Center for East Asian Studies
Institute for Regional and International Studies

Language Study Resources

This page features resources, materials, and links to support the teaching and studying of East Asian languages inside and outside the classroom. In addition to language-specific resources, there is also a section that supports all language studies.

Languages

UW-Madison Faculty Developed Resources

General Language Study

  • Anki: Software to design flash cards.
  • ARIS: Create location-based games and stories.
  • Clozemaster: Learn vocabulary (for over 50 languages) in context by filling in the missing word for thousands of sentences.
  • Edpuzzle: Platform to reinforce accountability and engage students during video lessons.
  • Flipgrid: Social learning platform for video creations and discussions, including the capability to link up with a class in a different region of the world as “grid” pals.
  • Forvo: Select the language you want and type the word you’re looking for into the search bar, and you’ll hear it spoken by a native speaker.
  • Kahoot!: Game-based learning platform.
  • Lead with Languages: Advocacy site for learning languages. Each language page features scholarships, programs, and a detailed explanation of why the language is important.
  • LingQ: 1000s of hours of podcasts, audiobooks, interviews, courses, and more for various languages.
  • Nearpod: Instructional platform that merges formative assessment and dynamic media for collaborative learning experiences.
  • Quizlet: Learning platform loaded with flashcards, games, and learning tools.
  • Siftr: Citizen science app that allows educators to create projects for any topic, and encourages students to enter the field and collect data.

Chinese

Japanese

  • Easy Japanese (NHK World-Japan): Offers free conversation and grammar lessons, as well as free audio/textbook downloads.
  • Genki’s Self-Study Room: Offers a variety of online materials to support the learning of Japanese. The materials specifically pair with Genki textbooks but are also useful for additional practice.
  • Japanese for Life in Japan (IRODORI): A series of free course books available as PDFs published by the Japan Foundation Japanese-Language Institute. The series is designed on the JF standard.
  • JapanesePod101: Offers a free and subscription membership to podcast lessons and other Japanese learning materials.
  • Jisho: Japanese-English dictionary for words, kanji, and example sentences.
  • Kanji Alive: A free study tool for reading and writing kanji.
  • Library of Congress’ Japanese Romanization Table
  • Marugoto Plus: Corresponds to the Marugoto textbook series but is useful for additional practice of Japanese. Marugoto aims to encompass culture through practicing the language in a daily conversation style.
  • News Web Easy (NHK): News in Japanese, featuring furigana (Japanese reading aid).
  • Nihongo eな: Portal that offers sites, tools, and ideas for learning Japanese.
  • Nihongo Switch: A weekly podcast by a native-speaking Japanese tutor. The podcast is aimed at intermediate learners and has a listening, watching, and reading (transcripts) option.
  • Online Japanese Accent Dictionary (OJAD): Database that allows users to look up the pitch accent of Japanese words.
  • Puni Puni: Japanese video lessons for beginners and cultural content.
  • Ryou Flashcards: Web app for learning and studying kanji and vocabulary words. The app contains more than 2,000 kanji and 8,000 vocabulary words, which can be studied based on the JLPT level or the Japanese grade school level they appear in.
  • Tofugu: Website featuring Japanese grammar guides, in-depth looks at Japanese vocabulary, Japanese resource and textbook reviews, etc. Be on the lookout for their articles discussing the newest Japanese learning resources.
    • Tofugu creators also founded WaniKani: A Japanese kanji and vocabulary learning web app that uses spaced repetition, mnemonics, interleaving, and more. Only levels 1 through 3 are available for free.

Korean

Tibetan