Using the SelfAccess Website
What is Selfaccess?
How to use SelfAccess lessons?
Answers and feedback:
Where are the free lesson samples?
Selfaccess library - How do I search?
Selfaccess classroom
Visit our site map to see all the pages on SelfAccess
More information about our lessons
Membership
How much does it cost for complete, unlimited access
to the site and library?
What do I get with a membership?
How do I pay for a membership?
Selfaccess courses - what are they?
Can we buy a site license for our school/institution?
How do I cancel my membership?
Free Trial
What is the free trial?
How do I get a free trial?
How do I change my membership?
Why can't I use the lessons?
Can I sign up for more than one free trial?
Other
Why doesn't my password work?
I've forgotten my password!
How do I change my password?
What browser do I need to access the site?
Why can't I hear the recordings?
Why can't I do the lessons?
Why can't I log in?
How can I contact you for further information?
IELTS and TOEFL
What are IELTS and TOEFL?

Using the SelfAccess website
What is Selfaccess?
Selfaccess has 2 types of lessons in the library - General and Academic
English.
Intermediate level students and above can opt to use the Academic lessons
to assist in preparation for IELTS, FCE, TOEIC or TOEFL. These lessons
are also very helpful for EAP as well as tertiary study.
The General English exercises provide listening, reading, writing and
grammar exercises from Elementary to advanced - a learner of English
at any level can use our lessons. They will help with English for work,
travel or school. You can do exercises at the level that suits you best,
or practise only those skills you need.
Enter your Username and Password on the SelfAccess Home Page then click
on the "Go" button. You will automatically be taken
to the library search page
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How to use SelfAccess lessons:
To begin a lesson you want to do, click on its title in the library.
The first page of each lesson shows you the title, the
topic and the skills you will practise.
The number of activities per lesson is shown in the red menu bar running
from left to right at the top of the lesson.
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Lesson Exercise Key:
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To begin the lesson click "Start"
to go to the first activity.
On each activity, you will see instructions on what to do in black writing.
For example, enter your answers in the boxes or use the arrows.
When you have completed the exercise, click "Check
Your Answers". You will be told your score and whether you
have finished that exercise.
To go to the next exercise click "Next".
Alternatively, you can click on the number of the exercise you would
like to do. The menu bar will track where you are by highlighting the
number of the exercise you are on.
When you have completed all the activities in the lesson, or wish to
try another lesson, close the page by clicking on "Close"
in the bar at the top of the page. You will then go back to the library
where you can choose another lesson.
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Answers and feedback:
All of the exercises tell you whether your answer is correct or not.
You get instant feedback on your answers.
Each exercise is then scored individually. You are given a percentage
score based on how many correct answers you give and how many attempts
you had before you got the answer right.
In many of the exercises you will also be told not only if your answer
is incorrect, but given feedback telling you where to find the correct
information or why your answer was not the right one.
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Where are the lesson samples?
We have provided you with 4 free English lessons exercises to try,
as well as exercises from a number of academic English lessons. These
are free samples and have come from different ESL lessons on a variety
of topics. You can see a selection of the type of reading, writing,
grammar and listening exercises we have available and also see our General
English lessons.
We also offer a free 3 day trial of all our lessons.
Click on the "Free Samples" button on the left hand
side of any page or click here.
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How do I get to the library selection page?
Click on the "Library" button on the left hand side of any
page.
How do I search the library?
There are 4 ways to search the library.
- Using the first "Search"
button, you can see all the lessons in the library.
To do a lesson, simply click on its title.
To see the next page of 10 lessons you can choose from, click "next".
If you only want academic lessons, choose "Academic" by
using the arrows on the dropdown menu and then press "Search".
- If you want to search for a specific lesson or lessons, you can
type a word in the keyword box in the Quick
Search. For example type "environment"
or "music" and then click "Search". All lessons
that have these words in their title or topic description will then
come up. Click on the title of the one you want to do.
- An advanced search
will help you narrow your search. For example if you want to find
all the Upper-Intermediate lessons that have listening exercises,
choose Upper-Intermediate by using the arrows on the dropdown menus
beside "Choose lesson level". Beside "Choose skills
to practise", use the arrow to choose "listening".
Then press "Search". The "Order lessons by" option
means you can see the lessons in an alphabetical list, by date or
by lesson number.
