9 Websites You Can Use to Learn a Foreign Language - StumbleUpon
Traveling is a great way to see a country and learn about the people who live there. But if you really want to learn what makes them tick than you need to learn their language. Immersing yourself in a new language can seem like a daunting task. Fortunately, there are great free resources available to turn your first few words into fluency. BBC Languages A great resource to get you going. Word2Word This site can really increase your vocabulary and syntax. Internet Polyglot This site isn’t intended to be used as your sole learning site. Busuu A language learning community. Madinah Arabic Language Course This site was set up over 8 years ago specifically to teach Arabic for free. Livemocha Another learning language community. Skritter This site focuses on just Chinese and Japanese. Ethnologue Owned by SIL International, the Ethnologue is a listing of the known living languages of the world. My Happy Planet One more language community, but this one is different from the others.
100 Free Foreign Language Classes Online
March 1st, 2010 If you have always wanted to learn a language but were too put off by the high cost associated with most classes, then take a look at all these great opportunities to learn a foreign language online, at no cost to you. With so many learning opportunities online, it is a shame not to take advantage of all that you can, so be sure to spend some time with these classes. Whether you want to learn one of the major world languages or want something a little less popular, there are sure to be lessons here to help you start to speak whatever language you are interested in learning. French If you want to learn French, no matter your experience level, then check out these free classes. BBC Languages French. Spanish From the basics to more advanced college courses in Spanish, see what is available in this listing. Learn Spanish. German Learn German from these free classes. BBC Languages German. Italian Italian Language Course. Portuguese BBC Languages Portuguese. Japanese Chinese Chinese I.
language learning theory
Age Effects in Second Language Acquisition : OverviewRieko Matsuoka, Ian Smith Abstract Age has been regarded as an important factor in acquiring second languages successfully as well as in acquiring first languages. In this review article, previous studies regarding age and language acquisition are examined, and the ways in which age may affect the process of acquiring a second language are discussed. For instance, some previous research（ e.g., Johnson & Newport, 1989） evidenced the strong negative correlation（r > |－.7|） between age of acquisition/arrival and accuracy or native-like proficiency, which means the younger learners are, the more native-like they become. Second language acquisition researchers differ over when the critical period/sensitive period comes to an end. Brain-based evidence has been also coordinated with second language research in recent studies（ e.g. Selinger（ 1978） proposes, there may be multiple critical/sensitive periods for different aspects of language.
RhinoSpike : Foreign Language Audio on Demand!
How I Became a Xenolinguist
Wikiuniversity offers a wry definition of Xenolinguistics: “the scientific study of languages of non-human intelligences. Publications in this field tend to be speculative as few people have made the claim to have understood an alien language, at least not reliably.” The grand convergence of psychedelics and technology came in the summer of 1998. I was a grad student at RPI in communication and rhetoric, fully indoctrinated in (mostly French) critical theory, semiotics, new media theory, and the history of communication technology. The fictional world had established itself well enough that I could enter it, look around, and ask questions of the characters. Glide presented itself in the story-world as an alien language. When summer of 1998 was over, I did not have a visual language topic framed in terms of a semiotic or new media theory. Lily Pads Glide Maze Lily Glyph Blue Lily A series of software applications emerged from this process of psychedelic self-exploration. Like this:
Any phonetic script can be learned in just a few hours | Fluent
If you liked my association technique mentioned below, you would also enjoy my tips on using imagination to memorize vocabulary, which are discussed in great detail with many other hacks in the Language Hacking Guide. See the most popular posts on the right below for other interesting topics. For those curious, this post discusses Thai, but the ideas can equally be applied to other phonetic scripts such as Japanese (but not as well for Chinese). Just one week into the challenge of reading/speaking Thai in 8 weeks (actually only about 5 hours total, since I’ve been quite busy since I arrived, but I’ve made time to learn on the skytrain/in restaurants/taxis etc.) and I’ve reached the first major milestone already. I can read Thai. The major thing still missing is tones, which admittedly are an extremely important part of this language that cannot be ignored and I will get to shortly (Edit: Done! It was actually way easier than I expected. From squiggly symbols to new letters า ท Challenges ร
All Japanese All The Time Dot Com: How to learn Japanese. On you
From the Mouths of Babes: A High School Girl Shares Her AJATT Success Story Hey Khatz, I just thought I’d send you an (almost done) success story. My name is Mariah, and I’m a junior in high school; I’ve been doing the AJATT method on-and-off since the summer of 8th grade, but more on that in a bit. I was originally going to send you a success story after I had considered myself... Read more » It Worked For Me, Why Not You? Good day to you, Mr. Read more » You Are What You Eat, You Write What You Read, You Speak What You Hear This entry is part 10 of 13 in the series Secrets of SpeakingThe attentive will recall that Jamie (an AJATTeer) came up with what I still consider to be the greatest analogy in the history of learning languages about a year ago. Read more » Success Story: Using AJATT to Pwn Japanese Classes (Which Still Suck), And Moving On In Life… Penname Shawn was an AJATTeer back when that meant something. Read more » Read more »
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Ten Most Difficult Words to Translate
Sometimes even the finest translators come up against words that defy translation. Many languages include words that don’t have a simple counterpart in another language. When translators come across such a word, they usually describe it so that it makes sense in the target language. But some words pose more difficulty than others due to interesting cultural differences. Here are ten words that are particularly difficult to translate: Mamihlapinatapei From Yagan, the indigenous language of the Tierra del Fuego region of South America. Jayus From Indonesian, meaning a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh. Prozvonit In both Czech and Slovak language, this word means to call a mobile phone only to have it ring once so that the other person would call back, allowing the caller not to spend money on minutes. Kyoikumama In Japanese, this word refers to a mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement.
