UsingEnglish.com
(http://www.usingenglish.com/)
1. What is UsingEnglish.com?
UsingEnglish.com provides a large collection of English as a Second Language (ESL) tools & resources for students, teachers, learners and academics. You can browse its grammar glossary and references of irregular verbs, phrasal verbs and idioms, ESL forums, articles, teacher handouts and printables, and find useful links and information on English. Topics cover the spectrum of ESL, EFL, ESOL, and EAP subject areas.
It is free of charge and you can use it either by being a member or not. However, being a member of it gives you additional on-site content which is unavailable to non-members. These extra contents for students and teacher are:
* English Language Tests - with language exercises where you can track your progress.
* Online Quizzes - Hundreds of quizzes to test your knowledge of English.
* Advanced Text Analyzer – Copy and paste any text, see a detailed statistical analysis of it.
* Complete Forum Access – Members can take part in the forums without restrictions.
* Irregular Verbs - Comprehensive reference irregular verbs.
* Word Lists - Interesting word groups which allow you to examine entries more closely.
* Monthly Email Newsletter - Updates and the latest article in your Inbox.
* Games - A collection of word games.
* Teacher Handouts - Access full range of hundreds of handouts to print and use in the classroom.
* Articles - Extra articles on the English language.
2. What are the features of UsingEnglish.com?
When you access the site, you see eleven titles. These are; home, members, students, teachers, forums, testing, reference, articles, resources, shop, and about.
On the home page, there is information about UsingEnglish.com and what kinds of facilities that you can use are available. If you are one of the members, you can login in here and benefit from its advantages and extra contents.



Another page is for the students. On this page, as a student, you can ask your questions a teacher, do exercises, read passages, use quizzes and tests, find the meanings of words, idioms, phrasal verbs, benefit from exam tips, reach online dictionaries and writing activities. Also, you can find links that lead you to other sources about your questions.
On the page which is for the teachers, you, as a teacher, you can find handouts, printables, online quizzes, reading comprehensions, PDF lesson plans, teacher articles, teacher blog, teaching books, teaching jobs, TESOL News, sites for teachers, e-books and forums.
The forum page can be used by both teachers and students. On this page, there are questions, answers, discussion and news about language learning and teaching.



On the testing page, you can find exam tips, polls, question bank, quizzes, and reading comprehension tests.
3. How to Use?
It is easy to use UsingEnglish.com. After you visit the address www.usingenglish.com, you can login in; however, it is not a must. Every page can be used by both teachers and students. There is not a restriction. You can upload or download word documents, PDF files, pintables. Also you can use it for shopping. There is a facility of online-shopping and you can find here many useful sources.


4. Advantages
* You do not have to be a member to use its possibilities.
* You can be a member of it by using any account (hotmail, gmail, yahoo etc.)
* There is not a restriction that some parts are just for teachers or students. Everyone can use all the possibilities.
* Forums are useful for being aware of news about the topic. And also, you can find chance to ask your questions a teacher.
* For both teachers and students, it has a lot of sources such as reading comprehensions, vocabulary lists, idioms, phrasal verbs, tests, quizzes etc.
* It is well organized in means of appearance and classification.
* It is easy to use.
* Both teachers and students can upload all kinds of files. There is no limitation about the size.
* Creating blog is useful for catching up the agenda.
5. Disadvantages
* There is no video or audio uploaded. It is not allowed to upload those kinds of assignments.
* There should be conference system and online classes.
* Sometimes, it can be a disadvantage that students also can use the teachers’ page.
6. Conclusion
UsingEnglish.com is a general English language site, specialising in ESL (English as a Second Language) with a wide range of resources for learners and teachers of English, and has been running since the beginning of 2002. Different varieties of English are used; there are contributors from the United States, Canada, Pakistan and non-native speakers, but much of the site uses British English as it was set up in the UK. It is a free online environment which provides many different sources and facilities. It should be developed in times; however, its present version is also useful and helpful for learning and teaching a language. It provides both teachers and students many different materials.