Online Language Learning Resources

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I am just beginning to learn Mandarin Chinese, so I found chapter 11 of Curtis J. Bonk's book  The World is Open, fascinating in that it referred to so many online sites for language learning.  In addition, my backgroundis in teaching second languages, so I was particularly interested to see what some of these sites offered.

I checked out beginning Mandarin at Live Mocha and was quite pleased with the presentation of material and exercises  which incorporate visuals as well as both oral and written language.   I haven't tried the interaction with a native speaker yet, but hope to do so when I have more of  basic vocabulary.  The ability to converse with a native speaker is an ideal situation for language learners.  However, the conversational exchanges that occur during these situations can vary tremendously.  The key to success would be finding a partner that fit your needs in terms of language proficiency, choice of topics, and patience on both ends of the dialog!

The Mixxer Language Exchange which utilizes Skype also looked appealing especially since it offers teachers the ability to create groups and exchanges can be either in written form or through Skype.

Friends Abroad is now owned by Babbel and offers courses that can be purchased, but does not offer Chinese.  About.com owned by the New York Times does offer free lessons in Mandarin Chinese.

Chinesepod is described quite well in chapter 11.   I like the fact that it has a mobile app. but wish the transcripts were free. 

As the summer progresses, I hope to check out each of these sites in more detail.  In the meantime, I am also using these online resources in my study of Mandarin:

Mango (Online Chinese course from Montgomery Co. Public Library)

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/content/libraries/index.asp

On home page click Language Learning Tools, then Mango languages

Pinyin Chart with audio pronunciations of initials and finals

http://www.sayjack.com/learn/chinese/pinyin/?pos=1&tone=1

Chinese/English dictionary

http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php

List of free Chinese classes on iTunes

http://www.openculture.com/free_mandarin_chinese_lessons

List of Chinese resources on the web

http://www.cortland.edu/flteach/flteach-res.html#chinese

BBC Chinese lessons with videos and transcripts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/chinese/real_chinese/

List of links to videos for learning Chinese including Benny's "I Like Chinese"

http://universed.co.uk/language/chinese

I Love ISTE!

I have found the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) to be a fantastic organization for expanding my personal learning network (PLN)on a grand scale.  I attended the annual conference which was held in Washington, D.C. in 2009 and came away very impressed and full of new ideas. The conference this year will be in Denver.

One of the most useful aspects of belonging to ISTE has been the Social Networking opportunities, particularly through the 20 special interest groups.  The variety of the "buffet" of SIGS offers something to delight everyone!

Recently I have been participating in the book discussion from one of the SIGS on Christopher Bonk's book The World is Open.  Knowing that I am going to share ideas with other professionals has motivated me to be more reflective in my reading.  I not only highlight, I also reread and select the ideas that most impressed me.  I hope that there will be more of this type of reading and reflecting in the future!

Read, Reflect, Share

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Thanks to a Christmas gift card to Amazon.com from my family, I have been reading some exciting books lately about the changing world of education.  Two of the books, The World is Open: How Web Technology is Revolutionizing Education and Mobile Learning: Transforming the Delivery of Education & Training are being discussed in ISTE Ning forums at The World is Open and SIGML Book Study 2010.  I've found that discussion of books on line by people who are passionate about the subjects of these books is a very exhilarating experience.

In the mobile learning discussion I learned that efforts were being made to provide solar-powered mobile learning devices to people in rural Haiti and in Kenya.  I'm sure that there are more such efforts going on worldwide and I hope to learn more about them.

In Curtis J. Bonk's The World is Open, I have only finished the intro and chapter 1. The phrase the jumped out at me was participatory learning culture Bonk deftly illustrates this with the metaphor of the Borg from Star Trek the Second Generation. He writes, Once you arrive [online], you will discover that you are not simply using the Web of Learning; instead, like the Borg in the television show 'Star Trek: The Next Generation', you are now a part of it. Your actions-contributions, reactions, comments, and designs-have been assimilated into the corpus or being of the Web of Learning.

I think this is a concept that bears reflection. Actually, it wasn't until I had significantly expanded my own personal learning network that I began to feel what he was describing. We definitely become a part of our networks by the contributions we make and the input we receive. Both change us in many ways and online book discussions can be part of the process.