Freestyle Language - A Freestyle Approach to Learning Foreign Languages

Quality Podcasts for Learning Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish

chapman — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:34:53 -0600

Free Language recently published a number of articles on language podcasts for learning Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Spanish.

Have a look and see if they might work for you - they are high-quality productions from bona fide online sources:

Language Shop with Cheap Deals on Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Michel Thomas, Talking Translators and more!

chapman — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:05:44 -0500

Improved Language Marketplace!

In order to improve this popular service, the Free Language Markeplace has moved!

Visit the new marketplace here and find incredible deals on almost every language-learning product available.

Small Sample of the Language Product Deals Now Available

Click the following link if you wish to see all available Rosetta Stone product deals for all languages at once.

Pimsleur Language Audio Courses

Pimsleur American English
Pimsleur Arabic
Pimsleur Armenian
Pimsleur Chinese
Pimsleur Cantonese
Pimsleur Croatian
Pimsleur Czech
Pimsleur Danish
Pimsleur Dutch
Pimsleur English
Pimsleur Farsi
Pimsleur French
Pimsleur Greek
Pimsleur Haitian
Pimsleur Hebrew
Pimsluer Hindi
Pimsleur Hungarian
Pimsleur Indonesian
Pimsleur Irish
Pimsleur Italian
Pimsleur Japanese
Pimsleur Korean
Pimsleur Lithuanian
Pimsleur Mandarin
Pimsleur Norwegian
Pimsleur Ojibwe
Pimsleur Polish
Pimsleur Portuguese
Pimsleur Romanian
Pimsleur Russian
Pimsleur Spanish
Pimsleur Swahili
Pimsleur Swedish
Pimsleur Tagalog
Pimsleur Thai
Pimsleur Ukrainian
Pimsleur Turkish
Pimsleur Vietnamese

View all Pimsleur deals.

Deep Language Product Discounts on Rosetta Stone, Michel Thomas, Pimsleur, more

chapman — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:36:18 -0500

Free Language has just released a sweet new tool for language product discount seekers!

Free Language now brings together the absolute best deals from across the web on language education products including language software, DVDs, Rosetta Stone, Michel Thomas and Pimsleur products and more.

Visit the new shop and find amazing deals: http://shop.freelanguage.org

Another Large List of Multilingual Language Learning Links and Resources: Podcasts, Courses, Lessons...

chapman — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 11:03:59 -0500

It's been a while since I've updated with the latest from Free Language. So here goes, in no particular order...

Language Overview Pages

Afrikaans Language Resources
Arabic Language Resources
Cantonese Language Resources
Chinese Language Resources
English Language Resources
French Language Resources
Spanish Language Resources

