Items of Interest

Fall 2025 SDLC 105 Syllabus

Fall 2025 SDLC 105 Calendar of Activities, Assignments, and Deadlines

Fall 2025 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

Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
Looking at Aitchison’s diagram on page 9, I realized that linguistics involves many different disciplinaries like psychology, sociology, and anthropology. It shows that learning a language isn’t just about memorizing words or grammar rules but also understanding how the ways people and society use it, how it reflects culture, and how our brains process it.I don’t think I would stick to just one approach. If I only focused on the structure, like syntax or phonology, I would miss out on the…
yesterday
Elizabeth Jonas posted a discussion
I am slightly confused on how handedness affects the brain hemispheres with respect to language. I'd like to read more into that. I could be wrong, but I feel like that has more to do with corellation rather than causation. I know the text states it's not quite a symmetrical relationship, but it does feel like a far-fetched claim altogether. I do not believe language is purely biological, but I think there are definitely parts of it that are. I remember learning about Broca's and Wernicke's…
Sunday
Kevin Retana posted a discussion
One of the many aspects of Korean culture that intrigues me is about Korean culture is the Korean food culture, especially the communal way meals are shared. Dishes like kimchi, bulgogi, and bibimbap are widely known, but what fascinates me most is how eating in Korea is about community, etiquette, and respect rather than just the food itself. For example, there are rules about pouring drinks for others (you first pour drinks for the elders at the table), using honorifics when speaking to…
Sunday
Kevin Retana posted a discussion
The difference between sound and spelling is that sound refers to how a word is actually pronounced, while spelling is simply its written form. This distinction matters for me as a Korean learner because if I rely only on the written word, I may mispronounce it or confuse it with a similar-looking form. For example, the Korean writing system (Hangul) is very systematic, but sounds often change in real speech, and I need to hear them to understand them fully.Korean has a phonetic inventory that…
Sunday
Elizabeth Jonas posted a discussion
I have been learning language even since before grade school, being surrounded by a vibrant Mexican and Dominican community. Early on, that would start with learning small words and phrases from the people I knew and TV, then it turned into class for the remainder of school. I enjoyed activities that involved watching movies or other film from Spanish-speaking countries, because it seemed more leisurely than actual school assignments. I remember even watching Dora before grade school and…
Saturday
Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
Figuring Foreigners Out and Hofstede’s Dimensions of Culture attempt to explain how cultural values shape the way people think, act, and interact. Figuring Foreigners Out introduces a set of building blocks for understanding cultural differences, such as individualism vs. collectivism, monochronic vs. polychronic time, direct vs. indirect communication, and internal vs. external control. These ideas emphasize that cultures are not at either extreme but rather exist along a spectrum, and that…
Sep 18
Kevin Retana posted a discussion
In Aitchison’s diagram on the 9th page, linguistics is presented as a field enriched by multiple disciplines, which include psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, neurology, and others. Each perspective highlights a very different aspect of how humans acquire, use, and understand language. I see my own Korean learning plan as strengthened by drawing on this range of approaches, which can help me better learn Korean and other languages in the long run.From a psychological perspective,…
Sep 13
Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
Language PlanOverall GoalTo reach a strong novice level in Korean, with the ability to form sentences, understand beginner grammar, and be able to hold short conversations (introductions, family, daily activities, ordering food, hobbies) ScheduleDaily Practice (45 minutes, 5 days/week):10 minutes: Vocabulary/Reading → Mango, Lingvist, or LingQ (about 20 new words a week)15 minutes: Grammar & Listening → YouTube videos, TTMIK, or children’s video20 minutes: Speaking & Writing → Compare…
Sep 12
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A network of participants in and friends of Richmond's Self-Directed Language Acquisition Program.

Diigo: Modern Hebrew

Diigo: Persian Learners

Diigo: Turkish Learners

Diigo: Asian Language Learners