- If you have been given the number of a particular lesson to do by
your teacher, or it is a lesson you would like to look at again, you
can type this in the box beside "Enter
a lesson number" and click the 4th search button.
Classroom
By clicking on "Classroom" you will go to our Selfaccess
centre. From here you will see the latest exam tip and can access
the library of past newsletters and useful tips and hints. Click
here to go to the classroom.
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Membership
How much does it cost for full access to the site
and library?
You can become a member of SelfAccess and get complete, unlimited access
to the library for only US$15 each month until you cancel your
payments, pay US$25 for 2 months access or get access to our
entire library of lessons for a whol year for only US$50.
For less than 50c per day you can study English at any time and at
your own pace!
You can buy a three month course for only NZ$20. Click
here for more information.
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What do I get with a membership?
A full SelfAccess membership will give you instant access to all of
the lessons in the library, as well as new lessons every month. There
are well over 400 General and Academic
lessons in the library. You can also receive newsletters announcing
site changes and useful tips to help you learn English and prepare for
English tests like FCE, CAE, TOEIC, TOEFL or IELTS.
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How do I pay for a membership?
Our secure online server, WorldPay, provides a safe and immediate way
to purchase or upgrade your SelfAccess membership. We also accept payments
from PayPal. You can use an existing PayPal account to purchase a SelfAccess
membership or if you need a PayPal account, click
here.
Simply follow these safe and easy step by step instructions:
1. Click "Join Selfaccess Now" from the home
page and fill in the required fields to create your student passport.
2. Choose your membership period to indicate how long you want
to be a member of SelfAccess. If you choose A) and you do not cancel,
you will be charged $15.00 each month. If you choose (B) for a 2
month membership, you will be charged a single payment of US$25.00.
If you choose (C) for an annual membership, you will be charged a
single payment of only US$50.00.
3. Click the "I accept the Terms Of Use" and then "Continue"
at the bottom of the page.
4. Next, click your payment options. You can choose to use WorldPay,
one of the oldest established and most secure e-commerce service providers
on the Internet which accepts most major credit cards, or PayPal. If
you would like more information about WorldPay, you can visit their
website at http://www.worldpay.com.
5. Next, fill in your credit card details - number, type, expiry
date, billing address. Some details will be there already depending
on what information you have given us.
6. The transaction is in US$, but the amount on your credit card
statement will be in your currency. WorldPay and your credit card company
take care of all that, which makes life even easier! You do not need
to change the currency settings.
7. We receive notification that you have paid and then your username
and password will automatically give you access to the library of over
350 lessons.
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Selfaccess courses
We have put together a number of courses to make your exam preparation
easier. These courses are at 3 different levels. If you buy a course,
you will have 3 months to complete all the activities; approximately
100. Like all the exercises on Selfaccess.com, you can do each activity
twice. Click here for more information.
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Can we buy a site license for our school / institution?
Of course you can! If you wish to purchase a group license for your
students or a site licence for your English language school Self Access
Centre or computer lab / CALL centre, please send inquires to sales@selfaccess.com
and we can tailor our products to suit your needs. We can also make
an individualized Selfaccess home page for your school.
Click here for examples.
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How do I cancel my membership?
If you wish to cancel at any time, log on using your username and password.
Then click on "My Account" in the navigation bar on
the left hand side of the page. Then click "View or Cancel Subscriptions
(Payments)". Simply press "Cancel"
and all future payments will be stopped or future pay agreements cancelled.
You will be able to continue using your month's membership, but you
will not be charged any more.
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Free SelfAccess Trial
What is the free trial?
The free trial is a free SelfAccess membership for 3 days. During this
time you have access to more than 350 free online English lessons from
our library.
How do I get a free trial?
1. Click on the "Free Trial" from our free samples
page or click here for FREE
online lessons. To register for a free
3 day trial of SelfAccess you simply subscribe to SelfAccess
and make no payment. The trial is
completely free.
To register for a free 3 day trial of SelfAccess, you subscribe to SelfAccess
and choose a payment option. However, no payment is made until after
your 3 day trial has finished.
Your trial is completely free as the agreement with WorldPay is a future
pay.
This means no money is taken out of your account or credit card until
after the 3 day trial has finished. However,
if you do not wish to use our Selfaccess lessons, you must cancel your
subscription. You can cancel by going to "My Account".
