20 Language Links from the Free Learning Monitor
By jtcobb on Dec 2, 2008 in Languages
I just pressed “Publish” on a new edition of the Free Learning Monitor, so I thought I’d take a moment to highlight this Mission to Learn resource and maybe attract a few new subscribers (Subscribe and automatically receive the most recent edition.)
The Monitor is a monthly compilation of free and low cost learning resources that I discover in the course of my Web travels. I cover a wide range of formats - Webcasts, blogs, podcasts, course and tutorials, just to name some of the major ones - and I also cover a range of topics - business, science and math, healthcare, computers and the Internet, and many, many other areas (some quite eclectic).
Speak. Learn. Speak.
One area that shows up in every edition is languages. Below are 20 links to language-related sites selected from the last several editions of the Monitor. These will give you an idea of some of the resources the monthly newsletter offers.
With these, I am also establishing a “Languages” category here on Mission to Learn. Language acquisition - both initial and secondary - represents such a fundamental area of learning that this feels past due. Besides, Lexiophiles recently named Mission to Learn one of the Top 100 Blogs for Languages and I’d hate not to live up to that 
Here are the links:
ASL American Sign Language
http://www.lifeprint.com/index.htm
Sign Language (ASL), free lesson plans, dictionary and resources. Information on Deaf culture, baby signing, phrases, and vocab like hello, thank you, I love you, etc. Dr. Bill Vicars.
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italki Knowledge
http://www.italki.com/knowledge
Just released by language-learning social network italki.com, italkiKnowledge aims to become the largest source of free, user-generated language-learning textbooks.
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Learn Spanish
http://www.studyspanish.com/
Learn Spanish with our free online tutorial with audio, cultural notes, grammar, vocabulary, verbs drills, and links to helpful sites.
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The Ultimate Foreign Language Resource
http://thelanguagechronicle.com/
The ultimate foreign language Resource for learning foreign languages, their history, origins, and culture.
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Free ESL Learning Resources-English as a Second Language
http://www.eslmonkeys.com/student/esl_learning.php
Find free English language learning materials and tools. Choose reading and writing lessons, word of the day, ESL books, story room, forums.
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Free English teaching and learning materials for ESL:
English as a Second Language
http://www.eslgold.com/
ESLgold provides free English teaching materials for ESL, English as a Second Language, EFL students and teachers. Topics include speaking, conversation, listening, reading, writing, grammar, vocabulary, business, pronunciation, toefl, idioms, and much more.
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Learn German with the Music of David Hasselhoff - Mahalo
http://tinyurl.com/yrmpwj
Learn German with the music of David Hasselhoff uses songs David Hasselhoff has sung in Germany to study German vocabulary, grammar, and verb conjugation. Fast Facts: 1989: Named “Most Popular and Best Selling Artist of the…
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aktub
http://www.aktub.com/
Home of the free web-based Arabic typing tutor
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Grammar Girl (Podcasts)
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
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ECPod
http://www.ecpod.com/
A website for learning Chinese (ie: Mandarin, Cantonese) and English through videos contributed by members. You can also contribute your videos to make friends or find students.
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Learn Arabic For Free
http://arabic.speak7.com/
Our website Speak7 helps you learn Arabic for free, our Arabic lessons are available to anyone who wants to speak Arabic, from grammar, vocabulary, expressions, phrases and more, about Arabic grammar, vocabulary, and expressions with Speak7
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Forvo: the pronunciation guide
http://forvo.com/
Word pronunciation dictionary. All the words in all the languages pronounced by native speakers
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Learn Languages Now
http://www.learnlanguagesnow.com/
Learn Languages Now, providing you with all the resources, articles and reviews you need to learn a new language
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Free Language
http://freelanguage.org/
Free Language is a free online resource community for learning foreign languages, complete with podcasts, blogs, web feeds, links and more.
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My Happy Planet
http://www.myhappyplanet.com/
MyHappyPlanet connects language learners around the world. Practice foreign languages with native speakers. Learn languages through videos and lessons.
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Learn French
https://www.jefrench.com/
Learn French for free with more than 168 free French lessons and 2802 French conversation. Fun and interesting lessons with french native speakers. Learn the right pronunciation from the start.
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Hevenu Shalom Aleikhem - Unit 2
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/3034/
The series Hevenu Shalom Aleikhem includes 20 Hebrew language lessons presented through videocasette recordings. Each recorded lesson lasts about 15 minutes
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Very Vocabulary: Learn English Words Podcast
http://veryvocabulary.blogspot.com/
The Most Popular Educational Podcast on iTunes. Learn Difficult English Vocabulary Words. Educate yourself! It’s a free podcast that’s sponsored by Bozuki.com but you’re welcome to leave a donation to cover bandwidth costs.
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ZaidLearn: Do You Want To Learn Arabic?
http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2008/10/do-you-want-to-learn-arabic.html
A blog post on ZaidLearn featuring a number of resources for learning Arabic.
I hope you enjoy these and find them useful. If you are an avid lifelong learner - of languages or pretty much anything else - subscribing to the Monitor is a no brainer: the Free Learning Monitor if the source for lifelong learning! If you are an educator or someone who works for any sort of business related to knowledge and education, the Monitor gives you a quick view into the amazing range of learning opportunities now available free via the Web.
If you have a free learning experience - Webcast, podcast, course, blog, etc. - that you would like to promote, drop me a line at jeff @ missiontolearn.com to let me know about it.
Happy learning,
Jeff Cobb
Mission to Learn
P.S. If you enjoy what you read here on Mission to Learn, I encourage you to subscribe to the RSS feed or use the e-mail subscription form at the top right side of this page. And for an ongoing stream of learning resources, follow me on Twitter.
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Bill Chapman | Dec 2, 2008 | Reply
I hope you’ll allow me to say that therte are sites where you can learn the planned international language Esperanto. A good place to start is http://www.esperanto.net
Michael | Dec 2, 2008 | Reply
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for posting this list - there are a lot of great sites on there, including italki.com. I’ve used that site on my quest to learn Spanish.
But I’ve got another site for you to add to this list - at least temporarily. It’s called BusinessWeek BSL - Business as a Second Language. It’s a program designed to help learners perfect their English pronunciation, comprehension and reading speed. Free trial subscriptions are available until the end of 2008. http://www.businessweekbsl.com
Take a look - I’d love to hear what you think about it.
Cheers,
Mike
Jason Robb | Dec 3, 2008 | Reply
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for linking to MyHappyPlanet, have you used our website?
Nice collection of language sites. =)
Warm regards,
Jason Robb
Senior web designer
MyHappyPlanet
jtcobb | Dec 4, 2008 | Reply
Bill and Michael - Thanks for the additional sites. I’ll also add these in to my 100 Free Places post, which is past due for an update.
Jason - I need to use your site to try to revive my Russian, but I haven’t yet. Hoping to soon. (Good New Year’s resolution material!)
Jeff
Natalia Picado | Dec 12, 2008 | Reply
Thank you for sharing different language links.
It is very helpful.I also suggest people to learn Spanish either online or any other way..In fact, the number of Spanish speakers is just almost the same as that of English speakers. That’s why you need to know both the languages.
learn spanish in peru | Jun 9, 2009 | Reply
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