This is a list of websites
that I have found useful for learning and teaching Foreign Languages,
plus a few other sites that I find interesting or amusing. I regularly
use this page for running training courses for language teachers on
using the World Wide Web. This also ties in with my work on the ICT
for Language Teachers (ICT4LT) website, a substantial set of ICT
training materials and a blog for language teachers that I maintain
as a labour of love.
If you are looking for my
personal email address, I am afraid you won't find it anywhere at this
site. I have had to remove it to prevent it being harvested by spammers.
Please use my Contact
Form.
This list of websites is known as
a webliography or a portal, i.e. a gateway to lots of other sites
- rather like the bookmarks or favourite websites that you can
set up in your own browser, the important difference being is that you and I
can access this portal from anywhere in the world. If I were starting to compile
this list all over again, however, I would probably use Delicious,
which is a social bookmarking service that enables you to store your favourite
websites online. Feel free
to use this page yourself and with your students, but please acknowledge the
source: see Copyright.
If you find a dead link or discover
a useful link that I could add to this list, please let me know via
my Contact Form.
I update the list frequently, but if you have sent me a link that you would
like to recommend it may take a long time to appear. I have a list of dozens
of links to websites that I need to check.
Maintaining a list like this is
time-consuming. Links need to be checked regularly, as they often move or disappear.
I make an effort to check all these links regularly, using Xenu
Link Sleuth - plus a bit of manual checking - but it's easy to miss something.
Another problem is that ownership of a domain name can suddenly change, with
the result that the URL remains the same but the content is not what you expect
to find. I have had two bad experiences, which I document here: Dodgy
links. If a site's content changes or if the link goes dead you may be able
to retrieve part or all of the site via the Wayback Machine,
where earlier versions of the site may be archived.
This set of resources is now arranged
under the following categories:
Academic Word List (English):
This website contains lists of academic vocabulary in English, divided into
ten sublists in order of frequency, e.g. Sublist 1 has the most frequent academic
words. You can submit your own short text, and a program will identify core
academic vocabulary in your text, using the Academic Word List. The text will
be returned as a new Web page with words from the Academic Word List, at the
level selected, highlighted in bold: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/%7Ealzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htm
Cambridge English Online:
Web resources designed to help students of English as a Foreign Language to
improve their pronunciation and knowledge of phonetics: http://www.cambridgeenglishonline.com
Cliché Finder: Just the ticket
for people who like to incorporate hackneyed and/or boring phrases into their
essays. Search for a word and this search engine will return any clichés which
use that phrase, e.g. "in the pink", "kill the goose that lays
the golden eggs", "talk through your hat", "feather your
nest", "keep a stiff upper lip"... http://www.westegg.com/cliche
english-4U: A website run
by ESL teachers for ESL teachers. The site offers free, ready-to-use lesson
plans in PDF format based on current news stories and lyrics of songs: http://www.english-4u.com
English-to-Go: This site
produces a useful resource for English teachers, namely photocopiable lessons
based around Reuters news articles. There is either a free lesson each week
or you can subscribe to a library of lessons: http://www.english-to-go.com
Flo-Joe: A resource for teachers
and students preparing for the Cambridge First Certificate in English (FCE)
and the Certificate in Advanced English (CAE). The site is maintained by a small
team of teachers and coursebook authors and includes interactive practice tests,
strategy training, a writing class and forums. The site is updated with new
vocabulary every day: http://www.flo-joe.co.uk
Ghotit: A word-processor
for learners of English as a Second Language: http://www.ghotit.com
GlobalEnglish: Online courses
for learners of EFL/ESL. Sample lessons and assignments are available free of
charge: http://www.globalenglish.com
Oxford English Dictionary: http://oed.com.
In conjunction with a major forthcoming BBC2 series, the Oxford English Dictionary
extended an invitation to the public to document the origin of a number of neologisms,
for example "the full monty", "pass the parcel", "something
for the weekend", all of which I remember from the 1950s or earlier - but
the OED insists on documenting the first printed evidence, which usually appears
much later: http://oed.com/bbcwordhunt/
Road to Grammar: This site
features a wide range and variety of self-access grammar quizzes for learners
of English: http://www.roadtogrammar.com
Shahi: A visual dictionary
that combines Wiktionary content with Flickr images and many more: http://blachan.com/shahi/
Visuwords (English): A visual
dictionary: you enter a word and then the dictionary shows you all sorts of
connected words and their relationships. Nicely colour coded. With mouseover
translations. Probably a tool for the more advanced student, but really well
done: http://www.visuwords.com
WebSwami:
An innovative online language and communications training system, combining
interactive activities, personalised video feedback, course development tools,
and a student tracking interface: http://www.webswami.com
WordNet: An online lexical
reference system whose design is inspired by current psycholinguistic theories
of human lexical memory. English nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs are organized
into synonym sets, each representing one underlying lexical concept. Different
relations link the synonym sets. A useful look-up facility: http://wordnet.princeton.edu
World Wide Words: "Investigating
international English from a British viewpoint" - a useful and amusing
site by Michael Quinionthat takes an oblique look at the English language:
new words, weird words, fun words, slang, etc: http://www.worldwidewords.org
About
French: Free resources for students, teachers, and lovers of French: lessons,
quizzes, dictionaries, software, linguistics, chatroom, and much more. Edited
by Laura Lawless: http://french.about.com
AudioFrench: French words,
grouped thematically, pronounced by a native speaker, with English equivalents:
http://www.audiofrench.com
Best French websites: Lots
of links to websites for learners of French, created by Jim Becker, Webmaster
/ Professor Emeritus, University of Northern Iowa: http://www.uni.edu/becker/french31.html
Bonjour de France: An interactive
magazine for learners of French. Lots of exercises - vocab, grammar, idiomatic
expressions and games: http://www.bonjourdefrance.com
ClicNet: Un site culturel
et littéraire francophone. ClicNet édite et localise des ressources virtuelles
en français pour les étudiants, les enseignants de français langue étrangère
(FLE) ou langue seconde (FLS), et tous ceux qui s'intéressent aux cultures,
aux arts et aux littératures francophones. Situé à l'Université de Swarthmore
(Pennsylvanie, USA), ClicNet est réalisé par Carole Netter: http://clicnet.swarthmore.edu
Dordogne Hotels and Restaurants:
A useful site for teachers looking for authentic materials in French - to practise
online searching, seeking and understanding information, etc. Also handy if
you really do want to book a hotel or find a restaurant: http://www.hotels-restau-dordogne.org/choihot0.htm
France-Jeunes Net: An information
site and discussion forum for young people, covering topics such as: books,
cinema, humour, music, people, sport, television, etc. Aimed at native speakers
(and therefore authentic), but useful for teenage learners of French of any
nationality: http://www.france-jeunes.net
The French Corner: A good
collection of free links for learners of French, created by Samantha: http://www.thefrenchcorner.net
French by Podcast: This site
is a good example of the direction in which we should be heading. The recordings
are of high quality, professionally produced and backed up by useful downloadable
printable materials: http://www.learnfrenchbypodcast.com
FrenchTeacherNet: The site
is maintained by Steven Smith Ripon Grammar School and aimed at anglophone French
teachers looking for worksheets, links and interactive tasks: http://www.frenchteacher.net
French Verb
Conjugations:Le Devoirconjugal is a package that conjugates
over 7000 French verbs, i.e. the totality of those found in Robert and Bescherelle:
http://www.pomme.ualberta.ca/devoir.
Includes a number of less-frequently used verbs and Canadian French verbs. Part
of the Pomme project, led by Martin Beaudoin at the University of Alberta.
See also Verbix.
French Learning Fun: A website
created by The Park School of Baltimore USA. A comprehensive range of interactive
exercises: http://www.frenchlearningfun.net
Fusée
en ligne: A useful site that ties in with the Hodder & Stoughton fusée
French course: http://www.fusee.co.uk
Hugo's Podcasts: Podcasts
in French and Spanish by Hugo, a ventriloquist's dummy skilfully animated by
Stuart Gorse, The Royal Grammar School, Lancaster: http://hugowho.podomatic.com
La Jolie Ronde: French language
learning materials for children aged 3-11 years. Lots of useful stuff: reading
and listening materials, recordings of songs, plastic euro coins and copies
of euro banknotes, puppets, games, etc: http://www.lajolieronde.co.uk
Momes: Lots of activities
for learners of French. Designed for native speakers of French but useful for
young learners of any nationality wishing to learn French: http://www.momes.net
Le Monde: The Web version
of the well-known French newspaper: http://www.lemonde.fr.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
Lexique FLE: Vocabulary activities
and exercises for learners of French. Clickable pictures, with sound files,
plus exercises. Contains downloadable versions of the activities as well as
online activities: http://lexiquefle.free.fr
Mon JT Quotidien: A digest
of the news in French with the script running alongside the videos: http://www.monjtquotidien.com
Neel Method French Vocabulary
Revision: The learner is requested to translate useful words and phrases
chosen at random, and the level of difficulty increases according to the learner's
progress: http://www.neelmethod.com
Nicoland: Free interactive
multimedia activities for young learners of French and Dutch. Colourful clickable
pages introduce the topics. Covers topics such as animals, the human body, dinosaurs,
the Vikings, the Middle Ages, the Pharoahs, etc. Also spelling and conjugation
exercises: http://www.nicoland.com
Nous les jeunes: An online
youth magazine for native French speakers - and very useful for teenage learners
of French too. Covers fashion, music and many other topics: http://www.nlj.free.fr
Poésie française: French
poetry online. As the site says... "Bienvenue sur le site créé par Webnet,
société de conseil et d'ingénierie e-business. Vous aimez la poésie, nous aussi.
C'est pourquoi nous avons sélectionné plus de 5700 poèmes de langue française,
du Moyen Âge au début du XXème siècle": http://poesie.webnet.fr
Polar FLE: A mystery game
in French. Learn French by assisting Inspector Roger Duflair to solve a crime.
The site also contains links to other games sites in French: http://www.polarfle.com
Railway Timetables in French:
An interesting task for the language learner is to plan a journey by train,
making use of authentic railway timetables. You can find details of most train
numbers, connections and prices by consulting the websites of national railway
networks. See SNCF (France) at http://www.sncf.fr
RealFrench: A useful site
for learners and teachers of French, maintained by Chris Dawson at Manchester
Metropolitan University. The site includes a large number of interactive vocabulary
games, grammar notes and interactive exercises, links, Internet worksheets and
message boards: http://www.realfrench.net
Target Language: This site
is full of free resources to help you learn French up to GCSE or Common Entrance
level. Click on Level 1 in the grid above to get started straight away or carry
on from where you left off on your last visit. To study a particular topic or
area of grammar visit the contents section to find what you need. There is also
a dictionary to help you: http://www.targetlanguage.co.uk
Tex's French Grammar, University
of Texas Austin: A good collection of French materials for beginners: grammar,
exercises, Web links, audio and video files. Delightful cartoon characters make
this a very entertaining as well as informative site: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/
Three Little Pigs / Les tros
petits cochons: Listening and grammar exercises for young learners of French,
wrapped up in a popular story: http://lexiquefle.free.fr/cochon.swf
Usina Quiz: A variety of
ready-made quizzes and games for learners of French, including quiz generators
for teachers who wish to create their own materials: http://usinaquiz.free.fr/indexjeu.htm
Wildfrench: A site
for teachers and learners of French, including many online resources that complement
popular published courses and GCSE examinations: http://wildfrench.co.uk
wordPROF:
A website that offers a series of vocab acquisition activities for learners
of French, using clickable images and sound files: http://www.wordprof.com
GERMAN
LANGUAGE RESOURCES
About German: Free resources
for students, teachers, and lovers of German: lessons, quizzes, dictionaries,
software, linguistics, chatroom, and much more. Edited by Hyde Flippo: http://german.about.com
Austrian TV: The website
of ORF. Very handy for news reports in German - and especially for weather reports
whenever I am about to go skiing in Austria: http://www.orf.at
DeutschAkademie: An online
comprehensive German course. The grammar and vocabulary exercises are structured
according to selected textbooks and to the levels of the Common European Framework
of Reference for Languages. Requires registration: http://www.deutschakademie.de/online-deutschkurs/english/
Deutsche Welle: German news
service: http://www.dw-world.de. News in
German and many other languages. Texts and streaming audio and video
Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst:
An organisation that provides information and assistance for students wishing
to study in Germany, and for German students wishing to study abroad: http://www.daad.de
German Electronic Textbook:
Basic German grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary by Gary Smith, The College
of William and Mary, USA: http://www.wm.edu/modlang/gasmit/german/
German
for Travellers: A site which started out as an online German for Beginners
course at the University of Victoria, Canada: http://www.germanfortravellers.com
German Grammar PowerPoint Presentations:
Animated PowerPoint presentations on German grammar: http://webgerman.com/Animated/
German Teaching Resources for
KS3, GCSE, AS and A2 level: Over 500 free resources to download or use online.
