Items of Interest

Spring 2026 SDLC 105 Syllabus

Spring 2026 SDLC 105 Calendar of Activities, Assignments, and Deadlines

Spring 2026 SDLC 110, 111, 112, 113 General Syllabus

Weekly log for language partners

Global Studio Catalog of Learning Materials and Resources

 

Self-Directed Language Acquisition Program

Sept. 3- Recorded Presentation by Derek Miller, UR Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, Guidelines and Resources for Community-Based Language Learning

Sept. 3- Bonner Guidelines for Community-Based Language Learning, PPT.

 

Benny Lewis: TEDx Talk on Rapid Language Hacking

https://youtu.be/HZqUeWshwMs

 

ACTFL Inverted Pyramid Proficiency Scale

 

New Electronic Catalog of Global Studio Language-Learning Materials

Over the last few weeks, our fantastic team of Global Studio Fellows have been creating an electronic catalog of language learning materials on reserve in INTC 226. There are interesting resources for Korean, Turkish, Hindi, Hebrew, and Portuguese See the ongoing collection, here. Use the tag list to focus your search.

 

Vocaroo for sharing audio files with language partners

Vocaroo is a great free tool to share audio recording files with your language partners. Check it out! https://vocaroo.com/

 

Open-Source Repository of Grammar Reference Textbooks

In internet searches, I came across an open-source repository of grammar reference books pertaining to a wide variety of different languages. Feel free to peruse the collection, here

 

Lang-8 and HiNative Communities for Native Speaker Feedback

This is a great free resource to get free feedback from native speakers of your target language. On the site, you can receive commentary on submit writing samples, or address questions of grammar and usage to an active online community. You can access the site, here. **Note: Lang-8 stopped accepting new members, but you can still access similar networking resources for writing feedback on their new site, HiNative

 

WikiTongues

Library of recordings from endangered languages.

https://www.youtube.com/user/WikiTongues

https://wikitongues.org/

 

International News Resources

Check out this curated list on interesting foreign-language news resources!

 

World Atlas of Language Structures

http://wals.info/

 

Endangered Languages Project

http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/

 

Which languages are the hardest to learn?

Here's a chart! What is difficult about the language you're learning?

 

Try Mango Languages 

Just starting a language?  The University now provides Mango Languages, which offers beginning or 'survival' language lessons in many languages.  To try Mango, go the Boatwright Library web, click Research Databases > M, and look for Mango Languages.  Once you have created an account through the Library site, you can download the Mango Languages app and use it on your mobile device.

 

Infographic on word etymologies and historical trade routes

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapping-words-along-trade-routes/?fbclid=IwAR2IQRiSW3KqaFGi_kjkrSbkjXUri_PZI7tAMEB4iKH5W0DPrp_yQj1OzuE

 

 

Articulatory Phonetics Memes

https://goo.gl/bzVfCL

 

Preserving Regional German Dialects

This article from Deutsche Welle discusses what is lost when regional variants of a language are lost. It also discusses the difference between a language and a dialect and why 'dialects' are losing ground in Germany.

 

Radio Segment on North Koreans on South Korean TV

On Sunday, January 31, 2016, NPR had a radio feature on the appearance of North Koreans on South Korean reality TV.  You can listen to the segment here: http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/01/31/464798910/south-koreas-newest-tv-stars-are-north-korean-defectors .

 

An Interview with Linguist K. David Harrison on When Languages Die

 

 

Slate article:  Photos of Women Who Could Go to Prison for Singing for Men


A series of photographs and a very brief discussion of things women in Iran are forbidden to do, including singing for me and studying English literature.

 

The 'Halal Internet'


A Deutsche Welle article about the 'Halal Internet' coming to Iran has been posted as a discussion item in the Persian group.  Join the discussion!

 

The Free Dictionaries Project


Looking for a free dictionary?  Check out the Free Dictionaries Project!  Especially interesting are the picture dictionaries.

  

Alphabet Blocks for Hebrew, Korean, and Arabic

The Global Studio now has alphabet blocks for Hebrew, Korean, and Arabic.  (The Arabic may be useful for the Persian learners.)  There are also magnetic letters for Hebrew.

