Parents

British Council Arabic Language and Culture 

The Arabic Blooms channel on Youtube has many playlists for learners of different ages. One playlist called Learn Arabic with Short Stories comprises 27 short videos and is aimed at children who are complete beginners

Free resources from the British Council include:

Great Languages Challenge - available in Arabic (as well as German, French, Mandarin, Spanish and Welsh) 

Try the Arabic Language and Culture education pack and you will become familiar with Arabic greetings, numbers to ten as well as Arabic fables and geometric tiles. The resource is free to download 

The Try Arabic app was created by British Council and Pendragon Education with funding from Qatar Foundation International. Available free

DinoLingo Arabic for children - opportunity to try a free lesson  NB. Full programme comes at a cost. Programmes are available in many languages

Duolingo free language learning app available in Arabic and many other languages

Global Storybooks - on the website you can read, download, listen to a wide variety of stories available in Arabic in the Afghanistan section. Also available in other languages

British Council Great Languages Challenge - free download available in French (as well as Arabic, German, Mandarin, Spanish and Welsh)

Languages Online - lots of games and consolidation activities, developing progression

Radio Lingua High 5 French - resource which features many episodes with related activities to support the learners

L’Institut Français d’Ecosse  and Culturethèque - various resources and the opportunity to access the online library. Sign up details required

Peppa Pig Français – Chaîne Officielle – episodes of Peppa Pig in French

Digital Dialects - free to use games for home and school use

French-games.net - free interactive games – topic based

Powerlanguage for families - free French (and Spanish) courses for families from Powerlanguage

Nattalingo daily French challenge - daily challenge for children. This also links onto a weekly plan

BBC KS2 French

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in the French language section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

The French Game Board - from StampIT explores geography, flora and fauna. (Also available for Chinese, Spanish, Japanese and English)

Pollyglot Languages - YouTube channel with short videos covering a variety of topics in French

Supermovers - footballers Morgan Schneiderlin, Kurt Zouma and Lucas Digne help Ben Shires teach pupils all about French greetings

Hello-World - games and activities aimed at helping children learn French (many other languages also available on the site)

Lightbulb Languages Lumens French Award

Primary Resources – link to a variety of French resources

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in the Gaelic language section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

British Council Great Languages Challenge - free download available in German (as well as Arabic, French, Mandarin, Spanish and Welsh)

BBC Teach: Virtually There KS2 German - In this series of 10 short fun films, a British boy practices German by talking to a group of children in Berlin via a tablet. Revises basic German vocabulary in a series of real-life settings, and using memorable songs.

Languages Online German: selection of songs, games and activities both interactive and printable

Voyage Kids UK German Connection: Interactive games, stories and songs, craft activities to make and do, puzzles and more 

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in German in the 'Other languages' section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

Find out more about the German culture with these board games. Free to download

German Cultural Monopoly available from Pollyglot Languages. Also available in French and Spanish

Light Bulb Languages - find Lumen’s Language Challenges and Lumen’s German Award on the Light Bulb Languages website. Award also available to do in French and Spanish. You can share your successes on social media

Global Storybooks - on the website you can read, download, listen to a wide variety of stories in German from the 'Germany Storybooks Deutschland' section. Also available in other languages

Languages Online - has simple games to practise basic vocabulary. Also suitable for BGE

Primary Resources - covers lots of different topics for beginners

Learn Italian - has a wide range of topics, games and activities for primary Italian learners

Light Bulb Languages - has lots of games and puzzles for primary Italian learning; print and play!

The Italian Experiment - has activities and stories in Italian for primary pupils

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in Italian in the 'Other languages' section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

British Council Great Languages Challenge - free download available in Mandarin (as well as Arabic, German, French, Spanish and Welsh)

British Council: Year of the Tiger education pack - sound files to learn and practise Mandarin, learn about festivals

The Happy Emperor and other stories - e-books on the SCILT/CISS website

BBC Chinese for Beginners - many activities to support children and adults alike

Pandatree - games, videos, stories, books, activities

BBC KS2 Mandarin

Beyond the Panda resources for home learning - the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has new books online for home learning. Everyone can access the books which include a good mix of science and Mandarin. A useful tool is the planning and learning map which provides the language topic, the games and activities associated with that topic and where to find the resource on the website. There are a wide range of resources for Nursery, Primary and Secondary level covering various language topics, cultural topics and environmental science. There are also sound files available spoken by a native Mandarin speaker, which will be most useful at this time

The Mandarin Game Board - from StampIT explores geography, flora and fauna. (Also available for French, Spanish, Japanese and English)

Mandarin at the Museum - the National Museum of Scotland invites you to explore some of its Chinese collection in the company of Dahai the dragon

BBC Teach: Virtually There KS2 Spain: a series of 10 short films 

BBC bitesize KS2 Spanish: wide range of videos 

Languages Online Spanish: selection of songs, games and activities both interactive and printable 