Activities include: Hot Potatoes, Spellmaster,
PowerPoint, Word, Excel - many activities are whiteboard
friendly. Created by Yvonne Clerehugh, who is an advanced skills teacher for
MFL at Notre Dame High School in Norwich: http://www.yjc.org.uk
German Spelling Reform: These
sites are useful for information on the German Spelling Reform (Die neue
Rechtschreibung), which came into effect on 1 August 1998:
CanooNet: An excellent
facility for checking the rules. CanooNet is also great as a reference source
for German grammar too: http://www.canoo.net
German Studies Trails on the
Internet: A big collection of resources and links, compiled by Andreas
Lixl , University of North Carolina at Greenboro.When does this man sleep?
He must spend thousands of waking hours surfing the Web and hunting down resources
for teachers and students of German - and other languages: http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/german_WWW/index.html
Goethe-Institut:
The Goethe-Institut maintains and sponsors a number of websites. http://www.goethe.de
- Jetzt, a site maintained by Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen. German
for advanced learners and tips for teachers: http://www.goethe.de/z/jetzt/
- Goethe-Institut London: Lots of useful links for teachers and learners
of German: http://www.goethe.de/ins/gb/lon/deindex.htm
JUMA magazine: A "webzine"
designed for young learners of German (i.e. teens). It ceased publication in
January 2006, but there are still some useful reading materials in the archives:
http://www.juma.de
KLAR (Keep Learning And Revising):
Heidi Behrens' collection of vocabulary and grammar exercises for learning
German in the classroom or for independent study at home. Includes PowerPoint
presentations (with sound), games and exercises to reinforce vocabulary or grammar
points. Also included are reading and listening tasks: http://www.klar.co.uk
Klett: This
publishing company maintains a number of sites that offers tests, activities
and materials for learners and teachers of German: http://www.klett.de
University
of Portsmouth, Beginners Course in German: An online German course for beginners,
designed by Paul Joyce. It consists of a set of dialogues and exercises which
are designed to give the absolute beginner a grounding in the rudiments of the
German language, as well as providing background information about life and
culture in all the major German-speaking countries: http://userweb.port.ac.uk/~joyce1/abinitio/
Railway Timetables in German:
An interesting task for the language learner is to plan a journey by train,
making use of authentic railway timetables. You can find details of most train
numbers, connections and prices by consulting the websites of national railway
networks. See Deutsche Bahn (Germany) at http://www.bahn.de
and ÖBB (Austria) at http://www.oebb.at
Der Spiegel: The online version
of the well-known German news magazine: http://www.spiegel.de.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
St Johann in Tirol: My favourite
ski resort: http://www.st.johann.tirol.at.
Remarkable for its easy slopes (essential at my age) and the highest concentration
in the whole of the Alps of mountain restaurants and bars per kilometre of piste
(also essential at my age). Our favourite hotel is the Hotel Park, which
is run by the Grander family and where we have been guests every skiing season
since 1989: http://www.park.at
Süddeutsche Zeitung:
The Web version of my favourite German newspaper: http://www.sueddeutsche.de.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
Tagesschau: Short news texts
in German, plus streaming sound and video clips. Ideal for keeping up with the
news: http://www.tagesschau.de
Treffpunkt: Intensive German
Courses in Germany, plus lots of links to sites relating to the learning of
German and information on course materials for learners of German: books, audio-
and videocassettes, software, etc: http://www.learn-german.com
Web German: A huge set of
resources for teachers and learners of German: http://www.webgerman.com
Die Welt: The Web version
of the popular German newspaper: http://www.welt.de.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
Perseus Digital Library: A
gem of a site for Classicists. Everything you need to know about Ancient Greece
and Ancient Rome. Based at Tufts University, USA, this site contains masses
of texts, pictures, tips for learning Greek and Latin, dictionaries, help with
fonts and many other resources: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu
Winged Sandals: A delightful
multimedia website on Greek Mythology created by the Australian Broadcasting
Corporation in association with The University of Melbourne's Centre for Classics
and Archaeology. The website is designed for children 6-12 but will certainly
have a much wider appeal: http://www.wingedsandals.com
ITALIAN
LANGUAGE RESOURCES
About Italian: Free resources
for students, teachers, and lovers of Italian: lessons, quizzes, dictionaries,
software, linguistics, chatroom, and much more. Edited by Michael San Filippo:
http://italian.about.com
CyberItalian: Online materials
for learners of Italian. Log in as a visitor and try a lesson free of charge:
http://www.cyberitalian.com
La Repubblica: The Web version
of the popular Italian newspaper: http://www.repubblica.it.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
JAPANESE
LANGUAGE RESOURCES
About Japanese: Free resources
for students, teachers, and lovers of Japanese: lessons, quizzes, dictionaries,
software, linguistics, chatroom, and much more. Edited by Namiko Abe: http://japanese.about.com
Japanese: Software for learning
Japanese: Ready Steady NihonGO! An introduction to Japanese at KS2 and
KS3, created by Japan 21 and the Japan Foundation. Downloadable free of charge:
http://www.japan21.org.uk/teachers/resources/rsn.html
Japanese, Monash University:
This site (Sakura) is designed for students of Japanese language of Monash University
in Australia, but it is also available for general use: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/japanese/resources/sakura/
Japanese Online: A useful
site for learners of Japanese. Since 1996, Japanese Online has been providing
free learning services to people who wish to study the Japanese language. This
service was later expanded to include Japanese mathematics and a very popular
forum/bulletin board service: http://www.japanese-online.com
LATIN
LANGUAGE RESOURCES
Latin:
Keep up your Latin by listening to and reading the news. This is the website
of the Finnish radio station that broadcasts in Latin and maintains a Latin
language website with news reports: http://www.yleradio1.fi/nuntii/
- also an active discussion list.
Perseus Digital Library: A
gem of a site for Classicists. Everything you need to know about Ancient Greece
and Ancient Rome. Based at Tufts University, USA, this site contains masses
of texts, pictures, tips for learning Greek and Latin, dictionaries, help with
fonts and many other resources: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu
Russian:http://www.russlandjournal.de/en/russian/.
This site provides a lot of materials for learners of Russian: Russian language
exercises with audio samples, Russian alphabet, information about grammar and
pronunciation.
Russian: A variety of learning
games and learning materials, including Russian songs, an English-Russian dictionary,
and a transliteration tool, phrasebook: http://www.practiceRussian.com
Russian Literature: A joint
project between the University of Sussex and the London School of Economics
and Political Science. Learn Russian through the study of Russian literature.
The student can critically explore the works of Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy and
Blok, each presented in their historical context. Includes reading texts, audio
and video files, and interactive exercises: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/Units/russian/Ruslang
Ruslan: John Langran’s
business - specialists in the development of materials for learners and teachers
of Russian. Some good stuff here: http://www.ruslan.co.uk
SPANISH
LANGUAGE RESOURCES
About Spanish: Free resources
for students, teachers, and lovers of Spanish: lessons, quizzes, dictionaries,
software, linguistics, chatroom, and much more. Edited by Gerald Erichsen: http://spanish.about.com
AsíSeHace:
A website created and maintained by José Picardo, containing Spanish interactive
exercises specifically designed to help GCSE and A-Level students and generally
useful for anyone learning Spanish: http://www.asisehace.net.
See also José Picardo's Box of Tricks blog.
Cervantes Institute: Central
Virtual Cervantes. A very comprehensive website, containing lots of useful links
for teachers and learners of Spanish: http://cvc.cervantes.es
Español
Extra: Online interactive exercises for learners of Spanish. Suitable for
whole-class activities or individual use at home: http://www.espanol-extra.co.uk
El Pais: The Web version
of the popular Spanish newspaper: http://www.elpais.es.
See also Newstran and Kidon for
links to other newspapers.
Hugo's Podcasts: Podcasts
in French and Spanish by Hugo, a ventriloquist's dummy skilfully animated by
Stuart Gorse, The Royal Grammar School, Lancaster: http://hugowho.podomatic.com
No Comprendo.es: A free online
Spanish course available in English, German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and Spanish.
Spanish teaching resources can also be downloaded free of charge. The free online
Spanish course at NoComprendo.es is visual and interactive, and you can choose
between several subject areas: http://www.nocomprendo.es/learn_spanish_online/eng
Sí, Spain: A comprehensive
service, provided by the Directorate General of Cultural Affairs of the Spanish
Foreign Ministry. Contains information on Spanish current affairs and Spain’s
historical, linguistic and cultural development. As demonstrated enthusiastically
by Ambassador José "Speedy" Luis Pardos at EUROCALL 98, University
of Leuven, 10 September 1998: http://www.sispain.org
Spanish Cooking: The "A
Cocinar" site - for gourmets. Some good recipes in Spanish, recommended
cookery books and links to restaurants in Spain: http://www.acocinar.com
Tesoros: A multimedia DVD
course for learners of Spanish, based on a short detective story in which the
students play a key role in the solution of the mystery. A virtual tour around
the Hispanic world is carried out as the story unfolds. The course also includes
vocabulary, grammar and other learning materials based on the dialogues in the
story: http://www.tesoros.es
Visual Link Spanish: Spanish
lessons online, produced by the US Institute of Languages. CD-ROMs and some
free online tutorial materials: http://www.learnspanishtoday.com
OTHER
LANGUAGES
Dutch - Nicoland:
Free interactive multimedia activities for young learners of French and
Dutch. Colourful clickable pages introduce the topics. Covers topics
such as animals, the human body, dinosaurs, the Vikings, the Middle Ages, the
Pharoahs, etc. Also spelling and conjugation exercises: http://www.nicoland.com
Korean, Monash University:
A learning and teaching environment for learners and teachers of the Korean
language, encouraging independent learning, collaboration, cooperation and networking
between learners and teachers, between learners and other learners, and between
learners and native Korean speakers: http://www.arts.monash.edu.au/korean/
200 Words a Day: Introduces
vocabulary, based on an accelerated learning technique whereby you imagine a
crazy scene - associated with cartoons - which helps you remember the vocab.
In French, German, Spanish, Welsh: http://www.200words-a-day.com
About:
The About sites have lots of language-related information and links.
These are a very useful set of resources. See the entries under individual language
headings.
Aiglon College: The website
of Aiglon College, Switzerland. Useful exercises and links for learners of French,
German and Spanish: http://www.aiglon.ch/langlink
University
of Arizona, Critical Languages Series: This site contains information on
CD-ROMs and Web-based instructional materials for "critical languages"
- also described as Minority Languages - e.g. Brazilian
Portuguese, Turkish and Korean: http://clp.arizona.edu/cls/
Ashcombe School's Language College
Modern Foreign Languages pages: Lots of materials, advice, software evaluations,
worksheets, exercises for different languages, etc. A comprehensive and well
maintained site: http://www.ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk/Curriculum/modlang
À Tantôt: A website that
provides online resources for learners of French, German, Italian and Spanish,
which are designed to be used in class on an interactive whiteboard. Resources
include videos, starter and plenary activities, games, useful links and much
more: http://www.atantot.co.uk
BBC Bitesize: A collection
of revision materials, including modern foreign languages, for schoolchildren
at the BBC site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/bitesize/
BBC Languages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/.
