Voxopop http://www.voxopop.com/ Voxopop ... a forum platform (message board) ... using voice instead of text.
Voxopop talkgroups let you discuss your interests and passions with people from all over the world, using your real voice. It's a whole new way to talk online. Find talkgroups to join, or start your own and spread the word. Great for families & friends, interest groups, website owners, bloggers, podcasters and teachers. Start talking, it's FREE!
Now I wonder how this could be used in teaching and learning ... modern foreign languages and ESL immediately comes to mind ... with speaking and listening skills.
SL Experiments wiki http://slexperiments.pbworks.com/ SL Experiments wiki
This is a wiki for language teachers interested in or already teaching in Second Life.
Here, we collect and share ideas on how to use Second Life for teaching languages. Participants can edit text, add or delete text, links, pages etc. You can also embed gadgets, videos (e.g. SL video tutorials).
Google Language Tools : Search Across Languages http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en Google Language Tools : Search Across Languages
Type a search phrase in your own language to easily find pages in another language. We'll translate the results for you to read. A MUST HAVE
WebSwami : Web-based Language Lab http://www.webswami.com A web-based system that allows any student with a PC and mic/webcam to benefit from advanced language learning activities – wherever they may be.
WebSwami is a platform into which schools can import their current content (any language), or with its unique ability to capture webcam straight to server, very easily author rich new material.
Top 10 Language Podcasts http://www.lexiophiles.com/top-10-language-podcasts Top 10 Language Podcasts
In light of the positive comments our top 100 blog list has generated, we have decided to publish a ranking of the top ten language learning podcasts.
We have browsed the web to gather an exhaustive list of language podcasts, and highlighted below what we think are the ten best.
Top 100 Language Blogs http://www.lexiophiles.com/featured-article/top-100-language-blogs Top 100 Language Blogs
Here at lexiophiles we love all our fellow bloggers. Some are really good and others are just fantastic! Here is our list of the Top 100 language and education blogs currently on the web.
SLanguages2008 Language Quests http://tinyurl.com/6hd4uw SLanguages2008 Language Quests
The Robin Hood Quest ... Second Life, Virtual World
SL Languages 2008 Archives http://www.slanguages.net/archive.php Second Life Conference 2008 ... archive of presentations
Video, Powerpoints, Audio, Languages, Virtual Worlds
TypeIT (10 Languages Word Processing) http://french.typeit.org/ This page allows you to easily type French accents and other French characters without a French keyboard. You can edit your text in the box and then copy it to your e-mail application, word processor, etc.
Using Second Life to Learn a Second Language http://tinyurl.com/5gt7v8 Using 'Second Life' to Learn a Second Language
"Second Life," the online world that brings players together from across the globe to socialize, shop and even fly, is developing a second career as a hot spot for learning English as a second language (ESL).
It's a classic innovation -- a novel way to use a tool created for an entirely different purpose, namely to have a good time. That's still the reason why most players come to "Second Life," but English-language instructors who spend time with students there say they're combining fun and learning -- and getting excellent results.
Practice Your Languages for Free in Second Life http://www.avatarlanguages.com/freepractice.php Practice Your Languages for Free in Second Life
The 3D virtual world "Second Life" is full of places to practice a foreign language - you can speak with real people all over the world. In 2007 Second Life introduced a voice system, so you can now talk with people just like in real life.
Best of all - it won't cost you a penny! Second Life is free to use, so you can travel to foreign countries, practice a language and make new friends - absolutely free - all from the comfort of your computer.
Lingro http://lingro.com/ Lingro - turns any webpage into an interactive language learning tool
Lingro takes any webpage and then allows you to click on any word in that page to get its translation back into English, Spanish, French, Polish, German or Italian.
Lingro's mission is to create an on-line environment that allows anyone learning a language to quickly look up and learn the vocabulary most important to them. Whenever we're developing new tools for lingro or planning the next big step, there are two principles we always consider ...
MFL in Second Life (PowerPoint) http://www.slideshare.net/sreljic/aect2007sreljic/ Online multiuser virtual environments such as Second Life offer a non-threatening space for learners to practice a foreign language or receive pre-departure information.
