Learning Languages

Learning a new language can open your mind to novel ways of experiencing the world. The Inuit tribe’s multiple words for snow give insight not only into their environment but also into their culture. Explore cultures from around the globe by getting acquainted with languages through these direct links on The Times Launch Point Web site:

https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/

Here are the best sites for getting your schoolwork done or for just having fun.

Level 1

Kids Web Japan: The Japanese language contains 99 sounds and is written with three types of characters: hiragana, katakana and kanji. Hear how to speak and write basic Japanese phrases and experience Japanese culture through such activities as folk tales, art and recipes.

https://www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/language.html

Chinese Calligraphy: Language as Art: Learn about the culture of China as you find out about calligraphy, which means “good writing.” See how meanings are contained in the characters of Chinese calligraphy, such as how the characters for “fire” and for “mountain” combine to make the word “volcano.”

https://tqjunior.advanced.org/3614/Default.htm

Sounds of the World’s Animals: Did you know that animals speak different languages? In Vietnamese, a dog goes “wau wau,” in Hebrew a dog goes “haw haw” and in English a dog goes “bow wow” or “ruff ruff.” Explore the world of languages by discovering how animals “sound” around the world.

https://www.georgetown.edu/cball/animals/

Level 2

PBS: The Swahili Coast: “Jambo” is how you say hello in Swahili, a language spoken by 130 million people and the official tongue of Tanzania and Kenya. Learn how to say some Swahili phrases, hear some Swahili poetry and learn about Swahili culture through photos and commentary.

https://www.pbs.org/wonders/Episodes/Epi2/2_cultr1.htm

In the Countries of the Francophonie: Experience the many countries and cultures in which French is spoken. Take a guided tour through exhibits and activities described in French and English.

https://www.chin.gc.ca/Exhibitions/Francophonie/index.htm

Translator Alligator: Test your Spanish vocabulary skills by challenging the Translator Alligator in an assortment of online games.

https://www.funbrain.com/lang/index.html

Level 3

BBC Education: Languages: Interested in learning French, German, Italian or Spanish? Get acquainted with these languages through online lessons, fun activities and articles about each language’s culture.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/education/languages/index.shtml

LinguaWeb: In many languages, words can have genders; for example, in Spanish a word ending in “o” is usually masculine and a word ending in “a” is usually feminine. Learn French, German, Italian and Spanish through online lessons, quizzes, games and chats with native speakers. https://www.linguaweb.ndirect.co.uk/

Foreign Languages for Travelers: From Afrikaans and Arabic to Yiddish and Zulu, learn basic phrases useful for travelers as well as how to convert currency and access online translating dictionaries.

https://www.travlang.com/languages/

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This column was designed by Holly Huber, Jessica Mayhar, Cindy Sato and Anna Manring.

EXPLORER’S QUEST

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

In Japan, what phrase would you say before you begin to eat?

CLUE: Kids Web Japan.

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 100 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to https://www.latimes.com/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: California and Texas are ranked in the top five states for both size and population.