ESL News Stories

ESL News Stories is a site for learners of English and their teachers. Students of English can benefit from making connections to real-world events through the language they are learning. We take interesting stories from around the world and reproduce them here in our own words and with fewer English language challenges. Additionally, we create activities to help students learn the vocabulary, appreciate the meaning of the text better, and practice speaking.

Recent stories are designed to be used in two ways. There are activities that can be done and checked on the webpage. Alternatively, each article is followed by a 'print' button. Printing will reveal additional activities, like a gap-fill version for listening practice. Note that the pages aren't currently printing in an ideal way through the Safari browser. Chrome and most other browsers seem to be better.

There are several ways these materials can be used. Motivated students may use the lessons in solo fashion by focusing on the reading, vocabulary, and comprehension activities. Students may also use the material in groups. Whether with a discussion focus or by using the other activities, most of the material accompanying each article has a communicative component. Finally, teachers can also use the website or printout and guide students through the lessons.

We have recently started indicating the CEFR level with each lesson. In time, there will be a way of seeing all the stories from a particular level.

Abbreviations are used in the vocabulary sections. Their meanings are as follows: n = noun, v = verb, adj = adjective, prep = preposition, phr. v = phrasal verb, adv = adverb, pl = plural, sb = somebody, sth = something.

For Teachers

One of these articles should easily provide enough material for a fifty-minute class, especially if enough time is taken at each stage. For talkative classes, the webpage content might suffice. Less advanced groups, however, could benefit from the more robust worksheet and its extra activities. A complete lesson can be built around some or all of the following activities:

• Have students predict the article's content from the headline
• Use the article's image to elicit vocabulary and activate knowledge of the topic area
• Make sure students have some form of warm-up discussion, preferably in pairs
• The audio can be used with the listening gap-fill before or after reading
• You might have students read the article silently first and highlight challenging vocabulary to be worked through as a group
• Reading aloud can be a chance to find difficult pronunciation or to guide students on how sounds flow together in English
• After the article, there are activities to re-enforce new vocabulary or comprehension
• Finally, there will always be a discussion section where students are encouraged to have natural conversations and follow them wherever they may lead
• At the end of the lesson, a teacher might offer correction, go over newly acquired information, or suggest related homework such as writing on the topic or with the new vocabulary

See all the news stories arranged by category here or see them by year at these links: 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Unless stated otherwise, all the articles on this site have been written by Aron Thode. Topic suggestions and feedback on the site are welcome. Please send an email to [email protected].

Finally, if you are looking for general discussion questions or questions that target specific language, please visit Print Discuss.