lessons

Learn the Oromo Language (Afaan Oromoo) Online

Recently we received an email from someone interested in learning the Oromo language online, free of course! Oromo is a language spoken in Ethiopia and Kenya.

Well... we looked around for a while and found four resources that, together, give an introductory self-guided course in this African tongue. This is nothing profound, but will provide the very basics about the language, some useful phrases for travel, a humble dictionary and some other useful goodies.

We thought we'd share this here for everyone, all on one neat page, so you don't have to scour around like we did!

http://www.digitaldialects.com/Oromo.htm
http://www.oromoenglish.com
http://www.freelang.net/dictionary/oromo.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oromo_language

About Oromo Language

Oromo, also known as Afaan Oromoo, Oromiffa(a), Afan Boran, Afan Arsi, and sometimes in other languages by variant spellings of these names (Oromic, Afan Oromo, etc.), is an Afro-Asiatic language, and the most widely spoken of the Cushitic family. It is spoken as a first language by more than 25 million Oromo and neighboring peoples in Ethiopia and Kenya, such as the Werji. Older publications refer to the language as "Galla", a term that is resented by Oromo people and no longer used.

Read more on Wikipedia.

More Minority Languages Coming

We are currently building a directory to promote minority languages worldwide, and will be posting more resources for learning many lesser-known and lesser-spoken languages here on the site soon. Stay tuned!

Update from ChinesePod.com

This just in from the folks at Praxis Language's ChinesePod:

1000 Lessons!

This month ChinesePod hit an exciting milestone: its 1,000th lesson! Many thanks go to our loyal Poddies for all their support over the last 1,000 podcasts, and especially for the countless creative and useful lesson ideas. We could never have made it without you! So, now that we've covered every topic from toilet talk to being abducted by aliens, we toast a glass of baijiu in your honor, and look forward to what's to come. Have a listen to our special celebratory podcast.

Congratulations!

ChinesePod really is an amazing and fun way to learn Mandarin. Take the tour and find out more!

French, Spanish, Italian and English too!

ChinesePod is the first podcast to be released by the Praxis Language team. Praxis Language bases its products on combined Web-based and mobile learning. Community, fresh media content, talented course design team, array of web-based tools for practice and review. A unique combination of media and method, it's no wonder thousands are using ChinesePod every day.

The success of ChinesePod has enabled the release and growth of FrenchPod, SpanishPod, Learn Italian with ItalianPod and Learn English with EnglishPod.

Praxis's podcast-driven, socially enhanced, user backed language-learning phenomenon is maturing elegantly!

The BBC has recently updated its BBC Languages resources! The new look and features are a considerable upgrade, making it easier to see all the resources available and get learning the languages you want to learn.

BBC Languages has always been a great place to access self-contained beginner courses in Chinese, German, Greek, French, Italian and Portuguese. There are also tidbits and goodies in other languages.

Recently, the BBC has revamped it's entire website for more flexibility, personalization and ease of use. In the languages section, this means it's easier than ever to find online courses, grammar info, learning games, dictionaries, self-assessment tests, resources for tutors, info about going abroad, photos, tips, stories, audio, video, related links, local class finder, cool/slang words and phrases... It's all there and packed with good content!

Also available are the Steps in 12 Weeks free email courses for French, German, Italian and Spanish. Plus, intermediate resources have been created for learning French and Spanish, with more languages to follow.

All in all, the BBC's momentum in the free online language-learning department is not slowing down. They consistently add new resources, new languages and interesting content for learners and educators/tutors alike.

Have a look at the new BBC Languages Website.

The BBC on Free Language

BBC Learning English
BBC Better at Languages

BBC Languages French
BBC Languages German
BBC Languages Italian
BBC Languages Portuguese
BBC Languages Spanish

BBC Afrique News in French
BBC Brasil News in Portuguese
BBC Mundo News in Spanish
BBC News in Arabic
BBC News in Chinese
BBC News in Farsi (Persian)
BBC News in Russian
BBC World News in English

Summary

Collins is one of the longest standing publishers of English and bilingual dictionaries. They are currently working to pioneer ways to publish dictionaries for today's world by rapidly increasing the availability of their products in digital format.

The company has created several high-quality, professional digital products that are offered through their online store. Free samples of these products are available for download through the site.

Two of the digital products they currently offer are very useful for travelers and language learners alike: iPhraseFinders and Collins 40-Minute Lessons.

iPhraseFinders are phrasebooks tailored specifically for the iPod. These are currently available in Windows and Mac format for English to the following languages: French, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. You can download free samples from the link above.

Collins 40-Minute Lessons are beginner lessons designed to empower learners with the essential phrases necessary to navigate daily life in a given foreign language. These lessons are available for English speakers interested in learning Arabic, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin American Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. Wow! You can download free samples from the link above.

I know from my experience of testing the free downloads that these digital products are indeed professional, high-quality, practical and useful.

The website also offers a free dictionary search feature, with more comprehensive commercial versions available.

From Website

Free English, Cobuild and Foreign Language Dictionary look-ups available. Subscribe to or download a dictionary to your desktop or mobile device. Learn a language fast with iPhrasefinders and audio courses for iPods and mobiles. Free trials available.

Find out about these products and more at CollinsLanguage.com

Over the last few days I've added eight articles on podcast resources from the LingQ podcast network. This is a group that currently consists of eight podcast websites that provide a steady (weekly) flow of listening material for each individual language. Accompanying transcriptions are made available through the LingQ [liŋk] store. Some are free, some are not.

Pursue the LingQ above or click on the huge image above to learn more about the LingQ Method.

LingQ Podcast Network

EnglishLingQ
FrenchLingQ
GermanLingQ
JapaneseLingQ
PortugueseLingQ
RussianLingQ
SpanishLingQ
SwedishLingQ