Six Online Corpora

Ever wonder how a word has been used by native speakers?

All the time?

Well check out this amazing resource. I'm just getting to know it a little myself, but so far I'm very impressed.
American English, British English, Spanish and Portuguese.
http://view.byu.edu/

Is this the next great thing?

There's something about this new tool I really like.
Just type in a word or phrase in German or English and see what happens. I think you will like it!

Self-description:
Linguee ist mehr als ein Wörterbuch für Deutsch und Englisch. Durchsuchen Sie Millionen von Sätzen, die von anderen Menschen übersetzt wurden.

http://www.linguee.de/

Nik Peachey is just that!

Nik Peachey has hundreds of cool ideas how you can use Web 2.0 to learn and teach English better. I can't wait to explore them and his free e-book!


http://www.scribd.com/doc/19576895/Web-20-Tools-for-Teachers

Are you playing the piano?

I know it has been quite a while since my last post but things were, have been, and still are pretty busy at the uni. But if you're gonna have a blog, you gotta post, right?

So I'd like to kick off the season so to speak with something that has more to do with artistic expression than language and language learning, although many people say that music is the universal language.

http://www.thevirtualpiano.com/

It's so cool I have to be careful not to waste my entire Friday playing around with it. Just turn up your speakers and start making music. For those of you who had piano lessons at some point, you can jump right and start playing. Others can simply listen to their inner ear and express the music that is in there waiting to get out.

Austria is famous around the world as a Music Nation (probably not because of DJ Ötzi ...), so go ahead and start making music!

And when you are good and relaxed, pick up an English book or go to a website and read or listen to some English!

Have a great semester!

Frank

I'm not hanging noodles on your ears...

This is the funny title of a new book about idioms around the world. Some of the them are pretty humorous, even the German ones ;), especially when they are translated literally into English.



You can take a Guardian quiz here
I managed to correctly half of them. I could have guessed more had I thought like a Brit. That one about the British dinner, for example...

Have fun!

Inkblots

I found this pretty interesting, especially the comments people made on the article and the issue.

Germany vs USA

Today I was looking for a short video that explained some of the main differences between the school system in the States and in Europe. I stumbled upon a fun-to-watch youtube video channel where 2 guys talk freely about their respective countries.

http://www.youtube.com/user/walkaboutlanguages

From their main page:

What happens when you take a good'ole, Bible-belt, Mississippi conservative and an urbane, plurilingual, liberal, Euro-German and put them in the middle of San Francisco?

Germany vs. USA (GvU) explores the contrasts and joys of two unlikely friends, Jim and Alex, as they learn more about each other's cultures, languages, and the greater friendship between Europe and America. Insightful, whimsical, educational and always genuine (not to mention unscripted) the show aims to bring a slice-of-life perspective to viewers around the world.

LiveMocha

The New York Times calls LiveMocha

"A powerful opportunity for people around the world to connect with language partners"

All I can say to you is if you are looking for a way to practice English while helping someone learn German or whatever language(s) you know well, then this might be worth looking into.

It's free, so what do you have to lose?!

http://www.livemocha.com/

One Hour Translation

http://www.onehourtranslation.com/

...a new site that tries to match people who need stuff translated with people who can translate this stuff. The translators get paid (a little) and the people who need the translations get their texts translated quickly, cheaply, and well... by a human being and not a machine.

so everybody wins... but would you pay? would you translate stuff?

What do you think? Is this company going to be successful? Will people pay for this service? Will human translators work for just a few cents a word?


Watch a flickr presentation made by one of the people behind this idea.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tr4nslator/sets/72157594582358296/show/

This video is pretty funny.

Watch some of the best Super Bowls ads ever made

Which ones do you like best?

Keep in mind who's most likely to watch the game.