Language Resource Center

FFotW: La Rochelle

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 19:28:00 +0000

Vieux Port - France (La Rochelle), originally uploaded by Chez Julius.

Wouldn't you love to hone your French language skills in beautiful La Rochelle?

Well, you can! La Rochelle is one of our many Study Abroad opportunities at CofC. Contact Dr. Tefo Attafi for details. Dr. Attafi will be giving an information session on the upcoming trip on Wednesday, October 21 at 3:00 pm in the main classroom of the Language Resource Center, ECTR 225.

Thanks to Julius Singara, Chez Julius on Flickr, for sharing this great picture of the port's two towers with a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license (meaning he asks, please give him attribution if you use the photo, and please make no commercial or derivative uses of the image).

Language Lab + LITE Workshops Week of 9/28/09

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 20:28:00 +0000

Hi, there language fans. The LRC reminds you about our workshops for the week of 9/28:

LRC Session:
Wednesday, September 30, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Wimba Voice Tools
ECTR 225

LITE Session:
Thursday, October 1, 2009 @ 6:00 PM
Finding Information/Library Resources
Addlestone Library Room 122

LRC Session:
Friday, October 2, 2009 @ 3:00 PM
Blogging Language & Culture on CofC WordPress
ECTR 225

Flickr Find of the Week: Isabel Allende and the Dalai Lama

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:47:00 +0000

Isabel Allende and His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, originally uploaded by Bill Liao.

For our first Flickr Find of the Week this semester, how would you have like to have dinner with Chilean writer Isabel Allende and the Dalai Lama? As with all FFofW images, this great pic is shared with a Creative Commons license, this one by Bill Liao. A CC license is a type of copyright by which the creator declares his or her wish that their work be shared openly. Thanks, Bill!

Those of you who attended our Welcome Week celebration got to watch and discuss Allende's Tales of Passion TED Talk. If you weren't there, catch up on what you missed below. TED shares our commitment to the open exchange of ideas!

First Week Events in the LRC!

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 20:43:00 +0000

Come get your Wimba and your Welcome Week on in the Language Lab!

Monday, Aug 24 10:00-12:00: McGraw Hill's Spanish line on Quia.
Monday, Aug 24 12:00-4:00: Eat & Greet with TED Talks from Allende, Davis + Pinker.

Tuesday, Aug 25 2:00-3:00: Wimba (Online) Workshop
Tuesday, Aug 25 3:00-4:00: Wimba (via WebCT) Workshop

Thursday, Aug 27 9:00-11:00: Open Session on Wimba + Audacity

Come join us and learn something!

Ukraine's Got Talent

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:05:00 +0000

Below is an amazing sand painting performance by Ukraine's Got Talent winner Kseniya Simonova. If your Ukrainian is rusty or you're too in awe of the images to follow the story they weave, the animation is a tribute to the Ukrainians who perished in World War II. It's no wonder there's hardly a dry eye in the audience.

Welcome Week in the Language Lab

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Fri, 29 May 2009 16:48:00 +0000

On Monday, August 24, all are encouraged to come by the Language Resource Center in ECTR 225 as we watch TED talks on language and culture. We'll watch and discuss talks by linguist Stephen Pinker on language and the mind; ethnobotanist Wade Davis (author of the Serpent and the Rainbow) on the world's disappearing cultural diversity; Chilean author Isabel Allende talks about living passionately in the face of adversity... and more! We'll have food and beverages, good folks and good fun.

The event is aimed at students, but faculty and staff are certainly encouraged to drop in as well! We're a community, join us!

Maestro Abreu: Colma mi corazon de júbilo

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Wed, 13 May 2009 21:14:00 +0000

TED Prize recipient Maestro Jose Antonio Abreu, who has spent years teaching music to poor children in Venezuela's El Sistema youth orchestra, makes a wish:

”I wish you would help create and document a special training program for at least 50 gifted young musicians, passionate for their art and for social justice, and dedicated to developing El Sistema in the US and in other countries.”

See more: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jose_abreu_on_kids_transformed_by_music.html

Read more: http://tedchris.posterous.com/#ixzz0FQJZZGYY&B

French OPIc Test In Progress!

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Bonjour! Ça va? French OPIc testing is ready to go for those of you who signed up with Dr. Morrison:

http://testing.actfltesting.org/

The OPIc test is a great way to receive an official certification in your language proficiency. You've earned it, so why not get certified?

