A few months after I started to look at useful applications for the languages teacher, I thought it would be a good idea to review my use of the apps I shared in previous posts as well add to the list. All applications are available through iTunes App Store.
I started looking at languages apps, thinking they could be of use to my students. I am still planning on sharing the apps list with my students but I am now a lot clearer about what is more likely to be useful for teachers and what students might want to use.
Although I have found WordReference (free) bilingual dictionaries with verb tables and sound files very useful, I have also consistently been using:
Les nombres (free) for writing numbers in French-just type in the number to check the spelling
Le Bescherelle (£0.59): a classic to find out everything about French verbs
Le Petit Robert (Dixel): Monolingual French dictionary, a bargain at £5.49 as it includes common and proper nouns as well as some word games.
El conjugador (£0.59): very user-friendly application to check conjugated verbs in Spanish
WordWeb Audio English dictionary is a great reference with British English accent.
Wikipedia (free): set language can be changed to search for articles in a foreign language
Cultural references
I have used screenshots from a range of museums and places of interest like: Musée du Louvre,
Grand Palais, Musée Marc Chagall de Nice, Musée National Fernand Léger de Biot . (These applications are also available in English)
It is also interesting to note that a lot of French touristic landmarks have their own applications, whereas I have found few Spanish ones in comparison.
Authentic resources for different topics (through snapshots)
Places in town/ directions: Icam (Spain)-free: Links to live webcams in a selection of cities like Barcelona, Madrid or Seville, Paris underground map
Transport: SNCF (free): to get authentic resources on train transport, Madrid Metro, trenes, EMT Madrid
Food: Allrecipes.fr (free) lots of recipes in French with link to the allrecipes.fr website for more information, canal cocina, cuisiner
Current affairs : 7 jours sur la planete :TV5 Monde (free) videos and comprehension exercises, guía reciclaje, slate (analysis of current affairs in French)
House and Home : Explorimmo-French, fotocasa.es, segundamano, coches.net, Marie-Claire deco & design , Logic-immo,
TV and Cinema : Télé Loisirs, Premiere, TF1 vision, Tele7, TéléMagazine,telepub, alloCiné, guía TV ONO
Sport : Sport.fr, le monde sport, Marca (Spanish), Le tour de France (TDF)
French-speaking world : Jeune Afrique
Jobs/ Names: PagesJaunes, Prénoms, cadremploi
Health: Dr Mobile (French), Impact santé, Au Secours
Shopping: Fnac.com, Printemps
Festivals: SanFermín, Bourges 2010
Jokes: chistedeldia, Prime jokes (Spanish)
Primary: Lobitotito: a story for children told in Spanish and illustrated with beautiful pictures
Press/news video
Definitely one for the teacher, although the advanced student will also find it very useful.
Le Figaro.fr, Le Monde.fr, Marianne2.fr, Le Point.fr, l’express, local papers like La Depeche.fr , the local paper for the South West of France, France 24 (news videos ), journal des plages, Le Nouvel Observateur, le Monde Diplomatique
El Mundo.es, LaVanguardia, El Pais, Hola.com (celebrity gossip magazine), Muy, Qué, La Gaceta, Semana, LaRazon, portadas
Radio and Music:
I started looking at individual radio apps like LCI radio, Radio France, Europe1 (French) or RNE radio, Cadena Ser, Onda Cero (Spanish) but I have found applications by language or countries more useful:
Euro Radio (£0.59) Select stations by countries and post your favourite stations to Twitter, Facebook or MySpace.
Grabadora de radio español/France Radio Recorder (£0.59 each) enables you to record from a wide range of radio in French or Spanish
French radio (free) and Radio Podcast (French) offer a wide choice of French radio stations
Rap2France-All the news about French rap music (in French) with Youtube links, news and interviews.
E-books :
Fables (La Fontaine), Alcools (Apollinaire), Le Rouge et Le Noir (Stendhal) and Une Vie (Maupassant) are free on the Classique application. More classics are also available in Spanish or German.
How do I keep up to date?
My favourite is now the appbzr application. It is great to find “price-drops” or apps that are free for a limited period only. It also have a top 100 for apps in different countries including Germany, Italy and Japan-shame it does not include Spain, though...
I have also set up a google spreadsheet where I have collected the names of more than 100 language-related iPhone/ iPodTouch applications, most of them free. The spreadsheet can be accessed from here.
Looking forward to sharing more resources...
I have also set up a google spreadsheet where I have collected the names of more than 100 language-related iPhone/ iPodTouch applications, most of them free. The spreadsheet can be accessed from here.
Looking forward to sharing more resources...
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