Lots of online language learning materials at various levels from the BBC covering
French, German, Spanish, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Greek - and
many more! I worked as a consultant on German Steps, an introductory
course in German: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/lj
BBC Learning Zone: Useful
video clips for teaching and learning foreign languages are available at the
BBC Learning Zone: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/
Declan Software: A range
of flashcard activities, including audio, and tools for learning to read and
write a wide range of languages: http://www.declan-software.com
Digital Dialects: This site
contains interactive activities for a wide range of languages: http://www.digitaldialects.com
Dudley Modern Foreign Languages
Resource Centre: Free downloadable resources for teachers of Modern Foreign
Languages and links to useful sites: http://www.edu.dudley.gov.uk/mfl
Firefly Learning: A suite
of commercial and freely downloadable resources for teachers and learners of
Modern Foreign Languages: http://www.fireflylearning.com/welcome
Gutenberg:
The Project Gutenberg is a huge archive of free books (in many different
languages) which are in the public domain: http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page.
Many of the audio texts stored at the LibriVox website
are based on the versions stored in electronic format by the Project Gutenberg.
Hello-World: Games, activities
and songs for young learners, with native speaker recordings in many languages,
including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Chinese and Indonesian:
http://www.hello-world.com
i-c@fé: A fresh and
innovative website for students and teachers of French, German and Spanish,
maintained by Oxford University Press. It includes regular online magazines
for 11-16 year olds, i-c@fé français, Deutsch and español,
packed full of interesting articles and interactive activities, and a separate
area for teachers: http://www.oup.com/uk/i-cafe/
Jennifer's Language Page:
Jennifer seems to spend all her time collecting words and phrases in different
languages. She lists languages that I had never heard about before. I found
a link to over 300 different ways of saying "Merry Christmas" here:
http://users.elite.net/runner/jennifers/
Kindersite: The Kindersite
has 1000s of links to games, songs and stories for young children in a variety
of languages. It includes a Multilingual Video Project, in which children
all over the world participate in a project to make videos in multiple languages
http://www.kindersite.org
Language Café: An
EU-funded project, coordinated by the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics
and Area Studies (LLAS) University of Southampton: http://www.languagecafe.eu
Language Guide: A wealth
of free resources for language learners and teachers, including vocab guides
(words, picture and audio), grammar guides (text, audio and quizzes) and readings
(written texts and audio): http://www.languageguide.org
Language Helpers: Help for
learners of Chinese, Czech, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Russian and
Latvian: http://www.languagehelpers.com
Language Learning Library:
A comprehensive selection of free language learning materials for a range of
languages. Includes information on grammar, vocab and links to dictionaries
and cultural resources: http://www.languagelearninglibrary.org
Languages on the Web: A large
number of links to sites in many different languages, including Minority
Languages. The site includes numerous links to translations of short stories
presented in parallel with the original texts: http://www.lonweb.org
Language
Skills: Interactive activities for teachers and learners of French, German,
Spanish and Welsh, each of which has its own section of the site: French
(Zut!), German (Gut!), Spanish (¡Oye!) and Welsh
(Sut!) - plus a Junior Zut! section. The site includes exercises
for the interactive whiteboard, PowerPoint presentations and pronunciation
sections. Between the hours of 9.00am and 4.00pm (your time), there is a 12-month
registration fee for each site. For the rest of the time, the sites are free.
You will need a separate subscription per site: http://www.languageskills.co.uk
Languages Online: A large
collection of resources for language teachers and students of Chinese, French,
German, Indonesian, Italian and ESL, managed by the Victoria State Government,
Australia. The website contains a large number of interactive tasks and games
that introduce, reinforce and recycle vocabulary. They are self-paced and self-correcting
and can be repeated as desired. Activities are presented in topic-based sections
and include recordings by native speakers. Downloadable templates enable teachers
and students to build their own multimedia language games and activities. Games
can be made using any language installed on your computer. Languages Online
also includes printable worksheets with a variety of guided speaking, reading,
writing and research tasks to complement the online activities: http://www.education.vic.gov.au/languagesonline/
LibriVox
provides free audio books and files of literary classics (in many different
languages) which are in the public domain. Many of the texts are based on those
stored at the Gutenberg website: http://librivox.org
LinguaCentral:
A useful collection of language resources and links covering a wide range aspects of language learning
for GCSE and A-Level language students: http://www.linguacentral.co.uk
Linguafun: A flexible, fully
interactive whole-class teaching resource, developed by practising KS2 MFL teachers.
It looks good, but the annual subscription might stretch some departmental budgets:
http://www.linguafun.eu
LinQ: A website that links
the language learner to a variety resources and language learning tools, as
well as an online community of learners and native speaker tutors: http://www.lingq.com
Linguascope:
Stephane Derône's website for learners of English, French, German, Italian and
Spanish. An impressive set of materials - some previews (free) and many other
materials available by subscription: http://www.linguascope.com
Martindale's
Language Center:A
wealth of information on languages all over the world, compiled by Jim Martindale.
Fascinating stuff including dictionaries, translation services and information
on American Indian and Australian indigenous languages: http://www.martindalecenter.com/Language.html
Modlangs.co.uk: An online
subscription service for language teachers and students of French, German and
Spanish. Feline and Felinx are the main resources, with the new
Purrfect collections designed specifically to support new demands at
post-GCSE / Standard grade levels: http://www.modlangs.co.uk
NetLearn Languages: Study
English, French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, Russian, Croatian and other
languages live via the Internet with qualified and experienced native-speaker
teachers: http://www.nll.co.uk
Omniglot: A guide to writing
systems and languages of the world: http://www.omniglot.com.
This website contains a wealth of information. The site include lists of common
words and phrases in many different languages, many of them with sound files,
e.g. "Good morning": http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/goodmorning.htm
PubsTV: This website contains
links to video clips of advertisements in a wide range of languages - click
on Pubs par Pays. Requires registration:http://www.pubstv.com
Radio Lingua Schools: Radio
Lingua Schools provides language materials for primary, secondary and staff
development, and pupil workshops combining language learning with creative digital
technologies: http://www.radiolinguaschools.com
Reall Languages: A range
of learning resources for learners of French, German, Spanish, Italian, Swedish,
Russian, Japanese and Latin. Covers basic words and phrases, wrapped up in a
set of games and fun activities: http://www.reall-languages.com
SACODEYL: Structured video
interviews in seven different European languages with pupils between 13 and
18 years of age - the outcome of an EU-funded project. The interviews have been
annotated and enriched for language learning purposes: http://sacodeyl.inf.um.es/sacodeyl-search2/
St Peter’s School, York:
An extensive site for Modern Foreign Languages. Numerous resources and links
to all things language-related, including interactive exercises, topic-organised
links to sites useful for AS French research, links to French media sites and
to other language practice sites: http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/stpmlang/index.html
Times Educational Supplement
(TES): The TES manages a large collection of downloadable resources for
teachers. Click on the Resources tab at the top of the homepage: http://www.tes.co.uk.
There is also a Modern Foreign Languages Forum.
Verbix:
A verb conjugator, covering a wide range of languages - plus other interesting
activities: http://www.verbix.com. See also
Le Devoir conjugal for French verb conjugations.
European
Minority Languages:http://www.smo.uhi.ac.uk/saoghal/mion-chanain/en.
Some of the languages listed here were completely new to me, e.g. Casubian
and Nenets. Scots (Lallands/Lallans) and Ulster Scots (Ullans)
have been recognised as languages under the European Charter for Regional or
Minority Languages: http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/148.htm.
My wife Sally is from Belfast. I had a few problems understanding my mother-in-law
when we first met. I was fooled by the following expression that she used in
a early conversation that we had: "Thon wee fellow fernenst me" = "The
chap who lives opposite me". I love Ulster expressions such as "He got
a quare gunk" and "Give my head peace", the latter being the title of a BBC
Ulster sitcom: http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/gmhp/.
Another example: "Laird Laird, Heich Executive o tha Ulster-Scotch Agencie,
said Juin at he trows tha role o tha Agencie is uphauldan Ulster-Scotch feks,
an no takan thaim owre. He eikit 'Ulster-Scotch maun be an inclusiv cultur,
no an exclusiv. Bein inclusiv is whit bein Scotch-Airis bes'" - see http://www.ullans.com.
See Accent, Dialect, Language.
Languages on the Web: A large
number of links to sites in many different languages, including Minority Languages.
The site includes numerous links to translations of short stories presented
in parallel with the original texts: http://www.lonweb.org
LCTL: An abbreviation for
Less Commonly Taught Languages, another way of referring to Minority Languages.
LWULT:
The European Union's official term for what most people call Minority Languages.
It stands for Least Widely Used and Least Taught languages. I prefer
the French acronym Langues Modimes (Languages moins diffusées et moins
enseignées).
Virtual Departments
for Minority Languages (VDML): A project funded from 2000 to 2002 under
the JISC DNER development programme and led by University College London. The
aim of VDML was to develop a framework to support students and teachers of minority
languages. The development was piloted in the Scandinavian Studies departments
of three UK universities (in particular by learners and teachers of Danish).
Other minority language departments were involved throughout, and the framework
is being promoted in the UK Higher Education community: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/calt/vdml/
DICTIONARIES
AND ENCYCLOPAEDIAS
AllWords:
A useful multilingual online dictionary: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Dutch. Also lots of useful links for word lovers: crossword puzzles, word games,
glossaries, song lyrics, translation programs, etc: http://www.allwords.com
bab.la: The
bab.la language portal offers 25 bilingual dictionaries, together with language
quizzes and games, vocabulary lessons for learning and much more. You can enter
your own translation, create your own language test or your own vocabulary flashcards:
http://bab.la
FreeDict:
Lists of online multilingual dictionaries in a variety of languages: http://www.freedict.com
TheFreeDictionary:
English, Medical, Legal, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Encyclopedia,
a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one: http://www.thefreedictionary.com
Glossary of ICT Terminology:
A comprehensive glossary of ICT terminology at the ICT4LT website, containing
both ICT and CALL terms: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_glossary.htm
LEO - Link
Everything Online: An online service provided by Informatik der Technischen
Universität München. A very useful lookup facility that operates in English
and German. I use it mainly as a English-German/German-English dictionary: http://dict.leo.org
LexiCool:
A directory of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries, with links to over
2000 online dictionaries: http://www.lexicool.com
Logos:
A huge multilingual reference facility containing dictionaries, verb conjugators,
resources for children, and a cheat facility for crossword addicts - which finds
anagrams and matches patterns: http://www.logos.it/index
LookWAYup:
LookWAYup combines a multilingual dictionary, thesaurus, translation, and
other handy tools. With a double-click you can look up the meaning of a word,
search it on the same site or the whole Web using your favourite search engine,
and more! All that without leaving the Web page: http://lookwayup.com
Manic Monkey: Primary MFL
resouces in French, German and English for classroom and home use: http://www.manic-monkey.com
NetLingo:
An online dictionary about the Internet. It contains thousands of words
and definitions that describe the technology and community of the World Wide
Web: http://www.netlingo.com
Picture
Dictionary: A picture dictionary in English, French, German, Spanish and
Italian. Also contains activities such as flashcards, fill-in-the-blank, etc:
http://www.pdictionary.com
Visuwords (English): A visual
dictionary: you enter a word and then the dictionary shows you all sorts of
connected words and their relationships. Nicely colour coded. With mouseover
translations. Probably a tool for the more advanced student, but really well
done: http://www.visuwords.com
Wikipedia is a multilingual
encyclopedia on the Web that anyone can edit - yes, anyone, which is
both its strength and its weakness: http://www.wikipedia.org.
While Wikipedia covers an enormous range of subjects in different languages
there is no guarantee that what you read is accurate, as the content can be
added to or amended by any member of the public, and there is no indication
of the authorship or the authors' credentials. On the one hand this can be perceived
as a wonderful example of collaborative writing, but on the other hand it can
be perceived as a golden opportunity for the propagation of oddball ideas and
self-promotion. Wikipedia is a very useful tool for language teachers - see
Section 4.2 of Module
1.5 at the ICT4LT website for examples of ways in which Wikipedia can be used
to track down neologisms and their usage in different languages.
