- Graded reading texts for intermediate students of English as a foreign language. Improve your English reading skills with these free short stories and graded reading texts on a wide range of topics of general interest.
- If it's a terrible day you just wished could end, or the best day ever, there is only sufficient way to end you day: with laughter. And that's where this book comes in handy! Text messages are just hilarious and laughter is the best medicine. #fails #funny #humor #messages #projectgiggle #text.
I wrote “Multiple pages of recipes from the book, each page consisting of a photo and a text.” And, Manny pointed out to me that “a text” is wrong, that it should simply be “text”. But the plural form of the word “text” actually exists. If “texts” is legal, then “a text” must also exist.
Texts 0 18 5 0
When it comes time to find a text for your next adult reading lesson, it can seem that everything you pick up is either Finnegan’s Wake or Charlotte’s Web, with none of the in-between that your students need. We need texts—a lot of them—that are accessible in terms of language but which deal with adult content—well, not adult content, but, you know, something more adult than the bedtime travails of anthropomorphic barnyard animals.
In this post, I’ll share some sources of graded and adapted reading material for adult English learners, and also some suggestions for authentic texts.
Periodicals for ELLs
There are a number of periodicals out there for ELLs. Some free, some cheap, some neither. Here are a few of the options:
- The Times in Plain English – free
- News in Levels – free; three levels for each article
- Breaking News English – free; multiple levels for each article and audio
- The Change Agent – requires subscription; written by students
- News for You – requires subscription, also features audio
Graded Readers
Graded readers are books written or adapted with particular reading levels in mind, limiting the vocabulary and grammatical structures to those appropriate for the target level. A small library of graded readers can be a fantastic resource for your program. More important, they are one of the only sources out there for the extensive reading that your students need.
Every major ESL publisher has a line of these readers. They aren’t cheap, but often your sales representative will give you a discount if you buy in bulk or bundle them with your next purchase of core textbooks. You can also usually get 5–10 examination copies (maybe 15 if you’ve been remembering that sales rep’s birthday!), lowering your cost per book.
Pins 2 1 4 – simple and elegant bookmark manager. Reading Explorer
Full disclosure: National Geographic Learning doesn’t pay me a dime. They ought to, though, because every chance I get, I spread the word about their fantastic Reading Explorer series. There are plenty of reading textbooks out there, but the six-level Reading Explorer is far and away the best I’ve encountered. It features articles adapted from National Geographic Magazine, illustrated with full-color, full-bleed prints of the captivating photographs that the magazine is known for, along with an equally engaging video component. The only drawback is that the lowest level in the series is too challenging for beginning students.
Selecting Authentic Texts
Authenticity is a problematic concept, but our students understandably aspire to read texts written for native speakers. I recommend exercising caution when using authentic texts in class (too often you end up defining every 10th word, in which case what you’re doing is no longer really reading, in any practical sense). But when you are able to find texts that are appropriate for your students, by all means, use them. I do this primarily for when I want to expose students to literary language. I keep my printouts labeled by level with a few brief notes: “B1 – runs long – read a few paragraphs for them.” Shorter short stories (eight pages or fewer) tend to be just about right for an hour-long class. Some writers who my students consistently respond well to are Raymond Carver, Etgar Keret, and Italo Calvino.
Adapting Authentic Texts
Another option is to find an article that you want to use and then simplify it to the level of your students. (I favor this method with upper intermediate students; with lower levels it’s too time-consuming, and there are more appropriate texts out there from the sources above.) It’s best to have a gameplan for this process. Here’s mine:
- Copy and paste the article (photos, title, byline, and all) into a word processor;
- Use the Highlight or Comment feature to identify any words/phrases/structures that are likely to be problematic (be sure that you’re looking at more than just single words here, considering idiomatic language and polysemy);
- Decide which of the highlighted phrases you want the students to learn, and which to remove;
- Replace the latter category of words and phrases with clear, direct language that your students will understand.
Often, I’ll also edit out some whole paragraphs in order to shorten a text and narrow its focus. I’ll usually put at the bottom “Adapted from an article in The New York Times” or something to that effect.
Hopefully some of these sources will be helpful to you and your students. Feel free to share some of your favorite reading resources in the comments section below!
Online conversion calculator that allows you to convert any given text/words into decimal number or integer. Eg: If you enter a text three, the converter gives the result as '3'.
Text / Words to Decimal Number Converter
Online conversion calculator that allows you to convert any given text/words into decimal number or integer. Eg: If you enter a text three, the converter gives the result as '3'.
Conversion of any text / words to postitive decimal number is made easier using this online converter.
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