World Language Search Engines and Translation Sites

Keypal and Communication Resources

  • Intercultural E-mail Classroom Connections - teachers can link with partners in other countries and cultures for classroom e-pal and other exchanges. This is a good site when you want to have students communicate in writing with peers in other countries using second languages. All grade ranges from primary through higher education are represented.
  • Kids' Space - the mission of this site is to "Break down cultural, religious, ethnic and racial barriers between children of the world by promoting cross-cultural collaboration in creative projects." This site is available in English and Japanese. Sections include "International Kids' Space" containing Kids Gallery, Story Book and On Air Concert where students can post various creative projects; "Kids' Space Connection" containing PenPal Box, Bulletin Board, and Web Kids' Village to facilitate communication between participants. The site appears geared toward elementary school students.
  • Keypals Club - an educational service where individual students or entire classes can connect with other students in over 70 different countries. Participants can work on projects or simply exchange conversational emails. Registration is free.
  • Find a Keypal - this service is similar to the above Keypals Club, but is more geared toward young learners. Registration is required and free.
  • ePals - billed as the world's largest online classroom community, participants can interface with any of the other 4.5 million students and educators around the world on projects, discussions and learning. The site is also available in multiple languages.
  • Keypals Club International - this is an online club for children ages 8-16 to connect with others their age in over 30 different countries. The site was created by a group of students wishing to build their own community on the internet that included international students of their same age.
  • The Key to Keypal Success - This site will give the teacher detailed information on establishing keypals in their classrooms. Any teacher, language or otherwise, interested in establishing some links to other classrooms and students around the world, would be wise to read this resource.
  • The Global Schoolhouse - this site is a clearinghouse of more than 900 online collaborative projects, organized by topic, grade, and project date. Find partners or join projects from around the globe. Since membership is international, the potential for finding partners for a long term project are great.
  • KidLink - designed to "empower children to build global social and knowledge networks," this site is based in Norway. Kidlink's participants live in countries all over the world. Their societies have very different views on social, ethical, legal, religious, and moral issues. Kidlink encourages participants to value these differences, and use them as a means of helping their kids gain a better insight into all views of a particular issue. This is an excellent resource for communication on any topic.
  • Teachers Guide to International Collaboration on the Internet - a site sponsored by the US Department of Education, teachers will find many projects and suggestions to begin or expand classroom projects that reach across the globe. A great place to start if you are interested in a global classroom connection.

Student Chat

  • Dave's ESL Cafe Chat Central - for registered users (it's free), ESOL learners can chat with others in English. Good for writing and conversational practice. Chat room language can only be in English. No other languages are allowed since this is an ESOL site.

Videoconferencing

  • International Videoconferencing List - this site is a list of contacts in various countries capable of doing videoconferencing. While specifics are not given in terms of the content each site is willing to deliver, it might be worthwhile for teacher to pursue a contact if they are interested in establishing an authentic learning experience in the native country of the language being studied.

In addition to international videoconferencing, teachers may find it useful to connect with another world language class in the district, state, or country to practice various aspects of the language in authentic situations.

Authentic Net Resources

Possible activities with authentic resources include travel brochures, travel guides, current events, newsletters, visual study of a community, surveys, WebQuests and online collaborative projects.

E-greetings can be used to offer reading and writing practice in authentic situations for any language.

Collections of World Language and Cultural Resources

Software for Curriculum Integration

Software should be evaluated to make sure that it meets the needs of the learners and the curriculum. These are only suggestions of some foreign language software providers. Some of these may be a good starting point if software is what interests you.
  • Language Quest
  • Soleil World Learning Foreign Language Software
  • WorldLanguage.com
  • Market Street Foreign Language Software
  • Babylon - translation software available in 70 different languages. This software provides access to over 25 dictionaries and 1,600 glossaries. The software comes at a reasonable price, with the option of downloading a free trial. This is a resource that could be used by language teachers and students just like any other dictionary or glossary.
  • Free Translation - this tool claims to offer translations from one language to another. While the results may sometimes be questionable, this could quite possibly be a useful too, so long as it isn't used as a 'crutch' to actually learning the language. It also has the capability of translating web pages. You submit the address and the result is this web-based software's translation of the page.

Multimedia Presentation Ideas

If more authentic language learning is what you are after, using technology or not, here are some project ideas that might easily use the above resources.
  • Virtual tour of a city
  • Video production/dramatization
  • Multimedia scrapbook
  • Claymation project
  • Puppets and Masks
  • Debate or Panel Discussion
  • Online Publishing
  • Webquests
    • Le Cirque: A Global Simulation - Designed for middle school students, this quest has students using several technology tools including the Internet, databases, and graphic organizers. Students also communicate through email and create a web page as their final product. The process takes five weeks and includes activities in reading, writing and listening in the French language. The site is also available in French. An excellent example of a technology rich, communicative approach to language learning.
    • Our Vacation to France! - In this webquest, a family of four (mom, dad, brother, sister) are going on their first trip to France. Each family member has a particular interest (i.e. history, culture, etc) and is assigned to research their area of interest and assemble a scrapbook to share with the rest of the family. The only caution about this project is to make sure the final project is more than just a copy/paste type of scrapbook. Students should be required to share their information and learning with their 'family' and be creative about format of the final scrapbook compilation of everyone's interests.
    • Famous Francophones - Students are divided into 5 groups and have to research to answer this driving question: "Which famous Francophones (living or dead) should be honored at the Bastille Day celebration at the French embassy and why?" Categories of Francophones include artist, musician, politicial leader, writer and scientist. Students would learn information about French culture and history as well as the skills associated with research, debating and coming to concensus.
    • Mexico City Earthquake - Students research this disaster from multiple perspectives and then have to report in Spanish in a final project consisting of an Internet newspage and a video. This is a webquest for high school students with a very good knowledge of the Spanish language.
    • Open the Door to Equador - Students become specialized reporter in the areas of news, sports, weather, and culture. Together they write and then verbally report their news stories in a newscast. The final product is a video with images and graphics from the Internet or created in graphics software. This project is very similar in out to the Mexico City Earthquake webquest.
Randy Ziegenfuss <rziegeran@stsd.org>