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Language Acquisition Resource Center
http://larcnet.sdsu.edu

The mission of the Language Acquisition Resource Center (LARC) is to increase the number of advanced-level foreign language speakers, offer intensive training to support teacher credentialing, improve assessments of language competency, and collaborate in system-wide approaches to language learning. Located at San Diego State University, LARC offers online resources that include a YouTube channel and the Culture Café and Language Lounge, which is a language and cultural learning program that utilizes the Web and various  media tools to connect language classrooms in two different countries. LARC Moodle courses include Afghanistan languages, Arabic, Chinese, German, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, and Vietnamese. 

China Basic Education
www.cbe21.com/subject/chinese

The China Basic Education site, from the Ministry of Basic Education Curriculum Development and Research at Beijing Normal University, offers lessons in languages, mathematics, physics, chemistry, and geography. There is also a section of political lessons which, it should be noted, reflects ideas from China’s communist system.

Front Page News in Different Languages
www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash

At the Newseum’s website, daily newspaper front pages are available in their original, unedited form (with a caution that some may contain material that is objectionable to some visitors). Selecting an area of the world (e.g., Europe, Asia, or the Middle East) will bring up a map of that area, and visitors can then scroll around that area to view the original front pages for each country.

Good Health Activities in Spanish and English
http://teamnutrition.usda.gov/Resources/eatsmartactivitysheets.html

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service’s Eat Smart, Play Hard™ initiative has activity sheets, bookmarks, comics, and stickers that encourage kids to stay healthy and keep moving. Most of the resources on this site are available for downloading, and are in English on one side and in Spanish on the other.

Talk Like a Pirate in German
www.talklikeapirate.com/howtogerman.html

Avast, mateys, did you know that September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day? The website for this fun day now includes a section on how to talk like a German pirate, with words such as Papagei (parrot) and phrases such as Zu den Haien schicken (to send someone to the sharks). In addition to some information about Klaus Stoertebeker, the famous German pirate, the site also has the lyrics to a song about the “Hamburger Veermaster,” which is described as an old sea shanty and drinking song.

Lullabies from Around the World
http://caracol.imaginario.com/ninamanha/index.html

This site has lullabies from Brazil and Portugal, with lyrics in both Portuguese and English. There are also Latin lullabies, African lullabies, Mediterranean lullabies, and Judeo-Hispanic lullabies. 

Resources from a High School French Teacher
www.msdsteuben.k12.in.us/dblaz

Deborah Blaz, who teaches at Angola High School in Angola, IN, has a website where she shares a number of great resources with her fellow French teachers. They include lessons for French I–V, grammar and culture reviews, and fun activities such as comics and sudokus.

Kanji Wiki
http://tell.fll.purdue.edu/KanjiWiki

This site, hosted by the Center for Technology-Enhanced Language Learning and Instruction at Purdue University, is designed to be a place where students and teachers can submit their ideas and original mnemonic stories for remembering kanji. 

Lesson Plan for Mexican Independence Day
http://teacherlink.ed.usu.edu/tlresources/units/Byrnes-celebrations/mid.html

This lesson plan, created by Marla Hueller for grade levels 3–5, notes that the celebration for Mexican Independence Day begins on its eve of September 15, and the actual day of September 16 is similar to the Fourth of July in the United States. The plan includes information about its history, as well as hands-on activities and objectives for the lesson.

Hawaiian Language Resources

Native Tongue: A Hawaiian Glossary (www.aloha-hawaii.com/hawaii/native+tongue) provides a Hawaiian word and its English translation, and also allows visitors to click on a hyperlink to play a sound file of the word.

Mo’o and Lolo’s online Hawaiian dictionary (http://hawaiiandictionary.hisurf.com) has nearly 5,000 most frequently used words (translated from Hawaiian to English and English to Hawaiian), along with their definitions. By entering a word into the search feature, you can also learn how to pronounce it.

The article “Ölelo Hawai’i” (www.coffeetimes.com/language.htm) discusses the history of the Hawaiian language and the efforts to keep it alive.

Omniglot has a site with the Hawaiian alphabet and its pronunciation at www.omniglot.com/writing/hawaiian.htm.

The University of Hawaii Hilo’s College of Hawaiian Language, Ka Haka ‘Ula O Ke‘elikolani (www.olelo.hawaii.edu/enehana/ aohookelekaaike.php), has information and links to other resources on the Hawaiian language.

Tex’s French Grammar
www.laits.utexas.edu/tex/gr/overview.html

This website was originally created for students at the University of Texas at Austin as a guide to French grammar, but it also is about “the epic love story of Tex and Tammy, two star-struck armadillos,” and includes Bette the kitten, a French snail named Edouard, a Texas squirrel named Jim-Bob, and a cockroach named Corey.

Arabic Calligraphy
www.al-bab.com/arab/visual/calligraphy.htm

In addition to the four lessons on reading and writing Arabic featured on this site, there is also information about styles of Arabic calligraphy, examples of calligraphic art, and links to articles about Arabic calligraphy.

Cloze Test Creation Tool
http://l.georges.online.fr/tools/cloze.html

A cloze test—an exercise, test, or assessment consisting of a portion of text with certain words removed in which the student is asked to replace the missing words—can be created using the tool found on this website. Teachers create their own cloze tests by typing or pasting in their text and then selecting the types of words or number of spaces between words that they want removed from the text. It allows them to make the tests text only or interactive, and with or without clues.

Pronunciation Guide
http://forvo.com

Forvo calls itself the largest pronunciation guide in the world, and with languages that range from Abkhazian to Zulu, that seems to be a pretty apt description. Users can select a language and search for a word in that language, or can browse a list by popularity or alphabetically. Then by clicking on the sound icon next to the word, they can hear the pronunciation.