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April 2011

National Heritage Language Resource Center
http://www.nhlrc.ucla.edu

The National Heritage Language Resource Center (NHLRC) at the University of California, Los Angeles, is a joint project of the UCLA Center for World Languages and the University of California Consortium for Language Learning and Teaching. Its mission is to develop effective pedagogical approaches for teaching heritage language learners, first by creating a research base, and then by pursuing curriculum design, materials development, and teacher education. NHLRC resources include Abuelos Materials for Teaching Spanish, curriculum templates for high school heritage language classes for Persian and for Hindi-Urdu speakers, as well as instructional guidelines and curricular guidelines created for teaching heritage language speakers at the University of California. There are also links to research and projects on heritage language learning, as well as the Heritage Language Journal.

New Site from Zachary Jones
http://zachary-jones.com/zambombazo

Spanish teacher Zachary Jones has created a new website that features a wide range of activities based on authentic cultural products, including music, comic strips, humor, film, news, TV, and radio. Like his previous Actualidades site, the Zambombazo site has a number of “Clozeline” activities and worksheets.

French Dialects in the World
http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/dialects.html

This site features links to information about French in the world and the different dialects, as well as links to videos about languages and dialects in France and Francophone countries.

Chinese Learner’s Alternative Site
 
The Chinese Learner’s Alternative Site offers supplementary learning material and original articles on Chinese language and culture. The language section of the site includes information on new words that have been coined recently and are used in China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The site not only explains the definition, but also has a feature that allows users to click on each word to hear the pronunciation.

Activities for Japanese Children’s Day 

In Japan, May 5 is Children’s Day, the day to stress the importance of respecting the character of children and promoting their health and happiness. It is also the day for children to express their gratitude for the love and care they receive from their parents. 

French Worksheets
http://www.collinslanguage.com/extras/resources/easy-learning/french.aspx

In addition to a map of France, verb tables, and dictionary skills resources, the Collins Language site has vocabulary worksheets for topics such as clothes, computers, houses, restaurants, prepositions, and heads and hands.

Motivating Adult Language Learners
http://dontgiveup.eu 

Don’t Give Up is a European Union-funded project that has investigated why adults drop out of language courses. The project’s website has examples of best practices and resources to help educators, as well as a wiki where teachers share ideas and their own best practices.

Science and Environmental Education in Many Languages
http://www.globe.gov

The Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) program is a worldwide hands-on, primary and secondary school-based science and education program that promotes and supports students, teachers, and scientists to collaborate on inquirybased investigations of the environment. Partners in the project include NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and the National Science Foundation. The site is available in many languages, ranging from Afrikaans to Yiddish. There are science exploration projects on topics such as the carbon cycle, extreme environments, and watershed dynamics, as well as articles about projects involving students from around the world. Visit http://classic.globe.gov/fsl/html/templ.cgi?actfl_2005&lang=en&nav=1 to find out how teachers have used GLOBE materials in language classrooms.

Games and Activities for Language Learning
http://lefttoright.yolasite.com

Russ Freerking, creator of Left to Right/Top to Bottom, describes it as a site for students to learn, recycle, and enhance vocabulary in the target language. The activities include his modifications of games such as Mastermind, Boggle, Scrabble, and Scattergories, as well as crossword puzzles.

Mexican Constitution Day and Other Celebrations

This section of the Spanish Institute of Puebla website has information about Mexican Constitution Day, as well as other noteworthy dates and events.

German Studies Resources and Exercises
http://www.uncg.edu/~lixlpurc/NetzSpiegel/Netzspiegel.html

The Netzspiegel site is designed to identify appropriate and authentic German studies resources on the Internet that relate to selected cultural themes presented in Lernexpress and similar textbooks. The project, which was directed by Lt. Colonel Richard Sutherland at the Department of Foreign Languages, U.S. Air Force Academy, centers around 10 web modules that explore topics such as family and self, home, leisure activities, sightseeing and shopping, vacation, German food, and German schools.

Turkish Lessons
http://www.turkishturkish.net

This site features MP3 Turkish language lessons on the alphabet, sentence structure, grammar, and vocabulary. There are also easy beginner stories and more difficult ones, as well as conversations, interviews, and songs.

Material for Greek Teachers
http://people.umass.edu/glawall/grkteach.html

The Greek Teachers’ Corner website was created by Gilbert Lawall of the University of Massachusetts as a place where teachers of Classical Greek could share teaching materials with one another. It includes articles, alphabet exercises, Greek readings, lectures, games, worksheets, and more.