All Guides: English as a Second Language (ESL): Reading &amp; Writing

Reading & Writing

Do you need help with your reading and writing? Try one of these great resources.

Books

Books are available in hardcopy and digital formats. For hardcopy books about reading and writing skills, go to PE 1128. Ask library staff for help.

Reading & Writing Search

Databases

These databases offer lots of great reading material!

Canadian Points of View Reference Center This link opens in a new window
Read a short essay on a topic you find interesting to improve your academic reading and writing skills. Includes helpful writing guides.
Gale In Context: Canada This link opens in a new window
Read articles from journals, magazines, newspapers and more. Search by lexile measure and content level.
Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
Read articles from encyclopedias, dictionaries, thesauri, and quotations books on a topic of your choice.

Readers

Looking for a simple short novel to read? Here's some of our favs:

Levelled Readers
Over 130 fiction and nonfiction books. Audio available. Levels 1-6. Available at your campus library: PE 1126-1128.
Turn of Phrase Series
4 chooseable path novels. For Intermediate readers. Available at your campus library: PE1128
Amazing Stories Series (Online/Print)
Over 50 short novels about famous Canadian people and events. For intermediate readers. Available online and also at your campus library.
Rapid Reads (Online)
Over 60 'rapid reads' fiction ebooks. For Advanced readers.

Websites

Here are some of our favourite free sites for learning and practicing English reading and writing.

Learning English (by Cambridge English)
Includes 86 free activities. Choose the skill you would like to practice, the level, and the amount of time you would like to spend.
English Express
A series of short articles. Levels 1-3
ESL Literacy Readers (by Bow Valley College)
Short stories for Levels A-G.
Manythings.org - Reading
Skillswise (by BBC)

English as a Second Language (ESL)

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Reading & Writing

Books

Databases

Readers

Websites

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