WordReference:
A range of online bilingual dictionaries and, in addition, verb conjugators
for French, Spanish and Italian. Also links to language forums. A miniature
version of WordReference can be embedded into other language learning sites:
http://www.wordreference.com
VOCABULARY
RESOURCES
Academic Word List (English):
This website contains lists of academic vocabulary in English, divided into
ten sublists in order of frequency, e.g. Sublist 1 has the most frequent academic
words. You can submit your own short text, and a program will identify core
academic vocabulary in your text, using the Academic Word List. The text will
be returned as a new Web page with words from the Academic Word List, at the
level selected, highlighted in bold: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/%7Ealzsh3/acvocab/awlhighlighter.htm
Before You
Know It: An interactive flashcard program by Transparent Language, covering
64 different languages, for learning basic words and phrases. A free trial version
is available for download. Ready-made flashcard activities are included, e.g.
multiple-choice matching, pronunciation and dictation, and you can create your
own additional lists of words and phrases. You can also record your own voice
and compare it to native speakers. http://www.byki.com
Clip2Go: For learners of
German, Spanish or English. Users create and share multimedia word lists that
they can browse or search for in the site's online dictionaries: http://www.clip2go.com
Illustrated Vocabulary: Around
500 basic words of vocab in English, French, Dutch and Danish. Simple multiple-choice
exercises with pictures. Institut de la Providence, Belgium: http://www.illustratedvocabulary.ip-providence.net
Interlex:
A free vocab acquisition package by Andrew Quilley. It supports several different
languages, is easy to use, comes with lots of ready-made vocab files, and students
can write their own files to test the words they want to learn. The website
also lists lots of useful links and has a file swap area where users can post
the files they have created and share resources with other learners: http://www.vocab.co.uk
Language
Guide: A wealth of free resources for language learners and teachers, including
vocab guides (words, picture and audio), grammar guides (text, audio and quizzes)
and readings (written texts and audio): http://www.languageguide.org
Lingro:
A tool which allows you to read a Web page in its original language and
then click on individual words you don't know to both see and hear the word
in a variety of other languages. It even remembers which words you've looked
at to give you a words list to learn from. Available for English, Spanish, French,
German, Italian and Polish: http://lingro.com.
See also Ultralingua and VoyCabulary
Neel Method French Vocabulary
Revision: The learner is requested to translate useful words and phrases
chosen at random, and the level of difficulty increases according to the learner's
progress: http://www.neelmethod.com
Ultralingua:
As well as offering online and offline dictionaries, Ultralingua offers
a useful facility that can convert a Web page into a "dictionary-enabled" page,
so that the words on the page are clickable and can be looked up in a defining
dictionary (English) or a bilingual dictionary. You type or paste the URL of
the Web page into the address box and choose the source and target language.
The original Web page is then made available as a dictionary-enabled, clickable
page. Some Web pages can't be dictionary-enabled, but it works most of the time.
Includes verb conjugation tables too: http://ultralingua.com/online-dictionary/.
See also Lingro and VoyCabulary.
Vocabulix:
Vocabulary Trainer and Conjugation Trainer. A free website that helps you
improve your vocabulary in various foreign languages. Vocabulix is divided
into several lessons. You simply choose a lesson in a foreign language and the
system will help you to memorize the words of that lesson. http://www.vocabulix.com
Vokabel:
Lots of vocab quizzes on different topics in English, French, German and Spanish:
http://www.vokabel.com. Choose an existing
quiz or create your own.
VoyCabulary:
This site makes the words
on any webpage into links so you can look them up in a dictionary or other word-reference-site
of your choice, by simply clicking on the words. Anytime you find yourself reading
a Web page with words you wish to look-up, try running the page through VoyCabulary
and just click on the words: http://www.voycabulary.com.
See also Lingro and Ultralingua
Word Surfing:
This website aims to show learners the many advantages of creating a well-organised
vocabulary book within their long-term language learning activities.The method
explains how to use such a vocabulary building book together with the help of
an audio pictionary, an online dictionary, teachers, native speakers, the Web,
books - and all the other excellent learning opportunities that are available
today: http://www.wordsurfing.co.uk
AUDIO
CLIPS
Most of these contain sound effects,
etc, but they may be worth exploring:
CAPL (Culturally
Authentic Pictorial Lexicon): An image bank set up and maintained by Michael
Shaughnessy & Jason Parkhillis, Washington and Jefferson College, Pennsylvania.
It consists of a searchable and categorised bank of 2000 or so images. You are
free to use the images for non-commercial educational purposes as specified
in the terms of a Creative Commons licence: http://www.washjeff.edu/CAPL/
REALIA (Rich Electronic Archive
for Language Instruction Anywhere): A useful site, maintained by Oberlin
College, for finding images that convey the everyday life of different countries.
Search for a key word or phrase, e.g. a city name such as "Berlin"or
the name of a food dish such as "paella". Many interesing images,
including typical or amusing signs and symbols in different languages: http://www.realiaproject.org
Comic
Life: A utility that enables you to create comics, picture albums, how-to
guides - and much more! Just drag in your pictures, captions, lettering text
and speech balloons: http://plasq.com/comiclife-win
Voki:
A website that enables you to create and customise your own speaking cartoon
character that can be embedded in your favourite social networks, blogs
and websites. You can choose the Text To Speech option,
as in my example on the right, to give the character a voice, or you can
record your own voice: http://www.voki.com
ALSIC: Francophone Electronic
Journal for CALL: Apprentissage des Langues et Systèmes d’Information
et de Communication: http://alsic.revues.org
CALL-EJ
Online:A refereed professional journal on Computer Assisted Language
Learning and related fields, published bi-annually. It began publication in
1999 after CALL-EJ in Japan and ON-CALL in Australia
merged. CALL-EJ Online is now an international journal that welcomes
contributions from around the world: http://www.tell.is.ritsumei.ac.jp/callejonline/
Computer
Assisted Language Learning Journal: Also known as theCALL
journal, formerly published by Swets & Zeitlinger and now taken over
by Taylor & Francis. The current editor is Jozef Colpaert,
University of Antwerp.
Language Learning
and Language Technology (LLLT): A book series, originally published by Swets
& Zeitlinger (now part of the Taylor & Francis
group) and edited by Graham Davies and Carol Chapelle.
Language Learning
and Technology: A refereed Web journal. A goldmine of information. I used
to be on the Editorial Board of this journal: http://llt.msu.edu
ON-CALL:
Australian Journal of Computers and Language Education, published by the University
of Queensland, Australia. In January 1999 the ON-CALL journal became
available only online and in May 1999 merged with CALL-EJ
in Japan.
APACALL: The Asia-Pacific
Association for CALL, University of Southern Queensland, Australia: http://www.apacall.org
CALICO:
A long-established professional association, based in the USA and devoted to
promoting the use of technology enhanced language learning. CALICO is affiliated
to EUROCALL and currently headed by Bob Fischer,
Executive Director, Texas State University: http://www.calico.org.
CALICO and EUROCALLhave recently set up a joint EUROCALL/CALICO
Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group that aims to explore the possibilities
of language learning and teaching in virtual worlds such as Second
Life. Their joint Welcome Pavilion in Second Life is located here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/31/35/22
CERCLES:
Confédération Européenne des Centres de Langues dans l’Enseignement
Supérieur / European Confederation of Language Centres in Higher Education
/ Europäische Konföderation der Hochschulsprachenzentren: http://www.cercles.org.
Founded in Strasbourg in 1991, CERCLES is a confederation of independent associations
from 10 countries of the European Union. It brings together some 200 Language
Centres, Departments, Institutes, Faculties or Schools in higher education whose
main responsibility is the teaching of languages. Its members have several thousand
academic, administrative and technical staff and some 250,000 students who learn
all of the world’s main languages. The equivalent US-based association
is IALLT.
EUROCALL:
A professional association devoted to promoting the use of technology enhanced
language learning, which was set up with the aid of EU funding in 1993.
The current President of EUROCALL is Ana
Gimeno, Polytechnic University of Valencia. There is a wealth of information
at EUROCALL's website, with
numerous links to publications and other sources of information. You can
also join the EUROCALL
discussion list. EUROCALL organises an annual international conference
that attracts participants from all over the world. The EUROCALL
2010 conference will take place in Bordeaux, France. EUROCALL's affiliated
association in the USA is CALICO. EUROCALL and
CALICO have recently set up a joint EUROCALL/CALICO
Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group that aims to explore the possibilities
of language learning and teaching in virtual worlds such as Second
Life. Their joint
Welcome Pavilion in Second Life is located here: http://slurl.com/secondlife/EduNation%20III/31/35/22
European
Language Council: A professional association, set up with the aid of European
Union funding, which aims to act as a forum and a lobby group: http://www.celelc.org
IALLT:
The US-based International Association for Language Learning Technology. Established
in 1965, this professional association changed its official name from IALL to
IALLT in May 2001: http://www.iallt.org.
IALLT is dedicated to promoting effective uses of media centres for language
teaching, learning, and research. The equivalent European association is CERCLES.
IATEFL:
The UK-based International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language:
http://www.iatefl.org. IATEFL embraces a
Special Interest Group for Learning Technologies - formerly known as the Computer
SIG and formerly known as MUESLI (Micro Users in ESL Institutions): http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LearningTechnologiesSIG/.
See also TESOL, the US-based association.
The Institute of Linguists:
The UK-based association for the languages profession: http://www.iol.org.uk
LET: Language Education and
Technology (LET) assocation of Japan, formerly known as the Language Laboratory
Association (LLA), which now embraces a wider range of language learning technologies:
http://www.j-let.org
TESOL:
Teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages: http://www.tesol.org
- the US-based professional association. TESOL embraces a Computer Assisted
Language Learning Interest Section (CALLIS). See also IATEFL,
the UK-based association.
Webheads: Online Community
of Practice of Teachers and Educators Practicing Peace and Professional Development
through Web 2.0 and Computer Mediated Communication: http://webheads.info/
WorldCALL:
WorldCALL is a professional association addressing the needs of countries that
are currently underserved in the use of ICT in learning foreign languages: http://www.worldcall.org.
The first WorldCALL conference was held at the University of Melbourne, Australia,
July 1998, where I presented a Keynote Paper titled
"True creativity often starts where language ends". The second WorldCALL
conference took place in Banff, Canada, in May 2003.WorldCALL 2008 is scheduled
to take place in Japan. See the WorldCALL website for further information.
SEARCH
ENGINES
Alta Vista:http://www.altavista.com.
Alta Vista includes a translation function, based on the original Systran
translation package, one of the oldest and most reliable MT packages - now known
as Babel Fish.
Ask Jeeves:
Ask a question in normal English. This search engine will parse your input and
then search the Web, trying to find the answer: http://uk.ask.com
Google:
An efficient search engine, and currently the most popular on the Web. It's
my personal favourite. Simple to use and very fast. Try the "I'm feeling
lucky" button, which homes in on the site that is most likely to fulfil
your needs. You can also search for images, maps and news items in the world's
press. Two other useful features of Google: (i) type "define:" immediately
in front of a word and Google will search for definitions of that word; (ii)
type "link:" immediately in front of a URL and Google will find Web
pages that link to that URL. Google's UK homepage is at http://www.google.co.uk.
Try Google's Language Tools at http://www.google.co.uk/language_tools
and search the Web in a variety of different languages. Google also offers a
basic automatic translation service - not 100% accurate but it will give you
an idea of what the text or website is all about.
Yahoo: This is the UK/Ireland
version of the Yahoo search engine: http://uk.yahoo.com.
Foreign-language versions are also available.
Accent,
Dialect, Language: The distinction between these three categories often
provokes fierce debate. Broadly speaking, an accent is distinguished
by features of pronunciation that signal a person's regional or social identity,
whereas a dialect is distinguished by features of grammar and/or vocabulary.
The point at which a dialect becomes a separate language is debatable.
I speak fluent German but I can only understand around one word in ten when
listening to Swiss German, which is regarded by some people as a dialect of
German but by others (and rightly so) as a separate language known as Schwyzerdütsch.
Similarly, Scots (Lallands/Lallans) and Ulster Scots (Ullans) can be regarded
as distinct languages from English. Max Weinreich described a language thus:
"A language is a dialect with an army and a navy" - or "A shprakh iz a diyalekt
mit an armey un a flot" in the original Yiddish ("Yivo and the problems of our
time", Yivo-Bleter, 1945, Vol. 25, No. 1, p. 13.). See Minority
Languages, Speech Accent Archive and - just for
fun - Ali G Translator, Dialectizer.
