Free Literacy Classes, Programs & Resources For Adults

Overview of Free Literacy Classes, Programs, & Resources for Adults

Adult literacy resources are easier to come by online than you might think. Many websites offer free, short courses that cater to English learners of all levels. You can choose a specific focus area, such as business or communications, or take courses that are broad in scope and cover all areas of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Courses usually offer video lessons, interactive activities, and written exercises, though some mainly focus on videos.

The Open University

The Open University's course titled Everyday English 1 is designed to help students improve their English skills and communicate more effectively in daily life. The course can be valuable for those who have forgotten some areas of basic English as well. Students will learn and practice their skills via example activities as well as interactive activities. All four main areas of communication (speaking, listening, reading, and writing) are covered, making this course a well-balanced foundational course. All students can receive a statement of participation upon completion of the course, and students can also collect digital badges that show their participation. Offered at the beginner level, this course takes around forty-eight hours to complete.

Goodwill Community Foundation

The GCF offers several free tutorials, including a series on English grammar. While it's not structured like a formal course, it's a great resource for learning or re-learning basic grammar principles. The series contains twenty-seven short video lessons that each explain a specific grammar point. Some of the topics covered include commonly confused words, possessives, homophones, abbreviations, negatives, and pronouns. This series can be completed in just a few hours.

UP Valencia on EdX

The Universitat Polit�cnica de Valencia has a course geared towards intermediate English learners, titled Upper-Intermediate English: Business. The course is designed to help those who already have a solid understanding of English progress to a more advanced level. Video lessons form the basis of the course, and there are also grammar explanations, reading comprehension exercises, and listening activities. Additionally, there are some speaking practice options as well. The course is free with an optional add-on certificate for a fee, and it can be completed over four weeks with three to five hours of study.

Georgia Tech on Coursera

Speak English Professionally: In Person, Online, & On the Phone is a free course hosted by Georgia Tech. This course aims to help students improve their English speaking, discussion, and clarification skills. Students will also learn how to effectively summarize and agree or disagree. The course also shows students the appropriate level of English, correct body language, and acceptable tone to use in each situation. Interactive activities such as a practice sales pitch, mock phone calls, and mock interviewing all help to teach students more fluent and natural English. Participants will also increase their vocabulary, improve or correct their pronunciation, and learn how to adapt to various settings. The course takes about seventeen to twenty hours to complete, and it's suggested to complete four hours per week over five weeks.