Rockalingua live classes on Facebook: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays at 6:00 pm UK time. Classes will be about 30 minutes long 

Spanish Playground YouTube playlist for Habla Pamela and Habla Jorge video series, both ideal for young learners. Additional materials for each episode on the Spanish Playground website 

Supermovers Spanish with footballers Marc Navarro, Héctor Bellerín and Gerard Deulofeu 

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in the Spanish language section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

Light Bulb Languages YouTube channel - has several playlist for youngsters learning Spanish and French. An exciting recent addition is the ‘Spanish for children’ playlist of over 20 short video lessons with Clare Seccombe covering simple vocabulary in 3-8 minute bursts  

Maestra Ibrahim’s YouTube channel - if you are looking for interactive, engaging and novice level input then check out this channel for practical craft tasks and fun physical activities 

Find out more about the Spanish-speaking world with these board games. Free to download. 

The Spanish Game Board - from StampIT explores geography, flora and fauna. (Also available for French, Chinese, Japanese and English)

The Spanish Cultural Monopoly - available from Pollyglot Languages. Also available in French and German 

Spanish Playground - printable Spanish Boardgames and game cards from the Spanish Playground website 

Light Bulb Languages - find Lumen’s Language Challenges and Lumen’s Spanish Award on the Lightbulb Languages website. Award also available to do in French and German.  You can share your successes on social media

¡HolaSpeekee! - a free 10-week program for children to learn Spanish at home is available from 20 April 2020. A wide range of free Spanish printables are also available to download. NB registration required

Global Storybooks - on the website you can read, download and listen to a wide variety of stories in Spanish from the ‘Cuentos para México’ section. Also available in other languages

Vocabulary for Playing Games in Spanish -  a free 12 page ebook containing all the vocabulary you will need to play games such as tag, tic tac toe (noughts & crosses) and rock paper scissors in Spanish
Follow @Anfield Spanish on Twitter and join in with the regular songs and activities posted

Lulu Maria Fun Spanish: watch and join in Spanish

Check out the Irene en casa clips on the Primary Languages Network Youtube channel. Go on a virtual holiday with Irene or make a fruit salad, practice your Spanish pronunciation, do some mindfulness exercises or make tomato bread

BSL

School of Sign Language - free learning resources for BSL, amazing online learning programme for Primary Sign

Let's Learn BSL! - channel on YouTube offering a series of 11 lessons

EAL and Bilingualism

We have included a section on how to support bilingual children during the school closures on our EAL and Bilingualism web pages. This includes a video from Naomi Flynn, the Director of Bilingualism Matters in Reading.

Japanese

Science in the Language Class - the Royal Zoological Society in Scotland (RZSS) has at least one free game in the Japanese language section of the series. Suitable for upper primary/lower secondary level mainly covering basic language topics - numbers, colours, body parts, weather and of course environmental science

The Japanese Game Board - from StampIT explores geography, flora and fauna. (Also available for French, Spanish, Chinese and English)

Multilingual

Linguacuisine app - allows you to search for and play recipes so that you can try out a range of delicious dishes from international cultures and cuisines, while learning the language. Recipes available in: English, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Catalan, Turkish, Quechua, Chinese and Korean. Select one of these in ‘recipe language’, then press ‘search’ and the recipe will appear. Available for iOS and Android.

Around the World - education packs from the British Council about life and culture in different countries around the world, including Indonesia, Poland, China, Mexico, Arabia and India. New addition of a pack for Russia (June 2020)

Hello-World- games and activities aimed at helping children learn a language. Many world languages are available on the site

Polish

Fun Kids Live - website which features a beginner's guide to learning Polish with the Polish Cultural Institute in London

Digital Dialects - free online Polish language games for kids

Polish Language and Culture Education Pack - free resource pack from the British Council

Overview of the following two team-created resources under the guidance of Dr Elwira Grossman for Polish as L3:

• Gwiazda Kopernika – The Star of Copernicus
• 1+2 Polish: Wojtek the Bear

Free textbooks for teaching Polish abroad:

• Podręcznik „Raz, dwa, trzy i po polsku mówisz ty!” / Textbook: "One, two three and you can speak Polish!"
• Język Polski bez Granic / Polish for free

Other resources to practise Polish:

• e-Polish
• Study Polish

A Foreigner’s Guide to the Polish Alphabet

A presentation of the Polish alphabet

Russian

Russia for Kids - The Russian Language and Culture project was a collaborative project by the British Council and the Scotland-Russia Forum in 2020.

An introductory course for Arabic, “Discovering The Arabic World” will be available to all secondary learners, starting at the end of May 2020 and running for four weeks. This will be delivered live online via e-Sgoil. Details for registration for this course to follow.

