Resources and Lesson Plans for World Languages

Site Index: Sites with Resources and Lessons for Multiple Languages, American Sign Language, Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hmong, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Native Languages, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish.

Learn which 50 languages are the most widely spoken.

Sites with Resources and Lessons for Multiple Languages
Professional translation services by PoliLingua at excellent value by qualified native speaker translators.

iLoveLanguages!
Language lessons, dictionaries, translation services, schools, organizations, jobs, etc. for a huge list of languages.
Several lesson plans from Bright Hub.
Foreign Language
Many lesson plans from Digital Wish.

1st SPOT Languages
Links to resources for many languages.

Search Engine Colossus
Search Engine Colossus allows you to enter the internet of individual countries through its international directory of search engines.

Awesome Library: Languages
Lesson plans and resources for a variety of languages.

World language Lesson Plans
From Teachnology.

Six Activities for Generating Enthusiasm in the Foreign Language Classroom
From the Internet TESL Journal.

Education World: Foreign Languages Subject Center
Lesson plans and other resources.

Foreign Language Lesson Plans and Resources
Links to sites for a variety of languages.

American Sign Language Lesson Plans and Resources
ASL University Lessons Page
Thirty lessons for a two-semester course from "American Sign Language University" at Lifeprint.com.

Using American Sign Language to Improve Comprehension and Vocabulary
An interesting lesson plan for grades 1-3 from Read-Write-Think.

American Sign Language
A lesson plan from National First Ladies’ Library online curriculum in which students gain a basic understanding of American Sign Language.

A Sense For Technology
An ASL lesson plan from Discovery Education.

Signs of Development    
Information and products for teaching and learning ASL.

American Sign Language and Signed English
A vocabulary index with pictures of signs for hundreds of word from Lesson Tutor. See their ASL site for many lesson plans.

Body Language for Signers of ASL
One lesson plan from the above site.

Learning American Sign Language Using Alphabet Flash Cards
Suggested activities for learning/teaching ASL with flash cards. Also from Lesson Tutor.

A Basic Dictionary of ASL Terms
A dictionary with both animated and text definitions.

American Sign Language Browser
A dictionary complete with pictures.

Sign Writing Site
Lesson plans and information for reading, writing, and typing sign languages.

SoundKeepers ASL Alphabet
A pictoral guide to the basic American Sign Language alphabet.

Sign the Alphabet
An on-line activity from Funbrain.com.

American Sign Language Teachers Association

History of Sign Language
A concise summary. See also About ASL.

The Deaf Resource Library
An online collection of reference material and links intended to educate and inform people about Deaf cultures in Japan and the United States as well as deaf and hard of hearing related topics.

Arabic Lesson Plans and Resources
Arabalicious Teaching Resources
See the top menu for secondary and primary resources as well as cultural knowledge.

Archive for Category Arabic
Lessons and resources for Arabic Tier I and Tier III from the Southern Area International Languages Network.

Arabic Language and Culture Lesson Plans
Many lessons from arabic.souaiaia.com.

National Association of Arabic Language Teachers K-12
Click on services to access resources for teachers.

Arabic Poetry: Guzzle a Ghazal
A lesson plan that engages students in reading and writing about an  Arabic poetic form. 

American Association of Teachers of Arabic   
See their resources for language learning and teaching.

What's in an Arabic Name?
English translations of Arabic names.

Ectaco English-Arabic Online Dictionary
Translates from English to Arabic and visa versa. See other Arabic dictionaries.

The Arab Culture in Review: A Global Perspective
An Internet-based project in which students assume various roles within and related to the Arab culture. It consists of five activities and an assessment.

Arab American Chamber of Commerce

Chinese Lesson Plans and Resources
Learning and Teaching Mandarin Chinese: A Collection of Lessons
From Bright Hub Education.

Mandarin in China
Fifteen lesson plans from the Peace Corps World Wise Schools.

Chinese 1 Lesson Plans and Homework
See also Chinese II.

Audio Tutorial of Basic Chinese
Developed by Haiwang Yuan.

Learn to Speak Mandarin
Language exchange via email, text chat, and voice chat.

Learn about Mandarin Chinese Language and Culture
Word of the day, quizzes, blog, survival phrases, free Chinese software, and other resources.

Zhongwen.com
Search dictionary, online readings, Chinese chat room, etc.

Chinese-English Dictionary
A user-friendly, searchable dictionary.

Animals of the Chinese Zodiac
A lesson plan for grades K-5.

