Learn Foreign Language Online

Terry Shurts is a world traveler, author and foreign language lover. He recently wrote a report on how to start learning a 2nd language. This free report is called Your 2nd Language Guide and is available at http://My2ndLanguage.com

There is a wealth of resources available online to those who wish to study a foreign language. But the question is... where do you begin? A simple search of the word "language" will bring up over 1 billion hits. I have saved you some time and trouble in sorting out some of the best. Check out these resources: BBC Languages

An excellent free resource for the beginner language student or the more advanced. Select from French, Spanish, German, Italian, Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese, Greek and more. There are video, audio, and written tools to choose from. Sign up for an email course, download an mp3 or play a game. A language test is included in many of the language categories. This allows you to assess your abilities and gives you suggestions on what to study to further your knowledge of that language. Access this resource at BBC.co.uk/languages.

YourDictionary.com

This is a huge dictionary resource. Here you will find links to hundreds of online foreign language dictionaries and websites. They also have specialty dictionaries for certain industries. For example, there is an English - Japanese Aviation dictionary. If you need to translate something, chances are you will find it here. Also included are a forum and word games for additional help and practice. Access this resource at Yourdictionary.com/languages.html.

Language Course Finder

This is a great resource for finding language schools in the countries that speak the language you are interested in. So if you are living in a foreign country or plan to study abroad you can easily search for a school nearby. This site has an added bonus of being able to do the search in your native language. Access this resource at Language-learning.net.

Language Translators

Most on-line translating services that will do a computer translation of a block of text have a ways to go yet. There are some like Freetranslation.com that do a pretty good job. They are getting better and better but computers still cannot always determine the intended meaning of a word. Humans can understand that a word means one thing in one context and something completely different in another context but computers usually cannot. If you need a more accurate translation, you can use a human translation service. They are usually offered on sites such as the one above.

These are just a sampling of some of the great on-line resources that can help you in every aspect of your foreign language study. If you don't find what you are looking for here, just set aside some time and do your own search with the terms of the information you are looking for.