National Middle East Language Resource Center
http://www.nmelrc.org

The mission of the National Middle East Language Resource Center (NMELRC) is to both increase and improve opportunities for learning the languages of the Middle East, through its own projects and by working with others to coordinate efforts. Its headquarters are at Brigham Young University, but it represents a consortium of language experts from more than 20 universities. The website offers resources for Arabic, Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish language study, and those resources include reading and comprehension tests, student handbooks, and information about language programs and study abroad opportunities. There are resources for teachers, and for K–12, university, and graduate students, as well as links to information about career opportunities.

New IALLT Website
http://www.iallt.org

The International Association for Language Learning Technology (IALLT) recently announced the launch of its new website. Established in 1965, IALLT is a professional organization whose members provide leadership in the development, integration, evaluation, and management of instructional technology for the teaching and learning of language, literature, and culture. New features of the site include forums and RSS feeds, and the site promises even more new features to come.

Classic Stories and Fairy Tales in Spanish
http://www.codyscuentos.com

Cody, “a mischievous, lovable puppy,” is the mascot at this free, weekly Spanish language podcast. Each week, Cody and one of his human pals from Spain, Mexico, or Argentina presents a story in Spanish from a professional storyteller who is a native speaker. The fairy tales include those from the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault, and range from basic to intermediate to more advanced options.

Free French Lessons
http://frenchtasticpeople.com

The FrenchtasticPeople site has an extensive amount of resources, including classroom exercises, grammar lessons, a talking dictionary, French proverbs and poetry, French verbs in audio, and YouTube downloads.

New Year Around the World
http://www.newyearfestival.com
http://www.123newyear.com

Our New Year may fall on January 1, but in other countries it may be celebrated on other dates, and some of those begin this month. For example, the Korean New Year is based on the lunar calendar, so it will be observed on February 3 this year. The Persian New Year is observed on the first day of spring, and generally falls on March 21. The 15-day Tibetan New Year celebration will start on March 5 this year, and the Thai New Year celebrations in 2011 will run from April 13 to 15. These two sites have calendars, dates, and information about New Year’s celebrations, food, and traditions of countries around the world.

The Spanish CALL Project
http://www.indiana.edu/~call

Created by Juan Manuel Soto Arrivi with the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at Indiana University, the Spanish CALL Project has materials that he developed for college-level students, but which have  been used successfully at other levels, according to Arrivi. There are links to course pages he used while teaching at the university, as well as resources on grammar, culture, and Spanish language exercises.

Internet Picture Dictionary in Five Languages
http://www.pdictionary.com

Select the English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish version on the Internet Picture Dictionary site, and then browse by letter or by category. The categories include animals, clothing, colors, numbers, sports, school, transportation, fruits, and vegetables. Other resources on the site include flash cards, word scramble, spelling, and fill-inthe-blanks activities.

Free German Lessons
http://www.deutsch-lernen.com

This free Internet German course includes 10 lessons for beginners and 24 grammar lessons for advanced learners. There are two tests—one short and one long—to test your German, as well as German quotes and jokes, and a collection of study tips for learning German.

Game for Learning Mandarin
http://enterzon.com

Zon is a multiplayer, interactive, online learning environment designed to teach Mandarin Chinese language and culture. In the game, players can engage with various elements of the environment, and can also speak with other players. Zon also includes tutor sessions, live classes, and one-on-one practice with other players. The site is sponsored by the Office of the Chinese Language Council International and Michigan State University.

Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts
http://manuscripts.cmrs.ucla.edu

The Catalogue of Digitized Medieval Manuscripts, based at the Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, offers a means to discover medieval manuscripts available on the web. Described as “very much a work in progress,” the site notes that the database will initially provide links to hundreds of manuscripts, which are expected to grow to thousands. Basic information about the  manuscripts is fully searchable, and users can also browse through the complete contents of the database. Languages of the manuscripts range from Arabic to Welsh.

Japanese Classical Literature Podcast
http://jclab.wordpress.com

On the Japanese Classical Literature at Bedtime podcast, Kasumi Kobayashi, whose nickname is Kaseumin, reads the stories aloud. Kobayashi hopes to make Japanese classical literature audio books available to the world for free.

Fun French Activities for Children
http://www.uptoten.com

This bilingual site (French and English) has more than 1,000 free activities, including animated storybooks, songs, games, puzzles, coloring pages, and animated cards. They are designed for children up to 10 years of age.

Bilingual and Multilingual Dictionaries
http://www.babelpoint.org

Babelpoint offers free online dictionaries that include English to Chinese, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish. It also has morphological dictionaries that show how common words might change, and these include English, French, German, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish versions.

The National Teacher Registry
http://www.nationalteacherregistry.com

The National Teacher Registry is a free service for schools and teachers that enables them to create a “wish list” of items they need for their classrooms. Described as similar to a wedding or baby shower registry, parents and other supporters can find a teacher’s registry, then purchase items from the list and  have them delivered to the teacher’s classroom. MarCole Interactive Systems, a supplier of gift registry solutions for retailers, launched the site, and in March 2010, Borders announced an agreement as the exclusive book retailer for the site.