Collection of Online Interactives

Check out this collection of educational interactives from all over the Internet. They're meant mainly for students in grades K-5, but I have to confess that I had fun clicking around the site too. The site hosts links to science, math, ELA, social studies, music, art, and Spanish interactives and is very easy to navigate, so I'm sure that it'll be a breeze to find exactly what you want to learn about.

TED Talks

TED Talks online gives learners from all over the globe access to innovative talks given from the world's premier experts. The Talks range from subtly humorous to jaw-droppingly beautiful to awe-inspiringly ingenious. The Talks range in duration from five minutes to just over a half hour, so you can fit them into your morning train commute, your mid-morning coffee break, your lunch hour, or your late afternoon snack time. High schoolers and adult learners would likely get the most out of this resource, but middle schoolers can feel free to take a peek around as well.

Khan Academy

A while back, one of our readers suggested that we add Khan Academy to our list of resources.

Khan Academy offers an amazing variety of learning resources. Students can brush up on their math or science skills, learn about economics and finance, dive into the world of computer programing, prep for the Big Test, or access partner content offered by world-renowned museums.

Khan Academy is an awesome resource for learners of all ages. Kindergartners through college students can benefit from using Khan Academy, as can their caregivers and teachers. Adult learners can enjoy these resources as well. Whether you're 5 or 125, Khan Academy will help you learn something new.

Language Learning Tips

If you're an American high school or middle school student, chances are that you're going to be required to take foreign language classes. Here are some tips to help you along.

• Immerse yourself in the language. Set your computer's language to whatever language you're trying to learn. Just make sure you remember the settings path you took in case your new toolbar has you completely stumped. 
• Listen to foreign language songs. Lots of high school students in American learn Spanish as their second language. The good news is that Spanish is all around us! You can probably find a Spanish-language radio station in your car, and when you do, be grateful you're not learning Swedish. 
• Watch TV programs in Spanish. (For ease of writing, I'm just going to assume the reader is learning Spanish. Substitute the language you're learning if that's not true.) Don't watch the news, though. Most of the time, reporters talk way too fast. I can barely keep up with news broadcasts in my native language! Try watching a soap opera or, better yet, a children's show. Just think of it this way: you'll be learning Spanish the same way a baby in Mexico, Spain, or most of South and Central America would. 
• Read children's books in Spanish. You might be able to find some bilingual books at your local library, depending on the Latino population in your neighborhood. 
• Label stuff. The whole point of learning a language is to communicate. That'll be hard if you don't know the words for common objects and rooms around the house. 
• Go to a news site from Mexico, Spain, or any number of Spanish-speaking nations. Don't cheat and let Google translate the page for you; read it in the original Spanish and use your dictionary only for unfamiliar words. 
• Do a little bit of practice every day, even if you don't have Spanish on Thursday's or on the weekends or on holidays. Consistent practice leads to consistent results. If your goal is fluency, you're going to need to work hard. 

Learn a New Language with Duolingo

Duolingo is a website that offers free language learning. Whether you want to learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, or Danish, Duolingo has you covered. It also offers a cool diagnostic tool so you can improve your skills in a language you've already started learning elsewhere. It'll test your proficiency and start you off at a level that'll leave you feeling challenged, but not completely stumped.

Check it out here: https://www.duolingo.com/

Reading List: France, A Love Story and My Favorite French Blog

Alright, so the dream, or at least it's abbreviated version, went something like this: I was going to live in a modest little house in Southern France, near Provence when I grew up, and it was going to be amazing.

The pursuit of the dream went a little something like this: I dedicated myself to learning all about France, its language, its culture, and its history for about a year. I dreamt of the house, and came up with floor plans, and started zeroing in on the city I'd want to live in. (I never quite decided.)

