English & Other Languages
English
Pronunciator Personalized Language Learning - Pronunciator is a fun and free way to learn any of 163 languages (including English) with Personalized Courses, movies, music, and more. Learn online, either on your desktop computer or mobile device! Use the Bluebird app on your mobile device.
If you're using this resource at home, you'll have to enter your library card barcode to begin.
UNIVERSAL CLASS - Free online non-credit courses in English language skills UPDATED LINK! (Writing, Grammar, Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension, Creative Writing, Journalism, ESL, and more). Courses are accessible 24/7 via the Internet. You will have up to 6 months to finish each course, and each course has a real instructor you can communicate with by email! Universal Class also available on the LIBBY app.
To access classes for free, you'll need to register on the site and choose a username & password for your account. (Site includes advertisements)
LOTE4Kids: An online collection of audio/video picture books in World Languages, created for children to enjoy books and learn language through the magic of storytelling. Kids can access thousands of books in over 60 languages from the comfort of home. English translations help develop multilingual reading and listening skills. New books and languages are added regularly! The free LOTE4Kids mobile app is available for Android or Apple devices.
PETERSON'S TEST & CAREER PREP - International Tools include free practice tests, study tips, test prep eBooks and related resources for the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and TOEIC (Test of English for International Communication). If you're using this resource at home, you'll have to enter your library card barcode to begin.
GCF LearnFree: Learn English - Free online English tutorial with instructions in Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Chinese, Portuguese, Korean, and simple English. You can practice 1000 common vocabulary words across over 40 categories, learn new words, practice reading, listening, & reading comprehension, and use Fill in the Blank activities to test your understanding. (Goodwill Community Foundation, Inc.)
Changing Language UPDATED LINK! [Archived page; interactive timeline no longer works] - 'The English language is vast, flexible, fascinating, frustrating, challenging, inspiring and endlessly changing... This website explores the way that the language has developed over hundreds of years.' Scroll down to browse the content by centuries; high school. (British Library)
Citing Sources - See How to Write a Paper and Cite Sources.
Commonly Confused Words, Top 10 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words & 39 Most Commonly Confused Words - Lists hundreds of commonly confused word pairs, such as affect & effect, cue & queue, and disinfectant & antiseptic, with tips on how to use them correctly (Merriam-Webster; site includes advertisements). See also Pronunciation and Spelling, below.
Diagramming Sentences UPDATED LINK! [Archived page] - Diagramming sentences is a way to visualize how the different parts of a sentence fit together. On this page, you can learn the process one step at a time, or jump to a particular section using the table of contents. (By Dr. Kip Wheeler, an English professor at Carson-Newman College)
Dictionaries: Word Central - Games, daily 'buzzword', and 'Build Your Own Dictionary' feature for younger students (Merriam-Webster; site includes advertisements). Wordsmyth includes comprehensive, children's, and interactive illustrated dictionaries, plus other features (site includes advertisements). The Oxford Learner's Dictionaries AUDIO [NOTE: Some features restricted to paid subscribers] website offers a free dictionary of American English, plus a variety of word lists. Build your vocabulary with mini-dictionaries on TOPICS related to common subject areas. More advanced students, see our Dictionary links.
Elements of Style - William Strunk's classic reference book on 'the principal requirements of plain English style... the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.' You can read it online, or download it in Kindle, text, or ePUB format. (Gutenberg.org)
English/English as a Second Language (ESL) - Selected links from South Plainfield Public Library's Information for New Americans page.
Grammar and Writing Guide - Defines the different parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, etc.), explains sentence structure, and provides tips for composing good sentences, paragraphs, essays, and research papers. Also offers quizzes, FAQs, and other helpful tools (Capital Community College Foundation, CT). Grammar Bytes INTERACTIVE includes definitions of common grammar terms, fun quizzes, and quick tips & rules (by English Professor Robin L. Simmons, Valencia Community College).
Grammarphobia - A blog on grammar, word origins, usage, and more (by journalists Patricia T. O'Conner and Stewart Kellerman).
History of Writing UPDATED LINK! [Archived page] - Articles and related resources that follow writing's evolution from hieroglyphs to emojis. (British Museum)
How to Write a Paper and Cite Sources - Selected links to sites offering guidance on planning, researching, and writing an essay or term paper. (South Plainfield Public Library)
Pronunciation: Words Commonly Mispronounced - A list of 18 words you might be mispronouncing, with the correct pronunciation and brief explanation for each word (Merriam-Webster; site includes advertisements). See also Spelling Guide and Commonly Confused Words.
Proofreading Symbols - Meanings and examples of common copyediting and proofreading symbols & abbreviations. (Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press)
Spelling Guide - Spelling tips & quizzes; includes info about Commonly Misspelled Words, American vs British Spellings, and more (Merriam-Webster; site includes advertisements). See also The 32 most commonly misspelled words (CNBC, site includes advertisements), Commonly Confused Words, and Pronunciation, above.
Visual Dictionary Online AUDIO - Detailed, labelled images and audio pronunciation (Merriam-Webster; site includes advertisements).
