Quizlet----useful tools for ESL teachers

Quizlet----useful tools for ESL teachers

I think almost every ESL teacher(especially with young learners) once used vocabulary cards to teach students group of words, like animals, fruits, food, etc. Some teachers may also design slides to show different vocabulary. It always takes a long time to search suitable pictures to match those vocabularies in order to help students understand them. Even you can find good pictures, what about the pronunciation? 

Quizlet is a good solution. It is a free website. You can sign up with Google or Facebook. 

If you want to upgrade to 'teacher', it only cost $25 per year. With the free version, there are also many benefits deserve your attention.

Benefits 

1) There are many sets done by other users that you can apply directly by 'search quizlet' on the top.

I tried animals, it shows there are 5000+ sets. 

And you can sort by different categories, like most relevant, most recent, etc. 

2)You can study and play with every set.

In the Study section, the flash cards are easy for teachers to show how the words pronounce without pictures.  

     

2) If there is a smartboard in your classroom, the 'Scatter' will be a good practice for students. They play it on the screen. You can divide the students into groups to have a competition.



3) The key characteristic of Quizlet is that you can create your own set. For example, I created a set of 'shopping' and it is very convenient to search pictures by clicking the sign of pictures on the right.
you can also add explanation and translation easily.

You can also add sound to these vocabulary, you can even record your own voice if you upgrade. 

4) After creating the set, you can share it on facebook, twitter, or email it to any one you like. You can even embed those practice with your set in your blog or website.

5) For those students who have no computers, the teacher can print the vocabulary for them by click 'print' in 'TOOLS'

Drawbacks

Of course, there are also drawbacks with Quizlet. As it was developed by American technicians, all pronunciations are American accent. If you want British accent, you need to add recording by yourself.  

Evaluation

Quizlet is quite useful both for teachers or students. It can be used in class instead of slides or after class as a assignment for students to learn new vocabulary. 

I think Quizlet helps me solve the problem of how to teaching IELTS listening vocabulary in a effective way. Because we used to just offer students with words list. They always feel difficult to remember those vocabulary not only because of the meaning but also because of the pronunciation.  

They don't have enough time to look up for pronunciation. With Quizlet, they can get access to those vocabulary simply by clicking the link which the teacher shared with them.