The BBC has some excellent information, including sound recordings, on regional
accents and dialects of the UK: http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/
The Adam
Smith Institute: This site has some interesting downloadable publications
on educational issues. My attention was drawn in particular to Wired to learn:
What's holding up the school of the future? (2002) by Tom McMullan, which
is described as follows: "The government wants to create the 'school of the
future' with ICT-based learning in new-look buildings and at home. But existing
government policy stands in the way of this vision. Teacher and ICT expert Tom
McMullan identifies the blockages: too much focus on numbers rather than sustainability,
low teacher confidence, dismal connectivity, and the lack of realisation that
content, and not hardware, is what it's all about." See http://www.adamsmith.org/images/uploads/publications/ict-7-jan-02-doc.pdf
ALLE - Alberta Language Learning
Environment: A project based at the University of Calgary, Canada: http://fis.ucalgary.ca/alle.
The project has the following aims: (i) raising consciousness among teachers
as to the opportunities and benefits of current technology, especially the Web;
(ii) equipping teachers with the skills necessary to integrate technology effectively
into their classroom practice; (iii) developing and supporting authoring tools;
(iv) doing ongoing research in the area of technology assisted language learning
and publishing findings; (v) evaluating the results of teacher involvement in
TELL (Technology Enhanced Language Learning). Useful site, with lots of links,
especially to French resources.
Amazon Bookshop: The UK branch
of the famous online bookshop. Some bargains to be found here: http://www.amazon.co.uk
. Did you know that Amazon's customer services department is moving from Slough,
UK, to Cork, Ireland, because it cannot recruit staff in the Slough area that
can handle European languages? In a 2005 European Commission poll conducted
by Eurobarometer, 30% of UK inhabitants surveyed said they could speak a second
language at conversational level. In Ireland, this figure was about a third
higher at 41%. So much for the UK government's policy on language teaching in
schools!
Asset Languages:
Asset Languages is a new way of recognising achievement in foreign languages
learning: http://www.assetlanguages.org.uk.
The Asset Languages assessment scheme supports the National
Languages Strategy and is designed to provide voluntary accreditation options
for learners of all ages and abilities from primary to further, higher and adult
education. It has a lot in common with the Common European Framework
(e.g. "can do" statements relating to the four language skills) and is tied
in with the Languages Ladder.
CALL4All: A large categorised
collection of links to websites relating to language learning and teaching,
compiled by John Paul Loucky: http://www.call4all.us
CALL@Hull:
Fred Riley's website of Internet Resources for Language Teachers and Learners,
which contains some of the resources formerly located at the CTICML and C&IT
websites: http://www.fredriley.org.uk/call/langsite
The Consultants-E: The Consultants-E
is a leader in online and distance education and is an innovative company of
consultants specialising in online learning and teaching in higher and adult
education. The EduNation islands in Second Life are
owned and managed by The Consultants-E: http://www.theconsultants-e.com
Courses in CALL: Want to
take CALL seriously? The ICT for Language Teachers (ICT4LT)
website covers a wide range of topics for beginners, intermediate and advanced
students and is probably the most comprehensive set of free training materials
of this type on the Web. See Courses.
Creative Technology: This
is the website of a business that specialises in computer-based packages for
learning and education: http://www.cict.co.uk/software.
One of the shareware packages that can be found at this site is Martin Holme’s
Markin, a program for marking work submitted by students
as text data, for example via email or as a word-processed document. Markin
was developed as a marking system for courses delivered via the Internet, and
can produce marked work in the form of HTML files that can be viewed using a
Web browser, or as RTF files that can be viewed in a word-processor.
CSLU Speech
Toolkit: An excellent tool that helps people with hearing impairments to
learn how to articulate. This features BALDI, an animated 3D talking head that
automatically synchronises natural or synthetic speech with realistic lip, tongue,
mouth and facial movements. The CSLU Speech Toolkit can be downloaded from here:
http://cslu.cse.ogi.edu/toolkit/.
See Speech Technologies.
DIALANG:
A major EC-funded project on online diagnostic language testing, coordinated
by the Freie Universität Berlin. The project aims to design sets of diagnostic
tests at 6 different levels in 15 different languages, linked to the Common
European Framework. Access to the tests is currently free of charge: http://www.dialang.org
ePals: A community of ePals
in educational institutions all over the world. Useful for finding partners
with whom to exchange emails: http://www.epals.com
EUROMOBIL: A multimedia language
learning and information project promoting student mobility in Europe. The website
contains demo exercises from CD-ROMs as well as information on the partner countries
and the EUROMOBIL project in general. Czech, English, German, Finnish, Hungarian,
Polish, Portuguese and Romanian are the target languages: http://www.euro-mobil.org
European Computer
Driving Licence (ECDL): An internationally recognised qualification in ICT:
http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=nav.5829.
See also the ECDL for Educators, which is designed specifically to help
teachers, support staff and ICT coordinators develop practical computing skills
for teaching and learning in the classroom and leads to an internationally recognised
level of certification: http://www.educatorsecdl.com
Eurovolt: European Vocational
Online Language Teaching and Vocational Online Language Learning via a Virtual
Learning Environment: http://www.eurovolt.net
iBrowse: An interactive PowerPoint
Web browser that allows you to easily add live Web content such as HTML, PDF
and Flash to your PowerPoint presentations. Simply insert the PowerPoint
Web browser control into your slide and specify a starting URL to add live Internet
Web pages linked with your presentation contents: http://www.tdogsoftware.com/powerpoint-web-browser/index.html
Futurelab:
NESTA Futurelab simplified its name to Futurelab in April 2006. A
high-tech educational initiative, working in partnership with industry policy
and practice. Futurelab has engaged in some activities in the area of ICT in
Modern Foreign Languages and has produced the following articles and reports
and articles: http://www.futurelab.org.uk
21st Century Technologies
for Learning Languages (2002) by Ben Williamson, Futurelab: Web-Article613
Literature Review in Languages,
Technology and Learning (2002) by James Milton, University of Wales, Swansea:
Literature-Review395
Computer Assisted Language
Learning: Where are we now and where are we going? (2003) by Graham Davies:
Web-Article590
The potential role of ICT
in modern foreign languages learning 5-19 (2004) by Keri Facer and Martin
Owen, Futurelab: Discussion-Paper260
The Good
Practice Guide: A guide to good practice for learning and teaching in Languages,
Linguistics and Area Studies. Located at the website of the Subject
Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS), University of
Southampton. Contains a collection of commissioned articles written by recognised
authorities in their field and reviewed by an editorial board. Browse the guide
by author name or subject: http://www.llas.ac.uk/resources/guidecontents.html
History of CALL: Philippe
Delcloque's History of CALL began as a poster exhibition that was produced
to mark the beginning of the new millennium. It was then set up as a website
(now closed) and is now available in PDF format: http://www.ict4lt.org/en/History_of_CALL.pdf
ICT
for Language Teachers (ICT4LT): http://www.ict4lt.org.
This is the website of the ICT for Language Teachers project, which was
initiated with funding under the Socrates programme of the European
Union. The ICT4LT website consists of 15 modules at three different levels,
plus an additional module on Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) and other downloadable
articles and resources. The site also contains a comprehensive Glossary of Terminology,
a Resources Centre and over 1000 links to other sites. The site is linked with
the ICT4LT Blog. Access to the ICT4LT website and
blog is free of charge. The website is updated every week by Graham
Davies.
iLoveLanguages: Formerly
known as the Human Languages Page, a comprehensive guide to language-related
websites, created by Tyler Chambers (né Jones), who is is a great gatherer
of information about foreign languages: http://www.ilovelanguages.com
John Higgins:
One of the veterans of CALL and co-author of the first two CILT publications
on CALL: Davies G. & Higgins J. (1982) Computers, language and language learning,
London: CILT and Davies G. & Higgins J. (1985), Using computers in language
learning: a teacher's guide, London: CILT. Also co-author of the seminal
work by Higgins J. & Johns T. (1984) Computers in language learning,
London: Collins. See the website of John and Muriel Higgins at: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wordscape/
Language Advantage: A guide
to language courses throughout the world: online materials, CD-ROMs, books,
jobs, events, news, features, advice on where to go to learn a language for
business and private users, cultural awareness, etc: http://www.languageadvantage.com
The
Language Investigator: This site, subtitled Investigating language across
the curriculum, is aimed mainly at primary school teachers who are interested
introducing a multilingual dimension into their lessons, but the materials are
relevant to teachers and pupils in secondary education too. The work is a result
of a one-year project called Thinking through Languages which was developed
within a group of Coventry primary schools. The project was funded by the Nuffield
Foundation. An excellent site for raising awareness about languages, with
lots of useful links: http://www.language-investigator.co.uk
Logos Library: A massive
database of searchable texts in a wide range of languages, containing multilingual
novels, technical literature and translated texts: http://www.logoslibrary.eu
MERLOT (Multimedia Education
Resource for Learning and Online Teaching): A free and open resource designed
primarily for teacher and students in higher education. Numerous links to online
learning materials can be found here, along with annotations such as peer reviews
and assignments. Materials for Modern Foreign Languages can be found under Humanities
/ World Languages and Humanities / Languages and Literature: http://www.merlot.org
Moodle:
A software package designed to help educators create online courses. Moodle
is descibed as a Course Management System (CMS) or a Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE). Moodle is open source and can be downloaded free of charge,
which means you are free to download it, use it, modify it and even distribute
it: http://moodle.org. Moodle has its own language
teaching community: http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=31
- log in as a guest. See Section
8 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT site,
which will tell you more about distance learning and VLEs.
Railway Timetables: See Deutsche
Bahn (Germany) at http://www.bahn.de,
ÖBB (Austria) at http://www.oebb.at,
and SNCF (France) at http://www.sncf.fr.
The Dutch Railways site at http://www.ns.nl
is also very good for national and international connections. For the UK I tend
to use the National Rail site, which - significantly - is available only
in English: http://www.nationalrail.co.uk.
Try planning a rail journey from Oxford to Munich or from Manchester to Brussels.
The Deutsche Bahn website allows you to do this, detailing all connections and
the time that should be allowed for using the London Underground between stations.
The SNCF site is much more temperamental, offering less detail and falling over
if there are too many connections or if you choose an unacceptable preferred
departure time or date. According to National Rail, however, UK trains only
connect with Eurostar trains departing from Waterloo: end of the line. I guess
this is what happens when you set up a privatised railway network, which is
barely capable of handling connections between the different private train services
in the UK, let alone international connections.
Russell
Stannard: An excellent set of online Teacher Training Videos, created by
Russell Stannard: http://www.teachertrainingvideos.com.
The videos are captured, walk-through screen videos with voiceovers, made with
Camtasia Studio, and show you step-by-step how to use a range of new technologies,
including blogs, wikis, Audacity, podcasts, iTunes, downloading from YouTube,
Photoshop, Delicious, Second
Life and many other applications. His site also contains videos relating
to applications for English Language Teaching. In 2008 Russell won the Times
Higher award for Outstanding Initiative in ICT.
Schoolzone:
In theory, this sounds like a good idea - an independent evaluation service
for educational digital resources: http://www.schoolzone.co.uk.
In practice, there are very few current Modern Foreign Languages resources that
have been evaluated by Schoolzone. When you look closely at the site, you find
that any publisher can submit a title for evaluation on payment of a large evaluation
fee plus a renewable annual fee. A nice little earner! Moreover, the evaluations
are pretty thin and often out of date. See also TEEM.
Scunthorpe: The silly story
about Scunthorpe and a silly Internet filterig system. Search on the name "Scunthorpe"
when you load this page: http://coral.lili.uni-bielefeld.de/~gibbon/scunthorpe2.
The article was written 1996, but many Internet and email filtering systems
are just as silly nowadays.
Special Educational Needs and
Language Learning: A very comprehensive and useful site, maintained by David
Wilson: http://www.specialeducationalneeds.com
Specialist
Schools and Academies: These are schools in England with specialist status.
