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Advice for language learners General warning: what follows may or may not apply to you. It's based on what linguistics knows about people in general (but any general advice will be ludicrously inappropriate for some people) and on my own experience (but you're not the same as me). If you have another way of learning that works, more power to you. Given the discussion so far, the prospects for language learning may seem pretty bleak. It seems that you'll only learn a language if you really need to; but the fact that you haven't done so already is a pretty good indication that you don't really need to. How to break out of this paradox? At the least, try to make the facts of language learning work for you, not against you. Exposure to the language, for instance, works in your favor. So create exposure. * Read books in the target language. * Better yet, read comics and magazines. (They're easier, more colloquial, and easier to incorporate into your weekly routine.) * Buy music that's sung in it; play it while you're doing other things. * Read websites and participate in newsgroups that use it. * Play language tapes in your car. If you have none, make some for yourself. * Hang out in the neighborhood where they speak it. * Try it out with anyone you know who speaks it. If necessary, go make new friends. * Seek out opportunities to work using the language. * Babysit a child, or hire a sitter, who speaks the language. * Take notes in your classes or at meetings in the language. * Marry a speaker of the language. (Warning: marry someone patient: some people want you to know their language-- they don't want to teach it. Also, this strategy is tricky for multiple languages.) Taking a class can be effective, partly for the instruction, but also because you can meet others who are learning the language, and because, psychologically, classes may be needed to make us give the subject matter time and attention. Self-study is too eas

I really like this list and would like to add some resources for Latin. I have made a few Roman culture handouts that I keep on scribd.com. There are some about roman food and parts f the body. Hope they can be of use. http://www.scribd.com/civciv2222

As part of a language arts or reading program, students read novels throughout the school year. Some of the novels are assigned, read, and discussed "all class." Others are chosen by the students individually, and they keep individual reading lists. Students may be required to read a certain number per marking period, per school year, and over the summer. Some may be classics; other trade novels, but all contribute to the overall reading and comprehension abilities of the students. This unit can be done as a culminating activity for the school year. Students are asked to choose their two favorite novels from the ones they have read. They write reviews and post them online for students in their own school, in other schools, across the United States, and in other countries to read. The student reviews not only help student readers clarify their own understanding of literature, they also provide a "student-to-student" resource. Other students can choose novels based on opinions of their peers. The students review the novels, write descriptions that will appeal to other readers, and indicate the level of reading difficulty. They do this to help others choose novels suitable for their reading levels.

"Writing is vital to most examples of learning. It is how civilisation conveys information from generation to generation, it is how parents often communicate their needs and fears for their children as notes to the teacher, and it is how little Johnny/Jane tells you about what their cat and/or dog did at the weekend. Some people love writing, while others struggle with it, but everyone has to write to some degree in their daily lives, and all of this stems from their experiences in the classroom."

1) How did social media - and social network sites in particular - gain traction in the US? And how should we think about network effects? 2) What are some core differences between how teens leverage social media and how adults engage with these same tools? 3) How is social media reconfiguring social infrastructure and where is all of this going?

some of our friends working to make a video conference practice, so they can get the voice speed and volume appropriate for a variety of listeners; excellent lesson on setting up and videoconferencing;D

a practice meeting of several of my twitter colleagues in Latin America; some have webcams, but not all; working to make all aspects work well;

Some thoughts on intelligibility

Infographic about the speed of languages, that is: how fast languages are spoken. Why do some languages sound like they're going by so fast, whereas others seem more slow and pronounced? A study was performed to find out why this is, and, it's more about the language density rather than the actual syllables per second. Slower languages tend to have a much higher information density, and the faster languages have less information transmitted per syllable; so it all evens itself out.

Podcasts by some B2 ESL learners about national stereotypes.

As you know, teachers know everything. But there are some mere mortals out there who still need to ask questions. This is a fabulous site with over 80 specialist areas to ask questions to the cloud. The community will then help you find an answer. The areas include English and other languages, computing, maths, science, history and much more. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Cross+Curricular

Flashcards with pictures and vocab activities like matching. Some languages have more options than others but there is a variety of languages.

some downloadable resources

A fascinating site that explores endangered languages. Read information and the demographics of the remaining speakers and watch video clips of some phrases. Why not try something different for your 'language of the week'. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Languages%2C+Culture+%26+International+Projects

A silent movie, the second silent movie to be awarded an Oscar in history. Have a look at the trailer below and try to write some words for it, as if you were subtitling it.

Middlebury's program is mostly interpretive with some presentational aspects so best used in a blended environment where learners have the opportunity to practice spontaneous speaking in live situations. That said, if this is the only option it seems much better than the majority of what's out there for independent language study, in my opinion.