Good luck (we're sure it's not needed!), test takers!

Mes amis, French OPIc Test Next Week

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:25:00 +0000

Dust off your berets and black turtlenecks, the French OPIc test is scheduled in ECTR 225 on Tuesday, May 5 between the hours of 10 am and 4 pm.

French students, register with Dr. Morrison if you would like to take advantage of this unique opportunity to test for a certification of your French language skills at no cost - the French Department is footing the bill for testing of our majors and minors!

FFotW: Linux on the LRC Checkout Laptop

noreply@blogger.com (language lab) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:14:00 +0000

LRC Checkout Laptop Screen, originally uploaded by languagelab.cofc.

Times are tough, and the Lab's checkout laptop, from circa 2003, just can't functionally run Windows anymore. Windows is just too slow on a machine that old. Most faculty who use the laptop only need PowerPoint or to use the Web - teachable moment: ask me about alternatives to Powerpoint for your presentations.

Back to the topic at hand... Ubuntu to the rescue. The laptop runs fine under lightweight and sensible Linux. Note that we have fudged the OpenOffice shortcuts a bit to make users more comfortable with their Word and Powerpoint files. :)

Neither the new Ubuntu 9.04 (Jaunty Jackalope) nor recent its predecessors will send the display to a projector, which is pretty much what the machine gets checked out for. So we rolled back to Breezy Badger, which handles external display fine.

We should mention, thanks to user j / f / photos for the great image used for our desktop:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/good-karma/13622 73975/

We're all about the Creative Commons here at the CofC Language Resource Center.

Spanish OPIc Testing Today

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:24:00 +0000

A hearty bienvenidos to all the Spanish students taking the ACTFL Online Proficiency Interview test today.

Students who registered with Dr. Weyers to take the test today can login using the link below after signing in with Jerry Spiller in ECTR 225:

¡Suerte a todos!

Video Bistro 09 Winners

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Best Message and Best Overall Film:
Sonya Lehman (Arabic, Abuhakema)

2nd Place, Message:
Dave Brown (Arabic, Fam)

Best Comedy:
Julie Long (Spanish, Schlau)

2nd Place, Comedy:
Sydney Boniface (Spanish, Schlau)

3rd Place, Comedy:
Justin Torres and Daniel Miller (Spanish, Schlau)

Additionally, the placements for the Talent Show were:

1st Place: J. Seegars, Henna Painting
2nd Place: T. Contas, Spanish Song
3rd Place: French Class, French Songs and
E.Ling, Saxophone
4th Place: K. Giorno, Italian Song and Guitar
5th Place: M.Williams, Russian Dance and
J.Mink & S. J. Mense,Yoga
6th Place: L. Bush, Guitar and
S.Myers, E. Couli & J.Pinckney, French Story

We'd like to thank Dra. Liz Martinez for all her hard work coordinating the World Cultures Fair. We'd also like to thank the sponsors: Yo Burrito, Starbucks, and The College Bookstore.

World Cultures Day Is Underway!

noreply@blogger.com (language lab) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 17:26:00 +0000

World Cultures Day Schedule, originally uploaded by languagelab.cofc.

There's still time to join us in the Stern Center Gardens for the extravaganza! We've got food from around the world (I just had some delicious Russian pancakes) and entertainment from Chinese Lions dancers to French slam poetry.

We'll also be announcing the winners of our Video Bistro contest soon!

World Cultures Day Video Bistro

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:52:00 +0000

The video submissions for our World Cultures Day contest and celebration have been pouring in for the last few days. We will be judging the entries to pick the cream of the crop very soon. Here's one of our great early entries, from student Sonya Lehman in Dr. Abuhakema's class:

Thanks to all the students who participated, and a special thanks to Profs. Martinez, Schlau, Fam, Abuhakema and Tadrissi for encouraging all the great entries!

View them all here:

Video Bistro '09 submissions

Update: It should come as no surprise that the video above from Sonya Lehman and her Arabic classmates was the runaway winner! Thanks to Sonya, Prof. Abuhakema, Dave Brown in the Center for the Documentary and the whole class for sharing a wonderfully scripted and well produced video with an undeniably potent and urgent message about cultural diversity and keeping our hearts and minds open!

Flickr Find of the Week: Las Ovejas en Amecameca

noreply@blogger.com (language lab) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:50:00 +0000

Ovejas, Amecameca, originally uploaded by Shuck.

