Summary

Apple recently released a new section of the wildly popular iTunes Store available through their iTunes software. This new section is called iTunes U, and collects podcasts from numerous universities and colleges to make them available for free download to your iPod or other mp3 player, mobile/cell phone, etc.

One of the sub-sections of iTunes U is (note: you need iTunes for this link to work) specifically for languages and language education - yay!

Currently there are 60 podcasts (probably more by the time you read this) available regarding both learning foreign languages as well as general topics regarding language in general. Many of these podcasts are called OpenCourseWare, considered Open Learning materials released in the Public Domain. This means they can be used truly freely by teachers and educators without worries about copyright issues - a big plus! Be sure to look at the license for each podcast to make sure of the licensing.

The podcast-based current courses available through iTunes U are English (Medieval and ESL), French, German, Greek, Japanese, Hebrew (various), Italian (Language and Theater), Romanian, Spanish (various) plus Language Technology and Lectures, Interviews, Clubs, Lectionary at Lunch and Storytelling Colombian Style. There are many more, too.

This is really exciting to see at this professional education level. Of couse, add this to the 982 language podcasts in the "regular" (non-iTunes U) iTunes store and that makes over a whopping 1,000 language-related podcasts for download through iTunes - all free. :)

Watch the iTunes U intro video below to learn more about this new feature:

From iTunes U

iTunes U puts the power of the iTunes Store to work for colleges and universities, so users can easily search, download, and play course content just like they do music, movies, and TV shows.

Always in session.

iTunes U delivers easy, 24/7 access to educational content from hundreds of top colleges, universities, and educationally focused organizations across the country. And it’s accessible to anyone with a Mac or PC.

Learning to go.

Students can sync iTunes U content with any iPod or iPhone, so they can go right on learning while they grab a meal, walk to class, or work out at the gym.

Keeps them motivated.

Engaging students on their home turf, iTunes U offers audio and video that make subjects more vivid than any printed page ever could.

Open-minded.

iTunes U lets schools open all or part of their content to the public, from parents to alumni to anyone with a love of learning.

Find out more about iTunes U.

Summary

It's difficult to "summarize" the booming expansion that has occurred with the Kaufmann crew since "The Linguist" appeared on Free Language a year ago. That is why Free Language has numerous articles on the various websites and resources available through multilinguist Steve Kaufmann's web entelechy, including the many LinqQ [liŋk] podcasts, the LingQ method, revisiting The Linguist on Language and why not throw in a little thelinguist.com love, too. :)

This particular podcast is ItalianLingQ, a roughly weekly podcast with mp3 audio content for Italian language learners. Transcripts of the podcasts are available through LingQ.

From Website

What is ItalianLingQ?

First of all, the name itself (which is pronounced Italian Link) needs a little explaining. The first part, “Italian”, is fairly obvious since we teach Italian. LingQ is the name of our online learning system which you can find at LingQ.com. At LingQ you’ll study many different languages in a fun, community atmosphere. The “Ling” in LingQ comes from TheLinguist.com the people behind LingQ. Lastly, the “Q” is important because it forms the speech bubble in our logo and throughout our site and because it makes “lingq” sound like “link” (we think!) which is what our system does for you.

At ItalianLingQ...

. we LingQ you to a world of real Italian content
. we LingQ you to our revolutionary learning tools
. we LingQ you to a community of fellow Italian learners

Our podcasts may contain interviews, articles, or audiobook excerpts but are most often just general conversations in Italian. We will usually talk about topics of general interest. Please do send us feedback and topic requests. We’re always happy to hear from you.

After you listen to the podcast, sign up for a free account at LingQ (l-i-n-g-q.com) and study the full transcript using LingQ's revolutionary learning tools.

At LingQ, you may also want to submit writing for correction or join live 1 on 1 and group discussions with our tutors. Plus you will find thousands more podcasts with transcript. Come and find out what LingQ is all about!

Of course, even if you don’t decide to become a member, you can continue listening to the podcasts as long as you like.

Visit ItalianLingQ.com

Subscribe

Subscribe to ItalianLingQ Podcast.
Subscribe to ItalianLingQ Podcast via iTunes.

LingQ Podcast Network

EnglishLingQ
FrenchLingQ
GermanLingQ
ItalianLingQ
JapaneseLingQ
PortugueseLingQ
RussianLingQ
SpanishLingQ
SwedishLingQ

Summary

This is a good podcast for beginner Italian language learners. Each podcast has just enough content to teach you something meaningful, but not so much that you cannot digest it in one lesson.

The site offers the first ten lessons free. After that, you can purchase 100 lessons for $15 US. This is subject to change.

From Website

Hi everybody, my name's Mike and this is the Let's Speak Italian podcast. I've found that the key to learning to speak Italian is to learn a little bit every day, and to practice it with your friends. By the end, you'll be amazed at how easy it was, and just how much you can learn by practicing a few minutes every day.

Visit letsspeakitalian.libsyn.com

Subscribe

Subscribe to Let's Speak Italian Podcast.
Subscribe to Let's Speak Italian Podcast via iTunes.

Screenshot

From the site:

"World Nomads present a series of podcast language guides. They are yours to download for free and contain all the essential phrases to keep you travelling safely.

We hope that in 2007 there'll be time to produce a few more guides, so feel free to leave us a comment or send an email with suggestions for the languages you'd like to learn."

Comments

This podcast, along with other podcasts by World Nomads, has nice entries with world-traveler action and a transcription to boot.

Visit World Nomads Italian Language Guide for your iPod.

From the site:

"Learn Italian day by day, step by step, phrase by phrase with MyDailyPhrase Italian. Join teacher Mark as he guides you through the basics of Italian in daily podcasts over a course of 20 weeks. The podcasts will cover all the language you need to know to get by on a visit to a Italian-speaking country. Podcasts will be published each week day and each episode will only be two to three minutes long, just enough to get a daily taste of the Italian language."

Comments

What a great idea! A 20-week course to teach people enough to get by using the Italian language to make friends, do practical things and travel more easily.

The lessons have been carefully planned, and the production quality of the podcasts is very high.

This is a really good option for people interested in learning Italian on the go.

Visit MyDailyPhrase.com Italian Podcast.

Subscribe

Subscribe to this podcast feed.
Subscribe to this podcast feed via iTunes.