hskflashcards.com Free Download HSK Vocabulary Cards in PDF Format + Print New Practical Chinese Reader Text Flash Cards (NPCR)

Summary

hskflashcards.com offers an amazingly easy way to prepare for the Mandarin Chinese HSK (Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì; simplified Chinese: 汉语水平考试; traditional Chinese: 漢語水平考試) exam (view Wikipedia). The site provides you with free PDF downloads for all the vocabulary you'll need to pass the test! You cana also browse the vocabulary through the site itself, or create an account to study them online right through your web browser.

Additionally, the site provides printable vocabulary cards for two of the major Mandarin Chinese intructional textbooks used worldwide: the Practical Chinese Reader (PCR) and New Practical Chinese Reader (NPCR).

And it's all free! Bravo Jake, nice work indeed. :)

From Website

Welcome to HSK Flashcards. This site is intented to be a one-stop resource for HSK vocabulary lists and flashcards for people studying Mandarin Chinese. To begin studying the flashcards right now, just click the green “study” button on your left.

The entire HSK vocabulary list is available to download in several file formats, including flashcards in PDF format (suitable for printing on Avery business card paper). Recently, I added the Practical Chinese Reader textbook vocabulary lists, as well as the vocabulary lists from the New Practical Chinese Reader.

If you find errors in any of the lists, please email me. If you need the lists in another file format, please email me. If you have a suggestion for the website, please email me. If you're bored, please email me.

Mandarin Chinese is an interesting, useful language! I hope this site helps your exploration and learning!

Hànyǔ Shuǐpíng Kǎoshì: “The Chinese Proficiency Test (HSK) is China's national standardized test...to assess the Chinese language proficiency of non-native speakers”

In 2006, I tried to find a list of the HSK vocabulary so that I could make myself some flashcards. I did find a couple of lists, but they were all incomplete in one way or another, so I merged several of those lists to get something better. The results of that work are available on this site. Many people have contributed since then by sending in the typos, errors and missing words they have found in the lists. Topple recently reviewed all of the words in all four lists, and found several deficiencies. Thanks, Topple!

New Practical Chinese Reader: “NPCR is a new series of textbooks designed for native English speakers to learn Chinese. ... The objective of this series is to develop the student's ability to communicate using Chinese through the study of language structure, language function, and related cultural knowledge along with the training of listening, speaking, reading and writing skills.”

In 2007, I found the Practical Chinese Reader textbook series, and started using that curriculum to better formalize my study. Matti Tukiainen has the vocabulary lists for books 1, 2 and 3 on his website. I've added those lists to this site. The PCR books have been rewritten in a second edition, called the New Practical Chinese Reader. I have digitized NPCR books 1, 2 and 3. Topple recently offered his help by digitizing NPCR books 4 and 5 (well, book 5 will be here soon).

— Jake Marble, 马杰克

Visit hskflashcards.com

Vocabulix.com English, German and Spanish Verb Conjugator, Conjugation Tools, Vocabulary Building, Self-Test Tool, Friend Finder

Summary

Vocabulix is a great resource for verb conjugations and vocabulary building through self-testing for English, German and Spanish language learners. Have a look at the verb conjugators for English, German and Spanish. Or test yourself in either of these thrree languages with the verb drills tool.

Useful Spanish Phrases for Travel with Downloadable Audio Recordings for Total Beginners from the Omniglot Website

Summary

The useful Spanish phrases section of the Omniglot website contains all the truly basic phrases you would want to know when traveling in a Spanish-speaking country.

Furthermore, audio versions of these phrases can be downloaded (zip file containing mp3s) from the site for learners to hear these phrases spoken by a native Spanish speaker and practice pronunciation. You can transfer these to your favorite mp3 player (iPod, Creative Zen, Zune, etc.) and learn them while going about your day. And with four ways to ask "Where is the toilet?", you know no matter where you are you will be understood and pointed in the right direction!

From Website

StudyEnglishNews.com Study English News for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Levels plus English Proficiency Test and Grammar

Summary

Study English News is a useful site for learning English by reading the news. Every day the site is updated with new content for beginner, intermediate and advanced English learners. Bascially, the same article is taken and written in three different ways to properly match the reading and vocabulary skills of these three levels. It's great!

RocketLanguages.com Rocket French Language Audio and Software Course from Rocket Languages

Try Something Else...

Instead of Rocket French, please read my review of FrenchPod101, a modern and advanced way to learn French.

A lot has changed on the language learning front since I originally checked out and wrote about Rocket Languages in 2008. A whole lot! There are so many other cooler, better ways now to learn and I no longer think this is one of the effective ways to learn French.

This article has been removed from the directory (with links removed) and left for archive purposes.

Learn Silbo Gomero, a Whistled Language from La Isla Gomera in the Canary Islands, on Busuu.com

Busuu Learn Silbo Gomero Language

Update from Busuu.com

Wow! More interesting news just came in from the folks at Busuu! They've done something, well, unprecedented as far as the Free Language team can tell: they've added an endangered language called Silbo Gomero to be learned right through their website!

This language is not spoken, but whistled (silbar = to whistle in Spanish), and is used by the people of Gomera, one of the Canary Islands off Spain, to communicate between long distances and over rough terrain. How cool is that!

Check out this video from Busuu about this fascinating language:

From Website

La Gomera in the Canary Islands

Become a Silbador!

The existence of the whistled language of Silbo Gomero on the beautiful Spanish island of La Gomera has for years fascinated linguists and language enthusiasts alike.

Silbo Gomero was invented in order to facilitate communication between the people of the island across the deep gorges and valleys long before mobile phones were invented. The tradition continues even now with the local government including it in the educational system of the island.

Learn Silbo Gomero at Busuu.com

Two Resources to Learn the Finnish Language for Free: Online Wikibooks and Byki Freeware

Finnish Flag - Learn Finnish Language

Finnish should be on Free Language by now. Ahhh... if only there were all the time in the world! But a recent email from a site user brought Finnish to our attention, and we will make it a point to add Finnish as soon as possible. Since we were unable to email the user back due to email issues on their end, this info is going up here on the blog.

Until a proper section for Finnish is up and running, there are two resources we'd recommend:

A Wikibook for Learning Finnish
Byki Language Freeware for over 70 Foreign Languages (including Finnish)

If you are interested in learning Finnish, please consider signing up for the Free Language Letter so you'll hear about it as soon as Finnish is added to the site!

Best of luck to you in your Finnish learning endeavors! And please recommend Free Language to anyone interested in learning foreign languages. :)

UPDATE: For those with a working knowledge of Finnish seeking listening practice, have a look at the Selkouutiset News in Plain Finnish Podcast.

spanish.about.com Spanish Learning+Teaching Resources, Vocabulary, Pronunciation, Grammar Glossary, Culture, Course Lessons

Summary

spanish.about.com is an excellent resources for beginner to intermediate Spanish learners as well as teachers of those levels. In fact, there is so much content there that listing it here would take too much time! Instead, this article will highlight some of the things you can find on the site, and leave the rest for you to find on the site.