Will Slade's Language Teaching Blog

I have been fairly impressed with two apps for language learning.  These are by no means a magic solution that replace attending class and practicing with real people (nothing is, despite the claims of Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone).  But they do as good a job as much more expensive software for providing basic vocabulary, spelling, listening, and functional grammar practice. Duolingo has options to study French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and German for English speakers.  I just now noticed (maybe it's a new addition) that they are offering English for Spanish speakers, French speakers, Italian speakers, and Portuguese speakers.  Good for them!  Complaints: sometimes I have noticed that the stress on the syllables in the Spanish version are incorrect, leading to some strange pronunciations that a Spanish speaker would not understand.  Also, I find the typing on the phone a little bit cumbersome, so I actually prefer the computer version.  But th...

If you're like me and study French, you might be interested in connections between our city and nation and the French.  Here are a few sites I ran across that might interest you.  The first is a party that's this coming week! Bastille Day Celebration on July 16 at the French Legation:  http://www.afaustin.org/ Brief history of cities with French names in the US :  http://nclrc.org/cultureclub/speakers_corner/Americas-French-Heritage.pdf American students of French writing poetry:  http://frenchcinquains.blogspot.com/

Engaging, comprehensible, diverse video snippets of people speaking in the language you're trying to learn!  And different activities and ways of engaging the materials. Spanish video clips with transcript options and practical organization! I really wish this one had been available when I was learning Spanish! Spanish conjugations  with a variety of other Spanish practice materials French resources, particularly videos of proficient non-native speakers (a learner doesn't need to shoot for a native speaker standard, just a proficient non-native, right?) Portuguese all over Brazil !Vivian and others did such a wonderful job on this one! COERLL has a ton of other languages represented as well!  Check them out.