MULTI-MODAL PROGRAMS
Duolingo
Duolingo is a free online language learning program that provides follows a game-based approach to second language acquisition. Students work through various vocabulary and grammar oriented units as they gain experience points in a language. The voice recognition software built in to voice recording questions is particularly impressive. Teachers can set up individual Duolingo classrooms where student progress can be monitored and individual class settings can be tailored. The program is both desktop and mobile friendly. Click here or the image to the right to sign up for a free account.
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Mango Languages
Mango Languages is a subscription-based language learning software that is made available for free to AppState students and faculty. Users study vocabulary words and phrases in a series of prepared modules. The user is introduced to phrases through a step-by-step process as new phrases are broken down into words and color coded based on their parts of speech. The units are thematically organized. Mango can also track the user’s time that is spent within the language modules. Try it out here! You should be able to login with your App State credentials.
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VOCABULARY PROGRAMS
Quizlet
Quizlet is an extensive group-sourced learning device with platforms on both desktop and smartphones. Without signing up, anyone can search millions of “flashcard” sets that span all fields of study including certain textbooks. With an account, students can create their own sets of flashcards and interact with them through various mini-games and study drills. Flashcard sets are easy to make and use and free to print for studying. Teachers can create public or private sets to share with their students to engage them with class. Click here or the image to access the program.
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Memrise
With Memrise students study the same list of words until they have mastered them. The lessons make sure they know where to properly put the accents in words, when to use punctuation (?!¿¡), and how to pronounce each of the words. This is a free powerful resource for students who are having trouble with vocabulary, proper pronunciation, and/or spelling in their foreign language classes. The program can be used on both Androids and Apple devices. Click here or the image to the right to access the program.
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StudyBlue
StudyBlue is another crowdsourcing program like Quizlet that allows students to create flashcards to study for classes. Signing up is required, but free. Accounts can be personalized to include your school, your classes, and your interests. You can make sets of flashcards and adjust the privacy of the "deck" to include a password to share with classmates, public for any user on the site, or private only for personal use. You can also generate quizzes or study them like physical flashcards. There's also an app available to study on the go! Click here to check it out.
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Anki
Anki is a program that can help students memorize and remember anything! Whether it is the vocabulary of different foreign languages, or mastering long poems, this program can be beneficial in any category of a person's daily life. It allows you to create an unlimited number of flashcards into which you are able to embed audio clips, images, and even videos. Check out the program here.
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OTHER PROGRAMS
BBC: Learning English
This website provides access to a variety of resources for English language learners. The site offers “activities” that help to orient students to new sets of vocabulary, all of which are centered around short video segments on varying current event topics. Many of these activities have pre-made comprehension quizzes as follow up assessments of the videos. Although the accompanying activities could be more engaging, the videos are excellent quality and the topics are up to date. Furthermore, this is a web-based resource that can be used in a variety of ways to enhance English learner’s language acquisition. Click here or the image to the right to access the website.
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Google Translate/Community
Google Translate is a powerful tool that might best be used as a more robust online dictionary. In addition to word-to-word translations, students and teachers might use the tool for more contextualized translations of phrases or sentences. Additionally, if your microphone is enabled, the words spoken will be processed and show up on your screen. Although many have heard of Google Translate, fewer know about the associated Google Translate Community which gives users the option of translating words/phrases or simply checking if a translation is correct. In return for your feedback, the program rewards you with points and badges in a game-like system. Click here to check it out!
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Kahoot
Kahoot is an interactive, game-based learning resource. Teachers create 'kahoots', or fun learning games, to facilitate formative assessments (progress checks, test review questions, discussion starters, etc.). Kahoots can be shared through the community bank which allows you to search pre-made options (ex. search 'Vistas ch.1 review'). Students can compete with one another within the platform. The quicker they respond, the more points they receive, and instructors can download results of student data and progress after the game is finished. Instructors benefit from the free resource because it is user-friendly and customizable. All your students need is an internet connection and a mobile device (such as a laptop or smartphone). Click here to try Kahoot!
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Pitch Perfect Pinyin
Pitch Perfect Pinyin is an online course, originating from the University of Texas at Austin, that consists of countless exercises for pronunciation practice in Mandarin Chinese. There are 2 parts: Learning & Practice. The learning section is split into 12 units that focus on Chinese syllables, tones, as well as vocabulary that directly relates to what you learn. The practice section then allows you to work on strengthening these skills through interactive exercises. Additionally, this free website gives you the benefit of clicking directly on syllables and words in order to hear the correct pronunciation. Click here or the image to the right to access the program.
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Audacity
Audacity is a free, user-friendly audio editing and recording program. Using multi-track editing and recording, instructors and students can record over multiple sound files to create one .mp3 file. For example, an instructor can prompt questions and leave space between each question for student response. Students can record over this same file to create one, tidy product. This tool can be used to provide asynchronous oral assessments/exercises for students. This program has come to be commonplace in the world language classroom and quickly downloads onto any computer. Click here to download Audacity. Click here for FAQ and tutorials to capture audio.
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FEE-BASED PROGRAMS
Yabla
Yabla provides students with access to pedagogically enhanced authentic videos. Intuitive controls allow students to slow down, speed up, jump back or forward, as well as display or hide subtitles in English and the target language. Yabla even has a built-in dictionary where you can click on the words during the video to get a better understanding of the word. Their entertaining content consists of a wide variety so you won’t run out of things to do. Yabla is used by more than 1000 top high schools, universities, and language institutions. Teachers can assign activities to a variety of classes. Additional features include monitoring participant progress and giving them daily feedback. Students can buy individual accounts for $9.95 per month or group prices and plans are also available. Click here to check out a sample video.
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