Being multilingual is an important skill in today’s world, where interaction with people from all over the world is a potential part of everyday life. Not only will it give you a great connection to a different people and culture, but it can improve job prospects and even salary rate. Not to mention the important changes it has been found to spark in the brain, increasing a person’s ability to retain and process information.
But many people will will hold back on learning a new language out of fear of failure, or not knowing where to start. After all, those programs you see on TV or online are expansive, especially if there is a risk that it won’t work.
Don’t get discouraged! There are amazing resources free online to help teach you a new language, no matter what that language might be. Check out these ten websites that will make learning a new dialect a breeze.
General Language Sites
- BBC Language Courses – Perhaps the best website for language help., the BBC offers users all over the world fully interactive and complete lessons in 40 languages. Their most popular are French, Spanish, Greek, Chinese, German, Italian and Portuguese. But they also have phrase guides for Albanian, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Flemish, Hungarian and dozens more.
- LiveMocha – If you learn better with others, you will love LiveMocha. They are an interactive community website, that allows you to learn alongside others from around the world in a social networking context. They have 35 languages available, with millions of users. You can practice with others, trading languages and learning about each other’s culture while you are at it.
- Babbel – Babbel is a training tool meant to help you practice your pronunciation. You use the review manager to speak the words, which gives it a collection of your vocabulary. It will calculate the rate you speak and where your problems lie, and then give you a report to isolate your strengths and weaknesses for a more targeted practice experience. They also have an iPhone app.
Chinese
- Learn Chinese On CRI – Once you get over the somewhat crazy interface and layout of the site, you will be sure to love these lesson plans and exercises. Well paced, perfectly structured and helpful for any level, you can learn grammar and vocabulary while figuring out how to use both causal and formal verbal skills. There is a section on Chinese culture that is also very well made.
- Learn Chinese On Minmm – This site also has a very hard to navigate site, with no real method to the layout. But the lessons are really good, with everything broken down into categories by level of education. There are beginner, intermediate and advanced classes, as well as supplement courses and tools. They also have some interesting classes on Chinese chess and painting, as well as other cultural activities.
Italian
- ElanguageSchool – This program aims to teach you using a carefully constructed plan that keeps your brains functions when learning in check as you go. They have some of the most in depth Italian exercises and lessons on the web, though the site offers other languages as well. Some of those include Hindi, Dutch and Arabic. Be sure to check out the excellent education videos that will help you put what you learn into practice.
French
- Language & Lyrics – This program isn’t technically free, but the first chapter is. It works by teaching language through music and lyrics, using the principle that the mind reacts to the sound of music more than words alone. You can try it out without paying a cent, which is worth a shot.
- ElanguageSchool – Another program from eLanguageSchool, this one works mostly based on French language comics, which give you a visual context along with the words. They also have a course of grammar and vocabulary, which can be viewed with links in the sidebar.
German
- DW World – This program has you create an account and throws you right into things. It has a progress meter for their interactive lessons, which show you how you are doing as you go through each level of learning. They have a lot to offer.
- Deutsch Lernen – There are 34 lessons on this site for those who want to learn German. Ten of them are for beginners who have no experience with the language. The next 24 are for more advanced users. You just work your way through them to get a basic working grasp on the language. They also have tests so you can try out your building skills.
These are some amazing websites that will help you to learn a new language and increase your knowledge of the world. Take advantage of them and watch your potential increase as you expand your mind.
Annie is an Internet geek living her life online and blogging for Vacation Pass, the free educational resource for international travellers offering access to a wide array of Go San Diego Card coupon codes.
