• RFI Savoirs: Take placement tests, watch videos and answer comprehension questions.
• Lawless French: Read and listen to texts in French that suit your skill level, with English translations alongside to help. The exercises focus on grammar and vocabulary.
• Professor Phifix: A list of texts for you to read follows. Each worksheet includes exercises to check your understanding. An answer key is provided at the end of each text. You can download the worksheets and practise on your own or in a group.
• Steps for making an object
• Rules for playing a game
• Questions about a story
• Poem
• Informational text
• Recipe
• Set of instructions
• Chart
• Two types of letters
• Newspaper article

Under the heading “65 fiches avec questionnaires,” you’ll find other texts to read, along with questions and answers.

Fill in the gaps

• Complete a text using a list of words
• Complete a text, choosing between two words
• Complete a text, choosing between three words
• Complete a text with words
• Language Portal of Canada: Numerous grammar and vocabulary resources, dictionaries and online learning games.
• Le plaisir d’apprendre: Audiovisual resources and online exercises for different skill levels.
• Ressources TFO: Educational scenarios based on reporting on various topics, organized by skill level.
• Banque de dépannage linguistique: Grammar and vocabulary tutorials. Recommended for intermediate and advanced learners.
• Testez vos connaissances: In the “Textes à trous” section, there are several tests to help you practise choosing between similar words.

• Learn French with TV5 Monde: Here are some practical exercises for skill level B1 (intermediate). You can sort them by topic (architecture, arts, cinema, etc.) or collections (Destination Francophonie, C’est du belge, etc.).
• RFI Savoirs: Take placement tests, watch videos and answer comprehension questions.
• Lawless French: Watch videos or listen to audio tracks, with English translations or subtitles to help.
• Francolab: A collection of videos for teachers and students. The varied content and worksheets support the learning of French and classroom discussion around easily identifiable topics.
• TV5 Monde – Tips for learning: Listen to the news in French. French-language reporting to keep up with the week’s news.
• Le petit scribe: This blog contains authentic documents that will immerse you in real-life reading/listening situations, and literary texts.
• Ressources TFO: Educational scenarios based on reporting on various topics, organized by skill level.
• ActuFLE: The videos on this University of Lille website will help you improve your listening comprehension as you immerse yourself in the latest news from France.

Check out the resources below to help you improve your writing skills.

• Visez juste: This website, created by the University of Ottawa, will help you improve your writing skills. There are short vocabulary exercises after the lessons.
• University of Ottawa Writing Guide: The recommendations in the Writing Guide are intended for people who write, revise or translate texts on behalf of the University of Ottawa. The points addressed reflect those that arise in the specific context of the University, and the solutions suggested are aimed above all at ensuring accurate, consistent internal and external communications.
• Clés du français pratique: This tool, authored by the federal government’s Translation Bureau, deals with the problems of grammar, syntax and usage that confront anyone who is called upon to write in French. Rules are briefly stated and accompanied by clear examples that are typical of Canadian content.
• 88 Keys: This Université Laval website will help you identify problems in your academic writing and improve your skills with do-it-yourself exercises.
• Banque de dépannage linguistique: Several grammar and vocabulary tutorials. Recommended for intermediate and advanced learners.
• Espace pédagogique – La Page de Guy: For advanced learners who would like to improve their writing skills. This educational space provides technical advice to help you in your writing.
• La dictée d’Archibald: Dictées are a great way to improve vocabulary, spelling and memory skills. This website provides advice on how to determine your level of proficiency, how to improve and how to proofread, along with dictées at varying levels of difficulty.
• Bon Patron: Run your written texts through the free Bon Patron software to see suggestions for better spelling and grammar.

Unfortunately there are very few websites that offer help in honing your speaking skills, so we recommend that you use French as much as possible in your immediate surroundings and take part in the conversation workshops led by the OLBI mentoring team.

Here are a few language exchange platforms where you can communicate directly and learn French while offering help in your first language. It’s a win-win proposition!

• The Mixxer: The Mixxer puts you in touch with people from all over the world, so that everyone learns while they teach.
• Tandem: A language-learning app where millions of people learn from each other.
• Sample text for oral expression : Prepare for the first part of the FLS 3500 final exam with a sample text that you’ll have to analyze during your oral expression interview.

• Visez juste: This website, created by the University of Ottawa, will help you improve your writing skills. There are short vocabulary exercises after the lessons.
• Lawless French: Listen to and read texts in French, with English translations to help. The exercises focus on grammar, not comprehension.
• Conjugation-fr.com: Quickly check the tense and mode of a verb by entering it into the search box.
• Grammaire (University of Calgary): Intermediate and advanced learners can use this website to practise various grammatical concepts. It contains several exercises with answers.
• Language Portal of Canada: Numerous grammar and vocabulary resources, dictionaries and online learning games.
• Le plaisir d’apprendre: Audiovisual resources and online exercises for different skill levels.
• Ressources TFO: Educational scenarios based on reporting on various topics, divided by different skill levels.
• Banque de dépannage linguistique: Several grammar and vocabulary tutorials. Recommended for intermediate and advanced learners.
• Le Cyberprofesseur: Test your grammar knowledge. Few explanations, but lots of practice.
• Amélioration du français: Play educational games or complete exercises (PDF format).

