No more crappy clip art!

How many times have you seen this same clipart? I'm not sure how many times this woman at the computer clipart has appeared in presentations, power-points, etc. ;-)

Microsoft Clipart used to be very limiting with the clipart. It was a pain in the neck to actually find decent looking graphics to use in your lessons, flashcards, etc but no more!

My co-worker told me about http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/images.

We've all seen clipart, but this new tool of finding similar clipart is pretty cool because of the way you can search AND ACTUALLY FIND pictures that are new, cool, and give you TONS of options.

The thing that makes this so handy is that you can search for a graphic, then click "see similar" so you can find clipart that has the same look and feel of that graphic. You can also use the scroll bar to move along finding graphics that are similar.

Its hard to explain, but it is excellent!...way better than the old clipart. Hope you like it!

Know of other places to get great graphics for Languages? Let me know in the comments!

Learning Problems?

Okay, so this isn't just for World Languages but I couldn't help put it on here because a lot of the learning tools listed would be great to use in World Languages.

This is a blog post about the idea that there should be at least one tool out there for every different kind of "learning problem, need, or issue". So it lists a huge list of needs and tools. I think its pretty interesting just to read through and consider some of the different types of learning problems and needs out there some of which I might not have even considered. ;-)

Sometimes its easy to categorize learners into small groups, this kind, that kind, and the other. However, in reality there are many different learners and the more tools and resources we have available to engage those learners the more opportunities we give them for success.

Go ahead and check this out, you may come across a tool or two or three that you like!

http://zaidlearn.blogspot.com/2008/04/free-learning-tool-for-every-learning.html

Do I really need an Etext for Spanish?

Spanish teachers, this post is for you!

Do I need an Etext? That is the question! The past few weeks I have been sorting through many MANY different websites on Spanish. My goal was to find some content that is good and helpful and that I might be able to use online. Among several things I'm trying to decide if I really need an Etext or whether I can simply use what is available for no cost to teach with while still addressing the standards. ;-)

After sifting through many Spanish sites. These three stood out!

Spanish.language&culture. This is so helpful! Sometimes you find a site that has a few activities for only a few of the most important topics but this one really has a ton! Check out the list of grammar exercises.... and they aren't boring either! Imagine that! ;-) There are also some great activities, songs, and interesting multimedia to add. Thank you Baraba Kuczun Nelson for making this available! Good stuff!

StudySpanish.com I love this site! One of my old high school buddies asked me about a site he could use to learn Spanish and this one was a no brainer. It is so detailed and complete. I use this all the time! What makes it so nice is the way it is broken into lesson topics but further broken down clear to the nitty gritty. There is a course you can pay for but much of it is also available for free to direct your students to. It has both lessons AND auto-feedback practices. Where was this when I took Spanish in High School? I sure could have used it then!

Spanish Proficiency Exercises Videos! Who wants some videos? This has great listening and watching activities in a variety of the most common topics that you study in Foreign Languages. Check it out. They are authentic videos of real people from Spanish countries and its even broken up in Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced!

Ok, I said there were only 3 but I lied! I have one more. It is just too cool not to share!

Language by Country - Langmedia This has a simple index with text, video, and images. The neat thing about this is that it isn't just Spain or Mexico but they have content on Argentina, Ecuador, and Nicaragua as well. We live in a big world and we really should be providing samples from a variety of countries, not just the most common. I was surprised to see so much for so many different countries, all for Spanish! ;-)

Know of some other great sites? Please let me know. I 'd love to hear from you! Comment below!

Try your shooting skills! and Review!

Create Educational Games - Classtools.net

Sometimes an example will show you more of what you can do with a tool then writing a huge blog post on it. This is just one game template that you can easily make with classtools.net. It is a free service and you can quickly and easily make games that covers the content in your class.
I was playing around in here and made a simple game you can try out.

Sample War of the Worlds Game

Yes, it is very cheezy but it is fun to play and as you progress through the levels it repeats the questions to help you review. Did you learn something about me you didn't know? ;-) There are a lot ways we can motivate kids to practice reviewing concepts and thanks to online tools and sites like this, our goal of having them memorize can be accomplished while doing it in a fun way. It sure beats memorizing a list of vocabulary words!

There are lots of other games that you can use as well. Know of other educational games? Please leave a comment to let us know what else you have found!

World Digital Library! - Bringing the World Digital Library to your fingertips!

There are so many resources out on the net that it can sometimes be difficult to find good and reputable repositories of information that is reliable and free!

There is a great website - World Digital Library - http://www.wdl.org/en/

Their Mission:
"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 thing I love about this website is you can geographically sift through the information. You can also use the slider at the bottom (not shown in this graphic) to change the time frame for the authentic materials so you can narrow down the content to a specific year.

This is definitely a place you will want to check out if you are looking for some primary materials and free resources for your class. The website itself can be displayed in several different languages.

Happy Exploring!

Learning Tools! - Great Tools for Free!

Its always great to find learning tools that are both helpful and free.
I have been searching for a long time for a tool that can aid in the pronunciation of words and I found one that is free. Your institution would need to have a flash server for most of these tools to work, but if you have (or can obtain) that then the these tools are free (for academic use) and can really help students with their pronunciation! This was initiated by (Arts ISIT) at the University of British Columbia.

Here are a few of the tools:

Language Pronunciation Tool - This tool is designed to enhance a student's comprehension and pronunciation of a particular language

Handwriting Tool - This tool is excellent for languages which use symbols that students need to practice writing in Asian characters.

Go ahead and check out the other options they have available. You may find one that works for you. http://www.learningtools.arts.ubc.ca/index.htm

Have you heard of Culture Grams?

I was able to take a look at the content available at CultureGrams.com and it is top notch.

They have not only pictures, videos, and articles of different countries and cultures but they also have actual interviews with people all over the world. Kid interviews too!

The drawback to CultureGrams is that it costs money to be able to access their database. Unfortuantely it is not free. However, I don't think that it is too expensive and if you want a reliable and up-to-date report on over 200 countries, this is a great place to check out.

It also has great statistics and interesting facts about he different places. Much better organized (and interesting) than other places I've seen.

Now if only it were free! ;-) Here is the link: CultureGrams.com

Xtranormal.com - Great cartoons that speak other languages!

When my co-worker asked me to check out Xtranormal.com, I was surprised at how addicting it was. It is a great tool and it makes it so easy for students or teachers to make little cartoons.

The coolest thing is that it speaks different languages!

You can have your cartoon speak in German, French, English, or Spanish. They also have a new version of the program which you can download to your computer and create the cartoons from there. It is all free which I love!

Here are a few different samples of videos that we made using this tool. You can make some great videos to put on your website, in your online course, or you can have students make their presentations using this great tool.

Here is one sample we made for Spanish
Here is another sample for Spanish
Here's one sample of an intro to French

You can see that it is up to you how you create these. It is definitely addicting. ;-)