Resources: English

News
http://www.aljazeera.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.cnn.com/
http://www.emirates247.com/
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Books (Online)
http://www.allromanceebooks.com/category180.html (Free romance novels/novellas)
http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_link_357628962_36?ie=UTF8&node=2245146011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=1Y5A2KFHCTNY3ZQ3YWDT&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1350728142&pf_rd_i=133141011 (Kindle Freebies)

Resources; Vietnamese

-Blog Sites/Social Sites
http://www.cyworld.vn/

-Books (Online)
http://www.giangdaytructuyen.com/search/label/Chicken%20Soup%20Stories?max-results=20

-Dictionary
http://vdict.com/
http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/Vietnamese-english/

-Forums (about Vietnamese in English)
http://forums.vncentral.com/
http://www.phrasebase.com/forum/board.php?FID=18

-Games (online)
http://hiepkhach.asiasoft.net.vn/
http://conduongtolua.com.vn/
http://au.vtc.vn/

-Lessons/Courses
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/vietnamese/vnlanguage/supportns/tableofcontent.htm
http://www.1vietnamese.com/learn/

-Videos
http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=MagicMaximo&search_query=vietnamese

-Other
http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/index.php?s=189e73d8649334c93f5c79a951c32295&showtopic=37099

Resources: German

-Books/Movies/TV (online)
http://www.myspass.de/
http://www.odaha.com/littleprince.php?f=DerKleinePrinz
http://www15.alluc.org/alluc/?lang=de
http://www.spiegel.de/video/
http://mediathek.daserste.de/daserste/servlet/content/487872?broadcastId=313552
http://laferlichterlecker.zdf.de/
http://www.sat1.de/videos/ganzefolgen/

-Comics and Manga
http://www.ralf-koenig.de/
http://syndicated.livejournal.com/nichtlustig_de/

-Courses/Lessons
http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/German.aspx
http://www.mangolanguages.com/
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2142,9572,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2142,2548,00.html
http://german-podcast.blogspot.com/
http://www.learner.org/resources/series104.html
http://www.ielanguages.com/German.html
http://www.learnlangs.com/german/GermanBites/
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/German
http://pukkagerman.com

-Dictionary
http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/
http://wortschatz.uni-leipzig.de/
http://www.dwds.de/
http://www.canoo.net/index_en.html

-Forums
http://shiday.phpbb6.de/
http://forum.pokemon-ng.de/index.php?page=Index
http://dict.leo.org/forum/index.php?lp=ende⟨=en
http://www.tsukino.de
http://www.klassikerforum.de/

-Grammar
http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=494264
http://german.about.com/library/blgrammatik.htm

-News
http://www.bild.de/
http://ontd-de.livejournal.com/
http://www.deutsche-allgemeine-zeitung.de/
http://www.pattayablatt.com/
http://german.irib.ir/
http://www.tuerkei-zeitung.de/

-Other
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,2142,265,00.html
http://www.zdf.de/
http://www.ard.de/
http://www.schubert-verlag.de/aufgaben/uebungen_b2/b2_uebungen_index.htm
http://deutsch-lerner.blog.de/2008/10/01/uebungen-hoerverstehen-sprachniveau-9125496/

-Slang
http://www.dirtydeutsch.com/

-Social Sites
http://www.studivz.net/index.php?notsignedin=1
http://www.cyworld.de/
http://www.weblin.com/home.php?room=en2⟨=de
http://miniroom.de/

-Verb Conjugator
http://www.verbix.com/languages/german.shtml
http://www.cambridgeclarion.org/gremple/german.verb.conjugation.html
http://conjd.cactus2000.de/index.en.php

Resources: Indonesian

News
BBC

Tv/Movies/etc. Online
http://mivo.tv/home.php

Resources: Spanish

Dictionary
http://wordreference.com/

News
http://www.elpais.com/global/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mundo/
http://www.vogue.es/
http://www.miarevista.es/
http://www.divinity.es/
http://tuboston.com/
http://www.elmundoboston.com/
http://www.vocerohispano.com/
http://es.ipcdigital.com/

