This is my personal, annotated list of language-learning resources for the languages I am studying or have studied. I hope that others may find it useful as well!
Multiple Languages
- Flashcards Deluxe: my absolute favorite smartphone flashcard app, available for both iPhone & and Android
- Anki: another, more popular flashcard program, plus a whole suite of supporting software
- Quizlet or Memrise: nice online flashcards, if you don't care for smartphone apps
- How to Learn Any Language: language "dosiers" and a very active forum of fellow language-learners
- Lang-8: native speakers give free corrections of your writing (in exchange for you correcting students of your own native language)
- Conversation Exchange: connect with other language-learners who speak the language you want to learn, who want to learn the language(s) you speak! Instead of paying for a tutor, barter your own native language for theirs. You can meet in person, chat online, or be pen-pals. I highly recommend getting a conversation partner — even when you're just a beginner — to give real "meaning" or "purpose" to your growing language skills.
Spanish
Listening & Reading
- Practica Español: articles and videos grouped by language level, often with transcripts
Listening
Podcasts
- Algarabía Radio
- Blog de Lengua: short explanations of 2 or 3 topics about Spanish linguistics
- Catástrofe Ultravioleta
- CienciaEs: 14(!) podcasts about science
- Crimen Digital
- Factor ciencia
- GeoCastAway
- L de Lengua: for teachers of Spanish
- Radio Ambulante: like NPR but in Spanish!
- Tolerancia cero
News
- CNN en español
- Democracy Now! en español: translated from the US-based "Democracy Now!"; has a variety of accents
- Tele 13 Online: news
- Univision: news and TV shows
TV Shows
Links to full TV episodes: Primiciatv, QSerie, seriesflv.
German
General
- German StackExchange: ask questions about any aspect of the German language, get well-informed answers all levels
- ##deutsch IRC channel: get real-time help from native speakers (note that most are in the GMT+1 timezone) all levels
Grammar & Vocabulary
- Deutsch: Warum Nicht?: podcast (4 "seasons") that teaches German as it goes; by Deutsch Welle beginner
- Horst Kurz's class notes: grammar review and exercises beginner
- "German Verbs and Essentials of Grammar": very succinct, complete, and (admittedly) dry grammar beginner
- "Mastering German Vocabulary: A Thematic Approach": words grouped by semantic similarity beginner
- Top 100 Verbs: most frequently used verbs beginner
Listening
- Langsam Gesprochene Nachrichten: slowly spoken news, read by fluent/native German speakers; by Deutsche Welle intermediate
- Slow German: slowly spoken podcast, read by native speaker Annik Rubens intermediate
- Jojo sucht das Glück: telenovela made for students; by Deutsche Welle advanced
- Allmystery: science podcasts advanced
Reading & Writing
- "Die Vollstängige Maus" by Art Spiegelman: graphic novel about WWII concentration camps; translated from English intermediate
- National Geographic: interesting articles intermediate/advanced
American Sign Language (ASL)
General
-
Reference to ASL:
a short overview of ASL; linguistics of sign languages; alphabet, numbers,
& phrases; how to form sentences grammatically in ASL; and
interpretting
beginner
Thanks to the Girl Scout troop from Denver who suggested this link! :)
Grammar & Vocabulary
- LifePrint: dictionary and free lessons beginner
Reading & Writing
- SignWriting: one written form of sign language that has gained a limited amount of popularity; even so, it is pretty unpopular among Deaf Americans advanced
- si5s & aslwrite.com: a newer competitor to SignWriting; has the advantage of being invented by a Deaf person rather than a hearing person. advanced
Culture
- "Train Go Sorry" by Leah Cohen: part history, part memoir of a hearing woman who grew up as part of the Deaf community beginner
- AllDeaf forum: forum for d/Deaf and HoH folks beginner
Mandarin (Chinese)
Pronunciation
- Phonetics Table: chart of all possible Mandarin syllables, with audio recordings of each tone beginner
- Shufawest & Pinyin Practice: tone drills beginner
Listening
- Happy Chinese: 100 episodes, subtitled in Mandarin and English intermediate
Reading & Writing
- "Chinese Characters" by Alan Hoenig: learn 2,178 characters in order of character complexity (rather than in the traditional order that Chinese school children learn)
- Pleco: OCR, dictionary, handwriting recognition iOS