Category: All Levels

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Need help with verbs? Try Cooljugator!

Cooljugator (https://cooljugator.com/ru) is a verb conjugation app for many languages, including Russian! This is great for a refresher on how to conjugate verbs you already know, or if you run into a new type of verb that you’re not sure about. Because it’s just for verbs, you don’t have to sort through a dictionary entry to find this part of the word. It’s quick and easy!

It shows a grid, for which you can change the settings, and it does this for the future, present, and past tense forms of verbs.

It also gives example sentences for context, along with English translations.

The website even provides trickier parts of Russian verbs such as participles and the aspect pair!

 

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Media Suggestion: La Cinémathèque française

 

The website of the Cinémathèque française, a large film institute and museum in Paris, contains a number of valuable resources for students wanting to learn more about French and French culture. The museum provides a large selection of online resources, including videos, articles, and image archives of both French and international films. Check out the “Découvrir” tab to access interviews with French directors, photo archives of past exhibits, articles on French films and actors, and excerpts from films and film festivals. The resources are easily searchable and have simple categorisation. Recommended for anyone interested in French cinema, improving listening ability, or doing research on film.

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“Einschlafen Podcast” – A German Podcast to Help You Fall Asleep

Subliminal learning, the idea that you can learn a new language just by listening to an audiobook while sleeping, is probably a myth at best. However, there is some evidence that you can gain, or at least reinforce, new vocabulary by listening to something in a foreign language while asleep.

Even if subliminal learning isn’t effective, that doesn’t mean that listening to podcasts in bed isn’t a good idea! My recommendation for this week is the “Einschlafen Podcast,” which is available on Spotify, on its website, on YouTube, and on iTunes.

“Einschlafen Podcast” (German for “Falling Asleep”) is an excellent German podcast, featuring the relaxing voice of Toby Baier. Each week, Toby starts out by talking about the news, his recent life, and any other random facts, and then eventually starts reading excerpts from books in a calming, slow voice. The books range from Alice im Wunderland to Kant’s Kritik der reinen Vernunft.

The point of “Einschlafen Podcast” is to fall asleep. For those trying to learn German, this is a great way to increase your daily input, simply by falling asleep. Although “passive learning” is still fairly controversial, I feel like I’ve benefitted from listening to a little extra German every day, especially in listening comprehension. 

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Spanish Novel, Los Detectives Salvajes

This masterpiece by Roberto Bolaño centers around a group of radical poets and their hungry, crazy, and romantic lives in Mexico City. It’s got lesbians, mystery suicides, schizophrenics, and a lot of jaw-dropping stories. It’s worth to struggle with the Spanish because Bolaño is a masterful wordsmith, but this book will be most enjoyable for advanced Spanish readers.

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French exercise practice: ELFE and Trésor

ELFE

Elementary French Exercises (or, ELFE) are French language drills to practice grammar and vocabulary. They are organized by subject, so you can easily focus in on your areas of difficulty.ELFE homepage and list of exercises under Topic 1The interface is sensitive so make sure to add accents and punctuation exactly as needed. Although it’s a bit old-school, the exercises are well-designed. They give corrections immediately. And it’s all free!ELFE is accessible through Moodle.

 

Trésor

Trésor is a detailed online French language resource with several important applications. First, search your desired word, then toggle between tabs to see:

Morphologie – all morphologies of your word, including conjugations.
Lexicographie – traces your word to its root word and definitions, as well as common cultural usage and example sentences.

Etymologie – etymology and history of your word.
Synonymie – synonyms.
Antonymie – antonyms
Proxemie – installs an extension for your web browser.
Concordance – finds examples of your word in common books or texts

This is an extremely powerful resource, and if you install their toolbar or extension, you won’t need to navigate to the site each time.

Trésor is tout en français.

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Tips for BonPatron, Antidote, LanguageTool, Reverso

  • Antidote: Antidote is powerful spelling and grammar correction software built specifically for French. It integrates with MS Word but can also be used alone. Antidote works with built-in grammar and vocabulary reference resources, providing users with comprehensive explanations of errors and possible corrections. Because Antidote is made for French speakers, the interface and reference works are entirely in French, making Antidote an especially good choice for advanced students. 
  • Languages supported: French only.
  • Strengths: Along with grammar correction, Antidote offers more comprehensive stylistic and diction guidance, which makes it a great resource for improving the quality of written work beyond simple error checking.
  • Weaknesses: Antidote is available only on the Language Lab computers.

 

  • Reverso: Reverso is another online grammar and spelling correction tool. Explanation for corrections are in the language itself, so this tool might be best for advanced learners. 
  • Languages supported:  French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, and Japanese.
  • Strengths: Several tools, and many languages to choose from.
  • Weaknesses: Reverso has a limit of 2,000 characters (about 250 words). It also lacks the linguistic references available in both Antidote and Bon Patron.

 

  • BonPatron: BonPatron is an online grammar and spelling correction tool similar to Antidote. Because it’s available anywhere, it’s a handy alternative to Antidote, but it lacks the comprehensive resources available in Antidote. Suggestions and guides are available in English as well as French, making this a good choice for students just beginning French composition as well as intermediate learners. 
  • Languages supported: French only.
  • Strengths: Bon Patron is very user friendly, making it a good choice for beginners. It also doesn’t provide the correct answer, but rather tells you what about the current construction is incorrect, so that you become better at identifying your own errors rather than simply replacing them with the correct answer.
  • Weaknesses: The free version of the site has a limit of 2,000 characters (about 250 words). Only available for French. 

 

  • LanguageTool: LanguageTool is another web-based grammar tool, useful for correcting texts in French or for checking your spelling, etc. 
  • Languages supported: Asturian, Belarusian, Breton, Catalan, Dutch, Esperanto, French, Galician, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Khmer, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil, Ukranian.
  • Strengths: LanguageTool is much more powerful than BonPatron and Reverso, allowing 20,000 characters (about 2,500 words). It also allows for correction of different dialects/regions, e.g., Swiss and Austrian German, or Brazilian vs Portugal Portuguese. 
  • Weaknesses: Grammatical explanations are only provided in the target language, for example French or German.
  • Tips/tricks: LanguageTool also has a useful Google Chrome extension and a Google Docs add-on, which allow the user to correct text while typing online or in a Doc.
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German.net

German.net is a language-learning website with numerous exercises. Levels range from approximately A1 (beginner) to B2 (advanced). This could be a very helpful tool for those looking to brush up on German skills or trying to advance their language. 

German.net has a number of grammatical exercises, including ones on verb tenses, case and declension, nouns, adjective endings, prepositions, and the passive voice. These exercises are neatly categorised and are easy to find on the website.

These textbook-like exercises require the user to fill in missing information, and the solutions give the correct answer. 

It also has “vocabulary builder,” which quizzes the user on words which grow progressively more difficult. 

Perhaps most unique to German.net, and also most useful, is the “reading” tool, which presents short texts and then quizzes the user on the content. 

German.net also features a verb conjugation tool, which is especially useful when reviewing for a test or trying to learn more irregular conjugations. 

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Radio Ambulante

Radio Ambulante is an award-winning podcast series which tells Latin American stories, covering a range of issues from immigration to bee-keeping. They have thousands of episodes to choose from, allowing listeners to filter by country, topic, and length. Most episodes are both in Spanish and English, which makes Radio Ambulante suitable for both beginners and advanced Spanish students.