Items of Interest

Spring 2025 SDLC 105 Syllabus

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

Spring 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

Josh Pantaloni posted a status
Reflection Paper #1

Language learning in general is never a perfect process—and it certainly hasn't been for me. While I have no direct experience learning Korean, my background with French provides a strong foundation to build upon. My previous approach—focusing on reading, writing, and speaking—taught me valuable lessons about what works for me as a learner and what doesn’t.
One of the aspects I enjoy most about learning a language is the connection it fosters with the culture. For example,…
5 hours ago
Josh Pantaloni replied to Global Studio's discussion Due by 5:00pm on Sunday, January 26: Discussion Post #1 on the Ning
"The readings provided valuable insights into creating effective learning strategies, particularly by emphasizing the importance of setting specific, realistic goals. I found the idea of making the learning process fun and rewarding to be especially beneficial, as it aligns well with my need to stay motivated and engaged. For example, the suggestion to break goals into achievable steps, like learning to introduce yourself or ordering food in a foreign language within a set timeframe, feels both…"
7 hours ago
Samuel Lee posted a status
Much of my early language learning was very informal. I grew up speaking Korean at home with both my parents, who immigrated to the US before I was born. I never attended Korean school or learned from a tutor, but was rather taught through children’s books with my mom and reading text messages from my parents. And I honestly really enjoyed this. This was a low stakes, no test-taking, encouraging environment where I felt comfortable to learn instead of it being pushed onto me. However, I didn’t…
20 hours ago
Samuel Lee posted a status
Much of my early language learning was very informal. I grew up speaking Korean at home with both my parents, who immigrated to the US before I was born. I never attended Korean school or learned from a tutor, but was rather taught through children’s books with my mom and reading text messages from my parents. And I honestly really enjoyed this. This was a low stakes, no test-taking, encouraging environment where I felt comfortable to learn instead of it being pushed onto me. However, I didn’t…
20 hours ago
Joseph Jeon posted a status
Reflection Paper 1
Joseph Jeon
Growing up I was put into Korean school which is translated to what was called “Hangul Hakyeo”. These were often hosted by local Korean churches and played the role of a daycare on the weekends for working parents. Here, many Korean-American kids would learn the phonetics and grammar of Korean along with reading, writing, and speaking. These “schools” would also offer extracurricular classes like Taekwondo, chess, soccer, and even cooking. Personally, I have very…
yesterday
Jeremy Um posted a status
Reflection Paper #1
I think the most enjoyable part of being a language learner or learning a new language is the ability to be able to converse or communicate in a nuanced fashion with more people. Learning a new language gives you the ability to express certain feelings, emotions, ideas, etc. in a multi-faceted way as no single language is the same as another. There may exist certain words or vocabulary in one language that may not be conveyed or expressed in another language in a similar…
yesterday
Samuel Lee, Jeremy Um, Joseph Jeon and 1 more joined The SDLAP Ning
yesterday
Global Studio posted a discussion
Due by 5:00pm on Sunday, January 26: Discussion Post #1 on the Ning
Reflect on the readings. Do you have any questions about the texts? Are there any claims that you find problematic? Do you think language is a purely biological phenomenon? What parts of the brain are most important for the production and comprehension of speech? How do you conceptualize or process meaning? Do these readings inspire any special insights or motivations that could help advance your foreign-language abilities,…
Monday
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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