Hello! My name is Todd Beuckens and I create ELLLO to help students and teachers get free listening lessons online. Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions about the site.

What does ELLLO means?

ELLLO stands for English Listening Lesson Library Online.

Who makes ELLLO?

ELLLO is created by me, Todd Beuckens, a teacher based in Japan.

When was ELLLO first created?

The site was first created in 2004 with the name EngTap, and later became ELLLO in 2006.

Why is ELLLO free?

ELLLO is free because it is not a company, so costs are kept low and there is no need to make a profit for investors. The aim of ELLLO is to provide a free alternative to commercial products because not all teachers and students can afford them. The site also aims to offer Frictionless Access.

What is frictionless access?

Frictionless access is the concept that students can access lesson materials with minimal or no friction, meanning they do not need to log in, create an account, or access a paywall.

What is the goal of ELLLO?

ELLLO aims to offer high quality listening activities that feature authentic English from real speakers around the world. The listening tasks tend to be longer and more varied than listening tasks in textbooks, with built in support activities, like the audio vocabulary explanations and multiple interactive activities. ELLLO lessons also offer a state of flow.

What is a state of flow?

State of flow refers to learning naturally through natural exposure and engagement. Thus, the activities try to help students become immersed in language without having to encounter meta language, instructions, and assessment tasks unless desired. The sites tries to help students learn language by living it, not studying it.

Where do you get all the speakers?

Most of the speakers are hired online these days. Some speakers are friends or people I meet through my teaching career.

How many lessons are on ELLLO?

There are over 3000 lessons, most coming from the Views lessons with 1500 lessons, and One Minute English with 1000 lessons.

How many countries are represented on ELLLO?

There are over 100 countries represented on the site.

Can teachers use ELLLO in their classes?

Yes! Teachers are free to download the audio if available and use it in their classrooms or on a class LMS like Moodle. If the audio is not downloadable, they can requests for a copy of up to 10 MP3s to use in their classes. Videos are not available. For over 10 files, a small fee is requested, usually 2 USD per file with a minimum purchase of 20 files.

Got another questions?

Please write to me for any questions you may have.