Free Beginner Russian Lessons

LearningRussian.Net is a good entry point for beginner Russian learners. The site provides clear lessons on the basics of the Russian language, including the alphabet, verb conjugations and aspects, case forms, pronouns, numerals, mood and more. There is also a number of introductory level lessons on meeting and greeting, introductions, fun and games, directions and congratulations - with more lessons being added regularly.

Summary

Italian-Flashcards.com is a fast-loading, useful site for Italian learners to manage and practice vocabulary lists (words and sentences). There are many existing word and sentence lists created by other users that you can snag and use right away. You can also create your own lists and sentences on-the-fly and test yourself until you know them all. As a result, this resource works for Italian students of all levels, beginner to advanced. The self-testing is done via built-in flashcard software that you control.

Summary

BBC Spanish's new interactive mystery video course Mi Vida Loca sets a new standard for the direction that BBC Languages is taking with their free, online language learning materials and resources (courses, lessons, phrase books, etc).

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.

Free Quran-Based Arabic Language

LQToronto.com is the official website of the Institute of the Language of the Quran in Toronto. The website is not for profit, and offers all of the Madinah Arabic courses for free as downloads of the texts and viewing of the videos.

There is an amazing amount of material available for free on this website. It is enough to allow an individual learner to learn to read, write and speak the Arabic of the Qu'ran without any further materials - truly amazing!

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

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.

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

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!