The simulated landscape provides an immersive experience that complements and facilitates the learning process.
Meeting language natives is one of the most important value-added offered by SL's 3D online format. Aspects of social presence are discussed. Implementation recommendations are suggested.
This ppt does not include the conference's audio explaining the slides.
VoiceThread http://voicethread.com/ VoiceThread is a free tool (in beta) that enables members to upload images, record accompanying audio commentary, and invite others to add commentary.
VoiceThreads are hosted free of charge at VoiceThread.com and can be embedded in blogs, wikis, and other types of Web sites. A VoiceThread is quick and easy to create, has plenty of space for numerous images and commentaries, and can be accessed by any Internet-enabled computer.
A VoiceThread can also be used to create a video tutorial. You can use the pen tool to draw lines and arrows on an image in real time as you are speaking. "There are plenty of exciting educational possibilities with VoiceThread, especially in the humanities, fine arts, and foreign languages. In humanities classrooms students can analyze and comment on historically significant photographs and create virtual tours of places or events they are studying. English students can record their own poetry or short story and add evocative images. Photography and Drawing students can present their work and explain their techniques and motivations; students and teachers can then leave commentaries. Foreign language students can upload pictures from a trip and then explain their voyage in the language they are studying." (Tom Daccord)
MFL Areas and Island in SecondLife http://edumuve.com/tour/?p=5 MFL Areas and Island in SecondLife
There are many regions in Second Life that cater to people who do not speak English.
These make excellent places for language students to practice their skills with native speakers. Here is a partial list of non-English-speaking regions.
If you know of others, please leave a note in the comments and I’ll add them to the list.
Video Hosting Online .. BUT add your own subtitles http://www.dotsub.com Video Hosting Online .. BUT with the ability to add your own subtitles / captions ... in any language ... to any of the videos already there or upload your own.
If your students are already uploading videos to places like YouTube then point them to this site and ask them to add captions in other languages online .. just in a web browser
The potential here as a MFL (free) online resource is very high!
List of Podcast Directories at Podcast 411 http://www.podcast411.com/page2.html List of Podcast Directories at Podcast 411
The advantage of this list is that it contains many directories other than just in English ... which should be of particular interest to language teachers.
WordLearner (free account) http://www.wordlearner.com/ WordLearner is a place for learning or teaching words in practically any language!
Learn or Teach Words...in any language - online, on a mobile phone or in the classroom!
An interesting resource for learners and teachers of words in almost any language - includes online, mobile and printable materials.
| WordBank | WordShare | Toolbar | Online Games | Mobile Games | Printables |
Interlex : Vocabulary builder for language learners. http://www.winsite.com/bin/Info?12500000037503 Vocabulary builder for language learners.
Freeware .. software to download
Interlex is a freeware vocabulary builder that helps you learn foreign words and phrases quickly and easily.
The program is built around a simple idea: first you compile a list of words and phrases, then you test yourself until you have learnt them.
You can use Interlex to create bilingual vocabulary lists in any two of the following
languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Basque, Belorussian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian,
Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian,
Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Norwegian,
Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish,
Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian.
Nativetext http://nativetext.com/ Nativetext is a free web service that translates RSS feeds from blogs and podcasts into foreign languages.
Using a new kind of distributed supercomputing, foreign language translation is performed by a network of humans around the world, not machines.
Translated content is served to a global readership through native language syndication.
web 2.0
Learning languages online http://www.freepint.com/issues/020206.htm#tips Learning languages online
The Internet can offer you instant access to authentic written, spoken
languages and even whole language courses, depending on your available
time and interest. Whether you are a complete beginner with "learn Spanish" on your list of goals, or someone who learnt French at school and has become rusty, the Internet offers you possibilities to learn
and improve your language skills.
It seems a good time to revisit some websites to see what they now offer, and to showcase some of the new sites that can help a language learner.