Asian Geography
K-12 lesson plans for teaching about China and other Asian countries.

French Lesson Plans and Resources
Civilisation Francaise
Several lesson plans written in French.

French 1 Week 1
"An outline of lesson plans."

Giving Directions in French
A brief lesson plan from oneschoolroom.ca.

Learning and Teaching French
Resources for teachers and students including worksheets from ThoughtCo.com.

French Lesson Plans for Secondary Grades 6-12
Many lesson plans from Bright Hub.

Education World: French
Four lesson plans and some links.

Quia French
Over 7000 lesson plans/activities!

French Lesson Plans
Primary lesson plans from Bishop Wordsworth School, UK.

French Lesson Plans
From World Language Cafe.

French for Beginners
An introductory lesson plan.

Reading the French Newspaper Le Figaro
A lesson plan for Intermediate French from NCLRC. See also Ads in Popular French Magazines and Poetry Puzzle for other lesson plans from this source.

French Fairy Tales
A lesson plan for French III students.

Four Days in Paris
A lesson plan for grades 3-8.

 Exploring Regions of France
A WebQuest. See also French WebQuest. 

French and Family
A lesson plan from EDSITEment in which students learn where French is spoken and learn French words for family members.

AP French Language and Culture Home Page
Many resources from the College Board.

City Life in Europe
A middle-grade lesson plan exploring Paris and its landmarks.

French Teacher Net
Free resources and worksheets.

French Lesson Plans
"A formula for creating French lesson plans."

Collins English to French Dictionary

Embassy of France
The ultimate source for information about France.

History of France: Primary Documents
Great source for transcriptions and translations of documents on French history.

 

German Lesson Plans and Resources
AP German Language and Culture Course Home Page
Course resources, classroom resources, lesson plans, reviews of teaching resources, etc.

Deutsche Internet Ubungen
Good source for German lessons and activities. See also Awesome Library German Lesson Plans and Resources.

German Lesson Plans for Secondary Grades 6-12
Many lesson plans from Bright Hub Education.  

Deutsche Internet Chronik
Ten German web units for elementary to advanced levels.

Selected Lesson Plans for First-Semester German
From nthuleen.com.

Vokabeln
Vocabulary "Quizlet folders" for German Students & Teachers. See also Interactive German Tutor.

Advertisements in German-American Cookbooks
A lesson plan for German I or II in which students recognize and use German vocabulary related to food.   

"Der Lehrling" (ein neues Erfrischungsgetränk): A Lesson Plan for Advanced German Students
From AP Central

German-Americans and Their Contributions
Two lesson plans on German Americans. See also A German-American Chronology.

The Germans in America
A page developed by the Library of Congress.

Celebrate Culture: Germany
A lesson plan for grades1-2.

German Immigrants: Their Contributions to the Upper Midwest
A lesson plan in which students answer questions and practice their German while using photographs and documents from the American Memory Collection of the Library of Congress.

Berlin Wall Scavenger Hunt
See also Art and the Berlin Wall and The Fall of the Berlin Wall 1989.

German-American Internet Scavenger Hunt
A site I developed several years ago. I keep it updated for use on German-American Day.

German Culture WebQuest
See also Germany WebQuest.

German-English On-line Dictionary

The German Way and More
Impressive site with a lot of information. 

German Embassy in Washington
Get information about Germany from the German government.

Greek Lesson Plans and Resources
I Learn Greek
Many lesson plans for beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.

Introductory Ancient Greek Language
Twelve lesson plans from Wikiversity.

The Greek Alphabet: More Familiar Than You Think
A K-2 lesson plan.

It Came From Greek Mythology
Not a Greek language  lesson plan, but a very good lesson for grades 3-5.  See also Reflections of Ancient Greece.

Mr. Donn's Ancient Greece
Many lesson plans.

Greek-English Dictionary On Line

History of the Greek language
From Greek -Language.com.

Learn to Speak Greek
Learn Greek online by practicing with a native speaker who is learning your language.

Embassy of Greece.

Hmong
Hmong Language Lessons
Lessons in the White Hmong dialect from Southeast Asian Refugee Studies.

Learn to Speak Hmong
A language exchange through which Hmong and English speakers can learn each other's language via email.

Teaching Hmong History And Culture Through Story Cloths
See also Stories in Quilts.

Hmong Among Us
A lesson plan from the NY Times/

The Hmong in Our Midst
A resource for ELT classrooms.

