Independent Practice Resources

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World Language Resources for Independent Practice

We believe that parents are powerful partners in the success of their children in all Prince William County Public Schools programs, Pre-K through grade 12, and as evidence of this commitment in world languages, they often ask, "How can I support my child in world language study, especially if I do not know or never studied that language myself?"

Helping your child value and appreciate the study and speakers of languages and cultures is the foundation!

Among our goals for world language study, there are two that do not require parents themselves to be proficient in the language their children are learning. However, they are critical in setting the foundation for their children to approach language learning with a positive, inquiring, and enthusiastic attitude.

  • We want all students to value the languages and cultures of the world, especially those represented among our students and families, and realize there are more similarities than differences among cultures. Human values such as pride and respect for one's heritage, family, identity, and good character are universal.
  • We also strive to help our students appreciate that all languages and cultures have made positive contributions to the universal human experience and the more they know about these products, practices, and perspectives, their value of and excitement for building positive relationships with their diverse peers, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and others in their community and lives will deepen.

Parents can help spark an interest in language for their children. When students choose the language of study, they are more committed to their choice. They are intrinsically motivated with an enthusiastic attitude toward the content area and their affective filter is lowered, thus making for a positive experience. Upon graduation, these are skills that will help them be successful and competitive in this global, interdependent, economic, political, and social international community and in all career paths.

Resources to help parents and students access additional supports for world language independent practice and enhancement.

The world language department has identified the following free and current resources for students to learn or practice skills in listening, reading, writing, and speaking.

Parents may help their children know about these resources by:

  1. Previewing the links with students as partners in promoting their continued independent practice;
  2. Helping students set aside some time to enjoy the practice; and
  3. Then asking students to share what they liked and learned as a follow-up show of interest even if in English.

These easy support strategies can enable students to reinforce language skills by using the experts on the sites as role models and having parents remain as facilitators.

Virtual world language independent practice sites and apps like many of these identified below continue to be developed, and our goal is to continue to share these. Parents, thank you for this support, and we hope these help you feel like a partner in helping your child practice and learn world language skills.

The following sites do not require accounts to be created to access free practice. Unless noted that you can use your Clever sign-on, please do not create an account. To do so is to do it at your own risk.

Each section below contains language-specific resources, listed alphabetically by language. All links include a brief description of the practice available.

Elementary Resources

General Elementary

  • Conjuguemos: Conjuguemos offers a variety of verb learning games; use "library" to select language

French

  • The French Experiment: Some well-known children's stories translated into French and spoken by a native French speaker. Read along in French or English.
  • Scholastic French: Free, printable books in French from Scholastic.
  • Global Story Books: Global Storybooks is a free multilingual literacy resource for children and youth worldwide. Read, download, toggle, and listen to a wide variety of illustrated stories from the African Storybook and other open sites.
  • Storybooks-Outline: Storybooks Outline is a website for teachers, parents, and community members that aims to promote bilingualism and multilingualism in the Canada region. It makes 40 stories from the African Storybook available in the most widely spoken languages of the Canada region, including Nepali, Tibetan, English, and Spanish and 17 others.
  • Colorin Colorado: Recommendations for parents to promote bilingual literacy from babies on in 13 languages.
  • Unite for Literacy: Children's books with audio read along. All the books are written in very basic French, with non-fiction themes like colors, toys, art, animals, and more.

Spanish

  • Unite for Literacy: Children's books with audio read along. All the books are written in very basic Spanish, with non-fiction themes like colors, toys, art, animals, and more.
  • The Spanish Experiment: Some well-known children's stories translated into Spanish and spoken by a native Spanish speaker. Read along in Spanish or English.
  • Spanish + Me: Quick links for parents looking for resources in Spanish to keep children at home improving their Spanish skills. These are direct links to the resources (Free or paid). Most of them are targeting ages 5 to 10.
  • Global Story Books: Global Storybooks is a free multilingual literacy resource for children and youth worldwide. Read, download, toggle, and listen to a wide variety of illustrated stories from the African Storybook and other open sites.
  • Storybooks-Outline: Storybooks Outline is a website for teachers, parents, and community members that aims to promote bilingualism and multilingualism in the Canada region. It makes 40 stories from the African Storybook available in the most widely spoken languages of the Canada region, including Nepali, Tibetan, English, and Spanish and 17 others.
  • World of Words: WOW Libros provides books in Spanish.
  • Colorin Colorado: Recommendations for parents to promote bilingual literacy from babies on in 13 languages
  • Spanish Notebook Vocabulary Lists: Options for students to hear basic vocabulary terms & phrases in Spanish.

Secondary Resources

General Secondary

  • EMC/Carnegie Textbooks Quizlet: Vocabulary flashcard practice for French, German, and Spanish (select appropriate text and unit)
  • Conjuguemos: Conjuguemos offers a variety of verb learning games; use "library" to select language

American Sign Language (ASL)

Roman Alphabet - French, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish

French

German

Italian

Latin

  • Latin Tutorial: Practice Latin with a variety of videos, topics, and vocabulary
  • Magistrula: Innovative, flexible, interactive tools for Latin language learning

Spanish

  • Project Gutenberg - Spanish: Project Gutenberg's list of Spanish books in the public domain that are available freely online.
  • Spanish YouTube Channel: Easy Spanish YouTube channel
  • Aprender Español: Includes exercises and resources for grammar, vocabulary, stories, audios, videos, and songs.
  • Audiria: Online tool which freely supports learning of Spanish, offering podcasts to increase knowledge of the language
  • BrainPOP en español: Engaging learning games, animated movies, and activities; use your Clever login for access

Non-Roman Alphabet - Arabic, Korean, Russian

Arabic

Korean

Russian