BVProfiler - A Vocabulary Analysis Tool http://www.sequencepublishing.com/bvprofiler.html BVProfiler - A Vocabulary Analysis Tool
BVProfiler is a software package intended for language researchers and educators interested in an uncomplicated, fully automatic, text profiler.
free download
Orientations for ICT in French Immersion Schools http://ednet.edc.gov.ab.ca/k_12/curriculum/bysubject/ict/ Orientations for ICT in French Immersion Schools : Alberta Canada
This document, available in French and English, focuses on the many aspects related to the integration of ICT, which are specific to French immersion programs.
It is intended for superintendents, school principals, technology coordinators and consultants, curriculum consultants and teachers.
It provides information, suggestions and advice to support the implementation of the ICT Program of Studies in French immersion programs.
Develop your MFL teaching practice using ICT http://www.teachernet.gov.uk/supportpack/ Develop your MFL teaching practice using ICT using the "ICT Support Pack" (UK 2006) Key Stage 3 (ages 11-14)
Here are all the materials you will need to teach MFL using ICT, from planning and preparation to evaluation.
The Practical Support Pack is an online collection of high quality lesson content, lesson plans, multimedia resources and ICT support materials designed to help teachers develop their teaching practice using ICT.
Step-by-step it gives teaching professionals the opportunity to try out new ideas and new ways of teaching familiar topics in their subject. It also shows the role that ICT can play in achieving learning and teaching objectives.
Includes video case studies
These MFL modules are linked to the Secondary National Strategy framework for teaching modern foreign languages, the National Curriculum and QCA schemes of work.
The materials reinforce the potential of packages commonly used by schools, focusing on: presentation software to enhance pupils' creativity; email to aid communication with people in other languages and the Internet to improve and extend knowledge of language and culture in other countries.
Internet for Learning Languages http://www.vts.rdn.ac.uk/tutorial/langs Internet for Learning Languages
Welcome to the RDN Virtual Training Suite - a set of free online tutorials designed to help students, lecturers and researchers improve their Internet information literacy and IT skills. Work in your own time at your own pace - no one is monitoring you! There are quizzes and interactive exercises to lighten the learning experience.
MFL and ICT : from CILT and ALL (UK) http://www.languages-ict.org.uk/ This website from CILT and ALL provides a gateway to information and guidance for teachers of languages on using Information and Communications Technology in the classroom.
Whether you are teaching French or Urdu, German or Japanese, at KS2, KS3 or 14-19, there is something here for you.
Free Downloadable Foreign Fonts http://simplythebest.net/fonts/foreign_fonts.html Free Downloadable Foreign Fonts
A foreign font resembling the Greek alphabet | A foreign font resembling the Japanese Katakana alphabet | This font is a version of the Runic alphabet. It includes regular and inline versions | A Japanese font using the Hiragana alphabet | A foreign font resembling the Kanji alphabet | A foreign font with a Tibetan style | A foreign font by Y. V. Sathaye | An uncial Greek font by Jimmy Adair | This foreign font is a version of the Thai alphabet |
Enhanced word processing for language teaching http://tinyurl.com/85wym Enhanced word processing options for language teaching
Gap-fill activities are familiar to every teacher of English and Modern Foreign Languages. They can support the development of reading skills at text level and provide grammar or vocabulary practice at sentence level. They can be ideal for pairwork, stimulating focused discussion of language.
A word-processing package, such as Word, offers you an extra dimension to such activities, allowing you to insert long lists of options within a piece of text, each specific to the gap it refers to. These are called 'drop-down lists'.
ICT for students with learning difficulties in MFL http://tinyurl.com/9v55z ICT to the rescue of students with learning difficulties in MFL
Ideas for using ICT to support MFL students with learning difficulties.
Media players and digital language labs http://www.ict4lt.org/en/en_mod2-2.htm#mediaplay Media players and digital language labs
Digital language labs: These incorporate a media player/recorder, but go one step further insofar as they offer, in digital format, the same kind of audio-interactive facilities found in a traditional language lab, including teacher monitoring facilities and video playback.