TV (online)
http://www.mun2.tv/shows
http://www.antena3.com/nova/
http://www.tr3s.com/shows

Resources: Malagasy

Courses
An Introductory Course (PDF)

Dictionaries
Malagasy World

News
Le Express de Madagascar

Resources: Arabic

Courses
http://egyptianarabiccourse.blogspot.com
http://klikbahasa.com/t/

Resources: Turkish

Courses/Lessons
http://www.turkishclass.com/turkish_learning_group_3
http://cali.arizona.edu/maxnet/tur/
http://babel.uoregon.edu/ylc/selfstudy/turkish/lessons/

Dictionaries
http://www.turkishdictionary.net/
http://www.seslisozluk.com/

Grammar
http://www.turkishclass.com/forumTitle_33998
http://www.dnathan.com/language/turkish/tsd/
http://www.cromwell-intl.com/turkish/Index.html
http://turkish.pgeorgalas.gr/indexEn.htm

Listening and Audiobooks
http://www.turkishlisteninglibrary.com/

News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/turkce/
http://www.squidtimes.net/middleeast/turkey.html
http://www.cnnturk.com/default.aspx
http://www.sitemedya.com/

Radio (Online)
http://www.powerturk.com/ | http://www.powerturk.com/2010/Powerturk_streamm.htm

TV/Movies Online
http://www.diziizle.net/
http://watch.squidtv.net/europe/turkey.html

Verb Conjugation
http://www.verbix.com/languages/turkish.shtml

Vocabulary
http://twitter.com/#!/Turkish4free

Worksheets/Exercises
http://users.telenet.be/orientaal/classroom.html

Resources: Japanese

Courses/Lessons
https://www.erin.ne.jp/en/
http://www.yesjapan.com/YJ6/

Dictionaries
http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/cgi-bin/wwwjdic.cgi?1C

News
http://www.manila-shimbun.com/
http://www.asahi.com/

Misc.
http://www.nhk.or.jp/kokokoza/

Resources: Chinese (Mandarin)

Courses/Lessons
http://english.cri.cn/08chinese/

Dictionaries
Mandarin Tools

Forums
5cn

News
Slow Chinese
BBC Chinese
http://www.hudong.com/
http://bbs.163.com/
http://www.1688.com.au/index.shtml

Resources: Maltese

Courses/Lessons
Kawaiisachan on Youtube
Survival Maltese
My Languages: Maltese

Books/Poems/etc. Online
Maltese Poetry

Dictionaries
Basic English - Maltese Dictionary

Grammar
Basic Maltese Grammar

News
It-Torċa

TV/Movies Online
Squidtv: Malta

Resources: Malay

Courses/Lessons
Basic Malay Language Course
Simple and Fun Bahasa Malaysia

Dictionaries
Webster's Dictionary
English -> Malay
Cari Online Dictionary
Kamus

Chat Rooms
Kampung Chat

Forums
Cari Forums
Anime Forum
Skateboarding Forum
I Luv Islam (Also has a books section)

Books/Manga/etc. Online
Malay Scanlations
The Quran Online
Logos Library

TV/Movies Online
Nur Kasih Online
Drama Melayu
TV3 Online
Malaysia Kini
Malaysian News
Nak Download

Radio
Frenzyfm

News
Berita Harian Online
Cyberita
Murai
Melayu online
Gua
http://www.utusan.com.my/

Misc. Language Tools
Spell Checker
Cit Cat
Wordlists

Resources: Italian

Audiobooks, Books
http://librivox.org/list-translated-pages-italian/
http://www.bancadelleemozioni.it/genitori/0000030.html
http://www.liberliber.it/home/index.php

Blogs, Twitters, Etc.
http://twitter.com/#!/myvanitytable
http://pilloledimoda.blogspot.com/
http://www.spettegola.com/cantanti
http://personalitaconfusa.splinder.com/