• Lawless French: Listen to and read texts in French, with English translations to help. The site contains activities organized by proficiency level (A1 to C2) and skill (reading, listening, grammar, etc.).
• Visez juste: This website, created by the University of Ottawa, will help you develop your speaking and writing skills. There are short vocabulary exercises after the lessons.
• Vocabulaire (University of Calgary): A compilation of websites for learning new vocabulary on different topics. Advanced students can make good use of the section on idiomatic expressions.
• Language Portal of Canada’s “Our languages” blog: Numerous grammar and vocabulary resources, dictionaries and online learning games.
• Le plaisir d’apprendre: A selection of learning activities organized by language skill (listening comprehension, grammar, vocabulary, etc.).
• Ressources TFO: Educational scenarios based on reporting on various topics, divided by different skill levels.
• Banque de dépannage linguistique: Several grammar and vocabulary tutorials. Recommended for intermediate and advanced learners.
• Amélioration du français: Play educational games or complete exercises (PDF format).
• Espace français.com: Explanations of French words, including words originally borrowed from other languages.
• Idiomatic expressions from Quebec (and elsewhere): Learn some new idiomatic expressions as you travel around the French-speaking world. You will learn expressions from Quebec, Congo, Belgium and Switzerland that will enrich your cross-cultural skills.

• English Level Test – Reading: This website offers a free level test to get immediate feedback on your overall level in reading. It also includes a level test to evaluate your proficiency in Listening, Vocabulary and Grammar.
• USA Learns: Offers free lessons through “Practice English and Reading.” There are 11 units on topics including Family, Health and Safety, Housing and Money. To access the course, you will need to create an account using an email address and password.
• ESL Reader: ESL Reader is an Online Reading Tool for students learning English as a Second Language (ESL). Use it to speed up your reading time and improve your reading skills. Anytime you need to read online text in English, copy the text and run it through ESL Reader. It will make each word into a link so you can easily look up the definition of words or translations simply by clicking on them. With ESL Reader, you can use numerous dictionaries and references without reloading text. Just change the reference source and click on the same word to look it up again.
• Tune in to Learning: The Reading section of this website allows you to improve your reading skills through a collection of engaging videos and web activities. It is divided into three parts: Understanding What You Read, Studying & Test Prep and Libraries & Books.
• BBC Skillswise – Reading: Appropriate for all levels, this site helps with skimming documents, using a dictionary and reading for understanding.

• English Level Test – Listening: This website offers a free level test to get immediate feedback on your overall level of proficiency in listening. It also includes a level test to evaluate your Reading, Vocabulary and Grammar skills.
• ESL Lounge: A comprehensive website that offers test-prep, listening and reading practice, as well as grammar exercises. A good place to start is the advanced level exercises, as the intermediate exercises are simple.
• ESOL Courses – Listening Exercises: Hundreds of audio clips for students at the intermediate level. Just click on the exercise you would like to do, listen and answer multiple-choice questions.
• LyricsTraining: Listen to songs you like in English and fill in the missing words. It’s a great way to have fun and practise your listening skills in English.
• Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab: This site offers hundreds of listening passages, along with quizzes and answers. The Listening Quizzes for Academic Purposes section will be most helpful in your preparations.
• TalkEnglish.com: With activities ranging from basic to advanced, this tool allows students to listen to a recording and test their understanding. It provides three steps where students first listen only, then take the quiz and, lastly, see the dialogue transcript to check comprehension.
• ESL Video Quizzes: Select your level at the top of the page to watch videos from YouTube and then answer short quizzes to check your understanding.
• VOA News (Learning English): These short news stories for ESL students use simple sentence structure and common vocabulary. The broadcasters also speak slowly. Listen and read along.
• Breaking News English: A news website for ESL learners that lets you choose the level for listening and reading along to breaking news stories. There is a news lesson every two days on one of the events taking place around the world. Avoiding Ambiguities.

• The Purdue Online Writing Lab: To polish your writing abilities, visit the Online Writing Lab to learn new writing and style techniques, as well as grammar points. For more advanced learners and teachers. Includes techniques for efficient writing as well as guidelines to avoid plagiarism and apply proper formatting to your papers (MLA & APA Style Guides).
• ESL Lounge: A comprehensive website that offers test-prep, listening and reading practice, as well as grammar exercises. A good place to start is the advanced level exercises, as the intermediate exercises are straightforward.
• BBC Skillswise Writing: Learn about planning your writing, paragraphs, format and structure, and proofreading. Includes worksheets and quizzes.
• Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students: A useful website for students going into engineering and sciences. Learn about the expectations for writing in your field and prepare for entry to your program. This site also includes several online lessons focusing on points such as Constraints, Structure and Avoiding Ambiguities.
• Write & Improve: This site uses technology to mark your submitted writing and give you a grade. You will receive a score based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, and it will give you feedback on how to improve.
• Hemingway App: This site allows you to paste in writing or create a piece of writing right on the site. This is a great tool for more advanced writers who want to improve their usage of adverbs, passive voice and clearly structured sentences.
• Readable: Get a score on your writing with this site. It will measure whether the writing will be understood by the average reader.

