Online Language-Learning Resources

These language-learning materials and aids will benefit anyone seeking to flesh out their language-learning experience. Flashcards, online games and exercises, and dictionaries are valuable resources for beginning students who need extra vocabulary and grammar practice, as well as helpful references for students digesting advanced reading and listening sources. Using authentic and content-rich media alongside solid reference materials is a great way to build proficiency in a foreign language. Resources marked with an (*) are authentic materials suited for intermediate and advanced-level language students.

All languages

Quizlet
Free flashcard set generator with pre-made flashcards available for a plethora of subjects.

Word Reference
Online dictionary and phrase bank for many languages.

Memrise
Online flashcard courses created by users. Contains vocabulary and listening sets for many languages. Free to join.

Innovative Language
Free online language courses, podcasts, Youtube videos, apps, audio and ebooks, and word-of-the-day updates. Available in a plethora of languages.

IE Languages
Website with free vocabulary, grammar, and realia resources for 20 languages, with a focus on French, German, Spanish, and Italian.

Lingua Folio
Developed by the National Council of State Supervisors for Languages, Linguafolio is a portfolio assessment instrument intended to both encourage language learners and to record their language-learning milestones. It is free to use, and can be downloaded by submitting your email address.

Lingua
Language-learning website that uses authentic reading materials to teach vocabulary. Free to join. *

Linguee
An online dictionary that presents words in context. Dictionaries are available for over 20 languages.

GLOSS Lessons
Developed and maintained by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center, this site contains over 7,000 reading and listening lessons in nearly 40 languages, including Spanish, French, Russian, Hebrew, German, various Arabic dialects, and more! The user can search for lessons based on level, modality, linguistic competence, and topic. A certificate can be earned at the completion of each lesson.

French

Dictionaries:

Dictionnaire Larousse
A well-known French-English dictionary. It includes words, expressions, verb conjugations, pronunciation guides, and an online language forum.

ATILF: Dictionnaire Français-Anglais
A detailed French-English dictionary that presents relevant phrases and expressions as well. Dictionary of French Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Henry Strutz

General resources:

Talk in French
A language and culture blog created by French linguist Frederic Bibard. The site also contains vocabulary lists, listening exercises, and grammar explanations.

Media:

TV 5 Monde
A major French media agency with both a newspaper and TV channel. TV 5 also publishes French language learning materials for various levels. *

RFI Savoirs
A collection of media resources and online community devoted to French language education published by international radio agency RFI. The site contains radio broadcasts, news articles, blogs, and a French--language forum, including a radio program specifically in “easy French.”

BBC Afrique
BBC news content in French with a focus on African news. *

France Pittoresque
A media-rich website about French culture and history. *

Ma France
An interactive video drama series for French language learning from the BBC.

Spanish

Dictionaries:

Spanish Dictionary
A basic Spanish dictionary.

Don Quijote Verb Conjugator
An online Spanish verb conjugator.

Other resources:

Free Online Spanish courses: Fluent in 3 months
A list of 25 free, online Spanish courses.

Media:

BBC: Mi Vida Loca
An interactive video drama and Spanish course put together by the BBC. A course certificate is available at the completion of all 11 episodes and activities.

El Mercurio
An interactive Chilean newspaper and blog in Spanish. *

El País
A major newspaper from Spain. *

La Crónica Diaria
A leading Mexican newspaper in Spanish. *

German

Dictionaries:

Beolingus: Deutsch-Englisch Diktionär
A German-English dictionary with detailed examples of word usage and related expressions. Dictionary of German Slang and Colloquial Expressions (Barron's) by Henry Strutz

Other resources:

Vocabulix
Large comprehensive conjugation charts

Media:

Deutsches Essen in den USA
A website on German culture, especially food, and where to find German products and restaurants in the US. *

Projekt Gutenberg
Projekt Gutenberg is a database of notable literature in German, many of them primary texts. Non-German authors such as Lord Byron, René Descartes, and Socrates are included as well. *

Der Spiegel
The online version of the popular German news agency Der Spiegel. *

Deutsche Welle
Website for prominent German news agency Deutsche Welle. They also publish various German language learning resources. *

German History in Documents and Images
Published by the German Historical Institute in Washington D.C., this website contains primary sources materials covering German history from 1500 to the present day. Available in both English and German. *

Arabic

Dictionaries and alphabet songs:

Arabic Alphabet Song
A recording of the Arabic alphabet with all the short vowels.

Arabic Alphabet, Confusing Sounds, and Song
Another Arabic alphabet song with an emphasis on the sounds not found in English.

Aratools
An online Arabic-English dictionary that translates Arabic words in any word, even composite words, and includes all short vowels.

Recommended language-learning resources:

Arabic Keyboard
An online Arabic keyboard. You can copy and paste the words typed here to other online and word processing applications.

Aswaat Arabiyya
A video collection published by the University of Texas Austin for Arabic learners of various levels. The site includes vocabulary and exercises to go along with the videos. Viewers can also slow down the video for enhanced listening practice.

Five Colleges- Arabic Resources
A collection of Arabic language learning resources for formal and colloquial Arabic.

Read Arabic!
Read Arabic! is a project of the National Foreign Language Center at the University of Maryland. This link provides reading and vocabulary lessons for beginning and intermediate Modern Standard Arabic learners on a variety of topics.