Language Learning: Internet Resources

Anki is a free program for creating flashcards. It is designed to take advantage of "spaced repetition," a method that is known to lead to faster learning. Anki is a powerful tool with a lot of flexibility, but is somewhat more complicated to use than websites such as Quizlet. If you decide to try Anki, we recommend looking at the User Manual and Intro Videos on their website. (If you still get stuck, contact the library staff and we will help you figure it out.)

Similar to Anki, Mnemosyne uses spaced repetition for faster memorization. It has a number of interesting features, including the ability to integrate with Google Translate and Text-to-Speech. There are premade cards available on their website for about 16 different languages.

If you speak a language like Spanish, Arabic, or Japanese, then you may know that verbs can come in many different forms, for various combinations of first person, second person, past, present, future, and so on. If you're studying a language like that, learning all those different verb forms can be a pain. That's where Cooljugator comes in. This website supports about 40 different languages, and it will give you the correct conjugations for hundreds or thousands of verbs in each language.

Quizlet is a great tool to use for those who like to study using flashcards. Not only can you create your own flashcards but you can also search for and use the sets of flashcards made by other users.

This app uses an intuitive drag-and-drop style to help you learn vocabulary in an engaging and simple way. With the free version, you get one five-minute practice session every six hours; paying for the premium version gives you unlimited practice time. The app offers almost forty different languages.

Influent is a fun little game that will help you practice a few hundred vocabulary items in the language of your choice. Explore a virtual 3D house and learn the words for household items based on your own interests.

The creators of the Duolingo app also offer free podcasts for Spanish and French learners.

Coffee Break Languages has podcasts for French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, and Swedish, in addition to English as a second language for Spanish speakers. Each episode is relatively short, the idea being that you can learn something within the space of a coffee break.

InnovativeLanguage.com has 34 language podcasts to choose from (most of them named something like AfrikaansPod101, ChinesePod101, IndonesianPod101...you get the idea).

The language-learning platform Babbel also has a YouTube channel featuring videos that will teach you something about how language works or give you a taste of phrases in different languages.

Language coach Luca Lampariello speaks thirteen languages, and he managed to learn them all in his hometown of Rome, Italy. Learn how and listen to his language learning tips on his channel.

Italki is a website that allows you to connect with a network of over 10,000 language tutors in the language of your choice. Each tutor sets their own hourly rate, and some charge as low as $4 per lesson; some are also professional teachers.

HelloTalk is sort of like a social networking app designed to help you learn languages. You can search the world for native speakers of the language you want to learn, then chat with each other one-on-one and in groups. While you practice the other person's language, they also practice yours, making it a mutually beneficial language exchange.
FREE with optional paid content

With Live Lingua, you can sign up for paid lessons with a professional tutor, but that's only part of what this website offers. Its most unique component is the Live Lingua Project, which hosts completely free lessons, eBooks, and audios for over 150 languages.
FREE (optional paid content)

OpenCourseWare is an initiative to make course materials from MIT classes available online to anyone in the world. On this page, you will find materials from MIT language courses, which will may help you come up with your own plan for studying a language.

BBC Languages hosts free lessons for French, German, Spanish, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, and Chinese. There are also lists of basic phrases (mostly aimed at tourists) in a number of other languages.

For those looking to learn Arabic specifically, this website is fairly comprehensive. The Arabic Reading Course will teach you the basics of reading the Arabic script, while the Arabic Language Course will walk you through grammatical forms.

Mango includes listening and speaking activities for over 70 languages. It is designed to respond to your individual learning style.
You may be able to get access through your local public library; check their website or contact one of their librarians.

Created by a German company, Babbel is one of the top-rated language learning platforms. Currently, they offer lessons in fourteen different languages. Course content is based on your personal interests and designed to help you retain what you've learned.