Five years ago I began this regular feature where I share a few posts and resources from around the Web related to ESL/EFL or to language in general that have caught my attention.

You might also be interested in The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2017 – So Far. and The Best Resources, Articles & Blog Posts For Teachers Of ELLs In 2017 – Part Two. Also, check out A Collection Of My Best Resources On Teaching English Language Learners.

In addition, look for our next book on teaching ELLs, which will be published in the Spring of 2018.

Here are this week’s choices:

Edraak is a Arabic-language teaching and learning platform. It was started by the Queen of Jordan. The site has an ESL program and I’m wondering if it would be useful for secondary students. I’d love to hear from teachers who have tried it out. Here’s video about it:

I’ve periodically used existing Chatbots with students for language-learning activities (see The Best Online “Chatbots” For Practicing English). I’m now exploring the possibility of having students create their own for their classmates to use. There are some free tools that seem pretty easy to use, like Rebot. And Botsify will also let you create a audio one for Alexa. Again, I’d love to hear from teachers who might have tried this strategy already.

Do People Say is an intriguing new site that might, or might not, be helpful to ELLs. It lets you “find the context where English word or phrase is used or check if it is used by English speakers at all.” Here’s a video about it:

Bilingualism Benefits Low-income Children is from Language Magazine. I’m adding it to The Best Resources For Learning The Advantages To Being Bilingual.

Schools key to successful integration of child refugees, says study is from Eureka Alert. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About World Refugee Day.

Lost In Translation: The Power Of Language To Shape How We View The World is from NPR.

How to Use Microsoft Translator is from Richard Byrne. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About Google Translate & Other Forms Of Machine Translation.

The Shallowness of Google Translate is from The Atlantic. I’m adding it to the same list.

Trump’s immigrant crackdown brings ‘blanket of fear’ to Houston schools is from The Houston Chronicle.

This tweet shares an interesting YouTube channel. I’m adding it to The Best Sites For Learning About The World’s Different Cultures:

I’m adding this next tweet to The Best Video Clips Of Sneaky Critters — Help Me Find More:

I’m adding this tweet to The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of Prior Knowledge (& How To Activate It):