Spring 2013: Expanded Course Offerings at the Downtown, Mission, Ocean and Chinatown/North Beach Campuses

Good news for Spring 2013!  There will be expanded offerings of foreign language courses at the ever-popular Downtown Campus, the Mission Campus, the main Ocean Campus, and the brand new Chinatown/North Beach Campus, where (tentatively), Chinese, Japanese and Spanish classes will be offered. Classes will no longer be offered at the Castro Campus (Everett Middle School).  Check back here or go to the Foreign Language Departmentwebsite toward the end of October for details and class schedules.  

Resources for Students of Spanish 1, 1A/1B

If you didn't purchase iLrn, either with the textbook, Plazas, 4th ed., or from the publisher ($113.00 for 18 months' use), there are still abundant materials to access to complement Plazas.

First stop: study tools for Plazas, 3d ed.  Content-wise, it is quite similar to the 4th ed.  Here you can access auto-pruebas (self-corecting chapter quizzes), crossword puzzles, flashcards and more.  Use the drop-down menu in the upper left hand corner to browse by chapter.

Next, check out the Spanish Language and Culture site from Barbara Kuczun Nelson at Colby College , with numerous activities related to all your grammar questions, plus culture videos, music, and much more.

Study Spanish is a free, online tutorial that makes grammar easy to grasp.  Here's the thinking: "When most people think of "grammar", they don't get very excited.  But grammar can teach you something in minutes that might take days to figure out by immersion alone.  

 
Finally, have some fun with Mi vida loca from the BBC.  an interactive video drama and Spanish course, takes you on a mystery adventure to Madrid and beyond in 22 episodes, around 10 minutes each, covering basic learning points for beginning learners of Spanish. 

Students of French: Check out these Resources for French 1/1A, 1B

Here are some resources your fellow students in French 1 have been utilizing this semester as learning support:

First, if you haven't purchased iLrn access either in the bookstore or independently, you can still access the chapter quizzes for Horizons.  Click here, choose the appropriate chapter and then access both grammar and vocabulary quizzes.

Another favorite is Phonetique, which helps students of any level of French work on and learn, for example, the difference between "ou" and "u", or try some fun tongue twisters.  This site is recommended by CCSF French instructor Isabelle Motamedi. 

Français interactif.  Don't miss this one!  There are lots of videos that follow students studying in Lyon, France, covering topics that complement those you are covering in Horizons.  

plus, on the right hand side of the page, you can access Tex's French grammar site, to help you with many aspects of introductory French grammar.  

Last, but not least, and not just for fun, but that, too, the BBC presents, Ma France, a series of 24 interactive videos, complete with downloadable scripts, option to view with or without subtitles in French and English, as well as activities for each video.  Check out the card game!  And here's a short video to get you started:  How not to get lost!

Ma France - Great Interactive Site from the BBC

Students of French, check out Ma France from the BBC.  It is packed with interactive video units that cover many of the very topics you are studying and learning about in your French texts.   Each video also includes transcripts, the option of English and/or French subtitles, or none, and a comprehensive quiz.

Here's a sample, just a taste, to get you started:

Chinese: Advisory Placement Test - December 7 (tentative)

The last advisory placement test for Chinese (Mandarin) for the Fall 2012 semester will be given (tentatively) on Friday, December 7 from 1:00-2:30 in the Arts Building, room to be announced.  Find out what this placement test is ... and what it isn't, by clicking here.  

Boren Scholarship Information Session: Tuesday, August 28, 12:00

• Are you interested in world cultures and languages?
• Would you like to study in Africa, Asia, Central & Eastern Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, or in the Middle East?
• Is your GPA 3.6 or higher?
• Are you a U.S. citizen?

If you answered yes to the questions above, then you should think about applying for a Boren Scholarship. Maximum scholarship awards are:

• $8,000 for a summer program (special initiative for STEM students only; 8 weeks minimum)
• $10,000 for a semester
• $20,000 for a full academic year 

Want to learn more?

A Boren Awards information session will be held on August 28, 2012 from 12 noon to 1:30 pm

In the Rosenberg Library, Room 301

For more information on the Boren Award, contact Sue Light, Boren Advisor, at laurasue12@sbcglobal.net or Jill Heffron, Study Abroad Coordinator, at jheffron@ccsf.edu or visit www.BorenAwards.org

The Language Center will Open on Thursday, August 16 at 10:30 a.m.

Students taking foreign language classes at CCSF will be glad to know that the Language Center will open at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, August 16.  The Language Center offers support materials for all credit foreign language classes at CCSF.  iMac computers with high-speed internet access are available for you to access your online language learning materials.  And there's much more, so come on in and check it out!