Online courses directory (93)

This is a mini-course for individuals with no proficiency or extremely limited knowledge of Arabic language and culture who are about to begin study or work in an Arabic-speaking context. The course will introduce learners to basic concepts and information to facilitate entry and engagement in an Arabic-speaking environment.

Basic Chinese – Introduction to Social and Leisure Activities is a free online Chinese language course that will take you through the basics of talking about your social and leisure time, from your hobbies and sports interests to making plans to meet with friends or go to the movies as well as talking about your planned vacation. You will also learn about the Chinese festivals and how they are celebrated. You will be able to go the mall and buy something to wear or a gift for a friend. Words and phrases are presented via audio, Chinese script, Pinyin and English to facilitate learning. The content is broken down into key terms and vocabulary. There are also video clips accompanied by a transcript and translation with additional key cultural and grammatical points being highlighted and explained. This free online Chinese language course will be of great interest to anybody wanting to travel to China, either as a tourist or for business, business people who have regular contact with Chinese colleagues and for any learner who has an interest in speaking or reading Chinese. <br />

When traveling in a foreign country everybody needs to know how to book a hotel room, check in and check out as well as the basics of ordering something to eat and drink in a restaurant or cafe. This free online Chinese language course will take you through the basics of reserving a room and enquiring about facilities to checking out and paying the bill. You will also learn how to order tea and coffee in a café and also how to order core dishes and a drink in a restaurant. Words and phrases are presented via audio, Chinese script, Pinyin and English to facilitate learning. The content is broken down into key terms and vocabulary. There are also video clips accompanied by a transcript and translation with additional key cultural and grammatical points being highlighted and explained. This free online Chinese language course will be of great interest to anybody wanting to travel to China, either as a tourist or for business, business people who have regular contract with Chinese colleagues and for any learner who had an interest in speaking or reading Chinese. <br />

While China has increasingly adopted Western influences, the traditional family structure is still highly valued and holds a prominent position in Chinese culture. This free online Chinese language course will help you converse confidently about your family. You will learn how to tell people more about your family, from how many brothers and sisters or children you have, what age they are, what they are studying, and what your parents work at. You will get an overview of the Chinese family and its role in Chinese life and well as a detailed list of how family members are referred to. Words and phrases are presented via audio, Chinese script, Pinyin and English to facilitate learning. The content is broken down into key terms and vocabulary. There are also video clips accompanied by a transcript and translation with key cultural and grammatical points being highlighted and explained. This free online Chinese language course will be of great interest to anybody wanting to travel to China, either as a tourist or for business, business people who have regular contact with Chinese colleagues and for any learner who has an interest in speaking or reading Chinese. <br />

Building on the ‘First Contact’ course you will learn how to say more about yourself, from stating where you are from and what languages you speak to telling others what you are studying and describing your family. When talking about age you are introduced to numbers. You will also learn about the formation of the written Chinese characters, the types of strokes and the order in which the strokes are placed, the formation of words and the different styles of writing. The difference between Simplified and Traditional Chinese is briefly explained as well as how to use a Chinese dictionary. Words and phrases are presented via audio, Chinese script, Pinyin and English to facilitate learning. The content is broken down in key terms, vocabulary. There are also video clips accompanied by a transcript and translation with key cultural and grammatical points being highlighted and explained. This free online Chinese language course will be of great interest to anybody wanting to travel to China, either as a tourist or for business, business people who have regular contact with Chinese colleagues and for any learner who has an interest in speaking or reading Chinese.<br />

China is a large country with many large cities so at some stage the traveller to China will need to use transport to travel around the country or a city. This free online Chinese language course will take you through the basics of getting a taxi, giving the driver directions, and paying the fare. You will also learn how to ask for directions to local places of interest and use the bus to get there. For travelling longer distances you will learn how to enquire about train departure and arrival times, and book and pay for the ticket. Words and phrases are presented via audio, Chinese script, Pinyin and English to facilitate learning. The content is broken down into key terms and vocabulary and there are also video clips accompanied by a transcript and translation, with additional key cultural and grammatical points being highlighted and explained. This free online Chinese language course will be of great interest to anybody wanting to travel to China, either as a tourist or for business, business people who have regular contract with Chinese colleagues and for any learner who had an interest in speaking or reading Chinese. <br />

