Post XX. Lynda.com

I decided to do a brief review of Lynda.com in case if there are people in our class who are not familiar with this wonderful learning tool yet.

Lynda.com offers a collection of learning materials related to different topics, from Instructional Design to Photography. Usually, you get access to a set of video-lectures that are often accompanied by exercises to assist you in processing the new information. The quality of lectures is very high; they represent short videos, no more than 10 minutes long. What is important for me as an international student, the lecturers speak clearly and slowly (in a normal way), which helps me follow them with no additional effort involved.

There is a wide range of learning activities available on Lynda.com, and, what is more, this web portal is absolutely free for FSU students. This is great news because the regular monthly price is $20 minimum, depending on the chosen plan. In the Secure Apps folder on my.fsu.edu, there is a direct link to the Lynda.com website that enables you to get your free access. 

Lynda.com also has an iPad application for those people who prefer being mobile.

Watch a short video about Lynda.com below. What courses would you like take (or are taking) on this eLearning portal?

Post XIV. FSU IS Application

Have you known that the ISLT family at FSU has its own mobile application?
The FSU IS APP was developed by Taehyeong Lim, a doctorate student and great guy J
You can download the application from the App Store for free. It is nicely designed, works smoothly, and, what is more, helps tracking ISLT news. The app also contains information about our faculty and staff. A catalog of program courses, providing a brief description for each course, can be found there as well.

Finally, the app includes a list of the networks related to our program. For example, it allows you to start following interesting Facebook groups, like FSU IS Program or IS Student Association.

Post XIII. Language Learning Resources

Greg’s vlog post about a crowdsourcing translation web-tool, Duolingo, gave me an idea for my Knowledge Sharing project (thanks Greg!).
I attempted to create a collection of web-based learning resources for the people who, like me, are interested in languages. Below, you will find the list of the open-access websites I find to be helpful in learning German, French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese.

Languages Online

German, French, Italian, Spanish, Latin

This website offers lessons for language learners at all levels of proficiency. The utilized teaching methodology is quite simple. You will be asked to match pictures and English phrases with the ones in the language you study.

Mein Weg nach Deutschland

German

This web-portal was developed by Goethe-Institut - Germany's worldwide cultural institute. It contains a lot of engaging activities for practicing your German. For example, you can play a hidden objects game or watch an educative TV show about a Turkish girl immigrated to Germany.

One World Italiano

Italian

This website includes a variety of classic language activities, such as video courses, grammar explanations, and dictations. In addition, there is a set of entertaining exercises enabling you to explore Italian via movie trailers or interactive mini-games. 

Digital Dialects

Spanish

This is an example of how game-based approach can be used in language learning. The website represents an assortment of games of varying levels of language difficulty.

Master Russian

Russian

If you wish to make yourself familiar with the Cyrillic alphabet or are interested in understanding the Russian culture, this website would be of great help. It has different learning materials, including the dual-language translations of Russian greatest novels and folk music videos.

Melnyks Chinese

Chinese

This is a collection of podcasts for the learners of Chinese aiming to master their speaking skills. You can get access to 267 audio lessons with word-for-word PDF transcripts and worksheets for self-assessment.

Kids Web Japan

Japanese

This website declares being a portal for kids, but any adult interested in learning Japanese can find it to be useful. There is a course of animated lessons to introduce you to the language, and the Quick Japanese section enables you to increase your colloquial vocabulary. 

I would be happy to hear from language learning fans. What languages do you speak? Which language would you like to learn next?