This baker’s dozen of online learning opportunities will allow students and families to continue studying languages and cultures around the world from the comfort of their own homes.
Multiple Languages
1. COERLL Educational Open Resources. This resource from the University of Texas at Austin offers open-source video and audio resources for Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Latin, Spanish, and other languages. The site includes video interviews with heritage/native speakers for several languages.
2. Duolingo. Duolingo allows users to learn many world languages through fun, game-based strategies. The site offers both free and paid versions, but the free version is quite robust and interactive.
3. News in slow. Find websites and podcasts in Spanish, French, and German, offering hundreds of daily news stories read slowly and aimed at various levels of learners (from novice through advanced). Learners and teachers also can access translations, worksheets, and activities online to supplement learning. An example of a current article is “Kindness in the Time of Coranavirus.” All access is free
4. Coffeebreak Academy. Find podcasts in Spanish, French, German, and Chinese, including both intermediate-level language and descriptions in English of culture and language forms applicable to the language studied. Podcasts are free.
5. Virtual Museum Tours. This collection from Travel and Leisure is especially good for students who are looking for ways to stay on top of their cultural studies while away from school. It includes museums around the world, including the Pergamon in Berlin, the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, in Seoul, Musee d’Orsay in Paris, the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, and many others.
6. Languages Online. Curated through the State of Victoria, Australia, this website offers free resources for learning language, focusing on the K-12 learner.
Spanish
7. SALSA. Georgia Public Broadcasting’s award-winning Spanish language series for young learners is designed for children in grades K-3. The Salsa series’ 42 video lessons teach language using puppets in familiar stories, digital graphics, and animation, and are accompanied by interactive games. All access is free.
French
8. Youlearnfrench. Videos and lessons for novice through advance learners are structured around common themes.
9. French Teacher Resources: This website is curated by French teachers. All resources are free of charge.
German
10. German Teacher Resources. German teachers curate this website of free resources.
11. ZDF Logo. Live daily broadcasts (and links to archived broadcasts) are developed for and broadcast by school-aged learners. These short segments focus on timely and current themes of interest to students, including school, coronavirus-related news, and worldwide events.
Latin
12. Classical Learning Resource Center (CLRC). This website of resources is curated through the Classical Learning Resource Center, and includes activities available for students studying at the novice, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Mandarin Chinese
13. Panda Tree. Beginners and intermediate learners can learn Mandarin with these vocabulary games, stories, and videos.
We’ll be sharing more tips so watch for the next installment of DLD Daily Dozen!