Language Learning

A number of friends have recently asked me about Language Learning Resources, thus I decided to republish this post with edits, link audits and updates! This page will be maintained and always easily findable via the eLearning link in this blog's top navigation menubar.

This page was last updated on October 7, 2009

Language Learning Resources

Over the last several years my travels (business and pleasure) have taken me to China, the Czech Republic, England, India, Poland, Switzerland... not to mention many cities throughout the USA. What universally impresses me on all of these travels is the number of languages my peers and friends know. I am personally limited to English, and some college French and German .... and a few words in Czech. By US standards even this amount of knowledge might seem admirable, but it is not. When one is doing business, or visiting friends in another country, the ability to converse in the local language and understand cultural norms is not only an advantage, rather if possible, it should be considered the expectation.

Okay ... now that you've read my sermon, here are resources to assist in the task of learning another language. One neat smaller company out of the United Kingdom, Eurotalk. Although you will have to spend a few dollars to purchase their training, the number of languages upon which they provide instruction is amazing ... and not just to and from English.

All right, I always seem to have suggestions for "free" content, and thus here goes ... you will find three major buckets of resources (from the BBC, PBS, and eBooks)

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BBC Language Learning Resources (root page)

• Courses Covering:
  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Greek
  • Italian
  • Mandarin Chinese
  • Portuguese
  • Spanish
    .
• Other Resources:
  • Additional Languages (not full courses)
  • Essential Travel Phrases (MP3 Downloads in 36 languages)
  • Language Review: French | German | Spanish
  • News (in 33 languages)

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Annenberg / Corporation for Public Broadcasting Language Learning

It is one thing to take lessons, or use eLearning to learn a language, but the best most optimal way to become fluent in any language is to visit a given country.  However, since that is not always practical, Annenberg has a number of language learning video series which are streamed free via the net where you follow an story line acted our and presented by native speakers.  If you are so inclined, there are manuals available for purchase that correspond to the series.

• English
• French
• German
• Spanish - Level 1
• Spanish - Level 1

Important Note: A free registration is required to view this content.

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Language Learning eBooks

Obviously one can purchase language manuals and dictionaries from Amazon or your local book store, however there are other free resources available on the web.  Here are some I have noted that will support your language learning efforts:

It is often possible to use Google Book Search and WikiTexts to access or create your own eBooks. Some examples are provided, along with a tutorial explaining how to create and use your own Google eBooks.

• WikiTexts examples (downloadable pdf)
• Chinese: Mandarin
• French
• German
• Japanese

Using Google Book Search to create your own eBooks:

• Tutorial

Finally, it is one thing to learn the language.  It's also good to become familiar with a country's norms and background.  An excellent resource for this is the CIA World Fact Book.

Comments

[Joyce Lasecke]

Thank you so much for the links to language learning! You are truly a knowledge networker! Looking forward to your presentation at PACT.