Portal talk:Foreign Language Learning

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Portal:Foreign Language Learning page.
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I'm not sure, but this page seems to be in competition with Topic:Language Acquisition. Should the two be merged? - Trevor MacInnis 20:47, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

The School of Language and Literature is part of the Humanities. The School of Foreign Language Learning is part of the Practical Arts and Sciences. The School of Linguistics is part of the Social Sciences. These three schools should cooperate and avoid duplication of effort. --JWSchmidt 16:21, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

I don't see why there should exist two separate pages in two different schools (no matter they cooperate) for a same thing (learning languages). It is duplication of effort. --George D. Bozovic ^talk 16:55, 15 September 2006 (UTC)

I think that this school should be merged with School:Language and Literature and that it should be part of the Humanities. --George D. Bozovic ^talk 09:36, 16 September 2006 (UTC)

What next?

We have a lot of names listed here; the question is, where do we go from here? How do we turn this into something more than a directory? The Jade Knight 02:57, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

I was planning to rearrange this page and make the proper subpages or other Topic: pages for the separate languages. Then interested users can start writing the courses. --George D. Bozovic ^talk 12:04, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Good idea. Thanks. The Jade Knight 19:19, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

Could you put the articles, or at least synoptic linkers in the main namespace as shared resources for all three schools ^^^ mentioned above? Maybe we can come up with a boilerplate or template for all umpty-seven languages and the various schools, divisions, departments, blah-blah that cover them. Just a thought. CQ 17:15, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

There are now only two schools; the School of Foreign Language Learning has been demoted to a department (the one you're at). I don't know that this Department properly belongs in the School of Linguistics (as opposed to the School of Languages and Literature), though it may potentially have classes that are part of Topics that are. The Jade Knight 18:32, 12 October 2006 (UTC)

English Language

Projects for learning English, including (or particularly) Old, Middle, or Early Modern English, may belong in the English Language Division, or at least done in conjunction with it. The Jade Knight 23:56, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

And we may additionally develop an English-learning course for non-English speakers (but in English, ofcourse). What I mean is something like Simple English Wikipedia. We would have English classes and the definitions in English as well. Perhaps it seems a little bit odd, but it can actually work, and such courses do exist even in the real world (e. g. English courses for imigrants in English speaking countries, and so on). --George D. Bozovic ^talk 13:09, 14 October 2006 (UTC)

Confusion?

How many of the names listed here were transfered over from Wikibooks? Someone should perhaps go through and delete all the users listed who do not exist on Wikiversity. The Jade Knight 04:38, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, most of the names are actually from the Wikibooks, including even my own signature there (the link is, however, blue because I have registered an account here under the same username). That's why we need to start the page once again from the very beginning. The new users are coming all the time and we need to rearrange the page. Feel free to start it by yourself if you want to. I don't have much time these days. --George D. Bozovic ^talk 09:00, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

If I can find time, I'll start deleting any red signatures from before September. The Jade Knight 15:51, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

On the Center for Foreign Language Learning main page, it lists Japanese and Korean as a subset of Austro-Asiatic languages. I think this should be changed as they are not Austro-Asiatic languages. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.85.158.171 (talk • contribs) 00:37, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Hello, thanks very much for the notice. You are correct: they belong not to w:Austro-Asiatic languages. It is now rearranged -using w:List of language families. Hope it is ok now ? ----Erkan Yilmaz uses the Wikiversity:Chat (try) PS: Tag a learning project with completion status !! 11:40, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

New outlook

I have rearranged the page. Now, some of the languages that were listed before are missing now. Users interested in them should put them back on the page. Aim of the page is, however, not to list all the foreign language courses offered! Please, only list the most prominent ones for each language family, and then add a link to another page where one can find the rest of the languages from that family: [[Topic:XXX languages|other]] (Check out the example of the Slavic and Tolkien's Elvish languages). Good luck! --George D. Bozovic ^talk 17:03, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it's warranted to just go and delete the lists of interested people—at this early stage, these are signs of interests and provide lists of people who may be contacted to help work on the language in question. This should be retained in full, even if as a subpage of this page. The Jade Knight 05:49, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

I was thinking that people interested in some language should start the appropriate Topic: page and move the list there. Each language should have its Topic: page as a sort of central page, with the lists of interested users and other important or not so important things about it. Nevertheless, a bare list of names means really nothing, especially because many names were imported from the Wikibooks, and many people simply put their signature with no real intention to edit this page in future, you know... --George D. Bozovic ^talk 15:12, 4 November 2006 (UTC)

I've cleared out all the Wikibooks names already. And this at least provides a list of names of people that could be contacted at some point. While many language programs are in their infancies, I think this can be a very useful tool. The Jade Knight 02:21, 8 November 2006 (UTC)