Loads of Multilingual Links

ItalianPod.com ItalianPod Praxis Italian Lessons Podcast with Free Educational Resources and MP3 Audio
ChinesePod.com Olympics Site with Free Mandarin Lessons, Interactive Map of Beijing, Written and Spoken Country Names
Omniglot.com Abjad Consonant Alphabet about Hebrew Script with Images, Example Text and Audio
eduFire.com Blogs about Top 20 Language Bloggers on the Web
Anki Free Flash Card Software for Debian GNU Linux, Mac OS X and Windows Based on Spaced Repetition
China232.com China232 Fun and Business English Lessons via Free Audio Podcast Lessons with Transcripts
Chinese-Course.com Free Mandarin Course with Flashcards/Sentence Manager and Chinese Character Explanations/Annotations
Online-Spanish-Course.com Free Online Spanish Course with Flashcards+Sentence Manager and Spanish Text Annotation
German-Flashcards.com Free German Flashcard Course with Dictionary and German Text Annotation
Quizlet.com Quizlet Vocabulary Trainer w/Flashcards, Games, Quizzes and Tests w/Multiple Choice, Fill in the Blank, Matching
Radio Lingua's A Flavour of German Podcast Teaches German Idioms (Idiomatic Expressions) via Audio Lessons
MeGlobe.com Jabber-Powered, Web-Based Instant Messenger with Automatic Realtime Machine Translation in 14+ Languages
Polish Wikibook with Basic Polish Language Course
LinguistList.org Links Page Covers Linguistics plus Constructed (Conlangs), Endangered and Natural Languages and Writing Systems
AvatarLanguages.com Avatar Languages Learn English in Second Life Virtual World plus Tutors via Skype, Google Docs, Whiteboards
TheChineseReader.com The Chinese Reader Helps Learn to Read Mandarin with Free Chinese Character Text Annotation
Busuu.com Busuu Social Language Exchange Partner Community plus Multimedia Photo-Audio Lesson Archives and Video Chat Interface
RocketLanguages.com Rocket Spanish Language Audio and Software Course from Rocket Languages
ArabicPod.net Podcast with Free Common Colloquial and Standard Arabic Audio Lessons
Linkua.com Linkua Online Distance Language Learning with Live Video Tutors, One-on-One Lessons and Web Classes
TheLinguists.com The Linguists Independent Documentary Film (Movie) Explores Dangers to Record Dying Languages
French-Flashcards.com Online French Flashcard System, Text Analyzer, Vocabulary List Manager with Audio and Dictionary
Verbix.com Verbix Free Verb Conjugation Website (WebVerbix), Verb Wiki and Windows Freeware (FreeVerbix) for 100+ Languages
Semanda.com Free Chinese Vocabulary Cards with Downloadable PDFs plus Multiple Choice Quizzes for Children (Kids)
french.about.com French Learning+Teaching Resources, French Verb Conjugator, Proficiency Tests, French Grammar Help
german.about.com German Learning+Teaching Resources, Verb Conjugator, Audio Listening Lab, Grammar, Geneology, Culture, Lessons
spanish.about.com Spanish Learning+Teaching Resources, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Grammar Glossary, Culture, Course Lessons
SpanishNewsBites.com Spanish NewsBites Free Audio News Bites with Transcriptions about Spanish and Latin America
PukkaGerman.com Pukka German Podcast, German Slang, Colloquial German, Idioms, Funny German Sayings for Intermediate to Advanced
Two Resources to Learn the Finnish Language for Free: Online Wikibooks and Byki Freeware
Learn Silbo Gomero, a Whistled Language from La Isla Gomera in the Canary Islands, on Busuu.com
RocketLanguages.com Rocket French Language Audio and Software Course from Rocket Languages
StudyEnglishNews.com Study English News for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Levels plus English Proficiency Test and Grammar
Useful Spanish Phrases for Travel with Downloadable Audio Recordings for Total Beginners from the Omniglot Website
ChinesePod.com Celebrates the 1,000 Free Mandarin Chinese Audio Lessons Milestone!
Vocabulix.com English, German and Spanish Verb Conjugator, Conjugation Tools, Vocabulary Building, Self-Test Tool, Friend Finder
hskflashcards.com Free Download HSK Vocabulary Cards in PDF Format + Print New Practical Chinese Reader Text Flash Cards (NPCR)
eurolanguages.com Find and Reserve an English Study Abroad Program or Language School Free Online: London, England, Ireland...
eurolanguages.com Find and Reserve a Spanish Study Abroad Program or Language School Free Online: Madrid, Spain, Valencia...
eurolanguages.com Find and Reserve a French Study Abroad Program or Language School Free Online: Paris, France, Provence, Nice...
eurolanguages.com Find and Reserve an Italian Study Abroad Program or Language School Free Online: Rome, Italy, Venice, Ski...
LQToronto.com Download Free Texts and View Free Video Courses to Learn the Language of the Quran with Full Madinah Arabic Course

Language Freeware for over 70 Languages

Byki Offers a Free Language Software Application for Learning 60+ Languages at Byki.com (Windows and Mac OS X)

Book on How to Learn Languages Faster and Better

Learn That Language Now! ebook with Quick, Easy and Efficient Method for Learning Any Foreign Language

Study Abroad

Directory List of International Foreign Language Schools and Language Study Abroad Programs

Polyglot (Multilingual) Wikipedia Administrator Wins Wikimedia Board of Trustees Election 2008

chapman — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 18:27:51 -0500

The results of the 2008 Wikimedia Board of Trustees election ended the 21st of June, 2008. The winner is a polyglot (multilingual) Wikipedia administrator (for Wikipedia Chinese) named Ting Chen (username "Wing" on Wikipedia).

Wing is involved in other Wikimedia projects as well, and has a freestyle "me" page on Wikimedia's website. I put the Chinese version here for fun. He also wrote it in German, French and English.

Wikimedia is in charge of quite a few projects that have revolutionized access to information by making the input collective and empowering and protecting it with the GNU Free Documentation License. This is the same license for any content originally published on Free Language or Freestyle Language or other unrev.org projects. You are encouraged to reuse the information however you like, make it better, etc.

Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, Wikibooks and Wiktionary have produced amazing language learning materials, both directly and indirectly. You can view any page on Wikipedia and see other languages for which that page is also available. It's not a translation, it's just the same page on another language's Wikipedia, Wikibooks or Wiktionary. It's an awesome way to read up on a topic in multiple languages and familiarize yourself with vocabulary related to any subject you choose. Handy and freestyle, as well.

From Ting Chen's Bio Page

你好，

我叫陈霆，在大多数维基的版本中我的用户名是Wing。我住在德国美因茨，我在德语、英语和中文的维基百科上都有活动。我说德、英和汉语，以及一点法语。我是中文维基的管理员之一和中文维基在这里的大使。

如果你想与我对话，或说一声你好，请你不要客气。

:-) Wing

See Wing's bio.

From Wikipedia

The 2008 Wikimedia Board Election Committee would like to announce the results of the 2008 Board Elections. The winner is Ting Chen. These results will be certified by the Board of Trustees at their next meeting, where he will be appointed effective 16 July 2008. This position will be effective until July 2009.

In total, 3019 valid ballots were cast; the specific results are as outlined below. A complete dump of the ballots cast is available here.

English-Polish Science Vocabulary Translations

chapman — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:00:12 -0500

Surfed into a killer PDF of the most pertinent science vocabulary in Polish and English. Very useful!