How the dream began, and how it ended, has to do with a series of pastel-colored books with really horrible pictures on the front. The series is about different countries. I started with the Canada book, which had an unflattering picture of an industrial plant somewhere in Quebec, and made my way through the France book, whose picture I can't quite recall. I started to fall in love somewhere between the History and Culture chapters, and the deal was sealed during the People chapter. The dream ended, or at least faded into something better, somewhere between the end of the Sweden book and the start of the Finland book.

In any case, here are some of the amazing books and resources I found on that leg of the journey:

France, A Love Story: This taught me a lot about French culture and the people of France. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/124791.France_A_Love_Story

French Word A Day: This blog also taught me a lot about French culture, and about French language. http://french-word-a-day.typepad.com/

I wish you success on your journey into French! Click on the foreign language tag for more language-learning resources, and be sure to check out the Learning About Culture segment of our blog for more about other peoples, nations, and cultures.

Tips for Learning New Vocabulary

Assimilating new vocabulary can be difficult whether you're trying to improve your skills in your native language or if you're learning a new language. Here are some tips I've found helpful when learning new vocabulary.

• Do a little each day. Subscribe to a vocabulary word of the day e-mail newsletter. You'll find a new vocabulary word in your inbox every day. 
• Pace yourself and your learning based on how fluent you are in a given language. If you're trying to improve your vocabulary skills in your native language, aim to learn one or two words a week. If you're beginning to learn a new language, aim for several words a day until you can read basic texts with ease. In you are in between being a beginner and being fluent, aim for one word a day to three words a week, depending on where you are on the fluency scale. 
• Read a lot. Read newspapers and books in your native language or in the language or languages you're trying to learn to improve your reading skills, fluency, and vocabulary. Be sure to look up words you don't know only after you've made an attempt to figure it out in the context of the words you do know.
• Try your hand at writing. Even if it's a few simple sentences or a little poem, write something. Try to incorporate the new vocabulary words you've learnt recently or look up new words to include in your writing. Just make sure you're using them properly. 
• Converse with someone that is better at a given language than you. If you're a student trying to improve your English vocabulary, talk to an adult with a good vocabulary. If you're a student in the United States trying to learn Spanish, try talking to one of your South or Central American neighbors. (Just make sure they're not from Brazil, as Brazilians speak Portuguese.) 
• Make a word wall in your bedroom. Print out a word and its definition and post it somewhere prominent in your room (with your parent's permission, of course). 
• Try using your new vocabulary in a conversation with your friends or with an adult. You'll definitely turn some heads and make a good impression on your teachers and peers. Again, just make sure you use the word correctly. 
• Try using your new vocabulary in a conversation with yourself. You'll get used to using the word, and it'll stick in your long-term memory better the more you use it. 
• Write each word on an index card, and keep them in three boxes. One box you'll go through every day, one you'll go through every week, and one you'll go through every month. Move the cards accordingly as you learn or forget a word. 
• If you hear or see a word that you don't know, look it up after trying to figure it out using context clues. 
• The better your vocabulary gets, the easier it'll be to use context clues to figure out the meaning of new words. It's a win-win situation! 
• Your dictionary is your best friend. Occasionally visit it, find a word you don't know, and learn it's meaning.
• Never stop learning. A good vocabulary is a work in progress. You'll never know all the words in any given language, but don't let that stop you from learning as many as possible. 
• If you're trying to improve your vocabulary, learn a language similar to your native language or the language you're trying to learn. This will help with your vocabulary because you'll be able to identify word roots and make connections between words you never saw before. 
• If your native language is English, learn a Germanic language.
• If you're trying to improve your skills in a Romance language, learn another Romance language. Learning French really helped me with my Spanish skills. 

Learn German Online Free

DW offers free online German courses. Check it out: http://www.dw.de/learn-german/s-2469

Language Tool

For students learning a foreign language, it can sometimes be hard to find reliable, affordable resources to gain the vocabulary and skills needed to succeed in language learning. Thankfully, the good folks at the BBC offer completely free language courses in French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, and 33 other languages.

I personally used the BBC's French tools to learn to read and write in the French language, so I can attest to both their quality and effectiveness.

Check it out here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/