Beyond the

Stone:
Opportunities
and Materials for
Language
Learners

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 Web-based Programs for Libraries

Online Language Learning Networks

 Busuu  Tell Me More

Standalone Software
 Livemocha  Powerspeak
 Babbel  Mango

Online Language Learning Communities

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 WHY LANGUAGE
MATERIALS?
 Support study abroad programs
 Support independent language study
 Provide additional exposure to a language
 Offer less commonly taught languages

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Mandarin, French, Italian, Spanish

FLUENZ
“WE KNOW THAT NEW TECHNOLOGIES CAN CREATE MAGIC, OR
JUST ADD CLUTTER TO OUR LIVES.”

 Sleek product, but

down-to-earth style
 Delivered on DVD and
CD (not web-based)
 Tries to replicate the
face-to-face
instructional
experience

Co-founder Sonia Gil

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AURALOG’S TELLMEMORE
English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese

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PRIME: PROGRESSIVE, REAL WORLD, INTERACTIVE, MOTIVATING, AND EFFECTIVE…..

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Gale Powerspeak Languages
Spanish, French, German, Mandarin Chinese and ESL Spanish

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 Gale
Powerspeak

…..Soon to add Italian, Japanese and Russian

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 Ga
le
Po
we
rsp
ea
k

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MANGO

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BEFORE YOU KNOW IT (BYKI):

 “Recall them perfectly, and remember them forever…”

 Review it, Recognize it, Know it, Produce it, Own it.
 Some content still freely available
 Library version can also be purchased on a USB that can be
circulated
 Flash-card based
 Content augmented by web-resources and online
community 12
 ONLINE LANGUAGE
LEARNING
COMMUNITIES AND
SOCIAL “LANGUAGE
LEARNING” NETWORKS

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 Liv
em
oc
ha

• 6 million members in
195 countries

• Some free content

available

• Includes over 38
languages
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English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German ,Italian, Chinese,
Japanese, Korean, Russian, Turkish

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English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Brazilian Portuguese, Russian,
Polish and Turkish

BUSUU.COM

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BABBEL.COM
French, German, English, Italian, Spanish, Swedish and Portuguese

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OTHER IDEAS FROM AROUND
THE WEB….
 RadioLingua Network
 Earworms
 BBC Languages Website
 Youtube videos (children’s songs, culture,
cooking, crafts, festivals, etc.)
 Online newspapers
 Online radio stations: multilingualbooks.com
 Change your facebook or email language
settings

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CONCLUSION
 Stay with it!
 Stay motivated
 Fall in love with the
language
 Expose yourself to
the culture
 Try the different
options and figure
out what works for
you!

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