Aspect in Slavic Languages w/Specific Examples using Polish Perfect vs Imperfect Verbs

chapman — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:50:31 -0500

One of the things I can across quickly while learning 55 common Polish verbs is the concept of aspect in Slavic languages. I found an excellent explanation on Wikipedia with, luckily for Polish learners, explanations of what perfect vs imperfect aspect is all about using examples using Polish verbs.

From Website

Imperfective verbs mean:

actions in progress, just ongoing states and activities, with significant course (in opinion of the speaker);
activities posing the background for other (perfective) activities, ex. czytałem książkę, gdy zadzwonił telefon 'I was reading the book when the telephone rang';
simultaneous activities, ex. będę czytać książkę, podczas gdy brat będzie pisać list 'I will be reading the book while brother will be writing the letter';
durative activities, lasting through some time, e.g. krzyczał 'he was shouting', będzie drgać 'it will be vibrating';
motions without a strict aim, ex. chodzę 'I am walking here and there';
multiple (iterative) activities, ex. dopisywać 'to insert many times to the text', będziemy wychodziły 'we will go out (many times)';
non-resultative activities, only heading towards some purpose: będę pisał list 'I will be writing the letter';
continuous states, ex. będę stać 'I will be standing'.

Perfective verbs mean past or future, but not present activities – an activity which is happening now cannot be ended, so it cannot be perfective. Perfective verbs mean:

states and activities which were ended (even if a second ago) or which will be ended, with insignificant course, short or treated as a whole by the speaker, ex. krzyknął 'he shouted', drgnie 'it will stir';
single-time activities, ex. dopisać 'to insert to the text', wyszedł 'he has gone out';
actions whose goals have already been achieved, even if with difficulty, ex. przeczytałem 'I have read', doczytała się 'she finished reading and found what she had sought';
reasons for the state, ex. pokochała 'she came to love', zrozumiesz 'you (sg.) will understand', poznamy 'we will get to know';
the beginning of the activity or the state, ex. wstanę 'I will stand up' (and I will stand), zaczerwienił się 'he reddened';
the end of the activity or the state, ex. dośpiewaj 'sing until the end';
activities executed in many places, on many objects or by many subjects at the same time, ex. powynosił 'he carried out (many things)', popękają 'they will break out in many places', poucinać 'to cut off many items';
actions or states which last some time, ex. postoję 'I will stand for a little time', pobył 'he was (there) for some time'.
Learn more on Wikipedia.

Advertisement:

55 Common (High-Frequency) Polish Verbs found on the Swadesh List

chapman — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:08:06 -0500

Embedded below you will find a game to learn 55 of the most commonly-used Polish verbs from the Polish Swadesh List.

This was taken from a Quizlet set I just made to help me learn these common verbs and test my brewing theory of action-oriented language learning. I like using Quizlet because it is free, quick, currently has non-intrusive ads and, perhaps most importantly, allows me to share with anyone else work that I do to create language-learning materials.

As I will be heading to Poland within a week or two, I have kicked into high gear to learn as much as possible before getting there. It is a challenge to test out my own ideas on picking up languages quickly for practical use, ideas developed over a period of years while learning the four languages I speak with relative fluency and bits and pieces of others I am not yet terribly proficient in.

At any rate, included with the Polish are International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) transcriptions of the words being learned for quick pronunciation reference. There are other ways to learn and practice at Quizlet if you visit a Quizlet setthis set's page. If you are into learning lots of languages, I recommend learning the IPA.

Transparent Language Free Word of the Day Web Widgets in Italian, German, Russian and Others

chapman — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 11:27:27 -0500

My goal is to use this blog successfully for personal language-learning endeavors. To create spaces where I can study and learn. Out of this I hope for a new theory of language learning to develop, something along the lines of the action-oriented language learning stuff I have written here only briefly about.

I found the Transparent Language's free Word of the Day Web widgets, I dug the mix of features, including audio, example sentence and past/present/future conjugations. I'm currently working on Italian, German and Russian (among others that aren't available as widgets) so I have those here. The widgets are also available in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, ESL and Leet.

Free HSK Test Vocabulary Preparation at Quizlet.com, the Social Flash Card Meets Self-Testing Website

chapman — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 19:57:43 -0500

Wow! While researching Quizlet on Free Language, I found an amazing stack of vocabulary cards specifically for preparing for the HSK examination. Currently there are four stacks with a collective total of over 8,700 terms with definition, characters and pinyin!

Chinese HSK A
Chinese HSK B
Chinese HSK C
Chinese HSK D

If you want to be an accredited Chinese user, you can work at it and take the test.

The Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì (simplified Chinese: 汉语水平考试; traditional Chinese: 漢語水平考試), abbreviated as HSK, is the People's Republic of China's only standardized test of Standard Mandarin Chinese proficiency for non-native speakers, namely foreign students, overseas Chinese, and members of ethnic minority groups in China. It is also known as the "Chinese Proficiency Test" and the "Chinese TOEFL."