Education

Free Web Site to Learn English, Sponsored by Taxpayers Like You

By Mary Ann Zehr — November 07, 2008 1 min read
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The U.S. Department of Education launched a Web site today, USA Learns, with interactive audio activities designed to help immigrants learn the basics of English.

We really are talking about “the basics” here. Activities on the site have goals such as helping someone to learn the words needed to rent an apartment or invite people to a party in English. The development of the site was directed by the Education Department’s office of vocational and adult education. The lessons are aimed at adults.

It can be hard for adult immigrants in this country to find opportunities to learn English. Often they are working long hours and don’t have much time to attend classes in the evenings or on weekends. And free programs to learn English often have long waiting lists. At least that was true of one English program for adults that I volunteered at for a couple of years.

So it seems to me that providing on-line resources to learn English is a good idea.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Learning the Language blog.