The range of Internet resources to support Japanese language learning has expanded enormously in the last few years. Although the quality varies greatly, there are many excellent websites for both learners and teachers. Many sites are aimed at complete beginners, but others provide materials and learning aids for more advanced learners.
General resources for Japanese language learners
Several of the websites listed below are gateway sites to a huge number of online resources; others provide introductory-level language lessons and material for self-testing.
Resources for Japanese language learners: reading and writing
Given the complexity of the Japanese script, it is not surprising that many websites focus on this aspect of learning the language (kanji – Chinese characters as used in Japan, and the two phonetic syllabaries – hiragana and katakana). However, two of the sites listed here support the development of reading skills at various levels, and the online dictionaries and translation aids are also extremely useful.
Online dictionaries and translation aids
Resources for Japanese language teachers
Language teachers can access materials that they can use themselves or recommend to students for self-study and reinforcement outside class, and several websites provide tools for the production of tailored materials. Educators also have access to networks and associations as well as to academic research on Japanese as a Foreign Language (JFL).
Academic research on Japanese language learning and teaching
Teaching associations
Intute would welcome any suggestions you have for additional online resources relevant to this Limelight. Please let us know what other Intute Limelights you would like to see. You may also want to explore this free, ‘teach yourself’ tutorial that lets you practice your Internet Information Skills, Internet for Learning Languages.
Image of Kimono and Cellphone, Tokyo, Japan, from original photograph by Simon Starr, some rights reserved under Creative Commons.
Image of locations where high numbers of endangered languages are found from the Enduring Voices Project of National Geographic where this map is available to explore dynamically, (original Edith OSV, some rights reserved under Creative Commons).
It’s estimated that half of the approximate 6,500-7,000 languages currently in use in the world are threatened with extinction in the next 50 to 100 years. The Ethnologue website highlights the most severe cases – 516 of the languages it lists are classified as ‘nearly extinct’, meaning that ‘only a few elderly speakers are still living’.
The Hans Rausing Endangered Languages Project at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London is highlighting this issue in its annual Endangered Languages week (30 April – 7 May 2008), with seminars, workshops, film screenings and an open day. The Project is one of many research centres, organisations and projects throughout the world working on researching, documenting, promoting and teaching these languages. The UN has designated 2008 the International Year of Languages and is funding 15 projects relating to endangered languages in various areas of the world.
There are hundreds of organisations and projects dedicated to individual threatened languages or the languages of particular geographical regions. Many of the websites in the links below include audio and video clips as well as detailed linguistic documentation and background showing how each language is embedded in a specific culture and in the identities of the people who speak it; some focus on or include language revitalisation work. The native languages of North America are particularly well represented.
Although individual papers on these topics appear in many different journals, a few journals are dedicated to the field, as are conferences on various aspects of threatened languages.
Online Resources: Background and Guides
Organisations, Research Centres, Projects and Groups
Specific Languages and Geographical Regions
Journals and Conferences
Intute would welcome any suggestions you have for additional online resources relevant to this Limelight. Please let us know what other Intute Limelights you would like to see.
November 28th marks the birthday of the Austrian author Stefan Zweig. To commemorate this, the collection of links below all concentrate on Austrian literature and authors. Austria enjoys a strong literary tradition and its writers have produced world-renowned works. The Web resources assembled here deal both with Austrian literature in general and individual writers. Several detail organisations that promote and celebrate various Austrian writers, whilst others look at women writing in Austria. This collection of Web resources provides both an introductory look at Austria’s literary scene and material suitable as a starting point for further research.
On October 3rd 1990 the German Democratic Republic was formally reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Germany, creating a reunified Germany. To mark the anniversary, which is also Germany’s official Day of National Unity, the collection of Web resources below all deal with aspects relating to German reunification. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the images of Germans destroying the longstanding symbol of division rate amongst the most iconic events of the twentieth century. However, the hopes and expectations of both East and West Germans were short lived as reality proved to be very different. Economic and social problems resulting from reunification are examined in several of the resources listed below. Several of the resources are devoted entirely to Germany’s reunification, whilst others mention it within a wider historical context. Other sites focus on the Berlin Wall, examining its erection and destruction.
By Larissa Douglass, University of Oxford Faculty of Modern History
The French national holiday, Bastille Day, commemorates the public storming of the Bastille prison in Paris on 14 July 1789 and its first anniversary, the Fête de la Fédération. Historically, the event marked a point when the power of King Louis XVI was challenged by the mob.
