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Viewing Internet Language-Learning ResourcesInternet Language-Learning Resources
By Kathy Steinemann
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There are many internet language sites that excel in their quality or in the variety of services that they provide. Here are a few that should be helpful in your quest to learn a foreign language. There are many internet language sites that excel in their quality or in the variety of services that they provide. Here are a few that should be helpful in your quest to learn a foreign language. They are presented in no particular order. Asbjorn Lonvig has constructed a website called Children's Books Online. In addition to multi-language books, there are also coloring books, slide shows, posters, and T-shirt transfer motifs. Asbjorn is Danish, and he offers translations of his books in several languages, including Danish, English, Italian, German, French, Hebrew, Chinese, and Japanese. Other languages are presented as well (in machine translation). Any beginning to intermediate student should benefit from the stories. Learning a new language can be a lot more fun if you have penpals in the language you are trying to learn. You might want to check out Linguistic Funland. They include links to several penpal directories. Visit their home page for a categorized list of other language resources as well. Flashcards are a good way to learn any subject. How about software that you can use on your computer? Before You Know It - by Transparent.com has a free download available in several languages - including French, Dutch, German, Spanish, and many more. The download is not time-crippled. You can use it forever, along with the included audio and language files. Upgrade to the full version and receive dozens more files with the ability to create your own flashcards. The paid version even allows you to record your own voice and compare it to native speakers. Not sure about how to pronounce an unfamiliar word? Check this text-to-speech conversion website. Key in an English, German, Spanish, or French phrase, pick a voice/language, and hear it spoken by a voice synthesizer. The sound produced here is superior to the sound files offered by many other sites. Language forums allow you to post questions about translations, grammar, culture, and other language-related inquiries. About.com, while not specifically a language site, has areas that are run by guides proficient in specific foreign languages. There are forums in several languages, including the following: To find other foreign language forums at About.com, go to their home page and type a suitable query into their 'Search' form near the top of the page. Note: once you register for a forum, you can use the same login information for any of the About.com forums. The BBC Languages website will take any beginner through a series of easy-to-learn lessons. They also have resources for intermediate learners and tutors. You will also find some broadband video, holiday phrases, and online competitions. Be sure to click on the 'Other' link to access resources you might miss on the main page. The Beatrix Potter Kids Corner has a colorful site with multi-language stories in text, audio, and slide-show format. Remember the story of Peter Rabbit? Miss Moppet? Timmy Tiptoes? This well-presented site has been put together by the Ohio University Telecommunications Center in Athens, Ohio. Audio presentations of prose and poetry in the public domain are available online thanks to librivox.org. Native-speaking volunteers in several languages have produced audio files in Finnish, Hebrew, German, Japanese, Russian - and even Latin! The price is perfect (free - gratis - complimentary). Perhaps you might even want to volunteer and flex your narrating muscles! Having trouble translating a snippet of text? Can't understand a website in a foreign language? Try Google Language Tools. Get a machine translation - free of charge - in any of over 100 languages. Remember, though, that the translation is done by a machine, and is usually only a rough representation of correct grammar. Are you a budding poet looking for just the right rhyming word in another language? Try the Alcor Software Rhyming Dictionary. Several languages are represented, including English, Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, German, and others. Many languages have both online versions (free) and an inexpensive downloadable version with more features than the online dictionary. Depending on the language, you can search for rhymes for the last syllable(s) or a specified number of characters at the end of a word. And last but not least, i Love Languages has a categorized list of resources for many languages. Spend some time digging through their site, and you will likely find some interesting links for your bookmark list. (c) Copyright Kathy Steinemann: This article is free to publish only if this copyright notice, the byline, and the author's note below (with active links) are included. About the Author: Kathy Steinemann is a busy webmaster and author who enjoys writing German-English stories in parallel translation. She works behind the scenes at several websites, including A-Language-Guide dot com. Article Source: A Language Guide - http://www.a-language-guide.com More free articles: 1st Rate Articles - 1stRateArticles.com |
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