Courses/Lessons
http://www.aulafacil.com/Index.htm
http://www.mailxmail.com/curso-italiano/pronunciacion-entonacion
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/italian/

Dictionaries
http://www.wordreference.com/
http://www.idiomax.com/es/online-dictionary.aspx

Grammar
http://www.italianlanguageguide.com/italian/grammar/

News
http://ansa.it/
http://www.youtube.com/user/wwwc6tv
http://rai.it/
http://www.cdt.ch/
http://www.laregione.ch/welcome.asp
http://www.gdp.ch/

Podcasts
http://www.learnitalianpod.com/category/beginner/page/8/

Radio
http://www.radioitalia.it/
http://www.radiocittafutura.it/Home.aspx

TV/Videos
http://www.youtube.com/user/Makeupdelight2009
http://www.lastoriasiamonoi.rai.it/

Resources: Hindi

Courses
http://free.lessons.l-ceps.com/learn-hindi-free-lesson-1.html

Video Lessons
http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazyLassi

Devanagari Script
http://www.garretwilson.com/education/languages/hindi/devanagari/

TV/Movies Online
http://www.idesitv.com/
http://watch.squidtv.net/asia/india.html#02
http://watch.squidtv.net/asia/pakistan.html (Urdu channels)

Resources: French

Courses
Open Course for French 1 and French 2
Kilk Bahasa

Dictionaries
Wordreference

News (Online)
Le Monde
Le Journal de Montréal
All Africa
www.lexpressmada.com>L'Express de Madagascar
Midi Madagasikara
La Nouvelle Tribune
Cambodge Soir
L'Orient Le Jour

TV/Movies/etc. Online
France 5 Documentaires

Resources: Mongolian

Blogs
http://www.blogmn.net/home
http://enhmandah.blogmn.net/
http://beautiful-greeneyed-love.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/#!/TsendeeMTS/mongolian
http://www.haze.miniih.com/index.php/

Courses/Lessons
http://mongoliacourses.org/
http://www.iub.edu/~celcar/intermediate/mongolinter.html
http://www.coelang.tufs.ac.jp/modules/mn/index.html

Dictionaries
http://www.bolor-toli.com/index.php?pageId=10

Forums
http://www.anime.mon.mn/

Grammar
http://books.google.com/books?id=nYCVMYOAMKEC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

News
http://www.jirgee.com/
http://www.myxand.net/
http://mongolduu.com/

TV
http://watch.squidtv.net/asia/mongolia.html

Other
http://gogo.mn/
http://www.happyphotos.mn/
http://www.reklam.mn/
http://www.mongolfood.info/en/

7 Day Italian Challenge: Day 01

Yesterday I was excited for this, and yet today I find myself procrastinating. Why is it suddenly so hard for me to jump into this Total Italian immersion thing? Wanting it and doing it are two different things.

Well, half the day had past already (woke up way later than I had planned) without anything done, but I decided that I was not going to lose the other half of the day. Better late than never.

Here is a quick break down of what I did.

Reading:
-A few articles from Cose Turche
-Facebook: Fans Club Italiano di Tarkan e Turco per Italiani
-Forums: Italian Music, Tarkan Forum e Download Zone

Listening:
-Music (many hours/half the day)
-TV: episodes 1 & 2 of 'La Regina Di Spade'. (About 45 minutes each)

Writing:
-Nothing

Speaking:
-Nothing

The first thing I did in order to create a fake immersion environment at home is to change websites like facebook and youtube into Italian. I changed youtube from international ("A livello mondiale") to Italy ("Italia"). This way when I look at the most watched, featured, or most popular videos I get the Italian ones. I also changed my itouch, skype and any other application that I could into Italian.

I work best when I have some nice music playing in the background, so finding music was important for this challenge. Prior to today, I had only listened to a few Italian singers. I am so happy that my music collection has expanded. ^_^ Not only am I constantly listening to something in Italian now, but I have new celebrities/music to follow. Music is great for me because it gives me interviews to read, I can get vocabulary from the song lyrics and I can sing along to the songs.