The French national holiday, Bastille Day, or the Fête nationale, is marked now in France by parties and military parades. This day of celebration also coincides with the popular and prestigious Tour de France bicycle race.
History of the French Revolution
The storming of the Bastille marked a breaking point in the push for moderate political change in the Ancien Régime, when the power of King Louis XVI was unambiguously and violently challenged by mob activity. Ostensibly, the attack on the Bastille was intended to free its seven inmates: generally speaking, the breach of the prison certainly carried symbolic weight. But it is likely that the Bastille was also attacked because it served as an arms depot. When the small military garrison based there conceded to the mob, the prison’s commander, Marquis Bernard de Launay, was killed and beheaded by members of the crowd. The failing royal conciliatory gestures and bloodshed that followed can be taken as the starting point for the full-blown revolution.
Contemporary political debate, leading to a new society
The history of the event gave way to a period of political debate, in which contemporaries sought to comprehend the upheaval and its implications for the structure and workings of government. Two of the most famous of these documents were penned by British observers, namely, Edmund Burke with his conservative tract, 'Reflections on the Revolution in France' (1790), and Thomas Paine with his famous radical rebuttal, 'The Rights of Man' (1792). The latter's taste for political transformation was carried to its logical extreme in France by Maximilien Robespierre. Schooled in the writings of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and known as the 'Incorruptible' supporter of the Revolution's aims, he became a leading figure during the period of violent political and national consolidation known as the Reign of Terror, which included the execution of King Louis XVI at the guillotine in 1793. Robespierre served on the Committee of Public Safety until his own execution in 1794. His role as a leader is debated, but his significance is perhaps best understood by the fact that his death is associated with the end of the Terror.
This period was additionally characterised by the attempt to conceive society in completely new terms, based on utterly novel foundations.
The corresponding spread of propaganda and the flowering of a revolutionary popular culture, especially in the field of theatre, are displayed and preserved by some specialised Web sites and museums provided in these links.
The Renaissance in Italy continues to be one of the most studied periods in art history, affording scholars with rich and varied material. Competition between Italian city states resulted in some of the most renowned works of art being produced over the centuries. The influence of the work being done in Italy spread worldwide and inspired future generations.
This collection of Web resources provides both an introduction to the Italian Renaissance and a closer look at some of the key figures working in the movement. Several sites take Leonardo da Vinci as their inspiration, whilst others look at less well-known and often neglected artists. Giorgio Vasari's seminal text 'The Lives of the Most Excellent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors' is included on one site, whilst another explores the artists mentioned in the book in more detail. This collection of resources would interest both the newcomer and expert of Renaissance Studies.
The photograph of the ceiling is Vasari's (artist and art historian) 'The Last Judgement' painted beneath Brunelleschi's (inventor, no less, of perspective) dome of the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Florence cathedral). This enormous work, 3,600 square metres of painted surface, was started in 1568 by Giorgio Vasari and completed by Federico Zuccari in 1579. (Image from original photograph by Claude Covo-Farchi, some rights reserved under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence.)
To celebrate the birthday on June 28th of one of Italy's most renowned playwrights Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936), the links brought together here all relate to Italian theatre studies. Dating from Roman times, Italy has enjoyed a rich theatrical history. Italian playwrights have produced some internationally acclaimed pieces for the theatre, including Pirandello's 'Six Characters in Search of an Author', which premiered in 1921 and was greeted with much hostility and criticism because of its innovation. However, it has stood the test of time and is now regarded as one of Italy's most successful plays.
The links listed here cover various aspects of theatre in Italy, including practical information and reviews. Several sites also look at individual figures in the world of theatre, and there is a useful overview of Roman theatre, providing an idea of Italy's theatrical heritage. Users should note that some resources are in Italian only.
After having won universal suffrage, Italian women went to the ballot boxes for the first time on 2nd June 1946 for the Referendum abolishing the monarchy. In celebration of the sixtieth anniversary of women voting, this Hot Topic covers various features of women’s role in Italian society. From sites dealing with individual female artists and authors, to resources examining Italian women’s lives in certain historical periods, this collection brings together interesting material in this rich area of study. There are also resources that look at the progress of feminism in Italy and archives devoted to the study of women. Each of the resources included deals specifically with aspects of gender studies in relation to Italy. Users should note that several of the resources listed here are in Italian.
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