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

The LingQ language-learning platform is among the most intentionally-created foreign language education products available. Developed by reknowned polyglot linguist Steve Kaufmann and company, LingQ is an excellent way to learn Japanese using materials you choose yourself!

In fact, this is where LingQ excels as an educational platform because students can import any license-free content they want to base their lessons around. This means that the students decide what subjects and topics they wish to learn about based on professional needs and/or personal interests.

The particular podcast highlighted in this article is JapaneseLingQ, a roughly weekly podcast with mp3 audio content for Japanese language learners. Transcripts of the podcasts are available through LingQ, and can also serve as learning content themselves.

One additional advantage of the LingQ system is that for a single subscription, you can use their web-based platform to learn ten languages (and growing) including Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

From Website

What is JapaneseLingQ?

First of all, the name itself (which is pronounced Japanese Link) needs a little explaining. The first part, “Japanese”, is fairly obvious since we teach Japanese. 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 JapaneseLingQ...

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

Our podcasts may contain interviews, articles, or audiobook excerpts but are most often just general conversations in Japanese. 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 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 LingQ.com

Summary

This is a cute and funny podcast where a father and son have a dialog in which they translate funny phrases into English and Japanese.

I have added this in the Learn English as well as the Learn Japanese sections since it can be entertaining to students of both languages.

From Website

I’m an American who has been living in Japan since 1990. My other podcast, Herro Flom Japan, is listened to by hundreds of very nice people around the world. I work in Tokyo but live in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture.

Tony is my 10 year old son. He likes video games, playing with his friends and his little brother Andy, dodge ball, card-based games and saying anything with the word “poop” in it.

Tony and I like to play a game where one of us says something totally insane and ridiculous in our own native language, and the other has to translate it. This is us, having fun with silly phrases. Caution: Podcasts may contain any of the following words in Japanese and/or English: booger, fart, dingleberry, poop, buttface or wee-wee. (Well, probably not wee-wee.)

Visit the Japlish Podcast.

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Subscribe to the Japlish Podcast.
Subscribe to the Japlish Podcast via iTunes.

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 Japanese Language Guide for your iPod.

From the site:

"Learn Japanese with our free Japanese lessons in podcast format. We use examples from anime and everyday conversation to teach you Japanese that is useful for everyday life. Hitomi-sensei is from Tokyo and will teach you to speak with the most common Japanese accent. If you are watching an anime now and want to know more about a word or phrase you have heard, post a comment or send us an email."

Comments

Cool site with a good podcast that's been around since 2005 and offers a wide range of podcast topics and learning levels.

Also lots of other good resources on the website, including info about "Weird Japan", JPop, Anime and Japanese study guides and books.

Visit Japancast.net

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