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Welcome to the Culturally Authentic Pictorial Lexicon, CAPL, the source for authentic images for language learning. As a language teacher and learner, I always seek to connect language, culture, and meaning. This site represents my interest to not only write about language learning, but provide concrete examples. Our world rich in diversity, both linguistic and visual, and often the connection between word and image can be lost. As commercial globalization brings the world together through 'common products', we sometimes forget how our visual perception of the world affects our use of words and the meanings they convey. Is a house really a Haus, is pain really хлеб, and when we see red cabbage, is it really red? These are simple and mundane questions that underscore the fact that visual perception is culturally determined and visual cognition varies from culture to culture. The CAPL project seeks to explore this idea through a collection of authentic photographs arranged by language and context. In the coming year, we will add more photos, more databases, and more textual descriptions. Check back often as we expand our collection. It is our hope that the collection itself can spur research in a variety of areas and that the collection can be used by language teachers and learners throughout the world with its generous Creative Commons license.

"Most cultures exhibit a particular configuration or style. A single value or pattern of perceiving the world often leaves its stamp on several institutions in the society. Examples are "machismo" in Spanish-influenced cultures, "face" in Japanese culture, and "pollution by females" in some highland New Guinea cultures. Here Horace Miner demonstrates that "attitudes about the body" have a pervasive influence on many institutions in Nacirema society."

"Caravanserai: A place where cultures meet creates new pathways for Americans to experience the diversity of contemporary Muslim artistic expressions by introducing U.S. audiences to exciting and dynamic artists from the Muslim world. The 2011-2012 season of Caravanserai features the diverse cultures of contemporary Pakistan. Five participating organizations will host two musical residencies featuring traditional and contemporary Pakistani artists and one film residency featuring a young and innovative Pakistani filmmaker. The 2012-2013 Caravanserai season will bring music and film from different Muslim cultures to new communities across the United States."

Connecting you with the world's diverse cultures is this KML layer produced by The Rosetta Project / The Long Now Foundation. Around the world, a significant part of cultural diversity is experienced through language. It is feared that many of the languages, and therefore the cultures they belong to are being lost at such a rapid rate that "linguists predict that we may lose as much as 90% of the world's linguistic diversity within the next century." This KML provides an opportunity to explore the areas where these endangered languages are spoken throughout Africa and the Americas.

The American Councils Advanced Russian Language and Area Studies Program (RLASP) serves both graduate and undergraduate students. The academic program is designed to improve participants' oral, listening, reading, and writing proficiency in Russian language and to develop their knowledge of Russian history, politics, culture, and society. The academic year, semester, and summer programs provide approximately twenty hours per week of in-class instruction in Russian grammar, phonetics, conversation, and cultural studies at Moscow International University, the Russian State Pedagogical University (Gertsen Institute) in St. Petersburg, and the KORA Center for Russian Language in Vladimir. One day per week of the academic program is set aside for local cultural excursions.

Boston In French: a new online network for lovers of French culture Where can you find shared French-American groups about education, gastronomy, book club picks, conversation exchanges, jobs, classified ads, apartment swaps and more? At Boston In French, the new, free, innovative and collaborative network! Create your profile and exchange, inform, contribute and debate questions and interests related to the French culture and language, and connect with francophones, Francophiles and French individuals in New England.

The French Heritage Language Program was created in 2005 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and received additional support from the Alfred & Jane Ross Foundation. It is designed to support and enrich the teaching and learning of French language, literature, and culture for students of Francophone background enrolled in New York City public schools. The primary objectives of the program are to help these students develop proficiency in French (reading comprehension, writing, oral expression and other literacy skills), and keep a connection to their respective cultures and identities, while increasing their opportunities for success in their new environment. Through university partnerships, this project also hopes to contribute to scholarly research in the field of heritage language learning. As a pilot program, it is a place for pedagogical and methodological exploration, and a way to build new partnerships. We seek to develop curriculum models that can be replicated and adapted in other cities in the United States, in France as well as in other countries. The French Heritage Language Program works closely with the Internationals Network for Public Schools, which includes nine high schools for new immigrants in New York City and one in Oakland, California, all working at the development of models for global education.

