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Foreign Language Resources

Other Countries, Languages and Cultures

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Learning another language, or finding out about another country or culture, is fascinating.

There are many methods of learning another language. Some concentrate more on conversational skills, others on translating written passages, others rely on memorizing verb conjugations, and the Rebus method uses picture-word sentences. The immersion method is considered the best and the fastest. It’s how we all learned our native tongues. If you can’t afford to move to France for a year, you can always go to summer camp there, or perhaps in French Canada.

For young children, I suggest getting simple children’s books in the language desired. Try books or characters that the child is already familiar with, like Sesame Street or Dr. Seuss. I also recommend getting a picture language dictionary.

Please send us your recommendations for other language materials, etc.

Page Index

Continents Specific Countries, Languages, and Cultures: General Language Links:

See also (on this website):

  • Interested in knowing how and what people in other countries eat? Check out The Global Gastronomer from Yale University.

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General Language Links

Sites covering more than one language

updated

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Language Camps and Homestays Abroad


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New York City Opportunities

In NYC many institutions offer cultural events and lectures, and have language libraries.


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Recommended picture dictionaries


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Internet picture dictionaries


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Language Games


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Continents

Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest continent (after Asia).


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Asia

Asia


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Australia

Australia


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Europe

Europe


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North America

North America


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South America

South America


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Specific Countries, Languages, and Cultures

African Union

Africa is the world's second largest continent (after Asia).

African Languages

Literally hundreds of languages are spoken in Africa.

African Culture

Zimbabwe Ruins

Ancient Africa


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American Sign Language (ASL)

ASL is a formal method of communication used by people with hearing impairments. It is a system of articulated hand gestures and their placement relative to the upper body as well as facial expression, movements, postures and other nonmanual signs that enhance and emphasize the meaning of signs.

Many colleges and universities accept ASL for their foreign language requirement.


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Arabic


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Braille

Braille is a system of raised dots representing the letters of the alphabet, punctuation and numbers, which enables blind people to read by touching and to write using an embosser. It was invented by Louis Braille.


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Cambodia

The Country

Khmer Language

Cambodian/Khmer Culture


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China

The Country

Chinese Language

Chinese Culture


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Egypt

The Country

Egyptian Language

Egyptian Culture

Sphinx and Pyramids

Ancient Egypt


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France

The Country

French Language

For a serious French curriculum, I highly recommend the Graded French Reader, Premiere Etape, by Camille Bauer. It’s expensive and may be out of print, so look for a discounted, used copy. This book has excerpts from great literature, slightly simplified for fairly easy translation. Thrill to chapters from The Count of Monte Cristo and Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables, a Jules Verne tale, and Beauty and the Beast.

For comic relief try The Oxford French Cartoon-strip Vocabulary Builder, edited by Marie-Hélène Corréard with illustrations by Claire Bretécher. Has a short verb conjugation list at the back. It’s fun to read cartoons in any language!

French Culture


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Germany

The Country

German Language

German Culture


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Greece

The Country

Greek Language

Greek Culture


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Parthenon

Classical Greek

This is the language of Homer, Socrates, Plato, and Euripides.

Ancient Greece

  • Greek Mythhology for Kids

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    Hindustani


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    India

    The Country

    Languages Spoken in India

    Indian Culture


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    Ireland

    The Country

    Irish Gaelic Language

    Irish Culture


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    Israel

    The Country

    Hebrew Language

    Yiddish Language

    Jewish Culture


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    Italy

    The Country

    Italian Language

    Italian Culture


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    Latin

    I recommend the Cambridge Latin Course , if you are looking for a fairly traditional curriculum. Click on their resource center for their catalog. Along with their excellent textbook series, they have Independent Learning Manuals (section five in their catalog) that are perfect for homeschoolers, and activity sheets in their Worksheet Masters (section one) that are worth the extra money because they add humor and lightness to the task at hand. In fact, the entire series is somewhat lighthearted, with characters reappearing in scene after scene, book after book. After a while, you feel like you know the family, the city, the mythology, the history, the art. It’s all included in the course.

    The Roman Empire


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    Japan

    The Country

    Japanese Language

    Japanese Culture


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    Native American Languages


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    The Netherlands

    The Country

    Dutch Language

    Dutch Culture


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    Pakistan

    The Country

    Languages Spoken in Pakistan

    Pakistani Culture


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    Portugal

    The Country

    Portuguese

    Portuguese Culture


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    Russia

    The Country

    Russian Language

    Russian Culture


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    Spain

    The Country

    Spanish Language

    Spanish Culture

    Hispanic Culture


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    Sweden

    The Country

    Swedish Language

    Swedish Culture


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    United Kingdom

    The Country

    The United Kingdom includes four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The term "Great Britain" is used to describe the geographical area, which also includes the Republic of Ireland.

    English Language

    Irish Gaelic

    Scottish Gaelic

    Welsh

    British Culture

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    Urdu

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    Vietnam

    The Country

    Vietnamese Language

    Vietnamese Culture


    Please send us your recommendations for other language materials.

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