Settlement Information for Newcomers

Settlement Information For Newcomers

English Language Learning Materials

Libraries in BC have many books, videos, and online tools to help immigrants learn and improve their English. Here you can search for materials by language level, by language skill (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), and by the type of material you are looking for.

Once you have found what you are looking for, you can search your home library or go online to see what library holds the material. Remember, if your home library does not have it, you can ask for materials to be sent from another library to your home library. This is called an Interlibrary Loan. You can find out more about Interlibrary Loans by asking staff at your home library or reading about these loans on the website of your home library.

Learners who live and/or lived in “oral culture[s] whose language [do] not have a written form or only acquired a written form recently” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2001, III).
Learners who “are learning English as a Second Language and are not functionally literate in their own language for a variety of reasons” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2001, II).
Learners are in the initial stages of learning to create or interpret “simple spoken communication in routine, non-demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).
Learners are developing the capacity to create or interpret “simple spoken communication in routine, non-demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI)
Learners are adequate at “creating simple spoken communication in routine, non-demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).
Learners are fluent at “creating simple spoken communication in routine, non-demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).
Learners are in the initial stages of learning to create or interpret “moderately complex spoken communication in moderately demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).
Learners are developing the capacity to create or interpret “moderately complex spoken communication in moderately demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).
Learners are adequate at “creating moderately complex spoken communication in moderately demanding contexts of language use” (Centre For Canadian Language Benchmarks, 2012, XI).