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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Notes

Finding Books in Your Language

Posted by Global Studio on February 17, 2011 at 1:46pm

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…
Tags:

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.

Forum

Latest Activity

Jeremy Um posted a status
Discussion Post #5

I think the concept of “눈치” or otherwise pronounced as “noonchi” in Korean is a concept that intrigues me and ties into the language pretty well. As far as I’m aware, there is no direct translation for the word into english but it essentially is the ability to interpret social cues and have social awareness without the need for a verbal exchange. Essentially, it encompasses one’s emotional intelligence and intuition. There is so much that is communicated without the need for…
yesterday
Janice Park posted a status
January Journal Entry
During my first meeting with my language learning partner, David Kim, we set a weekly meeting time and sketched a plan for what the rest of our semester would look like. We decided to watch Single’s Inferno 2 so that I could learn more about the dating culture in Korea, as that is something I am unfamiliar with. Having watched a couple episodes, I have already learned so much new vocabulary that people use in casual conversation, which I wouldn’t know otherwise. During…
yesterday
Lavi Ohana posted a status
Cultural Post #2: HBO Max Series, Valley of Tears

The HBO Max Israeli miniseries Valley of Tears (שעת נעילה), presents a gripping and emotional portrayal of the Yom Kippur War of 1973. As an artifact of Israeli culture, it delves into themes of identity, survival, and the collective trauma of war, making it an invaluable resource for understanding modern Israeli society. In this post, I will explore my impressions of the series, its cultural and historical significance, and how it contributes…
yesterday
Logan Motyka posted a status
Culture in Korea has a lot of food built into it, one of my favorite dishes that I have had is Bibimbap. It is a classic rice dish that is eaten in all parts of the world but is a specialty in Korea. It comes in many different forms, people often eat it as egg rice, and meat, but can also be opted for tofu or something that is non-meat for vegetarians. The term Bibimbap is essentially saying “mixing rice” which is exactly what the dish is. I have actually had Bibimbap many times in my life,…
Monday
Lavi Ohana replied to Global Studio's discussion Due by 5pm on Sunday, February 16: Discussion Post #4 on the Ning
"The difference between sound and spelling is a critical concept in language learning, particularly for Hebrew, which has a unique phonetic structure. In essence, sound refers to the actual pronunciation of words, while spelling pertains to how those words are written. This distinction is significant because Hebrew is a language where the written form (using the Hebrew alphabet) does not always correspond directly to its phonetic pronunciation. For instance, the Hebrew letter ש (shin) can be…"
Sunday
Ziqing Zhang replied to Global Studio's discussion Due by 5pm on Sunday, February 16: Discussion Post #4 on the Ning
"The difference between sound and spelling is that spoken language is made up of sounds (phonemes), while written language represents these sounds through symbols (letters or characters). In many languages, there is not always a one-to-one pair between sounds and letters, which can make pronunciation unpredictable. I notice this distinction in my Korean learning, as Korean pronunciation often differs from its written form due to phonological rules such as sound assimilation, batchim (final…"
Sunday
Leo Barnes posted a status
Journal Post 1 - Spring 2025:

Recap: I’m studying Brazilian Portuguese from São Paulo. I’m doing this through study of vocabulary, listening, reading, conversation, and grammar. I study vocabulary through mnemonic devices, songs, and television. I pick up grammar concepts through context and flashcards I previously made for LAIS390 and review. I meet with my language partner twice a week, listen to Portuguese music, and read about Brazil/Mozambique/Angola as part of Dixon Abreu’s Building…
Sunday
Joseph Jeon posted a status
One of the most important aspects of learning Korean is understanding the difference between sound and spelling. Unlike English, where spelling often does not match pronunciation, Hangul is largely phonetic. However, certain phonetic changes occur in speech that are not always reflected in writing. For example, 밥 (bap) is written with a final "p" sound, but when followed by a word beginning with a vowel, the final consonant sound can carry over (e.g., 밥을 [바블] (ba-beul) instead of [bap-eul]).…
Sunday
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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

Photos

Diigo: SDLAP at UR

Diigo: Learning LOTE

Members