These schools include around 200 Language Colleges which
emphasise languages as a specialist subject area: https://www.ssatrust.org.uk
Speech
Accent Archive: The site is maintained by Steven Weinberger, George Mason
University: http://accent.gmu.edu. It examines
the accented speech of speakers from many different language backgrounds reading
the same sample paragraph. There are over 300 speech samples. If you click on
"English" you will find samples of native speakers of English from the UK and
around the world. There are many other useful linguistic resources on Steven's
Web pages: http://mason.gmu.edu/~weinberg/.
See Accent, Dialect Language.
Speech Technologies:
A growing area of research, with many practical applications: for example the
CSLU Speech Toolkit, which helps deaf people to articulate,
and Text To Speech (TTS) software, which enables blind or partically sighted
people to "read" from the screen. For other ground-breaking applications see
Section 4 of Module
3.5 at the ICT4LT website. Language teachers have also found that TTS software,
which is used in applications such as Voki, can add a fun
element to learning a new language.
Sprachcaffe: An organisation
of language schools that helps students locate courses or language schools in
different countries where they can study English, French, German, Spanish, Italian,
Chinese and Arabic: http://www.sprachcaffe.com
Super Language Sites: An
extensive list of useful links to site in many different languages, compiled
by Jim Becker, University of Northern Iowa: http://www.uni.edu/becker/
TeacherTube: A sort of YouTube
for teachers. An online community for sharing instructional videos, targeting
teachers, schools and home learners: http://www.teachertube.com
Tim Berners-Lee: My hero,
the inventor of the World Wide Web - and he's British! This is his personal
site: http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee
Wayback
Machine: Dead links on the Web are a growing problem. You find a nice site,
bookmark it, or add it to a list of links like this one, and the next time that
you try to access it, it's gone - or, worse still, it's been transmogrified
into an offensive site: see my Dodgy
links article. However, salvation has arrived: the Wayback Machine(also
known as the Web Archive) at http://www.archive.org.
To start using the Wayback Machine to surf the Web as it was, you just type
a URL (a website address) in the dialogue box, click the Take Me Back button,
and start exploring the past. The site also contains an efficient text search
facility.
Ali G Translator:
Machine translation programs such as Babel Fish often
make mistakes, but this one is pretty good at translating your texts into Ali
G street slang - not very politically correct, of course: http://mackers.com/alig.
The opening sentence of Pride and Prejudice reads: "It is a truth universally
acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want
of a wife." which translates into Ali G slang as "It is a truf universally acknowledged,
dat a single geeza in possession of a wicked fortune must be in dig of a bitch."
BULL:
If you have trouble writing critical essays then this is the place for you:
http://www.clas.ufl.edu/users/nholland/critic.htm.
BULL stands for Basic Unitary Literary Language. It’s a computer program
by John Holland that generates impressive-sounding sentences such as "In
a situated discourse, the metonymy of inclusion devolves into the hegemony of
pre-existing structure". I love this kind of stuff . I wrote a poetry generator
along these lines (in collaboration with my old friend David Steel) back in
the 1970s, but it’s a long time since I saw anything as good as this. If
you think the above sample is BULL then the real thing is even better: e.g.
"If such a sublime cyborg would insinuate the future as post-Fordist subject,
his palpably masochistic locations as ecstatic agent of the sublime superstate
need to be decoded as the ‘now-all-but-unreadable DNA’ of a fast deindustrializing
Detroit, just as his Robocop-like strategy of carceral negotiation and street
control remains the tirelessly American one of inflicting regeneration through
violence upon the racially heteroglossic wilds and others of the inner city".
This text is authentic and written by one of the winners of the Annual Bad Writing
Contest, Volume 11, 82 of the Humanist Discussion Group.
The
Crown Bar, Belfast: This magnificent ornate bar, complete with real
gas lights, is in my personal World Top 10 of Favourite Bars. There used
to be a live camera situated at one end of the bar, so you could make
an arrangement with your friends and relatives anywhere in the world to
see you enjoying a pint of Guinness or a glass of Bushmills. This is a
picture of Sally and me on 2 October 1998. We were not aware at the time
that we were being watched by David Herren in the USA. David sent us this
picture that he downloaded at Middlebury College. It looks like I am just
about to order a second pint. See: http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/images/photos/belfast/crown.htm
Dialectizer:
See: http://www.rinkworks.com/dialect/.
Some years ago I recall being given a copy of a DOS program that converted any
text into Jive slang. I suppose it had to come... here's a website that converts
websites into Cockney, Jive, Redneck, Elmer Fudd, etc. Alternatively, just feed
in a text of your choice. Here's my original text, followed by Cockney: (i)
"I was walking down the road the other day when I felt thirsty, so I went
into a pub and ordered a pint of beer." (ii) "I were walkin' dahn
the road the bloody uvver day wen I felt firsty, so I went into a rub-a-dub
and ordered a pint of beer." Hmm, a couple of rhyming slang opportunities
missed, I think: (i) "road" = "frog" ("frog and toad"),
(ii) "beer" = "pig's" ("pig's ear"). The Jive
version is better: "Ah wuz walkin' waaay down d' road t'oda' day when ah
felt dusty, so's ah went into some pub an' o'dered some pint uh beer. Ah be
baaad..."
Educational
Jargon Generator: Stuck for a fine-sounding phrase for your thesis or report?
Look no further: http://www.sciencegeek.net/lingo.html.
Some examples: "to facilitate holistic curriculum integration", "to harness
research-based differentiated lessons", "to expedite top-down staff development",
"to synergize problem-based differentiated lessons".
Essentialist Explanations: A
collection of amusing definitions of different languages in the form "Language
X is essentially language Y under conditions Z". English is described thus:
"English is essentially bad Dutch with outrageously pronounced French and
Latin vocabulary." French is described thus: "French is essentially the
first syllables of Latin words spoken with a headcold." See http://mercury.ccil.org/~cowan/essential.html
Europanto: The emerging new
lingua franca of the European Union, an amusing mixture of several different
European languages, the brainchild of of Diego Marani: http://www.europanto.be
The
Postmodernism Generator: http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/.
Written by Andrew C. Bulhak, the program generates completely meaningless but
impressive-sounding essays, e.g. Baudrillardist hyperreality and subpatriarchialist
theory, by V. Andreas Buxton, Department of Gender Politics, University
of California, which begins as follows: "Sexual identity is part of the paradigm
of narrativity," says Foucault; however, according to Finnis [1] , it is not
so much sexual identity that is part of the paradigm of narrativity, but rather
the fatal flaw, and subsequent futility, of sexual identity. It could be said
that Sartre suggests the use of presemiotic textual theory to attack sexism.
Foucault uses the term 'Baudrillardist hyperreality' to denote the difference
between art and class." Great stuff!
Shakespearean
Insult Generator: See http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/Shaker,
which generates (fake) insults such as "Thou churlish flap-mouthed harpy!"
It also finds real ones such as "In civility thou seem'st so empty" (from As
you like it).
University of Bums on Seats:
The website of the UBS university, UK. Not many people have heard of this university
- interesting place, with an innovative curriculum. Message from the VC: "I
have attempted to revolutionise our educational paradigm to ensure a rich diversity
of abilities are represented in our student body." http://www.cynicalbastards.com/ubs/index.html
AUTHORING
PROGRAMS
Authoring
Tools: An impressive list of links to authoring tools for creating interactive
language learning materials. This page is maintained by Christine Bauer-Ramazani,
St Michael's College, Vermont, USA: http://academics.smcvt.edu/cbauer-ramazani/Links/authoring_tools.htm
Clicker: A powerful and incredibly
easy-to-use writing support and multimedia tool by Crick Software, which enables
you to write with whole words, phrases or pictures. It has won five BETT Awards,
the "Oscars" of British Educational Software, as voted for by teachers.
It can be used to support any area of the curriculum: http://www.cricksoft.com/uk/ideas/languages.htm
ContentGenerator: This website
offers a range of Flash-based tools for the generation of quizzes, games and
other applications: http://www.contentgenerator.net
Crosswords:
Chris Lacey's Teacher's Pet website provides a macro
for Microsoft Word that creates crossword puzzles automatically from
a vertical list of words. Try the Instant Online Crossword Puzzle Maker
at http://www.puzzle-maker.com/CW/.
Here's another one, called EclipseCrossword: http://www.eclipsecrossword.com.
Ready-made crosswords in French and German are provided free of charge for non-profit
educational institutions at Alcester Grammar School's website: http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/fk26/xword.htm
Fun with Texts:
An authoring package for the automatic generation of text manipulation exercises.
Lots of ready-made materials are already available: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/fwt.htm
GapKit:
An authoring package for the generation of gap-filling and multiple-choice exercises
linked with pictures and audio files. Lots of ready-made materials are already
available for GCSE examinations: http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/gapkit.htm
Hot Potatoes:
See: http://hotpot.uvic.ca. A suite of five
Web authoring tools for language teachers, written by Martin Holmes and Stewart
Arneil at the University of Victoria, Canada. Create your own Web exercises
in Windows or Mac format: i. Multiple-choice quizzes, ii. Jumbled sentences,
iii. Short-answer questions, iv. Gap-fill exercises, v. Crosswords. A library
of Clipart for use with Hot Potatoes and other authoring tools is available
at the University of Victoria site: http://hcmc.uvic.ca/clipart/.
See also Quandary, another product from the Holmes/Arneil
team.
JClic:
JClic is a freeware application, developed by Francesc Busquets, for the development
of multimedia activities for language learners. With JClic you can create different
types of activities: puzzles, associations, crosswords, identification activities,
exploration actitivities, open-ended answers, multiple choice, etc: http://clic.xtec.net/en/jclic/index.htm
MALTED:
A project funded under the Educational Multimedia Taskforce initiative of
the European Commission. MALTED stands for Multimedia Authoring for Language
Tutors and Educational Development and consists of a set of authoring tools
for developing multimedia courseware for language learners. It was initiated
by the Language Centre, University College London. The package has widely trialled
in Spanish schools and is supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education, but
it has not been widely used in the UK. Download the (free) MALTED package from
here: http://malted.cnice.mec.es/ingles/maltedproject.htm
Quandary:
A package from the
Hot Potatoes
team. Quandary is used
for designing Action Mazes aka Text Mazes: http://www.halfbakedsoftware.com/quandary.php.Mazes have been used by
language teachers for many years for reading and comprehension activities and
to stimulate conversation in the classroom. See, for example, Berer M. & Rinvolucri
M., Mazes: a problem-solving reader, published by Heinemann in1981 and
subsequently converted (with Heinemann's permission) into a BBC microcomputer
program. An action maze is a collection of short pieces of text, each of which
poses a problem and a set of alternative solutions. The learner can follow different
paths through the maze but may end up in loops and blind alleys. The onus is
therefore on the learner to read the texts carefully and to assess the situation
accurately. Mazes are ideal for group work.
Question Writer: A tool for
creating flash quizzes using 20 different templates. You can put your quiz on
a CD or on the Web. Look at your results online or download to Excel: http://www.questionwriter.com
Quia:
Create your own learning activities: http://www.quia.com.
Includes lots of ready-made examples in foreign languages and a variety of other
subjects - all submitted by keen registered users.
Quiz Boxes:http://quizboxes.com
An authoring tool that presents quizzes in the form of the Jeopardy game. Create
your own materials or download some of the smaple materials. Ideal for use on
Interactive Whiteboards.
Teach the Children Well: An
American site containing fun learning activities for young children. Links to
sites for young learners of languages can be found at: http://www.teachthechildrenwell.com/language.html
Teacher Training Videos for ICT
and English Language Teaching: See Russell Stannard
TEEM (Teachers
Evaluating Multimedia): In theory, this sounds like a good idea - an independent
evaluation service for educational digital resources, with evaluations written
by practising classroom teachers: http://www.teem.org.uk.
In practice, there are very few current Modern Foreign Languages titles that
have been evaluated by TEEM. When you look closely at the site, you find that
any publisher can submit a title for evaluation on payment of a large evaluation
fee plus a renewable annual fee. A nice little earner! Moreover, the evaluations
are pretty thin and often out of date. See also Schoolzone.
Text To Speech
(TTS) software: TTS software is invaluable for blind computer users as it
enables them to "read" from the screen, and it can also introduce a fun element
into language learning and teaching: see, for example, the entries under Acapela
and Voki. See
Section 4 of Module
3.5 at the ICT4LT website, where you can read more about TTS and find links
to TTS websites. See also Speech Technologies.