Vocabulary Games INTERACTIVE - Fun quizzes to help you learn SAT / GRE words, improve your vocabulary context skills, and learn computer or medical terminology (Sheppard Software; site includes advertisements).
Word of the Day - Increase your vocabulary by learning a new word each day; site provides both definitions and usage examples. (New York Times; site includes advertisements)
Word Spy: The Word Lover's Guide to New Words - Highlights & defines fresh words and phrases that have appeared at least three times in print or online. New words and phrases are added frequently (by author Paul McFedries).
Writing Resource Center - Online resources to help you learn about academic writing & research, business writing, grammar & punctuation, spelling & mechanics, and more (Empire State College). For links to additional writing resources, see How to Write a Paper and Cite Sources (South Plainfield Public Library).
Other Languages
LOTE4Kids: An online collection of audio/video picture books in World Languages, created for children to enjoy books and learn language through the magic of storytelling. Kids can access thousands of books in over 60 languages from the comfort of home. English translations help develop multilingual reading and listening skills. New books and languages are added regularly! The free LOTE4Kids mobile app is available for Android or Apple devices.
Pronunciator Personalized Language Learning - Pronunciator is a fun and free way to learn any of 163 languages with Personalized Courses, movies, music, and more. Learn online, either on your desktop computer or mobile device! Use the Bluebird app on your mobile device.
If you're using this resource at home, you'll have to enter your library card barcode to begin.
African Writing Systems - 'African artworks from a range of periods, regions and media testify to the rich diversity of scripts and forms of graphic communication. They challenge conventional understandings of the written word as something static applied only to paper, and they demonstrate the dynamic ways that artists from many African cultures have creatively used script, or the idea of script, in their works of art.' (Smithsonian)
American Sign Language: ASL University VIDEO INTERACTIVE - Extensive resources for learning American Sign Language, including a sign language dictionary with photographs and video (by ASL educator Dr. William Vicars, California State University; site includes advertisements).
Arabic Language [Archived page; expect broken links] - Information on learning to read and write in Arabic. (By British journalist / author Brian Whitaker; site includes advertisements)
BBC World Service - The day's news in more than two dozen languages, though common European languages such as French and Italian are not included; for more advanced language students.
Chinese - Free interactive language learning resources for beginning Mandarin Chinese. You can practice pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar, listening, and reading skills at your own convenience; high school and up (University of Texas). See also Tone Perfect: Multimodal Database for Mandarin Chinese (Michigan State University), and Ancient Chinese Writing UPDATED LINK! [Archived page]; middle school and up (Dorling-Kindersley).
Duolingo AUDIO INTERACTIVE - User-friendly interactive lessons make learning a new language fun and addictive! Each lesson includes a variety of speaking, listening, translation, and multiple choice challenges, instant grading, free mobile apps and other helpful features. Choose from Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Polish, Vietnamese, Hebrew, and many more (Luis von Ahn, professor at Carnegie Mellon University, et al.).
Endangered Alphabets [CAUTION: This site includes links to Wikipedia and other sources] - Background on languages of 'indigenous and minority cultures who are in danger of losing their sense of history, identity and purpose, and who are trying to protect, preserve and/or revive their writing system as a way of reconnecting to their past, their dignity, their sense of a way ahead.' Includes images and links to additional resources. (Endangered Alphabets Project; non-profit organization)
Foreign Language Guide AUDIO - Interactive, sound-integrated language learning resources in English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Russian, Hungarian, Turkish, Polish, Dutch, Vietnamese, Korean, and Hindi. Choose your native language at the bottom of the page, then use the dropdown menu to choose the language you want to learn. From the resulting page, select a category; within each category, place your cursor over an image or text to hear it pronounced aloud. You can find the previous version of the Hebrew guide in the archives. Visit the Language Guide blog for more information about the site. (2010 - 2022, by software developer & language enthusiast Tom Blackmon, et al.; non-profit organization; site includes advertisements)
French: Le Dictionnaire Visuel - A visual dictionary to help you learn French. Includes 17 themes to explore, including the human body, sciences and food (Ikonet.com, QA International).
Latin: Introducing Classical Latin - An introduction to Latin pronunciation, words, and sentences. See also Getting Started on Classical Latin (The Open University, UK) and Introduction to Latin (Winfred P. Lehmann and Jonathan Slocum, University of Texas) and A short course in practical Latin (Dr Elizabeth R. Tuttle, University of Denver).
Omniglot AUDIO VIDEO [CAUTION: This site includes links to Wikipedia and other sources] - Examples of all different types of writing systems and alphabets from around the world, plus phrases, numbers, tips on learning languages, multilingual pages offering translations for colors, time, weather, family, idioms, proverbs, and more. (By Simon Ager et al.; site includes advertisements)
Spanish: El Diccionario Visual - A visual dictionary to help you learn Spanish. Includes 17 themes to explore, including the human body, sciences and food (Ikonet.com, QA International).
Yiddish-Hebrew-English-German-Russian-French Picture Dictionary - Click on a word from the left-hand list to see the word written in all six languages, with a picture illustrating the word. (Ester-Basya Vaisman & Fishman Foundation for Yiddish Culture)
