Resource of the Week #16: UsingEnglish.com

Hello again! This week we’re featuring a resource that can help researchers use English well. I learned of this resource from AuthorAID community member Tamara Locke. (Thank you, Tammy.)

The resource is called UsingEnglish.com. It is mainly for non-native speakers of English. But some native speakers might find it interesting or useful too.

UsingEnglish.com is a website that, as its homepage states, “provides a large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools & resources”. This site was set up in the United Kingdom and also has contributors elsewhere. It can aid students, teachers, and others.

Among resources on this website are the following:

• information on many phrasal verbs and irregular verbs
• a grammar glossary
• quizzes for testing one’s own knowledge of grammar, usage, and vocabulary
• materials for teachers (for example, handouts and lesson plans)
• articles and blog posts on ESL topics
• discussion forums
• a large—and continually growing—collection of idioms (of course, with definitions provided)

The idiom section includes the idiom “just what the doctor ordered”—which it defines as meaning “precisely what is needed”. Maybe this website is just what the doctor ordered!

Until the next post— Barbara