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…

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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

Alizy updated their profile
6 hours ago
Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
For my first cultural post, I want to talk about the bell of King Seongdeok (성덕대왕신종). This bell is the largest bronze bell in Korea, and it was commissioned by King Gyeongdeok, to honor his father, King Seongdeok, the 36 king of the ancient Korean kingdom of Silla. The bell was cast in 771 AD, after King Gyeongdeok’s reign had ended. The bell weighs about 18.9 tons and is over 3.7 meters tall, with a diameter of 2.7 meters. The bell has a very acoustic precision: when struck, the bell releases…
Tuesday
Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
For the past few weeks, I have been working on telling time in Korean, telling what I did during different days or time and using conversational phrases in daily life. My main goal was to feel more confident in speaking and responding to questions. I hoped to reach a point where speaking out words and phrases feels natural to me, almost like I won’t think about whether what I’m saying might sound right or wrong. Working with my language partner Jason has helped me a lot with my confidence in…
Tuesday
Ariana Kamiya posted a discussion
I have started writing in the target language, both typing and writing free hand. I think currently, I prefer to type more because typing Korean on a computer’s keyboard is very challenging but fun when you haven't memorized where each Hangul character is located. The patterns I’ve seen between words, clauses, and sentences are that after every word that is a subject, the particles 이 and 가 will follow; if its an object,을 or 를 follows; 고 (and) can be used as a transition word. The relationship…
Tuesday
Kevin Retana posted a discussion
Languages go extinct or die when their speakers stop passing them to younger generations, often due to colonization, cultural assimilation, or globalization. When a language dies, an entire worldview and system of identity disappear with it—along with traditions, humor, and ways of thinking that cannot be translated. Reading about endangered languages has made me realize how deeply language and culture are intertwined.Linguists can help by recording native speakers, compiling dictionaries, and…
Sunday
Jeremy Um posted a status
SDLC111 - Cultural Post #3

For my third cultural post, I will be discussing seafood markets also known as 수산시장 or “susan shijang” in Korea. I think that these are a truly unique experience that is a must-try if ever in Korea. I’ve personally had the privilege to go to one and try it out.
These seafood markets can be found in many areas of Korea but are more widely known and prevalent in coastal areas of the country such as Busan. The main area of the seafood market is where the seafood are…
Saturday
Elizabeth Jonas posted a discussion
One part that interests me about Portuguese is mainly the fact that it is very comparable to Spanish. I feel like that also means it will be easier to learn than other languages because of my strong base in Spanish, and, hopefully, I'll be able to acquire it quicker!As for the culture part of the question, my interests are both in Portuguese and Brazilian culture. They both have such a strong (and different!) cultural identity, from their clothing, celebrations, food, and more. I think the…
Nov 9
Kevin Retana posted a discussion
So far I have begun writing short sentences on my notebook in Korean and also trying to trace words to get a feel for it. But I have also been typing with a Hangul keyboard (Still trying to get used to it). So far typing helps me focus on structure and vocabulary rather than that of handwriting speed. As I write more, I’ve started noticing patterns in sentence structures, such as the Subject–Object–Verb (SOV) order and the frequent use of particles like 이/가 and 을/를 to mark grammatical roles.…
Nov 8
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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