Want to know more about LxC

For those interested in learning more about Languages Across the Curriculum, I wanted to pass on an older, but still pertinent article written by H. Stephen Straight. Dr. Straight is the founding director of LxC and still supervises the program here at Binghamton University. This article provides an interesting academic background to the LxC concept and is a useful resource for all interested in LxC/LAC issues. (Link)

Simple Memorizing Techniques

I found an interesting article about techniques for memorizing lists, numbers, and names on the web today. Some of the tips/techniques are pretty well known, but what I particularly liked about the article was its preface on how our minds work. The part that most caught my attention related closely to teaching, specifically the importance of creating or alluding to students' frame of reference:

"By the same token, when we want to learn something new, it is much easier if we already have a mental framework for it. This allows us to compare, contrast or otherwise connect the new information with what is already stored. If I have a good understanding of history and I am told the date of some event, I will plug it into the set of dates already in my memory. There is a good chance I will remember it. Without the framework, I'd probably forget it immediately."

Online Language Resources

I Love Languages is a website offering a plethora of resources related to languages and language learning. Links are well catalogued in categories by language, free translation sites, teaching resources, and more. Check it out!

LxC Adds New Political Science Professor

LxC is proud to annouce that it will begin working with Dr. Benjamin Fordham in the Political Science department in the Spring of 2006. Professor Fordham will be teaching PLSC-118, World of Politics.

History-106 classes prepare for presentations

LxC in Dr. John Chaffee's classes have a unique twist. Each semester Professor Chaffee (History / Asian and Asian-American Studies) himself takes part in the final class by listening to, grading, and asking questions on individual presentations given by each student.

This semester LxC is supporting his HIST-106 class, East Asian Civilizations. Each student in each LxC section is asked to give a presentation (in their LxC language) on a topic discussed during the ten weeks of LxC. Given the professor's impressive listening comprehension of East Asian languages, he is able to learn about what the LxC class has done, not in English, but the assigned language of the section (Mandarin, for example). LRSs Candy Tan, Seokyung Han, and Yu-Ling Huang have all been diligently working to prepare their students for this culminating event.... Best of luck!

Online Commercials...more

Ad-Awards is a website that gives awards for commercials in a variety of different sectors. The great part about this site is that all of the ads are new, the bad part is that there are not that many commercials. The Directory on the site is searchable by country which makes it nice.

International Commercials

Many of our sections have used commercials as a means of portraying cultural differences, business practices, and language peculiarities. We are always on the look out for great foreign commercial sites. One we recently came across is Ad Eaters. Most of the ads are from the 1990s, with a few from 2000-2001. Nevertheless, it proves to be a great resource as it the Video Library is searchable by country, year, brand, theme, and more. Be sure to check the whole list if you do not see the country you need - it has a weird organization. For example, the United States is filed under Etats-Unis (French), but Spain is filed under the English, "Spain." The site also has 5 advertisements from the Soviet Union, filed under URSS.

The Great Firewall of China

Internet filtering in China is a growing problem. Many believe that the team working on filtering the Internet in China, is one of the most sophisticated in the world. The Open Net Initiative is one of those groups. They have an interesting report that details internet filtering in China for 2004-2005. Much has been written about the problem in the West, and many attempts have been made to offer ways around the filtering.

Download Embedded Video, Flash, etc from website

Firefox users now have the ability to download images, videos, flash, and other components embedded into a website with ease. Andrew Ruder has add Firefox extension for download that makes doing so with a simple right-click. Great for grabbing multimedia for use in LxC sections.

Global Voices Online

Harvard Law is hosting a great project called Global Voices Online. This resource "is an international effort to diversify the conversation taking place online by involving speakers from around the world, and developing tools, institutions, and relationships to help make these voices heard." This is a great resource to read postings from bloggers anywhere from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. Highly recommended!

New Organization: European Student Association

Official notice:

Welcome to the European Student Association
A group of European and non-European students have organized the "European Student Association" (ESA). Their goal is to provide a welcoming service for incoming European students and to bring together the European community and other international communities at Binghamton University. ESA warmly welcomes all students to their events, Europeans and non-Europeans.

You may contact the ESA at aversch1@binghamton.edu