I did some general clean up to the page. Armenian was listed as a language isolate, when it belongs to its own sub-family of Indo-European, Irish (the prefered term) was listed as "Irish Gaelic", Farsi was listed as "Iranian", and Cherokee was not listed as an Iroquoian language. Then I alphabetized all the lists. --Limetom 06:28, 4 January 2007 (UTC)

Resources

I thought it would be nice to include some possible outside resources for this... -Kristan Wifler

• FSI language courses multiple resources in the public domain.
• How to learn languages Has interesting descriptions, may have to ask permission.
• Useful template: Template:Translations - for Multilingual Pages (tutorial). K 14:44, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Vocabulary Lists

Do vocabulary lists belong on wikibooks or here?--Balloonguy 22:48, 5 February 2007 (UTC)

What sort of Vocab lists? I'd say they'd probably go on Wikibooks. If you have trouble there, though, you can come back. The Jade Knight 06:09, 8 February 2007 (UTC)

Common ressources for learning/teaching languages

Hello. I think that the same gallery can be used to teach several languages. See for example that page. Do you think it belongs to wikiversity?--Youssefsan 15:27, 17 February 2007 (UTC)

I don't see why that sort of thing shouldn't be used here. The Jade Knight 06:17, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Youssefsan, I also don't think that belongs here. And I particularly don't like this approach for teaching languages. I do, however, think we should make something basic to several languages. Like for instance languages close to each other (from common phylogenetic branch), or how to pronounce IPA (and then in each language show the basics IPA to learn the language) and a lot of sound resources (in various different dialects) so the learning becomes much more easy (and that's the way I like to learn). Zark 04:27, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

I think you have misinterpreted me—I said I had no problem with its inclusion. The Jade Knight 04:54, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

Confusion

I am a little confused about what belongs here and what belongs on wikibooks. For example Verb Conjugation - Godan Verbs contains information on how to conjugate verbs. Should information like this be on wikibooks and have exercises and stuff here, or should everything be here?--Balloonguy 20:39, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

I think a lot of the stuff here really belongs on Wikibooks. Some people don't really understand what Wikiversity is for, however. In fact, a lot of this stuff may already exist at Wikibooks. It's best to try to integrate materials as much as possible. The Jade Knight 02:37, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

I mean that information on how to conjugate verbs and a lot of grammar stuff is already on wikibooks, so is my first statement correct; refer students to applicable wikibook page and have exercises done here?--Balloonguy 16:00, 21 February 2007 (UTC)

That would be ideal, yes. Õr, exercises could, perhaps, be included at Wikibooks, as well, depending on their nature. If it doesn't fit on Wikibooks, however, Wikiversity is the place for it—such as having discussions, some exercises, teacher-student activities, debates, research projects, etc. The Jade Knight 02:31, 23 February 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the information.--Balloonguy 18:12, 24 February 2007 (UTC)

What should be done with pages that duplicate information, meaning how does one, for a lack of a better term, export pages to wikibooks?--Balloonguy 23:34, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

They use the same code, so the first thing to do is see if there's any duplication of topics. If you can find two pages that cover the same material, you can just copy the Wikiversity code to the Wikibooks page and integrate it where it seems to belong. If you cannot find a page (or section) in Wikibooks that seems to fit the material here at Wikiversity, you could create a new page and put it there. Once the material is at Wikibooks, you can link to it from here at Wikiversity. Does that help a little? The Jade Knight 23:50, 25 March 2007 (UTC)

I was kind of hoping for a more offical way to do it but okay, that works, thanks.--Balloonguy 00:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Common suface?

Hello everybody!

I'm working at the Learning German page(s) and currently I'm racking my brain on how a good language learning lesson can look like. Now I've decided not to tackle this question on my own, but to solve it together with some guys from other language learning departments to create a universal look for the pages. The goal would be a single surface which is adopted (and perhaps simply modified for special ones) for every lesson.

What do you think of it? Pro/Contra? If you're interested in helping me tell me your ideas beyond (or at a new page?). Looking for inspiration? Here are several pages I like best, e.g. the Spanish, French, Japanese and surely the German (which is mainly a concept at the moment).

Thanks in advance! --Edmond Dantes AUT 11:06, 11 August 2007 (UTC)

Sign languages

What do people think about adding sign languages (for the Deaf)?

These could include images or short video clips. There are various websites for British Sign Language that might contribute, and I'm sure there are others for other sign languages.

I like this idea. Anyone wants to extend this: Sign Language ? ----Erkan Yilmaz uses the Wikiversity:Chat (try) 19:26, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Foreign Languages??

