Web of World Languages

Language Magazine explores the vast regions of language learning online

EMC Publishing
EMC Publishing offers authentic connections to the Spanish, French, and German-speaking world with i-Culture! The EMC i-Culture program features i-News (formerly NewsTicker), i-Songs (formerly HitTicker), i-Videos (formerly i-Catcher), and the all-new i-Passport available in September.
• i-News: Three weekly news articles keep students up-to-date with what’s happening in the Spanish, French, and German-speaking world at a level they can understand (basic and advanced).
• i-Songs: Karaoke songs allow students to sing the most popular Spanish, French, and German-language songs-one new song each month!
• i-Videos: Monthly documentary-style videos give students a look at the everyday life of Spanish, French, and German-speaking teenagers.
• i-Passport: Monthly videos, featuring two teenage hosts, take students on a journey around the world to experience Spanish, French, and German-speaking countries.

All EMC i-Culture files are archived for future reference and are podcast-ready. Each program also includes interactive activities and teacher tips. i-Culture is free to new adopters of the EMC textbook programs that inspired i-Culture-¡Aventura!, C’est à toi!, and Deutsch Aktuell. EMC i-Culture may also be purchased to use with any textbook program.

Holt McDougal Grades 6-12 World Languages
These programs can be taught entirely online with Interactive Online Editions, audio, video, games, and animations to keep students motivated.

French and Spanish Interactive Online Editions provide all textbook activities in an interactive format, including instant feedback, the SoundBooth Online voice recording feature, and the Online Workbook. All video, audio, and animation are accessible at point of use. The Online Editions also contain online assessment complete with automatic scoring.

Holt McDougal World Languages programs extend learning outside the classroom with downloadable audio and video-students can listen and watch on their iPods and other mobile devices anytime, anywhere. Correlated to program vocabulary and useful expressions, the rap DVDs include animated rap songs for each unit. These DVDs also include a karaoke track, lyrics, and blackline master activity sheets to support learning. The @HomeTutor and Interactive Tutor provide independent practice and games that will keep all students motivated to succeed. These components are also designed for use with interactive whiteboards.

LingQ
LingQ is a language learning site designed to meet the needs of teachers and learners alike. Essentially LingQ is a social network of people interested in languages and in helping each other. The focus is on learning by reading and listening. There is a mountain of content, for eleven languages — audio with transcripts — on a variety of subjects, at varying levels of difficulty, all available for free download. In English alone, there are over 15,000 items.

LingQ’s functionality facilitates vocabulary growth and helps learners notice language patterns. Individual users create personal databases of words and phrases while reading and listening. This, in turn, generates flash cards, cloze tests, spaced repetition review, differential highlighting, statistics to track each learner’s progress, and much more.

Members can import content from the Internet for personal use or to share with others. Many members create original lessons for the community, in their native language. One example is ¡Me mudé a Madrid!, one of several hilarious dialogues created by Spanish LingQ members Berta and Albert.

Mango
Mango is an online language learning system that teaches real conversation skills for practical communication. Through fun and engaging interactive lessons, Mango makes learning a new language easier. The system is completely web-based and remotely accessible. As students listen to and repeat after native speakers, they learn more than just words and phrases. They learn how those pieces can be rearranged and combined to make new thoughts, new conversations, and even more practical communication.

Merriam-Webster
Easy Learning in a Click

Easy Learning in a Click is a multimedia language learning course, developed in association with Collins, and specifically geared toward travelers who need to deal with everyday situations. Each course includes a full-color book, an audio CD, and access to a free interactive website.

Users choose how and where they want to learn, then they read the book to find everyday phrases needed by travelers, listen to the audio CD to hear conversations between native speakers, then access the free interactive website to follow the complete course online and to record themselves speaking a new language.

Each chapter in the book presents a lesson, a sample conversation using new vocabulary, pronunciation tips, basic grammar, and exercises and quizzes. Also included are travelers’ tips and cultural information on the country.

Easy Learning in a Click is available in Spanish, French, German, or Italian.