Tragedy of the Hmong
Historical information and a long list of links.

Italian
Italian-English Dictionary
See also English to Italian Dictionary.

Italian Lesson Plans for Secondary 6-12
Several lesson plans from Bright Hub.

Embassy of Italy
First-hand source of information on Italy.

Italy: Life and Culture
A lesson plan in which students gain an understanding of daily life in Italy, and compare and contrast life there to life in the United States.

L'Unione Sarda On Line
Italian newspaper online.

Italia Mia
A large list of links to Italian web sites.

Japanese
AP Japanese Language and Culture Course Home Page
Course information, exam information and resources, special focus materials, lesson plans, and more.

Japanese Mosaic
Seven lesson plans on the Japanese language and culture from Mosaic: Linking Languages and Culture.

American Association of Teachers of Japanese
Teaching and classroom resources.

Language Links
Links to many resources from the California Association of Japanese Language Teachers.

Matsuo Basho and Haiku
From the above site, this thematic unit provides "a standards-based introduction to Basho, haiku, and their Japanese context for intermediate to advanced students of Japanese."

Free Japanese Lessons
Several online Japanese lessons from About.com.

Reading Japanese Signs
A guide to understanding Japanese signs, billboards, plaques, banners, etc.

Embassy of Japan in the United States of America

To find K-12 lesson plans for teaching about Japan and other Asian countries. go to my World Geography Page.

Korean  
Introduction to Korean Language and Writing
A lesson plan from NCTA Ohio. See also Gonggi - Korean Jacks and  Try Your Hand at Han’geul.

Korean/Writing lessons
Six lessons.

Korean Language, Culture, and History
A lesson plan for grades 11-12.

An Introduction to Korean
A tutorial with 9 lessons focusing on the alphabet, conversational phrases, parts of the body, family members, numbers, asking directions, and grammar.

Korean Children's Day
Everything you need to know about Korean Children's Day.

American Association of Teachers of Korean
See the Korean National Standards available at the iste.

Latin
Latin Teach
A page for Latin teachers. See their resource Latin Language Teaching Methodologies.

A Guide to Teaching Latin
From BtightHub.

Latin: The Language of Ancient Rome
A lesson plan from the National First Ladies' Library.

Roman Living
A comprehensive five-day lesson plan for beginning Latin students that introduces them to various aspects of ancient Roman culture.

Sample Lesson Plans for Teaching Latin
From Wheelock's Latin. See also The Story's the Thing.

English-Latin On-Line Dictionary.

Daily Life in Ancient Rome
Activities from Mr. Donn's pages.

Welcome to Rome
Have your students take a tour. 

Native Languages Lesson Plans and Resources
For lesson plans and units on Native Americans, go to my U.S. History Page.

Fun with Numbers
An elementary-grade lesson plan from Education World's Activities to Celebrate Native American Heritage in which students learn Lakota Sioux words for numbers.

What's in a Name?
Another lesson plan from Education World in which students learn the origin of the names of U.S. states that were derived from Native American words.

Native American Tribes of Wisconsin
Scroll down the page for teaching and learning activities.

Culture, Language & Families
A high school lesson plan on Native American cultures and languages.

Native Tech: Ojibwe
Culture, art, history, language, and people. See also Native Languages of the Americas: Ojibwe.

Teaching Indigenous Languages
Links to resources including full-text publications.

Native American Data Base
A huge collection of links to sites for Native American culture and wisdom.

Native American Tribal Directory
See also Native American Nations.

Tribal Name Meanings

WWW Virtual Library - American Indians
An extensive index of Native American language resources on the Internet.

Norwegian Lesson Plans and Resources
Norwegian in Five Minutes a Month
Thirty on-line lessons from the Sons of Norway.

Norwegian/Lesson 1
See also lessons 2 and 3.

Learn Norwegian Online
Free Norwegian lessons.

English-Norwegian/Norwegian-English Online Dictionary

Dagbladet
Norwegian Daily Newspaper online.

An "American Letter" by Norwegian Immigrants
Not a language lesson, but an interesting lesson plan none the less.

For lesson plans on Vikings, go to my World History Page.

Polish Lesson Plans and Resources
Polish Lessons for Beginners
Ten lessons.

Polish Language
Learning games for numbers, colors, food, clothing, etc.

Learn Polish - Most Used Expressions
On YouTube. See also Polish Pronunciation Guide Unit 1.