Why are the Celtic languages defined as being 'foreign'? If English is not your first language is it also 'foreign'? Eog1916 09:11, 8 September 2007 (UTC)

2008 August: Wikiversity the Movie

Coming soon to a wiki theater near you !

This learning project is being revived. We are in need of help in all areas (translation, creative ideas, scripting, production, ... - you name it). Anyone wants to support this community project ? ----Erkan Yilmaz uses the Wikiversity:Chat (try) 21:18, 24 August 2008 (UTC)

Possible reformat?

To me, this page seems out of date and difficult to edit. I like the language family boxes, but with all the current redlinks, etc. they are looking a little sloppy. Any ideas for how to fix this? --Trinity507 18:59, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

In what way is this out of date? --Swift 21:30, 16 February 2010 (UTC)

I don't know if it's out of date as in not listing resources, it just feels tired. Maybe I am a perfectionist. :D Anyway, I think the main issue is the redlinks. Perhaps we could reorganize the language family thing? --Trinity507 02:04, 18 February 2010 (UTC)

Proposal

See : Wikiversity:Colloquium#Languages resources and Wikilang. Amqui (discuss • contribs) 17:02, 8 February 2017 (UTC)

Removing or repurposing this page

Right now there seem to be two landing pages for language learning: Portal:Wikilang and and Portal:Foreign Language Learning.

My instinct is to either delete and redirect the FLL portal. It's just a list of known languages, which is (a) more of a Wikipedia topic, and (b) already covered more comprehensively on Wikipedia (see Wikipedia:List_of_language_families. The other option would be to combine it with the current Portal:Wikilang/List of languages.

Because this is a lot of someone's content, though, I wanted to check before I nuked it. Any strong feelings?--Chapka (discuss • contribs) 11:36, 6 September 2020 (UTC)

Please hold on: I have the feeling that this is related to a project I recently started developing. I just found Wikiversity and this page. Right now, I am still in the process of exploring the Wiki multiverse in order to find out about relevant projects and the first draft is a work in process. Kspriton (discuss • contribs) 18:46, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

* qualified support *: I've only just discovered that Wikiversity has language teaching. Thanks for the pointer to Portal:Wikilang! - which, I see, has Australian indigenous languages; unlike this portal, which doesn't even include Australia! @Chapka: if this is indeed so threadbare as you describe, we surely do need to rationalise the resources along the lines you suggest. @Kspriton: Are you continuing to develop your draft? And if so, would it work as well on Wikilang? Yahya Abdal-Aziz (discuss • contribs) 03:03, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

@Yahya Abdal-Aziz: Hey, thanks for your comment. Yes, I am still working on it. Actually, I am about to present my proposal to my local cummunity (catalan) in order to get some initial feedback. I am planning to translate my plan for the program and a pilot project thereafter. Therefore, I will be able to provide some details on the progress soon. I do not know which format would suit best, as the design turned out to be more complex than originally projected and there are some optional elements that suggest a specific interface. I will be more than happy to collaborate in the near future with the rest of the Wikiversity team as considered best. To sum up, the idea is to combine the active and passive use of all relevant Wikimedia projects with language learning in the form of an organized methodology. Feel free to get back to me. --Kspriton (discuss • contribs) 17:07, 6 April 2021 (UTC)

Meanwhile, I've added the {{Category:Foreign Language Learning}} to the Portal:Wikilang, to help others discover it, too. Yahya Abdal-Aziz (discuss • contribs) 03:16, 30 March 2021 (UTC)

@Kspriton: Thanks for the specifics, and best wishes for a successful project! As it happens, Catalan is one of the languages I wish to know better. :) At this stage, which other Wikimedia projects do you anticipate will become relevant in creating the methodology? Yahya Abdal-Aziz (discuss • contribs) 12:59, 13 April 2021 (UTC)

@Yahya Abdal-Aziz: I have translated the documentation and I want to consult the Wikimedia Foundation regarding an important organizational doubt, that the local community members were unable to clarify. As soon as I have had the relevant feedback on the issue, I can hopefully make the next steps to initiate the collaboration. With respect to your question about the other Wikimedia projects that might become relevant, I can say that my draft does propose the integration of some projects that are of special interest in the process of learning languages, but I imagine that the interface might actually extend to many more. To sum up, it depends on the final design of the technical implementation of the suggested interface. As that is precisely something I want to discuss with the Education Team, I am not sure about it right now. Kspriton (discuss • contribs) 16:34, 6 May 2021 (UTC)

@Kspriton: Thanks for your reply, and please keep me posted if your project advances further. --Yahya Abdal-Aziz (discuss • contribs) 08:10, 10 May 2021 (UTC)