Instructify

It is my own fault for not being bilingual. I have everything I could possibly need at my disposal to learn one or more languages, but I have not yet taken the time to learn something. Shame on me. It’s something I’m trying to remedy, though, and it’s something that’s entirely possible for me to do. With all of the resources on the web for language learning, I will never have to set foot in a classroom.

Unfortunately, it’s not me we’re worried about. I’m doing what I can, sure, but my childhood has long since passed, and I know enough about what I know to get by in the world. Whether it’s in familiar territory or parts unknown, I feel I have the communication skills I need in order to get me out of just about any pickle. Lucky me, right? For a lot of people, this is not the case, however. It’s important to consider the needs of language learners in a time when technology is an ever-present entity in our lives, so it’s just as important for developers to know what they are putting out there. They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what does it take to raise a village?

With more and more user content available on the Internet every day, it seems only likely that there would be an influx of user submitted materials to help language learners. And yes, there are a lot of sites out there designed specifically to keep people like you and me learning languages at a cost of next to nothing. These sites offer everything but the kitchen sink when it comes to learning a new language— the kitchen sink, of course, being actually living and interacting in a place where your language of interest is commonly spoken. Sites like BBC Languages, which offers eight different languages and oodles of resources for each so that you’ll be able to learn at your own pace. There’s also tools like Labpixies translator widget, which instantly translates text from one language to another. But how are these and other resources beneficial to those who are unable to easily access this technology?

The idea might not be that we can allow the millions of hungry minds access to these sites to learn on their own, but what it can do is teach teachers how to communicate. It is becoming easier and easier for those of us with access to computers and the internet (and if you are reading this, I am guessing you have both) to learn a new language, so why not take advantage of the tools that are readily available to not only expand our own horizons, but to learn more effective ways that we can share language. Here’s a list of some of our favorite online language learning tools, as well as a handful of others. –JEREMY S. GRIFFIN

Related Resources:
BBC Languages
Labpixies’ Babylon Translation Box
American Sign Language Browser
Chuala
LiveMocha
Mango Languages