The best way to improve your speaking skills is undoubtedly using the language as much as possible! Join your colleagues and take part in the OLBI Conversation Workshops.

• Forvo: A pronunciation dictionary. Search for a word, and then find the pronunciation in different accents. Resources are added through crowdsourcing, so users can submit their own recordings. This will provide you with a variety of styles and accents to choose from.
• YouGlish: Search for a specific word or phrase. Then, YouGlish will find videos on YouTube that use this word or phrase in context. Search over 50 million videos to get examples of how to use words correctly in English.
• To Fluency: Here you will find many free tools to help you understand topics like phrasal verbs, idioms, collocations, conversation examples and more.
• Upodn: This simple yet helpful site allows you to type in a word or phrase and get the phonetics for it. See results and observe where the word stress is.
• Basic English Speaking: On this site, you will find a list of conversation lessons including topics of daily English conversation, common English expressions and common phrases and sentence patterns.
• Talk English: These lessons (American English pronunciation) will provide you with an explanation, instruction and audio files to help you pronounce sounds correctly.
• ESL Pronunciation – EnglishMediaLab: Practise English pronunciation through IPA phonetics. The site offers free ESL Pronunciation Quizzes, Video Lessons and Intonation Exercises.
• Shiporsheep.com: You can practise minimal pairs differences by moving your mouse over the words and hearing their pronunciation.

• English Level Test – Grammar: This website offers a free level test to get immediate feedback on your overall level in grammar. It also includes a level test to evaluate your Reading, Vocabulary and Listening skills.
• Oxford Practice Grammar: Download and take a test to find out whether you need to practise Beginner, Intermediate or Advanced level grammar. Then choose the appropriate level and work on practice exercises as well as exercises in the Read and Write section.
• BBC Skillswise Grammar: Learn all about the basics of English grammar, including basic sentence structure, parts of speech and punctuation. Quizzes following each section will help you test your knowledge.
• LEO Network (Learn English Online): The Grammar guide on this website offers a three-point sequence in revising your grammar. You start off with an explanation (Read This!), follow up with examples (Picture This!) and, lastly, test your knowledge in Test This!
• ESL Café: Includes grammar lessons and quizzes for advanced students. Grammar lessons are organized in clusters around a specific element (for example, Gerunds and Adjective Clauses). Note: You will need to know what grammar point you are working on to get the most out of this site.
• English Grammar Quizzes for ESL Students: This website includes many grammar and vocabulary quizzes for ESL students, sorted by difficulty (Easy – Medium – Difficult). It is also a good site for those looking for bilingual vocabulary quizzes. (In 45+ languages).
• English Page: This site offers mini-tutorials and numerous grammar quizzes and lessons for intermediate learners. Start with a Verb Tense tutorial and then follow up with exercises on specific grammar points that you would like to cover. This website also includes sections on Vocabulary (for advanced students) and Prepositions.
• ESL Lounge: Check out the Grammar Guide on this website, try your hand at intermediate-level exercises and then move up to the Advanced level if you find them too simple.
• Dave’s ESL Café: Hundreds of explanations for many different grammar points. Check the Quizzes section on the website to test your knowledge.
• Student Zone: Consult the Grammar Index and pick the Grammar lessons and exercises from the list to learn and then test your comprehension.

• English Level Test – Vocabulary: This website offers a free level test to get immediate feedback on your overall level in vocabulary. It also includes a level test to evaluate your Reading, Grammar and Listening skills.
• Cambridge English Dictionary: Get clear definitions and audio pronunciations of words, phrases and idioms in British and American English from the three most popular Cambridge dictionaries of English with just one search: the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary and the Cambridge Business English Dictionary.
• Macmillan Collocations Dictionary: Collocations are combinations of words which frequently occur together. For example, “solve a problem” and “highly successful” are collocations. Click on a letter to jump to the relevant section of the alphabet to see a list of collocations included.
• Thesaurus: Find synonyms for any word in English. Great for expanding your vocabulary, but make sure to check the word in context to verify it will still convey your meaning.
• Free Rice: Improve your vocabulary while supporting the UN World Food Program.
• ESL Lounge: Check out the variety of exercises on this website and expand your vocabulary. You can pick Confusing Words, Weather Idioms, Phrasal Verbs or any of the other sections to learn new words and have richer conversations with your peers or write more varied essays in your courses.
• Vocabulary Exercises for the Academic Word List: If you are a university student, it is always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the vocabulary from the Academic Word List. This website separates the list into 10 sections with exercises to practise their use.
• ESL Desk: Includes many vocabulary lists and quizzes for different levels along with spelling tests that allow students to practise while hearing the proper word forms.
• Idioms & Axioms currently used in America: Add some idioms to your vocabulary! The idioms are defined and classified as common, polite or vulgar.