic you could imagine!
Level: Pre-intermediate to Advanced
Price: Free
Whether you are a native speaker or not, English grammar can be hard to wrap your head around. With this website to learn English grammar, you can learn anything and everything from conjunctions to interjections to predicate nominatives. There are also quite a few lessons covering punctuation.
Browse topics and pick ones that interest you, or work through all 400+ lessons in order, building up your knowledge as you go.
Discover more great ways to learn English online here!
Udemy
Highlights: Online learning platform with dozens of free English lessons
Level: Beginner to advanced
Price: Some free courses, others cost from $16
Udemy has thousands of courses on almost every topic imaginable, including many excellent classes for English learners. You can browse all their free English classes here and find some that interest you. Paid courses cost from $16, which is very reasonable considering the amount of content included – and you receive a certificate of completion.
Night Zookeeper
Highlights: A fun way to learn English for kids, with particular focus on English writing skills.
Level: Ages 6-12, not suitable for beginners
Price: 7-day free trial, then from $9.92/month
Night Zookeeper is an innovative way for kids to improve their English by focusing on words, then sentences, then creative writing and storytelling. This can be an easy way to learn English without it feeling like hard work.
Developed by teachers, this program gives kids weekly assignments, so it’s recommended they spend at least 30 minutes per week on their projects. Accessible via desktop, laptop, and tablet.
TED
Highlights: Watch inspiring and thought-provoking educational talks from people around the world, all with transcripts available.
Level: Intermediate to Advanced
Price: Free
This is one of the best sites for intermediate and advanced English learners to improve their comprehension and expand their vocabulary. It’s also a genuinely interesting platform to discover new ideas from thought leaders globally.
Because TED Talks are not prepared specifically for English language learners, they give you a chance to hear English spoken naturally in the real world. At the same time, each talk comes with a transcript so you can read along and explore any new words or grammar you encounter. Videos can be played at slower speeds too, making it easier to keep up as you practice your listening skills.
Coursera
Highlights: Thousands of free online English courses from native English speakers with all kinds of specialties.
Level: All levels
Price: Enrollment is free but you must pay for certification
Coursera is a platform where English teachers and other professionals can share online courses for anyone to access. This means you can find thousands of free English courses here, with topics ranging from accounting to storytelling to sales, and all kinds of other business English specialties.
Although enrollment is free, you will need to subscribe to Coursera Plus if you wish to receive a certificate or degree.
Cambridge English
Highlights: Packed full of lessons to learn English for a Cambridge English test or IELTS exam.
Level: Pre-A1 to C2, plus IELTS
Price: Free
The Cambridge English website has a lot of resources for exam preparation, but it’s still a good place to learn English even if you are not planning to take a test. You’ll find a variety of learning activities, games, and lessons that you can filter by level or skill.
There are plenty of resources that teach English for children and for adults, and you know the materials will be of a high standard as they come from such a renowned organization.
BITS English Language Learning
Highlights: A treasure trove of short stories, novellas, novels, speeches, and more – all narrated so you can listen along as you read.
Level: Upper Intermediate – Advanced
Price: Free
This may not be the most modern-looking website out there, but it certainly is a great find if you want to work on your English listening and reading skills.
Skip, the gentleman behind the site, has collated thousands of short stories, novels, talks, speeches, and articles along with audio recordings which you can play back at your chosen speed. The fact that you can choose your listening speed is excellent, as you can read along at a pace that suits you.
If you dig deep enough, you’ll even find an idiom dictionary and grammar exercises. The only downside is that, due to copyright reasons, none of the recordings can be downloaded for easier listening.
ABCYa
Highlights: One of the best websites for kids to learn English, with fun activities and games for young learners.
Level: Pre-K to Grade 6+
Price: Plenty of free content, with premium membership available
This website is primarily designed for kids learning English, but there’s no reason why adults can’t learn from it as well! It has an impressive array of games, activities, and illustrated storybooks, as well as other resources to help with mathematics and science.
You can access all of the games for free on a desktop, but mobile access and certain other features are limited unless you upgrade. Still, it’s an impressive resource if you want to use games as a learning method for your children, and the ads on the free version are not at all invasive.
Elllo
Highlights: Free audio and video lessons based around conversations on different topics, with quizzes to test what you learned.
Level: Low Beginner to Advanced
Price: Free
Elllo is one of the best English learning websites for practicing English speaking and listening because you can search the dialogues by country and accent. If you want to get better at understanding a Scottish accent, you can look for conversations that involve Scottish people. The same for Welsh, Canadian, and so on.
Lessons are structured from Level 1, which uses basic vocabulary and grammar and a slow speaking pace, to Level 7, where you can hear fast-paced, natural conversations.
FluentU
Highlights: Learn English via website or app with real-life videos and interactive subtitles
Level: All ESL levels
Price: 14-day free trial, then from $11.99/month (lifetime access also available)
FluentU offers immersive English learning through watching real-life video clips. Each video has interactive subtitles so you can look up words you don’t understand and learn their meaning in context. Quizzes help test and strengthen what you have learned each time.
Alison
Highlights: A range of free English lessons for all different abilities, taught by native English language speakers.
Level: All levels
Price: Courses are free to take; optional payment for certification.
Alison is another free website to help you learn English. The courses here are offered at no charge, unless you choose to pay for a certificate upon completion. You’ll be able to browse courses for all levels, including many for students who want to learn for a particular profession or develop certain English skills.
WordReference Forum
Highlights: An active forum where you can ask any general English questions and interact with English speakers, including teachers and students.
Level: All levels
Price: Free
The great thing about this community is that not only is it very active, but there are forums where you can ask questions about English in your native language. This is helpful if you are not very confident phrasing your question in English. If you feel like returning the favor, you can always look out for questions from people trying to learn your language, too.
Other online English learning resources
Once you have picked your favorites from these websites for learning English, don’t forget there are many other free resources to learn and practice English online. These include:
- YouTube videos
- English-learning podcasts
- News articles
- Apps
- Chat forums
- Language exchanges
- Games
Take a look at our guide to learning English for free if you want some more ideas!
