VOA Learning English

Daily American news read at reduced speed with a controlled vocabulary.

MediaWebsitesFreeBeginnerIntermediateA2–B2

Open learningenglish.voanews.com ↗

What it actually is

News, science and culture stories written with a limited word list and read at about two-thirds of normal speed, each with the full text alongside the audio, plus long-running series like Everyday Grammar and Words and Their Stories. It remains free with no registration and the site was still publishing daily in August 2026. The register is deliberately simplified American English, so it builds comprehension rather than natural idiom, and its YouTube channel has been dormant since 2025 — go to the website rather than the video feed.

What it covers

  • Listening
  • Reading
  • Vocabulary

How it teaches

  • Comprehensible Input — Acquire a language by understanding lots of messages slightly above your level, rather than by studying rules.

Listed for

Official links

Similar tools

  • BBC Learning English

    The biggest free English learning site, updated daily by the BBC.

  • Simple English Wikipedia

    Wikipedia rewritten in short sentences and a basic vocabulary, free.

  • Breaking News English

    Every news story rewritten at seven levels, with audio and worksheets.

  • News in Levels

    Daily world news in three difficulty levels, aimed at genuine beginners.

  • Elllo

    Thousands of short listening clips of real people from dozens of countries.

  • 3Cat

    Catalonia's public broadcaster on demand — drama, documentary, news, all in Catalan.