Thematic Units are sets of seven in-depth lessons on a common theme. Each lesson is based on an authentic audio, video, or written passage and takes about 60 minutes to complete. Lessons are sequenced to increase in difficulty and include comprehension, linguistic, and synthesizing activities. Support components include a transcript, a translation, cultural and linguistic notes, and a glossary.
Video Learning Objects explore language and culture through short segments from contemporary films and television dramas. Each lesson takes about 45 minutes to complete and includes comprehension, cultural, and linguistic activities in English. Support components include a transcript, a translation, cultural and linguistic notes, captions, and a glossary.
Compact Learning Objects are sets of five short lessons on a single topic. Each lesson is based on an authentic audio, video, or written passage and takes about ten minutes to complete. Lessons are sequenced to increase in difficulty. Support components include a transcript and translation with text-tracking options, cultural and linguistic notes, a glossary, and synchronous English and target-language captions for videos.
From our professional development programs for language teachers to our lessons and materials in more than one hundred languages, the National Foreign Language Center has a wealth of programs, materials, and opportunities for teachers.
It is easy to find materials for you or your staff to learn more about French and Spanish. But what about lesser-known African and Asian languages? The National Foreign Language Center has materials to assess language levels and improve skills in more than nearly one hundred languages and dialects from around the globe for professionals—and for anyone who loves learning languages. Lectia is another useful language learning tool that includes both commonly and less-commonly taught languages. We also have training modules to help advance critical thinking and other domains.
This study investigates less commonly taught language (LCTL) programs in the United States. Based on a survey of over one hundred programs from around the country, the study addresses the following questions: How are LCTL programs are started? What are the challenges associated with starting a LCTL program? How have these programs evolved over time? What are these programs’ goals? What contributes to the discontinuation of these programs?
We need a paragraph or two...