Find a perfect article: websites to spice up reading tasks from the textbooks

Raise your hand if you have ever hated the text that a coursebook suggests for reading comprehension but struggled to find a good alternative. We are sure you know this feeling! 

Moreover, we have done everything we can to prevent you from feeling this way in the future. 

Here is our list of websites where you can find articles that suit any topic and taste.

With an emphasis on expert-created educational information for more than 20 years, ThoughtCo is a leading reference website. ThoughtCo supports 13 million people each month in finding the answers to their questions because they believe that great inspiration starts with a question.

The articles are indeed great and what is even more important are easy to adapt to any lesson. So, if you are looking for a great source of nice texts to spice up your reading tasks, this one should be the first on the list!

Mark Armstrong launched Longreads in 2009 to facilitate the discovery of the greatest online long-form nonfiction storytelling.

Longreads has received recognition for its digital brilliance from the Peabody Awards and the Online News Association, and it has been nominated for four National Magazine Awards. It has also won a Canadian National Magazine Award (Gold). 

All of that, of course, makes Longreads an outstanding source of well-written reading materials on every possible topic.

Pocket is used to save various Internet pages for further offline reading, while Medium helps to easily organize any text in a user-friendly well-organized article.

Needless to say, this is where an ESL teacher can have some benefits. Especially if you are looking for some opinion-based essays on various topics.

Aeon has made a name for itself as a distinctive online publication source since 2012 by sharing some of the most insightful and thought-provoking articles available. 

Therefore, if you are looking for some reading pieces on these topics, Aeon is perfect for you!

Every Lifehacker article gives advice on what to do or provides the necessary facts to enable you to make an independent decision. 

This is how they describe their aim:

This attitude only proves that you as an ESL teacher can use these materials every time you need some up-to-date texts on the mentioned topics.

If you want to implement fictional texts into your lesson or are looking for a place with free access to some short stories, this website is for you!

It is the first digital library, having been established in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart.

The majority of the materials in its collection are publicly available full texts of novels or single tales. 

Project Gutenberg's collection of free eBooks has already reached 50,000 titles as of October 3, 2015.

This content will be especially helpful for an ESL teacher who intends to do a memorable lesson on cooking or DIY.

Even in the era of social media, an ESL teacher shouldn’t underestimate the power of a website because there are a lot of hidden gems to find! 

Do you have any favorites that  we haven’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments.