Language Learning Resources

As I was 9 years old, I told my mom that I wanted to be a linguist. My mum was very surprised at me, for she can only speak Chinese, and has never heard of any occupations related to linguistic. However I do kept my dream of becoming a linguist until high school. Then I found out that linguists are paid less. So I gave up.

I gave up the idea of becoming a linguist as a professional, but not learning foreign languages.

Here are the resources for language learning that I’ve kept in my bookmark lists, with sites I’ve tried or will try in the future. I will keep updating this page with links such as online courses, podcasts and other supplemental materials here. I have started learning Spanish in June 2011, after I received my Japanese N1 Certificate. My ultimate goal in language learning is to be like Steve Kaufmann, http://thelinguist.blogs.com/, or even get beyond him.

There are some general language learning sites that offer different languages free or with a subscription fee.

LiveMocha: http://www.livemocha.com/

offers several languages for free at beginner level

LingQ: www.lingq.com/

though free members can only create up to 100 LingQs, the access to all the audio and text materials is really useful

Babbel Language: http://www.babbel.com/

FSI Language: http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php

BBC Languages: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/

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French

A first year French program: http://www.laits.utexas.edu/fi/home

offered by University of Texas at Austin

German

DW-World.de: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,266,00.html

Japanese

Center for Japanese Language Education, the University of Tokyo: http://133.11.107.63/external/index.html

Reading Tutor: http://language.tiu.ac.jp/index_e.html

沪江日语: http://jp.hjenglish.com/new/ (site in Chinese)

A good site offers Japanese from newbie to advanced courses, at a not expensive price. I am now using this site for the preparation of JLPT N1

长春山崎日语: http://ccsqry.com/index.asp (site in Chinese)

This is the cradle where I began learning Japanese.

JLPT Sample tests by the Japan Foundation: http://www.jlpt.jp/e/samples/forlearners.html

Mongolian

During a short stay in Beijing in the summer of 2011, I have learned simple Mongolian greetings from the mom in my host family. And this opened up my interest in the Mongolian language.

Basic info of Mongolian language on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_language

American center for Mongolian studies: http://mongoliacourses.org/

Mongolian alphabets & resources: http://www.omniglot.com/writing/mongolian.htm

Mongoluls: http://www.mongoluls.net/mongolianlanguage/

Lingua Mongolia: http://www.linguamongolia.com/

Spanish

BBC Language Spanish: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/spanish/

La vida loca is an interesting program!

Spanish Pod: http://spanishpod.com/

the minimum subscription fee is at $9/mo. I’ve followed the SpanishPod.com for 6 months, and really their hosts.

¿Qué Onda? http://www.queondaspanish.com/

This site is like Babbel Language, with flashcards and vocabulary games. Babbel Language became a paid-to-access site now, however at the point when I signed up, it was still with both free and premium content. So ¿Qué Onda? is a better choice for me now. Besides you can download its Google Chrome app and sign in using Facebook/Twitter account; this made the site more convenient to access and user friendly.

Spanish Learning: http://www.spanish.bz/learn-spanish.htm

Spanish Conjugation: http://www.conjugation.org/

Practica Español: http://www.practicaespanol.com/

AVE: http://ave.cervantes.es/ing.htm