You will receive emails confirming your subscription and account details.
2. Simply click "Free Trial" link from our samples
page or our join page. Complete your student
passport by filling out each field. Make sure your email address
is correct or you will not receive your activation email!
3. An activation email will be sent to you. You must click
on the activation link to validate your account so you can sign in to
SelfAccess.
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How do I change my membership?
If you wish to change your personal details at any time, log on using
your username and password. Then click on "My Account"
in the navigation bar on the left. Then click "Change My Details".
Simply make the changes you wish an press "Submit Form".
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Why can't I use the lessons?
If you cannot use the lessons in the library you may not have activated
your free trial. Check your email for instructions on how to do this.
Click on the activation link to validate your account and then log in
and try using the library. If you have lost this email and cannot activate
your account please contact us.
If you cannot access the lessons after doing this, your free trial
may have been cancelled. The free trial of SelfAccess lasts for 3 days.
If you did not activate your account during the 3 day period it will
expire automatically whether you have used the trial or not.
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Can I sign up for more than one free trial?
No. There is a limit of one free trial per person.
If you sign up for the trial membership more than once with the SAME
email address during the 3 day period of your trial, you will not be
able to access any of the lessons in the library. Doing this will create
a duplicate memberships for you which cancel each other out. As a result
you will lose full access to the lessons.
To avoid losing your free trial membership
do NOT sign up more than once.
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Other
Why doesn't my password work?
After you have joined Selfaccess.com, we need you to confirm your
email address in order to provide support, and our weekly newsletter
if you have requested it.
We will send an email to the address you provided and you need to open
this email and click on the activation link in it.
This is also a privacy protection measure. It is very important that
you therefore click the link in the email before revisiting the site
after joining.
Please check your email address is correct! If your email address is
wrong, change the address and then click the "Send email"
button.
If you try to log in and have not activated your account, you will
be redirected to a page which asks you to do so. This will re-send an
email to your account. Click on the link in the email you will then
receive.
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I've forgotten my password!
Don't worry! You be given 3 tries to log in and then you will go to
a page where you can enter your username or your email address. Click
"Send Password" and we will email your password to
you.
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How do I change my password?
Click on "My Account" in the navigation bar on the
left of the page. Then click "Change My Details", make
the changes you wish and click on the "Submit" button.
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What browser do I need to access the site?
SelfAccess has been developed and tested for use with the latest major
browsers. Our content uses features defined by the W3C Internet standards
for HTML4 and DOM1. These same standards have also been adopted by the
major browser manufacturers.
Suitable browsers are Netscape 6.1 or above, or Explorer 5.5 or above.
To check your browser type and confirm compatibility with SelfAccess
use our browser tester.
You can get a copy of the latest version of your preferred browser from
the one of the following Links: Internet
Explorer, Netscape
Navigator or for assorted browsers www.download.com.
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Why can't I hear the recordings?
To listen to the recordings you will need a sound card and MP3 player.
If your computer does not have one, please click www.download.com
for a range of media players you can download.
If you are using the lessons from a school or institution, it may be
that there is block in place to prevent people from downloading music
and other files onto public computers. You may therefore need to talk
to your technical team so that MP3 files from Selfaccess.com are allowed
through.
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Why can't I do the lessons?
It may be that you have cookies turned off on your Internet browser
settings. Cookies need to be turned on for Selfaccess to work on your
machine. You can turn cookies on and off by looking under "preferences"
on explorer settings. Also under "security zones" on your
explorer settings, leave you security level on medium.
Have you installed the "Google bar"? If you have the Google
bar on Internet explorer, you need to allow pop ups from our site.
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Why can't I log in?
Do you have cookies enabled for our site? You need to have you security
settings on "medium".
If you are using Internet explorer, there is sometimes a little 'eye'
at the bottom of the page you will see if the cookies are blocked.
To change your settings go to:
Close all IE instances and restart IE.
When you login, please make sure you login from http://www.selfaccess.com.
If you have book marked another page on selfaccess, for example http://www.selfaccess.com/sa_ver2_kereru.php?page=courses
this might sometimes affect the log in.
Only log in from http://www.selfaccess.com
and bookmark this page.
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IELTS and TOEFL
What are IELTS and TOEFL?
For information about these English language exams, click
here to be taken to our information page.
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How can I contact you for further information?
Use our contact form.
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