English-Polish Dictionary
See also Polish Pronunciation Guide

Polish News Online
Polish-language newspaper published in Bensenville, Illinois.

Embassy of Poland

Polish National Alliance
Information for Polish-Americans.

Polish World
Information and links for art, culture, education, entertainment, government, etc.

Poland: Life and Culture
A lesson plan for grades 2-4.

Russian Lesson Plans and Resources
Russian Language Lessons
From Russian Lessons.Net.

Cyrillic Alphabet
Russian alphabet with sounds.

Counting in Russian (cardinal numbers)
From Russian Language.Net. See also Russian Vocabulary.

Affectionate Russian Phrases: Tender words in Russian
A lesson from Bright Hub.

Online Russian Test
The site also includes Russian travel information for visitors, free Russian teachers’ resources, St. Petersburg city map, and photo gallery.

English -Russian Dictionary
See also Russian: An Interactive, On-Line Reference Grammar.

Face of Russia: Living Under Communism
A high school lesson plan. Scroll to the bottom of the page to access 4 other lessons from the Face of Russia unit.



Spanish (Scroll down the page for Latin American/Hispanic literature lesson plans)
Spanish Lesson Plans
Nearly 50 lesson plans from Teachnology.

Spanish Lesson Plans for Secondary Grades 6-12
Several lesson plans from Bright Hub.

Spanish Days of the Week/Counting
A lesson plan for K-6. See also Spanish Body Parts for another lesson from the same source.

Back to Escuela
A lesson plan on school vocabulary.

Colors and Clothing
A middle school Spanish lesson plan.

Ser vs, Estar
A Bingo game! See also El Verbo Ser for a worksheet.

A Portfolio of Lessons for High School Spanish
A Syracuse University Honors Capstone Project.

NCRLC Spanish Collection
Four lesson plans dealing with Spanish culture. See also Lecciones presentadas durante la inmersion for 10 more lesson plans from their summer institute and Lessons and Activities Index for additional lesson plans.

Spanish
Several lesson plans from Education World.

Spanish Lesson Plans
Lesson plans and worksheets from Spanish4Teachers.

Spanish Kids Stuff
Many lesson plans. available to print or download.

Spanish Language Guides and Study Tips
From Bright Hub Education.

Spain Day Teaching Ideas
From the UK.

AP Spanish Literature and Language Course Home Page
Essential course resources.

More Spanish
Lesson plans and technology for the Spanish classroom.

Paso Partners
Elementary lesson plans integrating Spanish with math, science, and language.

Family Pictures (Cuadros de Familia)
A sample unit plan for beginning level.

Learn Spanish
Learn Spanish with these free online lessons.
   
Quia Spanish
A searchable collection of lesson ideas.   

Cultural Aspects of Spanish in America
A unit for secondary Spanish language teachers.

De Colores
A lesson plan from EDSITEment for young learners at the beginning or intermediate level of proficiency in Spanish. See also La Familia.

Day of the Dead
Lesson ideas for this Mexican holiday celebrated October 31 through November 2. See also Day of the Dead Resources.

Hispanic Immigration: America in the Year 2000
A high school unit.

Today is Cinco de Mayo
A lesson plan from Read-Write-Think. See also Cinco de Mayo for Teachers.

Twentieth Century Latin American Writing
Ten units from the Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. See also Family Ties in Latin American Fiction and The Modern Short Story in Latin America.

Hispanic World Unit
An electronic field trip.

Spanish - English and English-Spanish Translation
See also their Spanish-English dictionary.

Latin America Countries + Latin American Archives and Libraries
Resources for students studying Spanish from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

Mexico OnLine
Directory of information about Mexico. See also Mexico Connect.

History and People
A wealth of information about Mexican history from MexConnect.

Swahili Lesson Plans and Resources   

Swahili Exercises for Listening and Reading
Fifteen exercises developed to be used in an introductory Swahili class.

Swahili Lessons
From Swahili Language & Culture.

English-Swahili Dictionary

A Brief History of the Swahili Language
A concise, well-written page.

Language Links: Swahili
A long list of annotated links

Swedish
Template: Introduction to Swedish
Many lessons including common phrases. See also Swedish/Introduction.

Bjorn Engdahl's Swedish Course
A pronunciation guide, 7 lessons, and a final exam.

Swedish Language Lessons
Basic Swedish phrases.

Swedish Grammar
Alphabet, pronunciation, and parts of speech.

Swedish-English Dictionary
Translate from Swedish to English and visa versa.