Are there any resources available listing the availability of per-language learning resources

Question

There are a huge number of resources around, particularly online, for learning languages (e.g. DuoLingo, Babbel, etc), but most will only have a certain number of languages they cover. Easy if you want to learn a popular language such as French or Spanish, but if you're trying to learn a less-common language, it can be hard to find suitable resources. Several times while hunting, I've found something that looks good, only to find it doesn't cover the language I'm trying to learn.

Are there any sites or lists around comparing these various study resources by which languages they cover?

Note that I'm only looking for such resources, or lists thereof, not evaluations of their effectiveness or usefulness. If it helps, I'm learning Polish, but I don't want to restrict this question to one language as it could easily end up with too many duplicates...

Answer 1

Lingvopolis describes itself as a "Well sorted collection of links and useful information about all kinds of language related projects, websites and events."

You can filter the collection of (links to) materials by choosing a category (e.g. courses, learning materials, dictionaries, ...; unfortunately, it is not possible to make multiple selections), a source language (see the menu with "all language versions") and the target language, i.e. the language you want to learn. I counted roughly 110 target languages, though I have not checked if the site lists courses and learning materials for smaller languages such as Cree, Estonian or Maori.

I also collect links to resources on my own Language Learning website, currently covering just over 30 languages.

Answer 2

Fluent in 3 Months has a page listing many languages. If you click a language, then a new page loads with a list of resources for that language.

The languages include: Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Czech, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese (Euro and Brazil), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese.

Some of the languages have better resources lists than others, but it's a good starter.

Answer 3

To share, for complete beginners trying to learn the basic words and phrases to a new language, there are these app series called the Beginner series (link below) that are essentially free introductory flashcard apps that helps one build their vocabulary of a language of their choosing (e.g. Hebrew, Polish, German, etc up to 80+ languages) from scratch.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/developer?id=shotgun.experiments

Answer 4

I use two very indispensible on-line language translation programs as translation tools. Each program translates bilaterally [source <--> target] more than 50 different languages. The translated outputs of these two on-line dictionaries are in conventional dictionary style, including synonyms, antonyms, and numbered definitions for any given input or output word or phrase. The Google translator (translate.google.com) includes a real-time check on entered text, phrases, and sentences.

Pronunciation is an additional feature often included for many of the languages. The Google translator has a two-speed pronunciation feature that the user can toggle, normal speaking speed --> (toggle) --> slow pronunciation speed of the entered text for greater clarity. The language range of the Google translator is generally world-wide, without emphasis on any specific geographic region.

The second on-line dictionary that I consistently use is the Russian "Yandex" translator (translate.yandex.ru). While Google mostly gives the a good translation, there are times when I need to obtain a Yandex translation to cross-check a Google translation. The language range of the Google translator has an orientation leaning towards Eastern European languages, but mid-East and Asian languages are also included.

Since Microsoft's "Windows" operating system is a multi-tasking system, one can open more than one copy of the Google and Yandex translators. This feature makes it possible to run additional copies of either or both translators at the same time.

Words, phrases, sentences, paragraphs, and complete pages can be copied, pasted, and entered in either or both translators. This feature makes it possible to use a copy of Google (for example) to use for words and phrases, an additional copy for paragraph sequences, and then a third copy for cutting and pasting complete pages into the translator(s), all at the same time.

I have found one very useful feature is the ability of cross-translate an input, that is, to do a translation then switch the translation windows and use the translated output as input to be re-translated. With this feature one can quickly learn how the translator 're-writes' the original input text, i.e., it creates an on-line 'tutor' that functionally corrects the grammar and wording of your original sentence.

Here is an example of using the Google translator to translate an unusual language. In this example the input language is English, the output language is Hawaiian:

input: "When your work is done, party! So come on in!"

output: "Ke pau kāu hana, pāʻina! No laila e hele mai i loko!"

Since I know a few Hawaiian words I can look at the output text and know that to my limited understanding this English->Hawaiian translation is reasonably correct.

I have been the Google and the Yandex translator to extensive use in writing tri-lingual eBook: German, Berlinerish (Berlin dialect), and English. I also use either translator when I access the German Amazon to order stuff to be sent to me in the U.S. -- mostly books in the German language.

Being able to access and read website dialog -- e.g. Amazon reviews in German, an extensive German animated seasonal greeting cards website, and user blogs. From my extensive use and knowledge of both the Google and Yandex translators I have to say that they are two invaluable language learning resources -- and both are free! If you are interested in really getting into the two translators (e.g., Polish, for example) you might give them both a trial run.

Note: I have heard disparaging remarks bandied about for both the Google and Yandex translators. True. But through use one soon learns how, why, and when the translation errors occur.