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English · Recommended resources

The best books to learn English

The site is free and frequency-first, but a good book still earns its place on the desk. These are the English textbooks, grammar guides, graded readers and references we would actually recommend, grouped by what they are for so you can pick the one gap you need to fill. Every pick links to both Amazon UK and Amazon US.

Some links below are Amazon affiliate links: if you buy through them we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only list books we would genuinely recommend, and the picks are never paid placements.

Grammar

  • Cover of English Grammar in Use

    English Grammar in Use

    Top pick

    Raymond Murphy

    Intermediate

    The best-selling English grammar book in the world, and deservedly so: one point per two-page spread, explanation on the left, exercises on the right. If you buy one ESL book, buy this.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of Understanding and Using English Grammar

    Understanding and Using English Grammar

    Top pick

    Betty Azar and Stacy Hagen

    Intermediate

    The American counterpart to Murphy and every bit as thorough: clear charts, then exercises, covering the grammar that trips up intermediate and advanced learners. A classroom staple for good reason.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of Practical English Usage

    Practical English Usage

    Michael Swan

    Reference

    The reference teachers reach for when a learner asks 'but why?'. It answers the awkward edge cases of English usage clearly and without jargon. A lookup book, not a course.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US

Vocabulary

  • Cover of English Vocabulary in Use (Pre-intermediate & Intermediate)

    English Vocabulary in Use (Pre-intermediate & Intermediate)

    Top pick

    Stuart Redman

    Intermediate

    The vocabulary companion to Murphy, same clean two-page format. Builds the high-frequency words and collocations that grammar-first textbooks tend to skip.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of English Phrasal Verbs in Use

    English Phrasal Verbs in Use

    Top pick

    Michael McCarthy and Felicity O'Dell

    Intermediate

    Phrasal verbs are where fluent-sounding English is won or lost, and this teaches the highest-frequency ones in context with the same clean two-page format as the rest of the In Use series.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of Word Power Made Easy

    Word Power Made Easy

    Norman Lewis

    All levels

    A classic vocabulary-builder that teaches words through their Greek and Latin roots, so you learn families rather than isolated items. Dated examples, timeless method.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of 1100 Words You Need to Know

    1100 Words You Need to Know

    Murray Bromberg and Melvin Gordon

    All levels

    A structured, week-by-week programme for building an educated English vocabulary through roots, context and review. Dated in places, but a proven long-seller for exam preparation.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US

Graded readers

  • Oxford Bookworms Library (Graded Readers)

    Beginner

    Graded readers pitched at controlled vocabulary levels, from 400-word starters upward. The most reliable way for a learner to read whole stories without a dictionary.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US

Dictionaries

  • Cover of Oxford Picture Dictionary

    Oxford Picture Dictionary

    Top pick

    Jayme Adelson-Goldstein and Norma Shapiro

    All levels

    Thousands of words shown, not translated, grouped by real-life topic. Image-led meaning is exactly the monolingual approach we take with the English word pages.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US
  • Cover of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

    Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

    Oxford University Press

    All levels

    The definitive learner's dictionary: definitions written in a controlled vocabulary you can actually understand, with usage notes, collocations and pronunciation. The one dictionary an English learner should own.

    Buy on Amazon: UK US

Book cover images via Open Library.

Prefer to start for free?

A book is a fine companion, but you do not need one to begin. Our English curriculum walks you through the most common words in frequency order, with the grammar and a graded story built in.

Start the English curriculum