What can you do with alphabet blocks and magnetic letters?  Quiz yourself on the letters, put them together to form words, and learn the names of the animals pictured on one side of the blocks.  The Korean blocks seem to have a puzzle, too.  Want to try?  Ask at the Global Studio desk!

 

Visit the Conflict Kitchen, a take-out restaurant that serves food from countries with which the US is in conflict.

 

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Finding Books in Your Language


A number of people have asked about finding children's books, 'easy readers', and popular fiction in the SDLAP languages.  The Global Studio has children's books in Swahili and Turkish (thanks to Professor Grove), and I'm willing to buy more.  However, I prefer to buy books that are culturally authentic, i.e., not translated from English.

 

I have found the following online bookstores that seem to have a good selection.  Please send me (Prof. Scinicariello) a list of things you…

Read more…

What is Social Bookmarking? (That's Diigo)

Wikipedia: A Short Explanation

YouTube: Social Bookmarking in Plain English--This is about Delicious, but the theory is the same.

YouTube: Diigo V.3--This video has information about Diigo groups.

Latest Activity

Newton Liu is now a member of The SDLAP Ning
yesterday
Global Studio replied to Myanna Hightower's discussion Language Learning Journal Entry #1
"Fantastic post, Myanna! I hope you enjoyed conecting with Kimmi!"
yesterday
Emma Butcher posted a discussion
The main ideas behind the pieces that we read are that our languages differ in more ways than just our words. Yes, if we do not know someone’s language, it may be difficult to talk to them, but it is also difficult to fully communicate with someone when you do not understand the cultural norms. Figuring Foreigners Out was particularly interesting because it mentioned cultural tendencies that I have not necessarily thought of. The main points that the reading looked at were individualists vs.…
Tuesday
Lila Taylor posted a discussion
I predominantly agree with the assessments in Figuring Foreigners Out in terms of the points it makes around key cultural differences being rooted in individualistic vs collectivist values, differences in nonverbal communication norms and assignments of meanings, monochronic vs polychronic approaches to time, internal (more activist) vs. external (more fatalist) attitudes towards life, and indirect vs. direct communication norms. The one thing that struck me as odd in this reading was its…
Monday
Lila Taylor posted a discussion
I have organized my self-directed learning plan using a combination of music, Memrize, and weekly 30 minutes - 1 hour iTalki Conversational Spanish lessons. My interest in becoming (eventually) fluent in Spanish has been prompted by the upper level Spanish classes I have taken here, my time studying abroad in Spanish speaking countries, my appreciation for Latin music, my Spanish speaking friends, and the importance of Spanish fluency for the career I am pursuing in human rights law. My studies…
Monday
Grayson Charlton posted a discussion
Article Summaries Figuring foreigners out is about realizing that people from different cultures don’t all think, communicate, or behave the same way. Things like how direct someone is, how they view time, how much they rely on context or body language, and whether they prioritize the individual or the group all vary by culture. A lot of confusion across cultures happens because we assume our own way of doing things is normal, when in reality what's normal completely changes depending on…
Monday
Grayson Charlton posted a status
Article Summaries
Figuring foreigners out is about realizing that people from different cultures don’t all think, communicate, or behave the same way. Things like how direct someone is, how they view time, how much they rely on context or body language, and whether they prioritize the individual or the group all vary by culture. A lot of confusion across cultures happens because we assume our own way of doing things is normal, when in reality what's normal completely changes depending on…
Monday
Julie Strickland replied to Michael Marsh-Soloway's discussion Due by 5pm on Sunday, September 15: Discussion Post #2 on the Ning
"In summary, “Figuring Foreigners Out” looks at the following categories and how different cultures fall on the relative scale/examples of culture-specific practices: Individualist– Collectivist, Non-verbal communication, Monilochronic– Polychronic (when assessing time), Internal– External (in determining the control of results), and Direct and Indirect Communication. On the other hand, Dr. Geert Hofstede looks at several indices to compare cultures: Power Distance Index (PDI), Individualism…"
Sunday
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A network of participants in and friends of Richmond's Self-Directed Language Acquisition Program.

Diigo: Persian Learners

Diigo: Turkish Learners

Diigo: Asian Language Learners

Diigo: SDLAP at UR