If you are interested in learning a new language or improving your existing skills, there are many free online resources that can help. A number of schools, including MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Utah State University, have begun to offer free foreign language courses online. Free lessons can also be found through the BBC and the many foreign language learning networks that have cropped up on the web. This article provides a list of 15 places to find free foreign language lessons online:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology – The Massachusetts Institute of Technology offers over 60 courses in foreign languages and literature. Users can find courses in Spanish, Chinese, Spanish, German, and Japanese.
The Open University – The Open University’s modern language unit features courses for Spanish, German, English, and French. Courses are available for beginner, intermediate, and advanced level language learners.
Utah State University – Utah State University offers several free online courses in languages, philosophy, and speech communication. Two courses that are particularly popular are the Chinese I and Chinese II language courses.
Carnegie Mellon University – The Open Learning Initiative at the Carnegie Mellon University features two courses in Introductory French. These video-based courses include activities and self-guided materials.
BBC – BBC offers video and audio courses for 36 different languages. Course options include quick language fixes, all-in-one courses, tips, and conversation tools.
FSI Language Courses – Developed by the Foreign Service Institute, these courses cover 38 different languages and provide lessons in MP3 format.
eLanguageSchool – One of the largest multiple language learning institutions on the web, eLanguageSchool provides courses for learning 10 different languages. Courses cover the basics, grammar, phrases, practice, and exercises.
Open Culture – This site features podcasts for learning 37 different languages. The podcasts can be listened to on your computer or downloaded on to a MP3 player. Open Culture also features an instructional podcast on how to teach yourself a foreign language.
Word2Word – Word2Word provides links to hundreds of different free learning courses for 119 different languages. Links are sorted by language so that you can easily find what you’re looking for.
Livemocha – Livemocha is a great place to find free foreign language lessons. This site offers free online courses, over 160 hours of lessons, and tips from native speakers.
Internet Polyglot – Internet Polyglot offers free tools and lessons for over 20 languages. Within this site, learners can find free user-created lessons as well as handy memory tips for retaining tricky foreign vocabulary words.
LifeClever – LifeClever offers links for learning over 35 languages through iTunes. To listen to the 926 available courses, you can browse podcasts/education/language/courses within iTunes, or if you already know the language you want to learn, simply click the link on this web page.
LanguagePod101.com – After signing up for a free account, LanguagePod101.com gives you access to podcast lessons covering a wide range of languages. Along with podcasts, members get daily audio and video lessons, lesson discussions, and an opportunity to connect with other learners.
Free Language – Free Language is a quality site that provides many different free learning resources to discover and explore foreign languages. Resources include lessons, podcasts, audio and video, articles, and resources for studying and teaching languages.
MyHappyPlanet – MyHappyPlanet provides user-generated language lessons from users all over the world. Language learners can also use the site to build conversational skills through chats with native speakers.
Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer. Karen is the About.com Guide to Business School. She also writes for OnlineCollege.org, an online college resource.
25 August 2009 08:45