Free websites to learn English online (many with no sign-up)
Twelve free websites for learning English: full courses, listening, pronunciation, writing and dictionaries. For each one, what is free and whether it works without creating an account, checked on the site itself.
Checked on 22 October 2026 on each site. What is free and what needs an account changes from time to time: if something is no longer right, write to us.
| Website | What it is | What is free | No sign-up? | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BBC Learning English | Courses by level with audio, video and transcripts (6 Minute English, The English We Speak) | Everything | Yes for listening and reading (the site would not load when we re-checked on 22 October) | Daily listening with transcripts |
| British Council LearnEnglish | Grammar, vocabulary and skills by level, with a level test | Explanations and exercises marked instantly; courses with a teacher are paid | Yes; the free account only saves favourites and lets you comment | Grammar practice with exercises |
| ELLLO | 3,000+ short listening lessons with speakers from around the world | Everything, with quizzes and printable worksheets | Yes | Getting used to many accents |
| Breaking News English | News graded by level, with audio at several speeds and dictation | Everything | Yes | Reading and listening to news at your level |
| TED and TED-Ed | Talks and animated lessons, with the full transcript on the page | Everything | Yes | Advanced listening with transcripts |
| Fluvia | Spoken conversation with an AI that corrects you as you speak, plus exam-style listening tests (B2, C1 and C2) with transcripts, dictation by level and a level test | The trial conversation and the first conversations, which do not expire; the tests, dictation and level test without limits | Yes: no account, no email and no card | Speaking and being corrected in the moment; exam listening too |
| Cambridge Write & Improve | Automatic feedback on your writing with a CEFR level | Hundreds of tasks; the exam zones (IELTS, B2 First) cost £4.50 a month | Yes; a free profile saves your progress and unlocks more tasks | Writing, and knowing what level you write at |
| Cambridge Dictionary | Dictionary with definitions, phonetics and UK and US audio | Everything | Yes | Checking what a word means and how it is said |
| YouGlish | Search a word and hear it in real YouTube videos, by accent | Everything | Yes | Hearing how a word is really said |
| Duolingo | Gamified course with streaks | The whole course | Yes to start; it asks for a profile later to save your progress | Building a daily habit |
| USA Learns | Video courses in American English for adults | Everything | No: a free registration is needed to start a course | English for everyday life in the US |
| EnglishCentral | Videos with pronunciation practice | The catalogue; the free plan is limited | No: it asks you to register to open a video | Repeating lines from real videos |
Full courses, free
If you want a course with an order to it, there are two genuinely free ones. BBC Learning English has courses by level, beginner to advanced, with video, audio, transcripts and exercises. British Council LearnEnglish organises grammar, vocabulary, listening and reading by level, with exercises marked as you go.
USA Learns is also completely free, but asks you to register before you start. It is aimed at adults who live, or are moving to live, in the United States.
Listening
ELLLO has thousands of short recordings of people from around the world, with transcripts and questions: the best free way to get used to different accents. Breaking News English grades the news into seven levels and reads it at several speeds. At a high level, TED talks have the full transcript on the same page.
If you are preparing an exam, Fluvia’s listening tests follow the B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 format: audio, six questions with the answer explained, and the full transcript, with no sign-up. And if your problem is fast English, the dictation tests by level make you write exactly what you hear.
Pronunciation and vocabulary
Cambridge Dictionary gives the British and American pronunciation of any word, with phonetics. YouGlish goes a step further: you search a word and hear it inside real YouTube videos, filtered by accent. Both work without an account.
Writing and grammar
Cambridge Write & Improve marks your writing in seconds and tells you which CEFR level you are writing at. You can use it without signing up; the free profile only keeps your progress. For grammar with exercises, British Council LearnEnglish.
Which ones work without signing up
Without creating any account you can use ELLLO, Breaking News English, TED, Cambridge Write & Improve, Cambridge Dictionary, YouGlish, British Council LearnEnglish and everything on Fluvia, including a spoken conversation with the AI. Duolingo lets you start without an account and asks for a profile later to save your progress.
These ask you to register, even if it is free: USA Learns to start a course and EnglishCentral to open a video.
How to combine them without getting lost
The usual mistake is opening ten tabs and finishing nothing. Three pieces work better: a course for grammar (British Council or BBC), ten minutes of daily listening (ELLLO or BBC) and, two or three times a week, something that makes you produce: writing in Write & Improve or speaking in a Fluvia conversation.
What no website gives you is someone who answers back. Reading and listening take you a long way, but speaking is only learned by speaking, and for that you need a person or an AI that replies and corrects you.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the best free website to learn English?
- For a full course, BBC Learning English or British Council LearnEnglish. Neither will make you speak, so combine it with some conversation practice.
- Which English learning websites need no sign-up?
- ELLLO, Breaking News English, TED, Cambridge Write & Improve, Cambridge Dictionary, YouGlish, British Council LearnEnglish and Fluvia work without an account. USA Learns and EnglishCentral ask for a free registration.
- Can you learn English with free websites alone?
- Up to a solid intermediate level, yes: grammar, vocabulary, reading and listening are all covered for free. What is hard to get for free is speaking to someone who corrects you, and that is where an AI conversation or a language exchange makes the difference.
- Are there free websites for exam listening practice?
- Yes. Fluvia’s listening tests follow the B2 First, C1 Advanced and C2 format, with explained answers and transcripts and no sign-up. British Council also has listening practice by level.