Introduction to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) http://www.ict4lt.org/en/index.htm Introduction to Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) | CALL methodology: integrating CALL into study programmes | Introduction to multimedia CALL | Introduction to CALL authoring programs | CALL software design and implementation | Computer Aided Assessment (CAA) and language learning |
Using ICT in modern foreign languages http://www.becta.org.uk/research/research.cfm?section=1&id=546 Using ICT in modern foreign languages (PDF 320KB)
Becta's What the Research Says series aims to give an initial idea of the available research evidence on aspects of using Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in schools and colleges. It is designed primarily for teachers, ICT co-ordinators and school managers.
TaskMagic http://www.mdlsoft.co.uk TaskMagic allows teachers to quickly and easily create interactive games and
exercises for use with interactive whiteboard or PC. One set of inputs from
the teacher can generate up to 13 different games automatically. Games can
be based on texts, pictures and sounds. There are currently 30 different
game formats, including Pool, Invaders, Asteroids, Millionaire, PacMan,
GapFill etc. TaskMagic works with any roman-script language. A free trial
version is available to download from the website. There are also lots of
free ready made games and resources for French and Spanish, as well as lots
of non-TaskMagic free resources and ideas to support the teaching and
learning of French at GCSE. TaskMagic was recommended as one of the top 3
Modern Languages resources at BETT 2004. It was also reviewed in the TES
Teacher magazine MFL Subject Focus on Friday May 7th 2004.
Interlex : Vocabulary builder for language learners http://www.vocab.co.uk/ Vocabulary builder for language learners - free software to download.
Interlex is a freeware vocabulary builder that helps you learn foreign words
and phrases quickly and easily. The program is built around a simple idea: first
you compile a list of words and phrases, then you test yourself until you have
learnt them.
You can use Interlex to create bilingual vocabulary lists in any
two of the following languages: Afrikaans, Albanian, Basque, Belorussian, Bulgarian,
Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French,
German, Greek, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian,
Macedonian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak,
Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian.
Feedback is immediate and informative,
without any distracting special effects. The overall result is a tangible sense
of progress that makes vocabulary learning a pleasure instead of a chore.
ICT in MFL: Subject Guidance from Cambridgeshire http://tinyurl.com/2keuv ICT in MFL - Subject Guidance developed by the ICT Service and CAS
The table has columes labeled "Curriculum examples/QCA", "What ICT Equipment is needed", "Enabling Features" and "ICT Capability"
In the form of a booklet ... (Word Document) .. a practical document
CALL Software Database http://www.fredriley.org.uk/call/resources/swdb.htm CALL Software Database
Our online software database contains details of hundreds of CALL packages aimed at 16+ and university-level language learners. It's by no means a comprehensive listing of available software, and if you don't find what you're looking for you should look at one or more of the other online software databases listed in the CALL Resources section.
ICT for Language Teaching http://www.ict4lt.org/ ICT for Language Teaching
This website is dedicated to Information and Communications Technology for Language Teachers. A total of 16 training modules have been completed and are being continually updated.
Choosing MFL Software for Early Years http://www.nacell.org.uk/resources/choosing_software.htm Choosing MFL Software for Early Years
Software for teaching languages to youngsters is becoming increasingly more widely available. Most of the software produced in the past has been aimed at the home access market, given that MFL has not formed part of the primary curriculum.
It is impossible to know just by looking at the packaging why some CD-Roms are relatively cheap whilst others are very expensive. Evaluations from other teachers can provide practical advice to support your purchasing decisions.
Here are some areas of on-line support ...
Internet Activities for Foreign Language Classes http://www.clta.net/lessons/ Internet Activities for Foreign Language Classes
How to Write Activities For The Web | Reading Strategies For Web Activities | Internet Options in the Classroom | MFL | ICT | IT | Spanish | French | Italian | German | Chinese | Japanese | Tagalog | Latin |
Virtual CALL Library http://www.sussex.ac.uk/languages/1-6-6.html The Virtual CALL Library aims to be a central point of access to the diverse collection of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL) software scattered across the Internet and available for downloading
Most software linked from this site is shareware - this is copyrighted software that is freely distributed with the requirement that payment is made to the author if the program is found to be useful.
Multilingual software | English software | French software | German software | Italian software | Japanese software | Russian software | Spanish software | Other languages software |