8 online tools that can help you improve your academic English

by StudyMalaysia on January 23, 2017 | Top Stories

The hard part is over – you’ve made it into college and you’re officially an undergrad! But just as you begin to enjoy college life, you might realise that college could be more demanding then you think. Essays, assignments and presentations – if you’re struggling with putting sentences together and need help in improving your academic English, here are some online tools that you need to check out.

1. English for University.com

   English for University.com is written by a university lecturer for international students who want to improve their English language skills. Read some articles, follow some links and sign up for regular posts to your inbox and get to grips with your Academic English skills !

2. English Club

   Fun lessons with quizzes and games for learning grammar. Tests and tips on reading and fun topics like sports, movies and music for building vocabulary. ESL podcasts for listening plus spelling and pronunciation rules and games. Writing and speaking tips, idioms and slang references and so much more. All for fun and all for free !!

3. A Guide to Grammar and Writing

   This grammar site for university students is a real treasure. Specifically designed for academic students, it is the ultimate A to Z grammar point of reference. Get all sorts of grammar explanations on this website – from subject-verb agreement to patterns of composition – that will help you ace your next paper.

4. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)

   The Purdue OWL offers over 200 free resources including writing and teaching writing, research, grammar and mechanics, style guides, and more. This is perhaps one of the most useful sites to turn to if you need help with getting those annoying citations and references right. It also has a great section on how to avoid plagiarism.

5. The Academic English Café

   Find everything you need and more when it comes to improving your English language skills specifically for college or university. Practise with quizzes, watch videos, and learn from model essays.

6. Grammarly

   You don’t need to bug your roommate anymore when you need someone to help you proofread your essay – Grammarly makes sure everything you type is easy to read, effective, and mistake-free. Grammarly corrects over 250 types of grammatical mistakes, and helps detect contextual spelling errors and poor vocabulary usage.

7. Vocabulary.com

   Learning new vocabulary can be boring and so not fun! But Vocabulary.com changes all this! It will help you learn new words by systematically exposing you to a wide array of question types and activities that will help you understand all the meanings and nuances of every word you’re learning. Vocabulary.com also tracks your progress and reinforces what you have learned to make sure that it all stays fresh in your memory.

8. 6 minute English

   If you have only 6 minutes to spare to learn English, be sure to invest it here. The 6 minute English segment (found on BBC Learning English’s website) helps improve your vocabulary, listening and reading skills, and general knowledge. Try it !!!

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