The WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources

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Search Engine Colossus and Search Engine Guide are comprehensive global master directories of local search engines for regional, country, or language-specific searches. Google offers a comprehensive Language Tools Page to search in specific languages or countries, translate text, change language interfaces, or link to country-specific Google sites. Google Translate is another site option. Glearch allows you to search for language and country-specific content in "top results from Google, Yahoo and Bing as well as the most popular search engines for the selected country." Internet broadcasts in many languages are accessible through the International Radio and Television Broadcasts page of this WWW Virtual Library: International Affairs Resources.

• Try Babel Fish from Yahoo! and FreeTranslation.com to get the essence of foreign language text and web pages. Dictionary.com translates text and Web pages between several European and Asian languages. IATE, the European Union's inter-institutional terminology database, gives translations of technical terms, abbreviations, acronyms, and phraseology among two dozen European languages.

• Cambridge International Dictionaries Online-- Look up meanings of English-language words, idioms, and phrasal verbs.

• Dictionarist-- "Free online multilingual and talking dictionary service which can provide translation in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Dutch, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean."

• Dictionary.com-- Wide variety of English language tools, including interactive translators, flashcards, crosswords, English and English-Spanish-English dictionaries, thesauruses, and more.

• Dictionary of Slang-- Rich and searchable source for English-language slang, from a UK perspective. The links section is an excellent compendium of sources on slang usage in English and a few other languages.

• Foreignword.com-- Links to find translations of terms, word meanings, and phrase contexts in hundreds of  free online translation tools, dictionaries, and glossaries.

• Free Dictionary-- "English, medical, legal, financial, and computer dictionaries, thesaurus, acronyms, encyclopedia, a literature reference library, and a search engine all in one!"

• Freelang-- Multi-purpose site for language learners, offering free online and downloadable dictionaries in many languages, common expressions in many languages, fonts, quizzes, and more.

• Language Dictionaries and Translators-- From Word2Word, links to numerous dictionaries and translators, online language courses, chat sites in many languages, audio, language-specific search engines, and language learning and practice aids.

• Language Identifier Service-- From Wolfestone Translation Ltd., insert a text into the query box to find out the language of the text.

• Lexicool-- "Directory of "all" the online bilingual and multilingual dictionaries and glossaries freely available on the Internet... for translators, linguists, language students and all those interested in foreign languages... currently has links to over 7500 dictionaries and glossaries, many... created by translators working in specialist fields."

• Merriam-Webster Online-- "The most up-to-date [English-language] dictionary on the Web," with thesaurus, online audio pronunciations, word of the day, and word games. There is also a Merriam-Webster Visual Dictionary Online.

• MetaGlossary-- Thorough definitions for millions of English language words, terms, phrases, and acronyms through a constantly updated web search technology.

• One Look-- Dictionary search engine to find the meaning of words in English and several other languages, covering millions of words in over a thousand online dictionaries.

• Online Translator-- Several kinds of translation and word tools integrated into one page.

• SystraNet-- Free online translator and dictionary for use among over a dozen European and Asian languages.

• Verbix-- "Independent non-profit organization that aims to promote and protect linguistic diversity... This site contains verb conjugations for hundreds of languages, ranging from national and international languages to regional and even extinct languages."

• Windows Live Translator-- From Microsoft, translates words, blocks of text, or webpages between English and other major languages, in a side-by-side format.

• yourDictionary.com -- A really excellent site, "the most comprehensive and authoritative language portal on the web with more than 2,500 dictionaries and grammars in over 300 languages, dictionary, glossary and reference articles, games that build language skills, and a forum for discussing language issues with the logophile community."

• BBC Learning English-- Large, varied, thorough, and well organized site for English learners at most levels from the world service of the British Broadcasting Corporation.

• Conjugation.com-- Enter an English language verb and receive the full conjugation of the verb in all persons and tenses.

• EFL.NET-- News items, features, poetry, songs, puzzles, online games for EFL students, with ComAudio played while the corresponding text is displayed on your screen.

• English, Baby!-- Fun site to learn American English, with chat, weekly lessons, audio, movie and music references, slang, etc.

• English as 2nd Language-- About.com's colorful and helpful guide to ESL.

• ESL Cyber Listening Lab-- Very useful site with many English language conversations in audio files and accompanying sheets, "mainly designed for (1) self-access learning where students do the listening activities on their own, and (2) teacher-directed learning."

• How Do You Pronounce.com-- An "enormous library of over 300,000 English words and phrases for [American] audio and textual pronunciation. You'll find complete definitions of each word as well as other variations and synonyms of these words."

• Howjsay-- Instant audio feature presents correct pronunciation for well over 100,000 English language words, in Standard British English, with World English alternatives.

• Learn English Feel Good-- Grammar, vocabulary, comprehension, and pronunciation exercises and quizzes for beginning and intermediate levels, with audio and video, idioms, phrasal verbs, resource packages, US/UK language differences, and "English for travelers." Links to several related cost-free sites on learning English from the same organization.