TaskMagic: An easy-to-use
authoring tool, produced by Martin Lapworth at MDLSoft, for creating non-Web-based
interactive exercises for use in schools. Includes: Picture Match, Sound Match,
Multi-Choice, Mix & Gap, Dialogues, etc: http://www.mdlsoft.co.uk
& http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/taskm.htm
Teacher's
Pet: A free set of utilities (macros) for Microsoft Word, developed
by Chris Lacey. The macros make the job of creating exercises with Microsoft
Word fast and fun: gap-fill exercises, multiple-choice exercises, word jumbling,
sentence jumbling, pronunciation exercises, punctuation exercises, dictionary
searches, thesaurus searches, crosswords, storing word lists: http://www.teachers-pet.org
- and more to come!
Babel
Fish:Babel Fish is an automatic translator that derives from one
of the oldest and most reliable Machine Translation packages, originally known
as Systran: http://babelfish.yahoo.com.
Babel Fish has limitations, however. Don't expect a polished translation,
and watch out some really bad errors. Most automatic translators can only convey
the gist of a document and indicate if it’s worth having it translated
properly.
FreeTranslation: Type a text and get it translated. Covers most European
languages: http://www.freetranslation.com.
It works - more or less!
Google
has a translation tool too. Click on Language Tools on the Google opening
page: http://www.google.co.uk
WinDi Translation Software: A
useful aid for translators and for training translators. Available in seven
different languages. For each language, the software includes a bilingual dictionary,
verb conjugation tables, a reference grammar, and an interactive sentence translator.
A speech synthesiser is included in the package, and the software can also be
used to assist the understanding of websites in foreign languages: http://www.windi7.com
NATIONAL
AND INTERNATIONAL AGENCIES, MINISTRIES, PROJECTS, ETC
BECTA:
The Council for Educational Technology (CET), a forerunner of the British Educational
and Communications Technology Agency (BECTA), began to be active in the area
of Modern Foreign Languages/ICT in the late 1970s. In 1981 the CET joined forces
with CILT in the organisation of the first major conference focusing on Modern
Foreign Languages/ICT. In the same year the Microelectronics Education Programme
(MEP) was launched under the auspices of the CET, leading to the establishment
of a network of support centres and teams of advisory teachers responsible for
offering advice and training in a range of different subject areas, including
Modern Foreign Languages, for primary and secondary education teachers. A number
of Modern Foreign Languages software packages and Modern Foreign Languages/ICT
printed publications were produced under the MEP initiative. A national centre,
the Microelectronics Education Support Unit (MESU), was then set up as a successor
to the CET. The MESU was renamed the National Council for Educational Technology
(NCET), to be renamed yet again (in 2000) as BECTA. BECTA is now due to close
under the newly elected UK government (May 2010).
The
British Council: The British Council is the UK's international organisation
for educational and cultural relations: http://www.britishcouncil.org.
Its purpose is to enhance the UK's reputation in the world as a valued partner.
It does this by creating opportunities for people worldwide with programmes
in education, English language teaching, the arts, science, governance and information
through a network of 230 offices and teaching centres in 109 countries. The
British Council receives a grant-in-aid from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
(FCO) and earns income from teaching English, conducting British examinations
and managing development and training contracts. See also The British Council's
LearnEnglish website.
CILT:
The Centre for Information on Language Teaching, London - now known as the National
Centre for Languages: http://www.cilt.org.uk.
CILT is, in my opinion, the leading information centre on language teaching
in Europe - maybe the world. They’re doing a grand job! ICT features prominently
in CILT's activities - check the website's publications section and the ICT
links. See also Languages ICT and Primary
Languages.
Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR) for Languages: Also known simply as the Common
European Framework (CEF), a product of the Council of Europe.
The main aim of the CEFR is described thus: "[...] the Council of Europe should
develop a comprehensive, transparent and coherent framework of reference for
the description of language learning and teaching at all levels. This instrument
will provide a basis for the international comparison of objectives and qualifications,
thus facilitating personal and vocational mobility in Europe, and will provide
a valuable tool for policy making in member States." See: http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/linguistic/.
The six levels of language
proficiency that are described in the CEFR are used as yardstick in the DIALANG
diagnostic testing project and in most EFL/ESOL examinations and national examinations
in Europe. See also the entry under Languages Ladder.
Curriculum
Online: A UK government initiative that ran from 2003 to 2008 and which
had the noble aim of providing ring-fenced funding, known as e-Learning Credits
(eLCs), to schools to enable them to buy software and online services to support
their teaching. Unfortunately, the initiative was surrounded with an atmosphere
of controversy from the outset, resulting in court action against the BBC, accusations
of high-level bungling and a very expensive and complex website. My personal
perception of Curriculum Online is that it was a technological and bureaucratic
sledgehammer that wasted far too much money on the technical infrastructure
and created cosy clique of suppliers who dominated the market place and forced
many smaller specialist suppliers into liquidation. The whole initiative had
a pre-1989 East European flavour. Having gained control over teachers with the
introduction of the National Curriculum, the government
tried to gain control of educational suppliers. Tom McMullan described the Curriculum
Online initiative as being a government plan for "backdoor nationalisation
of the UK educational content marketplace" (Wired to Learn, Adam
Smith Institute). The Curriculum Online website was radically revamped several
times in response to feedback from teachers, but it still had a labyrinthine
look and feel. Moreover, the listing of a product at the Curriculum Online site
was not a guarantee of quality as only random checks were carried out. There
was an evaluation process operated by independent agencies, but for an exorbitant
fee that small businesses could not afford.
Department
for Education (DfE): http://www.education.gov.uk.
Formerly known as the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
- or the Department for Curtains and Soft Furnishings according to some
teachers' interpretation of the abbreviation. Before that it was known as the
Department for Education and Skills (DfES). It would be helpful if governments
would stop changing the names of their ministries as it creates confusion and
a major heachache for website managers.
elearningeuropa: An initiative
of the European Commission. A comprehensive portal on e-learning: articles,
EC-funded programmes, tools and resources, etc: http://elearningeuropa.info
European Centre
for Modern Languages (ECML): The Council of Europe's
centre in Graz, Austria. The ECML runs regular workshops for teachers of Modern
Foreign Languages, including workshops on ICT. The website includes reports
on past workshops, useful resources, and announcements of forthcoming activities:
http://www.ecml.at
European
Union: This is the European Union's homepage, with lots of multilingual
links: http://europa.eu. The following pages
will link you to some of the EU's key programmes and activities:
European Symbols,
etc: The European Flag and links to List of Member States, Europe in
12 Lessons, Key Figures, History, Maps, Travelling in Europe, European
Anthem, Europe Day, Eurojargon, Glossary, Treaties and Law: http://europa.eu/abc/symbols/index_en.htm
European Schoolnet:
The European Schoolnet is an international partnership of Ministries of Education
developing learning for schools, teachers and pupils across Europe and beyond.
It provides insight into the use of ICT in Europe for policy-makers and education
professionals. This goal is achieved through communication and information exchange
at all levels of school education using innovative technologies, and by acting
as a gateway to national and regional school networks: http://www.eun.org
Language
Colleges: Part of the network of schools in England with specialist status.
Language Colleges emphasise languages as a specialist subject area. The Specialist
Schools and Academies Trust manages the specialist schools initiative.
Learning
Resource Exchange (LRE):A service that enables schools to find educational
content from many different countries and providers. It includes content from
Ministries of Education and other partners that are working with European
Schoolnet (EUN) in the EC-funded CALIBRATE
(2005-2008) and MELT projects.
Linguanet
Europa: This project has undergone expansion to incorporate an interface
in a number of new languages and addresses in particular the needs of adult
learners and independent learners. The site includes advice on ways of assessing
and improving one's current ability in different languages (including links
to websites that offer diagnostic and placement tests), communicating electronically
with other language learners and finding appropriate resources. A substantial
online catalogue of language learning resources is also being built up here:
http://www.linguanet-europa.org
Love
Language: An EU-funded Grundtvig project, focusing on retaining the interest
of young males in continuing to study languages and to learn new languages.
Careers Europe (UK) is one of the project partners:
http://www.love-language.org
MELT: The
MELT project from the European Schoolnet (EUN):http://www.melt-project.eu.
The MELT Learning Resource Exchange (LRE) portal for schools where you can find
open educational resources and assets from many different countries and providers,
including 17 Ministries of Education. LRE content covers virtually all curriculum
subjects, can be freely used by anyone and in some cases resources can also
be adapted and redistributed. Each item contains licensing information that
tells you what you can do with it:
National
Curriculum: These Web pages bring together the complete National Curriculum
for 5 to 16 year olds for all the required subjects in England: http://curriculum.qca.org.uk.
See my document on ICT and Modern Foreign Languages in the National Curriculum
at http://www.camsoftpartners.co.uk/ictmfl.htm
National
Grid for Learning (NGfL): The UK's National Grid for Learning was set up
as the result of a government consultation process in 1997. However, the NGfL
turned out to be rather different from what people imagined it would be and
it was not really a "grid" - more a collection of resources and links. The central
website closed in April 2006. Some local NGfLs are still in existence.
New Opportunities
Fund (NOF): An ICT training initiative at national level in the UK was undertaken
with the aid of National Lottery money, beginning in April 1999 and ending in
December 2003: http://www.biglotteryfund.org.uk.
The NOF initiative was one of the most extensive ever undertaken in in-service
training (INSET). Funded with £230 million worth of National Lottery money,
the initiative aimed to enable thousands of teachers in all subject areas, as
well as school librarians, to make effective use of ICT. A nominal sum of £450
was allocated to each full-time teacher in the maintained sector. NOF was not
a roaring success, however, and was heavily criticised: see Section 2 of my
article, ICT and Modern
Languages in the National Curriculum.
The Nuffield
Foundation: An independent charity that supports self-contained projects
which advance education or social welfare, often by means of research or practical
innovation. Here's the Languages Archive of the site: http://languages.nuffieldfoundation.org/languages/home/.
Check out the final report of the Nuffield Languages Inquiry, Languages:
the next generation (1998-2000), which can be be downloaded in PDF format.
The Nuffield Languages Inquiry was established to assess the language needs
of the UK in the 21st century. The final report is a dense document, indentifying
the UK's problems and making recommendations. I have fond memories of Nuffield.
Nuffield supported the development of the famous Ealing courses in the late
1960s, which I used in my first HE post at Ealing Technical College in the early
1970s.
Open School
for Languages (OSFL): Just under £6 million worth of funding for setting
up the OSFL, as recommended in the Dearing Languages Review (2007), has
been awarded to Lightbox Education, a subsidiary of RM, Oxfordshire. The OSFL
is now known as MYLO (My Languages Online).
Primary
Languages: CILT's national gateway to advice, information and support for
everyone interested in primary languages: http://www.primarylanguages.org.uk.
See CILT.
SOLVIT (Solving the Challenges
of International Communications): This is a useful site maintained by CILT,
BLIS and RLN. It covers all the important aspects of communicating and doing
business overseas under the headings Spoken Communication, Written
and Visual Communication and Cultural Communication: http://www.solvit.org.uk
TeacherNet: A site developed
by the Department for Education (DfE) as a resource to support teachers. See
Teacher Resource
Exchange (TRE): A moderated database of resources and activities created
by teachers. All resources on the TRE are checked by subject specialists to
ensure they are of the highest possible quality: http://tre.ngfl.gov.uk
Training and
Development Agency for Schools (TDA): A useful source of information for
teachers and teacher trainers: http://www.tda.gov.uk.
Unfortunately, the TDA has a history of regularly restructuring its website
- as well as changing its name from the Teacher Training Agency (TTA) - without
leaving redirection information. More changes are likely now that a new government
has come into power in the UK, May 2010. Watch this space!
UNIVERSITY
WEBSITES
University
of Cambridge: CALL Facility in the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages.