The picture above shows a herd of sheep from the municipality of Amecameca in Mexico State, Mexico. Amecameca, also called Ameca, is not a place full of agriculture. In fact, it is considered mostly infertile land. However, there are some places where crops can be grown well in spite of this. There are also many places where cattle and other livestock, like sheep, are raised. This photo is by Flickr user Shuck.

Flickr Find of the Week: Us!!!

noreply@blogger.com (language lab) — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 21:08:00 +0000

Russian Club, 2008, originally uploaded by languagelab.cofc.

The language lab has started archiving our pictures, posters, and flyers on Flickr! Above, we have this lovely picture from a recent Russian Club gathering featuring Professors Raisa Gomer, Svetlana Owens, and Oksana Ingle, and their students.

We are tagging all of our pictures by language and department for your browsing pleasure. The Russian, Italian, and Arabic crews are the first to be represented. You can look for them using the tags below:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/languagelabcofc/tags/italian/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/languagelabcofc/tags/arabic/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/languagelabcofc/tags/russian/

Here, Italian professors Marinella Griffith, Massimo Maggiari, Joeseph Pecorelli, and Giovana De Luca pose for a picture during the recent Circulo Italiano festivities.

Italian Professors, 2008, originally uploaded by languagelab.cofc.

Thanks to the departments above for sharing their pictures with all of us!! And everyone else we will be glad to include yours too! Keep them coming!

Thursday@3 This Week: Join Us for Podcasting

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:52:00 +0000

Librarian Jared Seay has invited you already, but we're extending a special invitation to LCWA to join us for Thursday@3 in Addlestone this week to learn the basics of podcasting!

Many of you have already used Audacity for recording speech in the Language Lab. In the Library on Thursday we'll look at Audacity in a slightly different context, as part of your podcasting toolkit. It will help you get your chops up just the same, whether recording in class exercises or informational podcasts. Join us!

Digital Audio 101: Podcasting

What are Podcasts & How to make them

Thursday, February 19

Addlestone Room 120

3pm - 4:30pm

What exactly is a podcast?

And... how do I get one? How does one go about making one? Why would one want to do it anyway? Who keeps asking these questions? In this enlightening Addlestone Session your confusion will be eased and more questions shall be inspired concerning podcasts and podcasting. In this session you will be introduced to general concepts, definitions, and file formats pertaining to podcasting. Your consternation (which may be substantially paralyzing at this point) will melt away as the Addlestone Enlightenment Team uses Audacity freeware to show you the joys of editing audio, save the file as an mp3, and inspire you to more audacious acts of podcasting.

Audacity is freeware that is available for download. It is Mac, Windows and Linux compatible and is already loaded on the classroom lab computers. Download it now if you wish (you have our permission and encouragement), play with it and come to the session with thought provoking questions.

Please register for this session!

Please indicate the February 19th Session.

Who and what we are and what we think we are doing:

Addlestone Thursday @ Three Sessions
Workshops Introducing Practical, Useful and Free Web 2.0 Tools for Personal Productivity and Collaborative Learning.

In the Addlestone sessions for this semester we will explore specific Web 2.0 technologies that integrate thematically, transforming social media into tools for teaching, collaborative learning and personal productivity. Topics for the sessions include blogs, wikis, social networks, social bookmarking tools, podcasts, RSS, micro-blogging, photo sharing and video-sharing sites. These tools and resources offer new, accessible and flexible ways to learn, teach, and interact socially anywhere, anytime. Information regarding pedagogy and Web 2.0 may be found at Addlestone Sessions Raison d’être and on the Addlestone Thursday@3 Instruction Wiki.

Flickr FotW: Guangzhou

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 02:37:00 +0000

Guangzhou, originally uploaded by MK Media Productions.

This is a lovely view of Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province in China. Guangzhou's humid subtropical climate looks and sounds not unlike Charleston's ("mild winters, hot and humid summers with significant rainfall throughout the year"), as you can see. This photo is by Flickr user MK Media Productions, shared via a CC Attribution license.

Flickr FotW: Strasbourg

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 18:38:00 +0000

Rainy Strasbourg - La Petite France, originally uploaded by MorBCN.

For the first week of the Spring 09 semester, let's take a view of Strasbourg in Alsace. Check out all the languages in the comments on the Flickr photo page (just click the image to go to its original page on Flickr).

As with last week and all Flickr Finds of the Week, this a Creative Commons licensed image, free for you to use and share under certain conditions prescribed by the copyright holder, in this case Flickr user MorBCN of Barcelona.

I was ready to repeat my "What is Creative Commons?" spiel, but I think our Catelan friend has summed it up quite well in his profile:

I like to photograph anything

I'm not copyrighting my pictures. I don't believe in copyright. I think that copyright is a bad thing for culture in the digital age and for sharing knowledge and creations… I use Creative Commons: some rights reserved. My pictures are licensed using Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.

In short: you can use my pictures for non comercial purposes, and you must atribute my pictures to me with a link to the original picture or my flickr photostream.

My pictures are not free. Read carefully the following description of the cases when you can use it, and what to do:

Noncommercial. You may not use this work for commercial purposes. You can use or print any of my pictures for personal use, in your blog, your web-page or your kitchen. If you want to use it commercially, send me an e-mail, and we will have a deal.

Attribution. You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor. Then, you must attribute any of my pictures to "Mor (bcnbits)" and make a link to this page or a link to the original picture. If you drop me an email would be nice.

Share Alike. If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under a license identical to this one.

So enjoy, and use this picture and any of MorBCN's others in class! He has great photos from all over Europe!

Flickr Find of the Week: Tegucigalpa

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 19:37:00 +0000

Tegucigalpa, Honduras
Originally uploaded by Fellowship of the Rich

We'd like to welcome faculty and staff back with a new feature: the Flickr Find of the Week. We'll be posting images showcasing language and culture from around the world, all found the best photo sharing and commenting website: Flickr. As if the wealth of contact available through Flickr's shared images isn't enough, each Flickr Find of the Week post will be found through the Creative Commons "some rights reserved" search. That means all the copyright holders of these images are putting their pictures up for sharing. Check out Creative Commons to learn more about alternative approaches to copyright, or just to find media that users are willing to share for your class and projects.

Our first FFotW is this beautiful shot of Tegucigalpa. We found this simply by searching for "Tegucigalpa" using the Creative Commons feature on Flickr's Advanced Search. This picture was posted by Flickr user Rich Evenhouse with a BY-NC-ND Creative Commons license, meaning it is free to use as long as Rich is attributed, it is not used commercially and no derivative works are based on it. But it's free to use for educational purposes in your class by good old Fair Use.

Happy Holidays (It's All Relative)

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 18:14:00 +0000

We'll leave you with a chuckle from xkcd, a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language:

Happy Holidays, whichever ones you celebrate!

Antikythera: The Google Calendar of Ancient Greece

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:48:00 +0000

Via Comp Sci's Bill Manaris (via Wired via New Scientist) comes this story of the reconstruction of the Antikythera, which is what it might look like if an ancient Mediterranean Apple improved on the Astrolabe.

Standing on the shoulders of giants, London curator Michael Wright has completed the work of scholars going back to the 1950s to create a functioning replica of this relic from the 2nd Century B.C.E.:

IberiaNature: A Guide to the Environment of Spain

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 17:17:00 +0000

Here's a fun find:

IberiaNature is an encyclopedic site on the flora and fauna of Spain. News and updates are available via their blog, en inglés y español.

Workshops for the Week of Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:46:00 +0000

There's a still a chance to come learn about what's going on in the new Language Lab, and get your hands on language tools like Wimba Voice, Audacity and Voicethread before Thanksgiving!

I'm combining the Intro to the Lab and Intro to Wimba workshops for this week:

Tuesday, 3:30 pm
ECTR 225
Intro to the Lab and Wimba Voice

And if once is not enough:

Wednesday, 10 am
ECTR 225
Intro to the Lab and Wimba Voice

Come and learn how to maximize your student's time in and out of class with tools from the Web and the Language Lab!

I hope to see you there.

Wade Davis on Language and Culture

noreply@blogger.com (Yeri) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:29:00 +0000

Anthropologist Wade Davis, best known for his popular volumes such as The Serpent and the Rainbow, gave this riveting talk at TED concerning the increasing rate of disappearance of indigenous cultures and their languages.

This video, like all TED videos, is shared under a Creative Commons attribution/noncommercial/no-derivatives license.

The TED conferences feature some amazing talks on a wide variety of topics. I encourage everyone to explore the TED site for more great lectures.