Skip to Main Content
Colby College logo Go to colby.edu homepage

Language Resources

Language Resources in the LRC

LRC provides various resources for students to learn language. The LRC has

  • Headphones to listen to audio for language listening comprehension
  • Microphones to record audio for practice phonetics and pronunciation.
  • Video and audio editing software are installed on LRC computers.
  • Training workshop for class projects, like adding subtitle to to films.
  • Capture some video clips Students to analyze them. The LRC also offers workshops and

LRC resources are not only used for learning languages but also for other classes.

Study Resources

  • Online Chinese Tools
    by E. Peterson at Carnegie-Mellon
    Chinese language learning and computing resources, including character flashcards, dictionaries, input method converters, and links.
    http://www.mandarintools.com/
  • ocrat.com
    animated characters, pronunciation look-up, and VOA-based Mandarin lessons

Reference

Media

 

Study Resources

  • LanguageGuide.org
    A well-structured repository of grammar guides that includes interactive exercises.
    http://www.languageguide.org/french/grammar/
  • Verb Conjugator
    Type in the French infinitive, and this utility will generate conjugations for present, simple past, future, conditional, imperfect, subjunctive tenses. Very handy.
  • Nineteenth-Century French Women Writers
    by Robert M. Schwartz at Mount Holyoke
    http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist255/at/writers.html

Reference

Media

Study Resources

  • Learning German by a step by step.
  • Netzspiegel: Landeskunde im Internet
    by A. Lixl-Purcell at UNC-Greensboro
    presents selected German Studies resources and exercises centered around ten web modules. Each of the modules explores a major aspect of contemporary culture.
    http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/NetzSpiegel/Netzspiegel.htmlhttp://www.vcu.edu/hasweb/for/menu.html
  • Goethe Institut
    everything German
    http://www.goethe.de/

Reference

  • Leo English/German Dictionary
    from T. U. München
    http://dict.leo.org/?lang=en
  • WEB.DE Das deutsche Internet Verzeichnis
    German web directory and search engine
    German only
    http://web.de/

Media

Class Websites and Projects

  • German 111: at Muskingum U. – Moment Mal Kapitel 1
    by F-J. Wehage
    http://www.muskingum.edu/~modern/mm1.html

Study Resources

  • Italian Language Update School Service
    tests, free exercises, grammar, reading, tips
    http://www.iluss.it/
  • History of Italy – primary document
    by R. Hacken at Brigham Young U.
    http://eudocs.lib.byu.edu/index.php/History_of_Italy:_Primary_Documents
  • Decameron Web
    a collection of resources on Bocaccio’s Decameron, including texts and class activities
    by. M. Riva and M. Papio at Brown U.
    http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/index.php

Reference

Media

  • la Repubblica, Rome
    Italian only
    http://www.repubblica.it/
  • Corriere della Sera, Milan
    Italian only
    http://www.corriere.it/
  • La Stampa, Turin
    Italian only
    http://www.lastampa.it/
  • Capitolium.org – Imperial Forums Official Website
    by the City of Rome, Microsoft, and Canon
    multilingual
    http://www.capitolium.org/
  • Governo Italiano
    Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri
    Italian only
    http://www.governo.it/

Study Resources

  • Genki Flash Cards
    from genki.japantimes.co.jp
    quizzes for hiragana, katakana, and basic vocabulary
    http://genki.japantimes.co.jp/self/self.en.html
  • Japanese I
    Introductory Japanese course from the MIT OpenCourseware website. This course focuses on helping students develop their speaking and listening abilities as well as teaching them basic reading and writing skills.
  • Japanese Online
    free online language lessons
    from Pacific Software company
    http://www.japanese-online.com/

Media

  • Explore Japan
    from the Japanese National Tourist Organization
    http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/
  • Yomiuri Shimbun
    bilingual
    http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/
  • Asahi.com
    Asahi Shimbun online
    bilingual
    http://www.asahi.com/english/english.html
  • NHK
    Japan’s public broadcasting station
    http://www.nhk.or.jp/
  • Studio Ghibli
    Miyazaki Hayoa-san’s anime studio
    http://www.ghibli.jp/

Study Resources

  • Spanish Grammar Exercises
    by B. K. Nelson at Colby
    a comprehensive collection of interactive learning activities
  • Telling the Time in Spanish
    includes written lessons, quizzes and tests
    http://www.studyspanish.com/lessons/time.htm
  • Learn Spanish – a free online tutorial
    includes grammar, vocabulary, cultural, and pronunciation activities. Premium service requires payment.
    http://www.studyspanish.com/
  • lenguaje – the Spanish Language Website
    by SIGNUM – Spanish Language Engineering
    includes tools such as an online spanish spell checker, verb conjugator, thesaurus, and hyphenator
    bilingual
    http://www.lenguaje.com

Reference

Media

  • La Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes
    a virtual library of classical and contemporary hyperdocumentaries from the U de Alicante, Spain
    Spanish only
    http://cervantesvirtual.com
  • newspapers in latin America – LANIC
    Latin American Network Information Center at the U of Texas-Austin
    http://lanic.utexas.edu/la/region/news/
  • The Paperboy.com
    Select country from dropdown menu
    http://www.thepaperboy.com/
  • El País, Madrid
    Spanish only
    http://www.elpais.es/
  • La NaciON LINE, Buenos Aires
    Spanish only
    http://www.lanacion.com.ar/
  • La Reforma, Mexico City
    Spanish only
    http://www.reforma.com/

Class Websites and Projects

  • Cultural Interviews with Latin American Executives
    a compilation of over 200 brief video clips in which Latin Americans offer their opinions on questions of cross-cultural communication from the U of Texas-Austin
    http://www.laits.utexas.edu/laexec/laexec.html#
  • Aspectos de un día típico de trabajo
    a compilation of over 20 brief audio recordings of interviews from Latin American professionals who describe their typical day of work
    http://www.laits.utexas.edu/orkelm/aspectos/tipico.htm

Study Resources

Reference

  • Gramota
    an educational/reference site on the Russian language, supported by the Russian government (In Russian)
    “http://www.gramota.ru/

Media

Class Websites and Projects