• Materials for Teaching and Learning English-- From the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, U.S. Department of State, "high quality, targeted English language materials and programs in order to promote understanding of American language, society, culture, and values... These resources are aimed at supporting teachers of English outside of the U.S."

• U.S.A. Learns-- From the U.S. Department of Education, "an easily accessible Internet learning tool that contains instructional materials... to teach basic English skills and help adults improve their English proficiency... [and] designed to allow learners with low-level literacy skills to use the tool independently, but it can also be used with a teacher or tutor." Requires free registration.

• Using English-- Excellent "general English language site, specialising in English as a Second Language with a wide range of resources for learners and teachers of English... Different varieties of English are used; there are contributors from the United States, Canada, Pakistan and non-native speakers, but much of the site uses British English as it was set up in the UK." Includes weblog and forum.

• BBC Languages-- The British Broadcasting Corporation offers extensive free courses in several languages.

• Center for Applied Linguistics-- From a private, non-profit American organization of language scholars and educators, a fine online reference for the best language learning and teaching resources for teachers and students. Free online resources include "downloadable digests, informational brochures, frequently asked questions and more."

• Ethnologue-- Excellent catalog and analysis of more than 6,912 languages spoken in 228 countries and territories. The site includes a country index with maps, and searchable indices by language names, codes, and families.

• Foreign Language Teaching Forum-- Integrated service for foreign language teachers, with this web site, academic discussion list with archives, and the FLNews server, from the State University of New York College at Cortland.

• Foreign Service Institute Language Courses-- Repository of language courses developed by the Foreign Service Institute of the U.S. Department of State. "These courses were developed by the United States government and are in the public domain... This [independent, non-profit] site is dedicated to making these language courses freely available in an electronic format." Materials for over 40 languages are available in text and audio, plus forums.

• Free Foreign Language Lessons-- Well arranged and annotated directory for lessons in many languages through several types of media and feeds, from Open Culture.

• Global Language Monitor-- "Documents, analyzes and tracks trends in language the world over, with a particular emphasis upon Global English... [with] expert analysis on language trends and their subsequent impact on politics, culture and business, including the PQ Index/Indicator, analysis of media coverage of major, worldwide events, the rise of Global English and its march to its 1,000,000th word, the Chinglish Phemomenon, Global yoofSpeak, and many others"

• Goethe-Tests-- Directory of links to thousands of free online language tests in many languages, with answers, from the Goethe-Verlag in Munich.

 • iLoveLanguages-- "Comprehensive catalog of language-related Internet resources... online language lessons, translating dictionaries, native literature, translation services, software, language schools," and more about language learning, education, and use.

• Indo-European Languages Tutorials-- Free online tutorials, some with mp3 files, in many Indo-European languages, with complementary information about linguistics, language learning, and living as an expatriate in France.

• Internet Polyglot-- Free lessons in many languages and between many languages, with pronunciations.

• Language Guide-- "Offers free sound integrated resources for learning languages [for over a dozen languages]... developed collaboratively with the help of volunteers." "Place your cursor over an image and hear the word associated with it pronounced."

• Language Materials Project-- From the University of California, Los Angeles, a large database of learning resources for over 100 less commonly taught languages of the world, such as bibliographies of and links to dictionaries, texts, grammars, phrasebooks, videos, language profiles, and teaching institutions.

• Learn a Language--- Created by the U.S. Institute of Languages, a site where you can learn up to 8 foreign languages for free with audio lessons and games.

• LINGUIST List-- Run by linguistics professors and graduate students, "dedicated to providing information on language and language analysis, and to providing the discipline of linguistics with the infrastructure necessary to function in the digital world." Superlative for all kinds of  language and linguistics resources--"world's largest online linguistic resource."

• Livemocha-- "World's largest language learning community with [millions of] members... designed for all language goals and skill levels, Livemocha offers free and plus learning options that actually work – and make learning languages social and fun." Offers "courses in 30 different languages, over 160 hours of lessons for each, helpful tips from native speakers, [and] focus on conversation skills." Requires free registration.

• Mixxer-- From Dickinson College, "free educational community for language learners and teachers to find a language partner for a language exchange. The language partner is someone who speaks the language you study as their native language and is studying your native language. As a member of the Mixxer community, you can communicate with your language partner via Skype to practice speaking. You can also submit documents and ask native speakers to correct your writing."

• National Capital Language Resource Center-- "Joint project of Georgetown University, The George Washington University, and the Center for Applied Linguistics... created to improve and strengthen the nation's capacity to teach and learn foreign languages," with funding from the U.S. Department of Education. Posts resources in the areas of "testing, learning strategies, materials development and methodology, technology, professional development, and dissemination of information on commonly and less commonly taught languages."

• Omniglot-- "Guide to the writing systems and languages of the world. It also contains tips on learning languages, language-related articles, quite a large collection of useful phrases in many languages, multilingual texts, a multilingual book store and an ever-growing collection of links to language-related resources."

• TypeIt.org-- This site allows you to type unique characters in many European languages easily, even if you don't have a specialized keyboard, then to edit your text in the box and copy it to your document, e-mail message, etc.