French is spoken by millions of people in many countries around the world and is a very popular second language to learn. ALISON's free online course is a series of engaging video lessons for beginners that introduces the learner to various aspects of the French language including basic French vocabulary and grammar. By studying this French course you will quickly pick up conversational French that will help you deal with everyday situations you may find yourself in when you visit a French speaking country. <br /><br />ALISON's online course will help you learn French online and will be of great interest to all learners who want to pick up basic French language skills.<br />

German is spoken by nearly one hundred million people in central European countries such as Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union. Germany is internationally recognised as the industrial and economic powerhouse of Europe, so a working knowledge of German is essential for professionals in areas such as business, finance, economics and politics. In this free online German language course you will be introduced to basic German vocabulary and grammar. You will learn about times of the day, colours, numbers, the alphabet, and important verbs. This free online German language course will be of great interest to all professionals who would like to begin learning German, and to all learners who would like to be introduced to this very important European language.<br />

Discover how easy it can be to learn common words and phrases for both leisure and business.

Whether you want to learn conversational Japanese for travel or just for fun, you'll find this course makes it easy and enjoyable for beginners to master the essentials of the Japanese language.

Proper grammar is essential to communicating well in English. ALISON's free online English diploma course introduces the fundamental aspects of English grammar and explains how they should be applied in written and spoken English.<br /><br />The first section of this course explains the role of grammar in English. Following this, the importance of punctuation is described. The online English grammar course also explains the different parts of speech and the role they play in English sentences. Finally, the course introduces all of the tenses used in the English language through well-produced videos.<br /><br />This free online English grammar course is ideal for English language students who wish to complement their vocabulary and phrases with a greater understanding of grammar. It is also suitable for native English speakers who want to revise their grammar or learn to communicate more effectively.<br />

International tourism is a vital part of the economy of many countries and with its continued growth the tourist industry will provide many employment opportunities for individuals with the appropriate skills and qualifications. This course allows you combine the study of many aspects of international tourism and tourism-focused English language skills. The course describes the formation of the tourist industry as well as outlining its sectors and employment opportunities. It then explains the needs of both business and pleasure travelers and the ways that tourism businesses/destinations can market themselves effectively. The final section explains how the tourist industry packages and sells tourism products through retail and online channels. English is the main language of international communication and is essential for people working in the tourist industry. This course introduces the English vocabulary necessary for working at a hotel reception or front desk. It explains how to communicate with potential customers during enquiries as well as how to reserve rooms for hotel guests. It then describes the steps involved in check-in and check-out and how to resolve customer complaints with helpful and non-offensive phrases. This course details the English necessary for working in restaurants in tourist areas or hotels. It explains how to take customer orders and provides key English expressions for every stage of restaurant service. This course details the English necessary for working in tourist information offices including how to provide directions, understand guidebooks and write press releases. The English needed for conducting guided tours is also defined. This free online course will be of great interest to all learners who would like to develop a career path in the tourist industry and who would like a qualification that combines study of international tourism with the practical application of tourism-focused English language skills.<br />

Elementary French I is a carefully sequenced and highly interactive presentation of French language and culture in a media-rich course environment including new video shot in France and Québec with young professional actors. It is designed to be used as a full course of study. To successfully use this course, you should be a motivated student with a sincere desire to learn about French language and francophone cultures, and be comfortable with computer technologies. The time commitment will typically average 6-8 hours per week. For information on studying French online vs. in person, see Who should study French Online? [1] in the course introduction. You will be prompted to create an account to access the course introduction, but you may click the “Look Inside” button to view the course without creating an account. [1] https://oli.cmu.edu/jcourse/webui/guest/activity.do?context=66b0f47680020ca600d89b07ced3c385

