Your Language Connection:

This month we’ll be sharing some helpful and fun language and culture resources. These resources are intended to merely complement formal language instruction, not substitute it. They are good tools to use alongside our conversational classes, which will get you actually using the language right away. We hope you will find these websites helpful too on your quest to learn a new language!

 McDougal Littell’s Classzone.com allows you to use free online resources for their foreign language textbooks. These resources include an online workbook, flash card quizzes, composition practice, interactive maps and cultural webquests. These resources, except for the online version of the book, can be used without purchasing the textbook.

 BBC has recently come out with brand-new language resource websites for children ages 4-11. These interactive websites are offered in Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese so far. Each website features sounds, numbers, vocabulary, games, videos, and photos to help children start learning a language at an early age.   www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primarylanguages/
  About.com contains large amounts of information on many major languages. Each language’s website contains informational articles about that language, including lessons, learning tools, and cultural facts.
 Iphone and Ipod apps are a good way to practice a language on the go. There are many options out there, some free and some not.
321Speak provides high-quality language lessons with pictures and voices of native speakers. They offer Spanish, English and Chinese. Prices vary. http://321speak.com/
24/7 Tutor offers Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Russian language apps. Each language except Russian has both a free app and a $7.99 app with more features, including quizzes, native speaker audio, games and flash cards. http://www.247tutor.com/
BYKI offers a language app for $7.99 that helps you learn thousands of words or phrases for dozens of languages.  http://www.byki.com/iphone/iphone.html
Internet Polyglot provides vocabulary-building through games for $1.99.
 http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/internet-polyglot/id396269404?mt=8#
Achoo! is a 99-cent, humorous app that can be used when you encounter someone sneezing while traveling in a foreign country. The app will give you an appropriate response to the sneeze (such as “bless you”) in up to 48 languages.  
 Fasten Seatbelts 2 is a campaign to expose people to the cultural customs of other countries. They have dozens of short, entertaining videos that provide ways to avoid mistakes or misunderstandings abroad. You can also get these in the form of Iphone apps.  http://fastenseatbelts.eu/en/35/0/About-this-project 
   
 Don’t Gross out the World is a fun, quick multiple choice quiz on dining customs in other countries. http://www.fekids.com/img/kln/flash/DontGrossOutTheWorld.swf
 
 Upohar is a catering service that offers authentic ethnic cuisines prepared by native cooks. These cooks are resettled refugees from various countries who now live in Lancaster city. You can try their dishes as part of a small dinner at home or in a catering event for up to 50 people. For more information or to audition them, go to www.UpoharEthnicCuisines.com.