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.

 

__________________________________________________________________

 

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

Annie Hankin posted a discussion
Yiddish Presentation.pdf
May 17
Annie Hankin posted a discussion
solo monologue on Yiddish journey
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Learning Journal - Gareth (relearns) Malay
"I like how you really honed in on your goal of improving casualness and locality in your Malay abilities. I admire how you also incorprated your new skills into various settings other than the cooking situations. It shows that you are really committed to your growth and want to strengthen its versatility. I have not had as much success and my journey has been slow but still succesfful. It is difficult to compare since you already had a strong grasp on it when you started while I'm learning a…"
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Learning Journal - Gareth (relearns) Malay
"It's good to see that you have maintained your study strategies and applied them to improve your casual Malay. I too have stuck with my strategies while revising my goals. Like working in my language book, attending the online lessons, and utilizing duolingo so I don't have to carry my book with me every where. I like how you used music to find another way to absorb the language. I did that a lot too in the beginning when I was learning Spanish and it was great to hear it in another real-life…"
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Learning Journal - Gareth (relearns) Malay
"It sounds like you had a lot of goal revisions with acquiring a more casual level of Malay in February. I like that you challenged yourself while still being able to have fun and experience the culture in the most accessible way depsite being on the other side of the world. I also think food, as i mentioned in one of my earlier posts is one of the best aspects of any culture. Trying unique flavors and dishes that are not commonly found elsehwere are one of the best new experiences and one of my…"
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Learning Journal - Gareth (relearns) Malay
"I also was surprised at first by the self directed course as well when if first started. I also applied similar learning techniques like learnign through youtube, TV, and other media. I find it interesting that you decided to pursue malay despite being made fun of it. That shows resilience and a desire to challenge onself instead of shying away from fear of failure."
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Cultural Post #2 - Kepentingan masak dengan kawan dan maksud hidangan tradisional Cina, Yee Sang/Yusheng
"that's really great you seem to have found a community of people to celebrate Yee Sang/Yusheng with. How did you go about finding that communiyt of people to share this celebration? how did you start the conversation of shared cultures in your university years? was it hard to convince them to make a college version of the dish? I would think it would be since I wouldn't think it'd be as good and therefore lose its meaning with lacking key ingredients and poor methods since you may not have…"
May 13
Annie Hankin replied to Gareth Woo's discussion Cultural Post #1 - Food (Makanan): Rojak dan Roti Canai
"Those look and sound delicious. I've always admired fusion cuisine as it celebrates them both while highlighting the beauty that can come from mixing cultures. In a way, it's pro-integration itself and highlights the innovation that comes from diversity whether it be people or foods. For you, have there ever been a food that you used to not like but now you are able to enjoy its taste and cultural significance?"
May 13
More…

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