The World Digital Library (WDL) makes available on the Internet, free of charge and in multilingual format, significant primary materials from countries and cultures around the world. The principal objectives of the WDL are to: * Promote international and intercultural understanding; * Expand the volume and variety of cultural content on the Internet; * Provide resources for educators, scholars, and general audiences; * Build capacity in partner institutions to narrow the digital divide within and between countries.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs founded the International MANGA Award in 2007 for the purpose of expanding international exchange and mutual understanding through the MANGA culture which is widely accepted around the world. This award honors the MANGA artists who are contributing to the development of MANGA culture in the world "

"The French Cultural Center is thrilled to unveil the first ever francophone e-Library in the United States, available to residents of New England! Our initial, hand-picked collection of 500 e-Books and e-Audiobooks spans classic and contemporary literature, as well as non-fiction works such as history, biographies and travel guides. It includes offerings for Francophiles at all levels, from beginners to native speakers, and a number of young adult and early reader titles. To learn more about the collection, feel free to browse the e-Library catalog before registering."

"WeSpeke (www.wespeke.com) is a free, unique and innovative language website and cultural exchange for teachers and students. WeSpeke is designed as a free-time resource to help improve the efficiency of foreign language acquisition and practice amongst language learners and focuses on supporting the language education curriculum across the conversation continuum including; Messaging (asynchronous communications) Chat (synchronous and asynchronous communications) Audio (real time conversations) Video + Audio (full peer-to-peer language immersion and cultural exchange)"

We are using open source teleconferencing technology to conduct 1-on-1 and group classes via video, voice, flash technology for displaying Chinese characters and shared whiteboard where the teacher & student can observe each other's Chinese writing capabilities. In addition, we offer video clips of Chinese culture events also. As student learn the language, and they will be able to learn the Chinese culture as well.

The Center's mission is to serve the entire community of African language educators and learners in the United States by sponsoring a wide range of educational and professional activities designed to improve the accessibility and quality of African language instruction in the United States. The Center encourages a variety of pedagogical approaches to accommodate learner diversity, and advocates the integration of language and culture learning and the acquisition of fluency in these areas. It facilitates dialogue among teachers, learners, and administrators from a wide variety cultural and institutional perspectives, and promotes the profession of African language teaching.

Al-Khazina is an interactive database for the study of Islamic Culture, particularly in the early centuries. We developed it for use in university courses on a wide range of topcs in Islamic civilization,and from introductory through advanced levels.

A teacher-designed website with interactive grammar, listening and reading activities. Several well-designed study models use songs and lyrics to support learning about language and culture.

The Center for Educational Resources in Culture, Language and Literacy (CERCLL) supports the educational community and the nation by providing resources and research focused on culture, language and literacy in less commonly taught languages. CERCLL is associated with the SLAT Program.

"Actu études & Points de vue: Retrouvez l'ensemble des notes d'analyse et des résultats d'études publiés sur le site tns-sofres.com." Site from a marketing/public opinion firm in France. Has articles with data about the attitudes/points of view of the French public. Interesting authentic text for student reading practice with cultural implications.

Syllabus and class materials for a teacher education course on integrating social networking into language/culture classes. Creative Commons license.

"Digital_Humanities is a compact, game-changing report on the state of contemporary knowledge production. Answering the question, "What is digital humanities?," it provides an in-depth examination of an emerging field. This collaboratively authored and visually compelling volume explores methodologies and techniques unfamiliar to traditional modes of humanistic inquiry--including geospatial analysis, data mining, corpus linguistics, visualization, and simulation--to show their relevance for contemporary culture." Open Access PDF version available for free download

"MIMEA is a series of interactive multimedia modules for language learning, practice, and assessment. The modules are based on video clips that show native speakers and nonnative speakers interacting in natural, unscripted situations. Interactive exercises reinforce language and cultural topics that spring from the scenarios. Teachers can use MIMEA modules as part of a language course to demonstrate language use, provide contextual language practice, or as an assessment tool."