Lots of useful information and links: http://www.mml.cam.ac.uk/call
CEMLL (Centre
for Excellence in Multimedia Language Learning): Based in the School of
Languages and Literature at the University of Ulster, the focus of CEMLL is
to research the use of computer-based multimedia teaching facilities and develop
appropriate teaching methods. CEMLL's approach to multimedia language learning
is to integrate use of digital technology in class to promote active engagement
and to support dynamic intervention. The primary aims of CEMLL are to: -(i)
develop teaching excellence and encourage innovation in the use of multimedia
resources, (ii) integrate the use of multimedia resources with face-to-face
teaching, (iii) research and evaluate the effectiveness of teaching in a multimedia
environment, (iv) collaborate with colleagues within the University of Ulster
and other HE Institutions and share good practice: http://cemll.ulster.ac.uk
FLTeach: Foreign Language
Teaching Forum, an extensive set of resources for language teachers and students,
maintained by the State University of New York College at Cortland: http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/
LLAS:
The Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies at the University
of Southampton: http://www.llas.ac.uk.
Extensive electronic resources can be found here: see, for example, The
Good Practice Guide.
University of Manchester: This
is the homepage of the Language Centre, which contains lists of available language
learning resources and many links to language sites and to software suppliers.
The Language Centre offers a wide range of courses for the public: http://www.langcent.manchester.ac.uk
The Open University Faculty of
Education and Language Studies: The Open University offers distance learning
courses in Modern Languages. Study materials include printed course books and
audio materials that cover survival language for the traveller as well as the
communication skills needed in a range of settings, at home, work or leisure.The
Open University makes use of both face-to-face tuition and online tuition using
a voice and visual conferencing system: http://www.open.ac.uk/education-and-languages/.
See the LearningSpace page for sample materials in French, German and
Spanish: http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/course/category.php?id=9
Oxford University Language Centre:
A set of useful links to resources, websites and publications: http://www.lang.ox.ac.uk
Routes into Languages: The
Routes into Languages programme is funded by the Higher Education Funding Council
for England (HEFCE) and the Department for Education (DfE).
Under the programme, a number of regional consortia have been established where
groups of universities will work together, with schools and colleges, to enthuse
and encourage people to study languages. National networks have been set up
to promote translation and interpreting as careers; and three research projects
have been commissioned. The programme is running for four years from 2006/07
to 2009/10. The project is led by the Subject Centre for Languages,
Linguistics and Area Studies (LLAS), University of Southampton, in a partnership
with the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML) and CILT,
the National Centre for Languages:http://www.routesintolanguages.ac.uk
Box of Tricks:
José Picardo's blog on Education and ICT, with a main focus on ICT in
teaching and learning foreign languages: http://www.boxoftricks.net.
See also AsíSeHace.
Delicious:
A social bookmarking service that enables you to store your favourite websites
online. You can also use Delicious to see the interesting links that other people
bookmark, and you can share links with them in return. You can even browse and
search Delicious to discover bookmarks that everyone else has saved - which
is made easy with tags that enable you to organise and remember your
bookmarks: http://delicious.com
Edmodo: A private
social platform for teachers and students to share ideas, files, events and
assignments: http://www.edmodo.com
E-Language:
A resources wiki, created by Mark Pegrum, containing a wealth of information
and resources for teachers and learners of languages: drills, quizzes, webquests,
simulations, Web 2.0 in education, social networking, podcasting and virtual
worlds: http://e-language.wikispaces.com
Facebook: Facebook is a
huge social network with millions of members, and there are many sub-networks
based around a workplace, a region, a school, a college, a charity, etc: http://www.facebook.com.
You'll find me on Facebook: Graham
Davies.
HangOut:
A website that enables you to create and customise your own 3D room, where you
can hang out with your friends: http://www.hangout.net
Isabelle Jones:
Resources, research, news and views about language teaching in the UK. Lots
of useful information and links: http://isabellejones.blogspot.com
Joe
Dale: Joe is the author of the blog titled Integrating ICT into the Modern
Foreign Languages Classroom at http://joedale.typepad.com.
This covers a variety of topics relating to the teaching of foreign languages,
especially blogging, podcasting and using interactive whiteboards.
LinguanetForum:
A discussion list for language teachers and researchers. This is an extremely
lively discussion list and well worth looking at. The old Linguanet site
at http://www.linguanet.org.uk is
now an inactive site and its materials have been incorporated into the CILT
and Linguanet Europa sites.
Daily English Activities.
This site is for EFL / ESL students. Each day you can find a new simple online
activity to help you improve your English: http://daily-english-activities.blogspot.com
Ning: A platform that enables
you to create your own social network: http://www.ning.com.
A Ning enables anyone to create a network focusing on a particular topic or
catering for a specific membership, for example a group of teachers working
together on an educational project. Typically, a Ning includes blogs, announcements
of events, a forum, live chat and facilities for uploading photographs and video
clips. See, for example, the EUROCALL/CALICO
Virtual Worlds Special Interest Group. The word "Ning" derives
from the Chinese word for "peace"
Palabea: A social network
site that connects people who share interests in learning languages and in discovering
different cultures. Users can improve their foreign language skills by communicating
together with native speakers from all over the world in audio or video conferences.
Each user is both a pupil and a teacher. Palabea has created virtual classrooms
where all members can upload contents which they can work on together and correct
one another. Members can create their own content: record video lessons, record
podcasts and create documents. It is also possible to search for friends and
language courses in an accredited language school:http://www.palabea.net
PassportStamp: A site which
allows users to create a personalised map of their travels across the globe
and discuss their exploits with other Web users: http://www.passportstamp.com
Second
Life: The fastest growing Multi User Virtual Environment (MUVE)
on the Web, a three-dimensional virtual world that you can explore
in the guise of your chosen avatar: http://secondlife.com
More detailed information
on Second Life with lots of useful links, including introductory tutorial
materials written by Graham Davies, can be found in Section
14.2.1 of Module 1.5 at the ICT4LT website.
EUROCALL
and CALICO maintain a joint headquarters in
Second Life and have set up a joint EUROCALL/CALICO Virtual Worlds
Special Interest Group - see the link on the right.
Times
Educational Supplement: The Times Educational Supplement manages the Modern
Foreign Languages Forum, where language teachers can air their views and
ask questions.
Twitter:
A social networking site. As the Twitter site says: "Twitter is a service
for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through
the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are
you doing?": http://twitter.com .
You will find me in Twitter - click on the Twitter logo on the right. See
also Twitter Groups at http://twittgroups.com
YouTube:
A social networking site where anyone can post videos. Some useful materials
for teaching and learning foreign languages can be found here if you search
hard: http://www.youtube.com
BBC World Service: This is
the Web version of the BBC’s excellent news service. As well as texts,
you’ll find sound and video clips too. Schedules of broadcasts can also
be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/
Euronews: A mulitlingual
news round-up. The news is presented here from a European perspective: http://www.euronews.net
Kidon Media-Link:
This is where you find links to all kinds of media - newspapers, magazines,
websites, press agencies, radio and TV stations - all over the world: http://www.kidon.com/media-link.
A remarkable resource for language learners and teachers.
Newstrans:
This site is headed "Automatically Translate Virtually Every Major Newspaper
in the World!". It is extremely useful for locating newspapers in a wide range
of languages. The quality and accuracy is what you can expect from an automatic
translation system - but you can get the gist, e.g. "The red-green coalition
agreement pushes in the SPD obviously increasingly on criticism" as a rendering
of "Die rot-grüne Koalitionsvereinbarung stößt in der SPD offensichtlich
zunehmend auf Kritik":
http://www.humanitas-international.org/newstran/index-original.html
SCOLA:
Clips of news broadcasts in a variety of languages for language teachers and
learners. The materials consist of a transcript of the first five minutes of
a news broadcast in the original language and an English translation, supplemented
by vocabulary, quizzes, and/or topics for discussion: http://www.scola.org.
See also Kidon Media-Link.
World Radio Network: Radio
stations around the world, including radio stations broadcasting in foreign
languages: http://www.wrn.org
Data
Driven Learning (DDL) was the brainchild of the late Tim Johns, Co-author
of the seminal work by Higgins J. & Johns T. (1984) Computers in language
learning, London: Collins. Tim wrote one of the first commercially available
classroom concordancers, MicroConcord.
KWiCFinder:
A concordancer, written by Bill Fletcher, that rides on the back of a standard
search engine, enabling the whole WWW to be used as a text corpus: http://www.kwicfinder.com
Web
Concordancer: A concordancer for English language students on the Web: http://www.edict.com.hk/concordance/.
See also the homepage of the Virtual Language Centre of the Polytechnic University
of Hong Kong: http://vlc.polyu.edu.hk.
There's a lot of useful stuff here.
Markin:
A useful tool, developed by Martin Holmes, University of Victoria, Canada.
This is a program for marking work submitted by students as text data, for example
via email or as a word-processed document. It was developed as a marking system
for courses delivered via the Internet, and can produce marked work in the form
of HTML files that can be viewed in a Web browser, or as RTF files that can
be viewed with a word-processor: http://www.cict.co.uk/software/markin/
Microvision: Supplier of
devices that enable you to project images onto a large screen from mobile devices:
http://www.microvision.com
Net Transport (NetXfer):
A downloading utility for capturing media, including streaming audio and video
media, where there is no direct URL indicated so that you cannot use "Save As..."
to get the whole file: http://www.xi-soft.com
NeoWORX: This site offers
some interesting widgets that show where visitors to your website come from:
http://www.neoworx.net
Skype: A free Internet telephony
service that enables audio communication via a PC with anyone in the world,
including audio conferencing with more than one person at a time. There is also
SkypeOut, a very cheap pay-as-you-go service that enables you to call ordinary
phones via your PC: http://www.skype.com
Slideshare: A site where
you can upload and share your PowerPoint presentations, Word &
PDF documents: http://www.slideshare.net
Tiny URL: This site offers
a useful facility. Have you experienced frustration when trying to copy and
paste a very long URL into your browser's query box and then find that you have
missed a bit, with the result that the site appears to be unavailable? Tiny
URL reduces long URLs to tiny URLs that you can then paste into emails and other
documents: http://tinyurl.com
Virtual Magnifying Glass:
A software package that enables allows the user to magnify anything which appears
on the screen. Very useful for partially-sighted learners and for whole-class
teaching, e.g. highlighting words and phrases on a projection screen: http://magnifier.sourceforge.net
VoiceThread: http://voicethread.com:
A tool for holding and storings conversations around media. A VoiceThread is
a collaborative, multimedia slide show that holds images, documents, and videos
and allows people to leave comments in five different ways - using voice (using
a microphone or telephonephone), text, audio file, or video (via a webcam).
You can share a VoiceThread with friends, students, and colleagues for them
to record comments too. VoiceThreads can even be embedded on websites and exported
to MP3 players or to DVDs. With VoiceThread, group conversations are collected
and shared in one place from anywhere in the world.
WebWhacker by Blue Squirrel:
A software tool that allows you to save Web pages, including text, graphics
and HTML links, directly to your hard drive, so you can view them offline at
highly accelerated speeds: http://www.bluesquirrel.com/products/webwhacker/.
However, beware of copyright restrictions on downloading other people's sites.
You should always check the Terms of Use at a website before downloading
it in whole or in part.
Wimba: Wimba specialises
in Web-based voice technology which enables you, for example, to teach speaking
and listening skills, giving students multiple methods of speaking, writing,
and listening to foreign languages – all online. Wimba Voice incorporates
the use of threaded voice boards, voice-enabled email, embedded voice within
course pages, as well as live group discussions and debates: http://www.wimba.com
Xenu Link
Sleuth: A software package that checks websites for broken links. Link verification
is done on "normal" links, images, frames, plug-ins, backgrounds, local image
maps, style sheets, scripts and Java applets. It displays a continously updated
list of URLs which you can sort by different criteria. A report can be produced
in HTML at any time while link checking is in progress: http://home.snafu.de/tilman/xenulink.html
GREYHOUNDS
- MY FAVOURITE DOG
Our family have always been
greyhound fans. Flash
was our first dog, a lurcher (a greyhound/terrier cross), adopted from
the RSPCA in 1978, and he was followed by Henry, Whistler and Swifty,
all of whom came from the
Greyhound Welfare kennels in Hersham, Surrey:
see photos below. We have recently adopted Brett, a retired racing greyhound
(photo right), following
the death of our beloved Swifty in July 2009. There is an embedded YouTube
video of Swifty below the photos.