Middlebury Interactive Languages
Middlebury Interactive Languages, a joint venture of Middlebury College and K12 Inc., offers districts, schools and classrooms two academically rigorous online language products: Middlebury Interactive Courses featuring the renowned Middlebury College immersion methodology, and Powerspeak12, a robust combination of more traditional language acquisition methods. The online language programs are a cost-effective way to supplement an existing language program, or provide solutions for college prep students. Both are accredited and aligned to national ACTFL standards.

Middlebury Interactive Courses use Middlebury immersion techniques using authentic content, as well as a virtual world game to help students stay in language and achieve fluency (Intermediate-Low). Powerspeak12 Courses use an eclectic approach to teach vocabulary and grammar through activities and reward-based games to help build competency (Novice-Mid). They also offer Professional Development to share Middlebury immersion best practices, and Avant STAMP 3rd party assessment.

Each language program offers 180 hours of interactive coursework, with more than 1500 task-based activities to be used in a blended model or with virtual teachers, and they are compatible with popular LMS platforms. Courses are available in Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and Latin.

Recorded Books
Recorded Books offers technology solutions to make language learning easy and fun, giving educators support in motivating students to learn. The foreign language learning resources from Recorded Books consist of programs for all ages and levels of proficiency and students who are speaking and learning English as a second or foreign language. Featured products include Pimsleur Language courses, Byki Online, Transparent Language, KidSpeak, Sing & Learn ABC Melody, SmartReaders and SteadyReaders. Since 1979 Recorded Books has produced and distributed unabridged audiobooks and other audio products direct to public, university, and school libraries, on CD, cassette, Playaway, MP3 CD, and in downloadable formats. Over 9,000 titles are available for adults, children and young adults narrated by professional award-winning actors. In addition to downloadable audiobooks from OneClickdigital, the digital databases offered by Recorded Books are ePrep Test Preparation Services, Universal Class Continuing Education Courses, and Byki Online Foreign Language Courses.

Rocket Languages
Rocket Languages’ Interactive Audio Lessons allow learners to take part in true-to-life conversations. By hearing actual native speakers, then having the conversations deconstructed, learners quickly get a sense of how the target language works and the conversational conventions.

There are also Language lessons aimed specifically at the formal aspects of language learning. These lessons provide a grounding in the grammatical rules of the target language. Combined with the Culture lessons, they offer a comprehensive, online language learning solution.

Featuring 12 languages — Arabic, ASL, Chinese, French, English for Japanese Speakers and English for Spanish Speakers, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish, the Rocket Languages range is extensive. With personalized progress tracking, individualized vocabulary lists, quizzes and self-tests, the courses offer great variety for learners.

Their multi-user options are designed for classroom settings.

Vista Higher Learning: Advanced Spanish Programs with Dynamic Integration of Text and Technology
A Handbook of Contemporary Spanish Grammar is a grammar reference that combines thorough, accessible explanations with a unique online component. The online site includes all of the 430 activities from the handbook, plus over 200 additional web-only activities for further practice, and a quiz for each chapter. All online activities and quizzes include auto-grading and instant feedback to check understanding.

The online components of Taller de escritores (advanced Spanish composition) and Intrigas (advanced Spanish through literature and film) feature a new composition engine that allows students to compose and submit compositions online using a set of word processing tools. Instructors can then perform inline editing within the composition (inserting comments and corrections)-providing students with the feedback that will help improve writing.

Yabla
Yabla provides authentic video immersion to students with an internet connection. Videos include TV dramas, documentaries, profiles of beautiful travel destinations like Ibiza or Rome, “man on the street” interviews, and, best of all, lots of music videos. Students are motivated to learn because the videos are engrossing and fun, not stale and didactic.

Yabla offers steep educational discounts – as little as $7 per student per year — and special management tools for teachers. Students can easily sign themselves up, choosing their own usernames and passwords. Then you’ll be able to assign videos to them as homework or lab assignments. Students complete assignments by playing the Yabla Game and earning points. As students complete the assignments, you can monitor their progress with detailed reporting.