Items of Interest

Fall 2024 SDLC 105 Syllabus

Fall 2024 SDLC 105 Calendar of Activities, Assignments, and Deadlines

Fall 2024 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

 

 

Fall 2017 International Film Series

There are several exciting screenings in the University of Richmond Fall 2017 International Film Series. See the full schedule, here

 

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

Janice Park replied to Global Studio's discussion Discussion Post #10 due by 5pm on Sunday, November 24
"There are unique Korean cultural concepts that do not exist in America. First, there is “jeong” which is equivalent to a deep connection, affection, or sense of belonging that can be felt between people. This usually generates feelings of warmth, attachment, and sympathy. Second, there is “noonchi”, which is most closely related to the art of subtly reading a room and being self and socially aware. These two cultural concepts can affect language use, and as a result, have an effect on social…"
9 hours ago
James Jang posted a status
Cultural Post 4

This past weekend, I was on the phone with my mother and we were discussing plans for Thanksgiving. I had a friend who is from Los Angeles, California who isn't able to go home for Thanksgiving due to very expensive flight prices. Even though it's a time of spending time with family, he said that him and his parents agreed that it simply wasn't worth it for him to go back home for only 3 days. Feeling a bit bad, I called my mother back and asked if my friend is able to join us…
yesterday
Xiwei Gu posted a status
South Korea has a close relationship with smoking, which is largely influenced by historical and cultural factors that influence smoking behavior. Middle aged men have a higher smoking rate among different populations. This cultural article explores the smoking habits of middle-aged men in South Korea by discussing the social norms and trends behind this phenomenon.

From a historical perspective, smoking is very common in South Korea and is considered a socially acceptable norm. In the 20th…
yesterday
Ziran Zhou replied to Global Studio's discussion Discussion Post #9 due by 5pm on Sunday, November 17
"Languages go extinct for various reasons, including colonization, globalization, and the dominance of more widely spoken languages, which often push minority languages to the margins. Economic pressures, cultural assimilation, and intergenerational language loss—where younger generations stop learning their ancestral language—also play significant roles. When a language dies, it’s not just words that are lost but an entire cultural worldview, including unique knowledge of the environment,…"
Monday
Janice Park replied to Global Studio's discussion Discussion Post #9 due by 5pm on Sunday, November 17
"Languages are at risk of going extinct when small communities face great challenges in trying to overcome oppression and prejudice, resulting in a feeling of low self-esteem. These difficult circumstances may cause people to give up their language, even though those people are the only ones who can save the language. Additionally, languages can go extinct when people migrate and/or are displaced from their rural villages, whether that be to seek economic opportunities or improve their social…"
Monday
Nicole Schreiber posted a status
Languages go extinct for a plethora of reasons. In an increasingly globalized world, the 83 most common languages dominate business and mass communication. Moreover, oppressive histories of colonialism and imperial empires significantly contributed to the extinction of many languages. Cultural genocide such as this took place though forced displacement and assimilation of indigenous people. When a language dies, the global bank of intelligence experiences a loss. Languages offer key insight…
Sunday
Logan Motyka posted a status
Today, for my Korean culture reflection, I'm looking at K-pop. Prior to this, I had heard what K-pop was but never fully understood the culture and its importance to South Korea. K-pop is essentially just Korean popular music; this encompasses many different varieties, such as pop music, rock music, Hip-Hop, Etc. K-pop is especially popular among teenagers and young adults, a lot of the people who perform in these groups are very much idolized by young men and women. It is very similar to how…
Saturday
Leo Barnes posted a status
I wanted to explore Brazil’s Japanese and Lebanese sub-cultures. Outside of Lebanon and Japan, Brazil hosts the largest diaspora communities of both these countries in the world.

Let’s start with the Lebanese Community. Many Lebanese came following instability of the Ottoman Empire in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. As the empire fell into decline, sectarian rivalries between ethnic and religious groups were stoked to prevent unified opposition leading to violence and instability…
Saturday
  • Leo Barnes Cultural Artifacts - Japanese ImmigrationCultural Artifacts - Lebanese Fast Food
    Saturday
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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