While looking for new music, I came across some Turkish music and of course Tarkan's music too which renewed my love for this man. So I ended up reading various things in Italian about Tarkan, Turkey and Turkish culture.

End of day one. Not that great of a start but at least something was done.

---

Japanese (30 minutes)

Like I wrote yesterday, I feel like I should keep up with my Japanese for at least 30 minutes a day while also doing this Italian challenge. This will mostly just consist of reading stuff online or working in my book "Japanese For Busy People I".

Today though, I have been watching Japanese news and reading tweets about the Earthquake. I want to share a link to the American Red Cross here for anyone who can donate something to the victims of the Earthquake and Tsunami. If anyone knows of any other links or I find more, I'll add them to this post.

The American Red Cross

My Languages

I wanted to make a list of the languages that I am studying and the ones that I pan to study. I want to reach a decent/high intermediate level at the very least in all of these languages, but there are a few that I know for sure that I want to be advanced/fluent(?) in. These are all languages that I have loved for a long amount of time and I don't see my feelings towards these languages changing anytime soon.

The List (In no particular order)
Spanish
Malay
Japanese
Mongolian
Italian
French
Korean
Mandarin Chinese
Hindi
Thai

7 Day Italian Challenge

So, tomorrow I will start a 7 day challenge to learn and to increase my Italian skills because although I had been able to reach a pretty okay level in Italian before, I'm afraid that I have lost all of that ability because I have not used the language for many months. I want to be able to read and write in Italian like I can in Spanish and/or Malay right not: not perfect but decent enough.

Why 7 days? Because it's spring break right now for me! I have a whole week of no classes so I can immerse myself in Italian for almost the whole day. I could have started yesterday but I'm using the weekend before to gather some materials.

The Plan:

-Surround myself with as much Italian as possible.
-Review flashcards daily while watching tv in Italian.
-Spanish: Allow myself to watch one episode of a Spanish telenovela a day, and to read as much of a book (not the internet) as I want.
-Malay: Allow myself to watch one episode of a drama a day.
-Japanese: 30 minutes of studying a day (I need to keep up with this), and one drama episode a day if desired.
-Mongolian: Occasionally review flashcards, but don't add any new material.

Time:

7 days from March 13 to March 19

I will be updating this blog with resources, grammar notes and anything else I find useful as I am learning.

Alphabet: Mongolian

The Alphabet

Today, Mongolian uses a slightly modified version of the Cyrillic alphabet. In the past Mongolian had it's own script which is referred to as "the traditional Mongolian script" (more on that later). The Mongolian languages has a long history of using various scripts to write in until the Cyrillic script was introduced.

The Mongolian modified version of the Cyrillic alphabet:

Cyrillic Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ее Ёё Жж Зз Ии Йй Кк Лл Мм Нн Оо Өө Пп Рр Сс Тт Уу Үү Фф Хх Цц Чч Шш Щщ Ъъ Ыы Ьь Ээ Юю Яя

Pronunciation a b v g d ye yo j z í, ee í, ee k l m n oh o, o- p rr (like the Spanish rolled r) s t u-, oo u f h c ch sh, ish shch (ish + ch) hard mark y, uí (61e) soft mark eh yu ya

Listen to the alphabet:

Grammar: Mongolian Vowels

Masculine Vowels	Feminine Vowels	Neutral Vowels
а о у я ё ю(у) ы	э ө ү е ю(ү)	и

и can be used in either "masculine" words or "feminine" words, and can act as either type of vowel. When и is the only vowel in a word then it is treated as a feminine vowel.

The Mongolian languages uses vowel harmony; therefore, it is important to know what vowels belong to which group because a word cannot have both a feminine vowel and a masculine vowel in it. Vowel harmony is also important because it tells you which suffix to ad when conjugating verbs, adding a question particle, and so on.

Short Vowels	Long Vowels	Diphthongs
а з и о ө ү у	аа зз ий оо өө үү уу	ай зй -- ой -- үй уй

Listen: