With the development of Web-based technologies and the Internet, foreign language students now have access to authentic material and native speakers at any time. One of the goals of the Language Resource Center is to identify ways in which students can effectively take advantage of these rich resources to enhance their learning and improve their foreign language skills. For the student who would like to practice their new language outside of the classroom, a wealth of opportunities now exist through the Web and the Internet.

Like most things, the effectiveness of the technology depends on how it is used. Be creative. Explore the Web and its capabilities. Discover what works for you and what doesn't. As you become more familiar with these resources, you'll find opportunities to improve your language skills that go well beyond what is offered in the traditional textbook.

Below are some basic guidelines when using any of the following resources:

• Watching streaming video or listening to streaming radio
• Reading newspapers or magazines online
• Using online chat groups
• Using your Web browser and search engine for vocabulary/grammar learning and review

Watching authentic video or listening to live radio on the Web can be an overwhelming experience for the language student. These materials were created for native speakers and are therefore difficult for the student to understand. Try not to get overwhelmed or give up if you don't understand the broadcast. The important part is to tune in and focus. Even beginning students can learn a great deal from such broadcasts.

Advantages of watching streaming television or listening to live radio include:

• Authentic material presented at a normal rate of speech.
• Streaming provides up-to-date information since it is live or has been recently recorded. Students may find it more interesting and relevant than many outdated teaching materials.
• News reports and streaming video often provide visual cues to help you understand the context of the message.
• Listening to and focussing on native speech, including its rhythms, intonation, and pitch, can help you develop your own spoken language skills and improve your pronunciation.
• You can observe cultural cues in context and note how people interact or respond to one another.

When deciding to view streaming video or listen to streaming radio online, take the following guidelines into consideration:

• Listen to what you know - Try listening to stories you may know something about. If you are listening to/watching international news in the target language, you may already be familiar with many of the news items they are presenting. It will be easier for you to understand the gist of the story and learn new vocabulary if you already understand the context.
• Ask yourself questions - If you are tuning in to prerecorded streaming video or radio, there will often be descriptions of the content posted on the Web site. Read these over to give yourself an idea of what you will be hearing. Before you begin, ask yourself a few questions about the content and try to answer these as you listen to the broadcast. This will help focus your attention on the story and improve your understanding.
• Concentrate - That is, don't simply turn on the video or radio as background noise while you do other work. Become an active learner by truly focussing on what you are watching/hearing. To do this, set a realistic time limit for yourself and participate fully for that period.
• Listen to the language as a whole - Try not to get distracted by every word you don't understand. Listen to the language and the message as a whole. This can be difficult at first, but will improve your skills at understanding authentic speech and will help you avoid the mistake of trying to translate word for word.
• Take Notes - Write down the words or grammatical structures you noticed. Try doing this immediately after the broadcast when your observations are still fresh.
• Summarize - Try to summarize the story in your own words after watching/listening.
• Apply - Take the new vocabulary you've learned and try to use it in a few simple sentences about your own life, beliefs, or thoughts. This will help these new words become a part of your active vocabulary in the language.

Reading an authentic newspaper or magazine article can be tough. If you don't know the necessary vocabulary, reading a simple article can be a daunting task requiring a number of trips to the dictionary to look up a word's meaning. Don't let this deter you from reading authentic material. It will become easier as you familiarize yourself with writing style, vocabulary, and effective reading techniques.

Advantages to reading authentic materials include:

• Improving your vocabulary - the vast majority of vocabulary words are learned gradually through repeated exposures in various contexts. The more often you read, the better the chance you will be encountering vocabulary items repeatedly. These will soon become a part of your active vocabulary.
• Students have a choice of reading topics and can choose items they find inherently interesting.
• Reinforces vocabulary and grammatical structures learned in class by providing real-life examples of usage.
• Students can gain a variety of perspectives on topics in the news.

When deciding to tackle an article online, try the following:

• Start with what you know - Begin with articles you may know something about. Pick articles that interest you. Read the news in English first and then find a similar article regarding the topic in the foreign press. It will be easier for you to understand the gist of the story and learn new vocabulary if you understand the context.
• Look at the pictures - Articles that include photos can provide excellent clues to what the piece is about. Such visual cues act as a tool to help you anticipate and predict the direction the article will take.
• Make predictions - Don't necessarily look up every word you don't know. Try to guess its meaning from the context of the article or the sentence.
• Take notes - As you read, take notes on vocabulary or grammatical structures and review these frequently.
• Read the article again - Read the article more than once. Look back at the notes you've taken.
• Summarize - Summarize the article and try to use the new vocabulary you learned while reading.

You may be familiar with online chat programs such as AOL Instant Messenger, ICQ, or Yahoo. You may have used these programs to chat with friends or family, but they can also be put to use in a foreign language learning context. This type of communication tool can simulate live, spoken language, since response time is instantaneous and the language used tends to be informal and conversational. It can be an opportunity for you to apply your language knowledge in a safe environment. You can visit a site which is dedicated to language learners and practice your communication skills with other learners. Or, you can visit sites or groups that are geared toward native speakers of the language you are trying to learn. Both have their advantages and you can try either one to see which feels more comfortable.

It is important to remember, however, that while visiting chat rooms, you will be reading very informal uses of the language and oftentimes dealing with abbreviations you may not understand. Treat the experience as an opportunity to observe a language in use - there can be much to learn from informal uses, too.

Advantages to chatting online include:

• You can interact with native speakers in an authentic context.
• Communication takes place in real time.
• You have the opportunity to observe and evaluate language used by native speakers.
• You can become actively involved instead of being a passive observer.
• You can find a community of people willing to help you with your language skills.
• It provides you an opportunity to participate in a discussion while allowing you the support of a dictionary.

When deciding to join a chatroom, take the following guidelines into consideration:

• Pick chatrooms regarding topics that interest you - You will be more motivated and will probably understand more of what people are writing if you already understand the topic. Furthermore, topic-based chat provides a better structure for discussion which leads to more meaningful and useful learning material.
• Lurk for a while - If you're not comfortable participating, you can simply lurk in a few chat rooms to observe the conversations taking place. Make note of the way in which people are communicating with each other. This will give you an idea of how to write your comments, if you choose to participate.
• Take notes - Take notes on vocabulary, grammar, or topics of interest.
• Keep a dictionary nearby - This is your chance to participate in a conversation and still be able to look up words.
• If you're learning Chinese or Japanese, visit sites dedicated to language learners - You may want to visit authentic sites for fun, but many of these will be too difficult if you don't know enough of the characters. Try to visit sites that are dedicated to language learners since the character used will be at your level.

Many linguists claim that a student will need 10 to 12 exposures to a word before they will learn it well enough to put it to use. Oftentimes, simply working with more than one example can help you better understand a word, phrase, or grammatical structure and how it is used in an authentic context. With a Web browser and a search engine such as Google, HotBot, or Yahoo, you can perform a simple search under vocabulary or grammar and get hundreds of real-world examples to help you with your new language.

Here is an example:

Let's say you want to reinforce a new word you're learning such as the French verb appuyer. Open up your favorite search engine in your Web browser and type the word appuyer to perform a search. You will receive thousands of pages in which this word is used. Since this is a French word, the majority of these will be in French and written in an authentic context. Reading through some of these examples will build your knowledge of how this word is actually used by the French in their daily lives. By providing you with multiple representations of this vocabulary item, this technique will wean you from the tendency to simply translate the word into English and thereby give you a deeper understanding of its usage.

You can also apply this method to reinforce grammar. Whether you're having difficulty with Japanese particles, German prepositions, or Russian adjective endings, you can try this technique to view countless examples of proper usage in the real world. Just type in the forms you're having difficulty with and perform a search. If you are searching for expressions or phrases that have multiple words, it is a good idea to put the phrase in quotation marks to guarantee that the results include only those pages with the exact expression/phrase you would like.

Advantages to using your browser and a search engine include:

• You're provided with thousands of examples
• The majority of examples come from authentic texts
• It can help build your knowledge of vocabulary items or grammar without relying on English translation.
• It is simple to do from any Web browser.