Elementary French II is a carefully sequenced and highly interactive presentation of French language and culture in a media-rich course environment including new video shot in France and Québec with young professional actors. It is designed to be used as a full course of study. To successfully use this course, you should be a motivated student with a sincere desire to learn about French language and francophone cultures, and be comfortable with computer technologies. The time commitment will typically average 6-8 hours per week. For information on studying French online vs. in person, see Who should study French Online? [1] in the course introduction. You will be prompted to create an account to access the course introduction, but you may click the “Look Inside” button to view the course without creating an account. [1] https://oli.cmu.edu/jcourse/webui/guest/activity.do?context=66b1239a80020ca600b009b100c1fc79

Spanish I can be adapted for a hybrid delivery system or solely distance delivery. The course is media-rich and interactive, driven by video that was shot on-site in Guadalajara, Mexico. Versions are available for low-cost use by instructor-led classes of enrolled students. To successfully use this course, you should be a motivated student with a sincere desire to learn the Spanish language and about cultures in the Spanish-speaking world, and be comfortable with computer technologies. The time commitment will typically average 8 hours per week.

This course provides an introduction to general semantics—the study of how we transform our life experiences into language and thought. Students will learn how their language habits and behaviors, as well as how they think about and share experiences, are what make them uniquely human. In other words, students will discover the critical, but sometimes subtle distinctions between what happens in their lives and how they talk about what happens. The course will include readings from a wide array of disciplines, such as communication studies, neuroscience, and cultural anthropology. It will also include visual and auditory demonstrations through music and social media, and collaborative interactions with fellow learners. These types of learning experiences allow students to not only learn about more effective language behaviors, but also practice those new behaviors in order to communicate more effectively and appropriately in interpersonal and organizational contexts.

French is spoken by 110 million native speakers, is an official language in 29 countries and has 190 million non-native speakers around the world. This free online course is ideal for learners who have had some exposure to the French language and want to continue improving their knowledge and understanding of both grammar and vocabulary of this wonderful language. You will start this free course by improving your pronunciation skills. This is followed by learning more useful vocabulary and further expanding your ability to count numbers in French. You will also improve your understanding and knowledge of grammar rules, in particular, the use of adjectives, adverbs and pronouns. This course will be of interest to business professionals doing business in French speaking countries and who would like to communicate more effectively with their French speaking colleagues, and to individual students learning French who would like to continue improving their understanding of this language.<br />

Do you want to sound like a native Spanish speaker? Get started by improving your accent. This course provides a practical introduction to Spanish pronunciation for students at all levels. It is taught in English and designed to provide an auditory and visual approach to learning pronunciation. Students will listen to audio files recorded by native speakers and then record themselves pronouncing the same words or phrases. In addition to playing back both recordings to compare the auditory differences, students will have an opportunity to view and compare visual sound waves of both audio recordings. These techniques will help learners assess and improve their pronunciation. Although it will be necessary to some extent, discussion of theoretical issues will be kept to a minimum with the emphasis being on accent reduction.

For learners who have studied our first two French courses, this third course will further increase your understanding of the French language. You will build on your existing knowledge of French vocabulary and master important areas of grammar that will greatly improve your comprehension of the French language and your ability to communicate effectively with native French speakers. In this free online French language course you will be taken step by step through grammar topics such as using adverbs and prepositions, using relative and demonstrative pronouns and understanding the differences between 'depuis', 'pendant', 'pour' and 'il y a'. You will also cover a wide range of new topics and learn vocabulary related to jobs, professions, religion, law and order, driving and music to name just a few. This course will be of great interest to all learners of the French language who would like to take their knowledge and understanding to a new level and further deepen their comprehension of this language.<br />

When learning a new language an important first step is to learn the rules of grammar that allow people express what they want to say and understand what others are saying in a coherent manner. An equally important second step is to practise using the rules of grammar to become proficient in communicating in the language. In this free online English language course you will get to practise using important rules of grammar that will greatly improve your ability to communicate in both spoken and written English. You will practise the use of tenses such as the present continuous, past perfect, past simple, present perfect continuous and past perfect continuous to improve your ability to communicate. You will also practise and learn how to use superlatives and comparatives, and practise using reported speech. This free online English language course will be of great interest to all learners who have studied previous English language courses on ALISON such as 'Fundamentals of English Grammar' and 'Introduction to Conversational English', and who now want to further practise and improve their ability to communicate confidently in English.<br />