How to adult - A guide for university etc.pdf | |
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Travel and trip-planning advice.pdf | |
File Size: | 357 kb |
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Advice for improving your marks.pdf | |
File Size: | 102 kb |
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How to improve your reading.pdf | |
File Size: | 184 kb |
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French - Youtube channels for listening practice.pdf | |
File Size: | 84 kb |
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Dictée analysis and listening quiz advice.pdf | |
File Size: | 180 kb |
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Websites with interactive games or exercises
This site is for francophones or advanced speakers. They have a great variety of Matériel Interactif that covers vocab, syntax, grammar etc. The site is designed by the CCDMD in Quebec.
À vos plumes has French grammar exercises for all levels. If you need extra practice with any grammar (e.g. the present tense), this site is easy to use.
The BBC has a language section with video courses, email subscriptions, radio links etc. Unfortunately, not all their videos can be viewed by Canadian IP addresses.
About.com has an extensive French section with grammar explanations, vocabulary, exercises, and challenges.
The U of Austin has a complete French course starting from the basics with vocab lists, exercises, dialogues, and some audiovisuals. It's very well-organized. You can also download pdfs of the units.
This site has online vocabulary games (cours en ligne) for beginners. Examples of topics: numbers, clothing, food...
This site has easy Spanish grammar explanations (written in English) with exercises and quizzes for practice (studyspanish.com). Their vocab section is not as useful, and some other aspects of the site cost money.
À vos plumes has French grammar exercises for all levels. If you need extra practice with any grammar (e.g. the present tense), this site is easy to use.
The BBC has a language section with video courses, email subscriptions, radio links etc. Unfortunately, not all their videos can be viewed by Canadian IP addresses.
About.com has an extensive French section with grammar explanations, vocabulary, exercises, and challenges.
The U of Austin has a complete French course starting from the basics with vocab lists, exercises, dialogues, and some audiovisuals. It's very well-organized. You can also download pdfs of the units.
This site has online vocabulary games (cours en ligne) for beginners. Examples of topics: numbers, clothing, food...
This site has easy Spanish grammar explanations (written in English) with exercises and quizzes for practice (studyspanish.com). Their vocab section is not as useful, and some other aspects of the site cost money.
Apps and books
Duolingo is a free website and app with courses for learning French, Spanish, Italian and several other languages. It focuses on sentence translation and helps you quickly start to use grammar rules and vocab.
The Teach Yourself series is often a good book for learning a language on your own. Libraries often have copies. Other book series include: Oxford, Colloquial, Assimil... The Practice Makes Perfect series is good if you want to find vocabulary or grammar exercises.
Linguistics books on second / foreign language acquisition:
Many books have been written about language learning. If you are interested in linguistics, try the textbook The Language Files, Lourdes Ortega's Second Language Acquisition, William Grabe's Reading in a Second Language, or check out your local library.
Books on the history of French:
Although it isn't an academic book, The Story of French (by Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow) is a fun and informative read. They have also written a book on the history of Spanish.
More linguistics:
Gretchen McCulloch's blog allthingslinguistic.com is a great place to start. She posts about various linguistics topics, has lists of videos and books to check out, and has interviews with linguists working in different fields. The website and youtube channel The Ling Space (www.youtube.com/user/thelingspace) has lots of 10 minute videos.
Flashcards:
Anki, Memrise, and Quizlet are flashcard apps. Memrise is more game-like, and Anki more versatile. (Unfortunately, Anki isn't free on iphones). You can make your own flashcards or use ones generated by other users. The best programs use spaced repetition so that you'll review difficult words more frequently. Quizlet is great if you want multiple ways to practice words: matching, multiple choice, spelling/writing, games etc.
A lot of free apps are available for verb conjugations and grammar explanations. (Examples include: Dr French and Français authentique (which includes some videos)).
Websites for audio-visuals
Youtube has lots of language videos and channels (e.g. "Tu escuela de español" which has basic and intermediate vocab taught in Spanish (Spain dialect)).
Tou.tv is a site where you can watch a lot of Radio-Canada's shows. (Radio-Canada is the Quebec name of CBC). There are some sitcoms, dramas, news etc.
Tv5 Monde has a site dedicated to posting videos and materials for students. apprendre.tv5monde.com is a good place to find vocabulary and listening practice.
Tou.tv is a site where you can watch a lot of Radio-Canada's shows. (Radio-Canada is the Quebec name of CBC). There are some sitcoms, dramas, news etc.
Tv5 Monde has a site dedicated to posting videos and materials for students. apprendre.tv5monde.com is a good place to find vocabulary and listening practice.