Many of the resources in this section are available in a number of languages and so you will see the same websites in the help sections of all the languages where they can be used!

This is language - although this is not available for individuals to access, schools can subscribe to it for free at the moment, and many have. Learners receive a login which allows access to a wide range of video, grammar and interactive activities

There are a number of other websites which are also free for schools just now, so look out for messages from your school with login details.

Coffee Break French - Coffee Break French from Radio Lingua has short podcasts and online courses available at all levels from Absolute Beginner to Upper Advanced; these will really help with your listening and pronunciation

Kahoot! - Kahoot! is making its premium service available for free to schools, with a wide range of quizzes and activities for interactive online learning. You can also make your own login which lets you access all games that are available publicly; search for a topic, eg French sports, to play along. Also available as an app

Duolingo - learn a language for free online, or download the app for easier access. There is a huge range of languages available, so it is great for both developing a language that you already know, and for learning some new ones!

Quizlet - lots of flashcard-based activities covering a wide range of topics and grammar points. Available online and as an app

Lyrics Training - fill in the gaps to the lyrics of French pop songs as you listen, and sing karaoke to your favourites!

Scholar – all Senior Phase learners have been issued with a login from their schools.  Materials available for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher French 

Bright Red publications – materials for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are available through the Bright Red Digital Zone. You need to create an account, but the resource is free. To access the Advanced Higher resources, click through to the Higher section – Advanced Highers are at the bottom of the list down the left-hand side of the screen 

BBC Bitesize French – activities available for National 4, National 5 and Higher. Scroll down the page to choose your level 

News in Slow French – you may have had enough of the news lately! This site is great for practising your listening; podcasts feature the news in French presented more slowly so you can follow it more easily 

ABC Français - has a wide range of grammar practice tasks, but also some interesting reading passages about French history and art

Free French games - on the Apprendre, Réviser, Mémoriser website there are 13 free French games available to download. Different ones are suitable for different ages. The second link, which goes through to Print & Play versions of 10 games from AuJeuMag are available in Spanish, Italian, Polish, Dutch, German, Czech as well as French and English

Tania Czajka from Le Petit Monde Puppet Theatre is offering support to families whose children / young people are learning French at school. Support with homework or conversational practice via Skype is available. Parents interested in taking up this offer during the school closures should contact Tania at info@lepetitmonde.co.uk

French films on streaming platforms - this Culturethèque blogpost has compiled a list of streaming platforms where you can watch French films and recommends which movies to view

Scholar – all Senior Phase learners have been issued with a login from their schools.  Materials available for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher German

Bright Red publications – materials for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher are available through the Bright Red Digital Zone.  You need to create an account, but the resource is free.  To access the Advanced Higher resources, click through to the Higher section – Advanced Highers are at the bottom of the list down the left-hand side of the screen

BBC Bitesize German – activities available for National 4, National 5 and Higher. Scroll down the page to choose your level

LangsamgesprocheneNachrichten (News in Slow German) – you may have had enough of the news lately! This site is great for practising your listening; podcasts feature the news in German presented more slowly so you can follow it more easily

Slow German - a German podcast by Annik Rubens – covers various topics and you can download the transcripts too. A great way of practising listening skills and building up your vocabulary too

Nancy Thuleen - useful German grammar site

Deutsche Welle - a current affairs website which also has a Learn German section for all levels. A desktop only part of the website can also be accessed at https://www.dw.com/en/learn-german/s-2469 They have different videos including a series called NicosWeg and a short soap-opera called Jojosucht das Gluck

This is language - schools can subscribe to this service for free, and can issue learners with a login which allows access to a wide range of video, grammar and interactive activities 

Kahoot! - Kahoot! is making its premium service available for free to schools, with a wide range of quizzes and activities for interactive online learning 

Duolingo - learn a language for free online, or download the app.  Wide range of languages available 

Memrise Italian - has lots of courses at all levels and of all types (vocabulary, grammar, conversation etc); this is free but you do need to sign up for it. Also available as an app

Online Italian Club - has lots of resources to practise vocabulary, skills and grammar, and adds new activities each week 

Supereva is great for practising reading and listening with up-to-date, interesting news articles and stories 

News in Slow Italian– as described, authentic Italian news in podcast form so you can follow it more easily 

Teach Italian - has a variety of resources; although it is aimed at teachers in England, it has some good resources and links which could be helpful here too 

Raiplay - is an Italian streaming site which lets you watch everything from Peppa Pig to films and sport in Italian! Needs a log-in but it’s free to do this 

Rai Cultura - is an advanced learning site which teaches and practises language and culture 

Italiano per Stranieri - is an Italian site which uses games, texts and exercises to teach language and cultural elements. Challenging but worth a look!

Scholar – all Senior Phase learners have been issued with a login from their schools.  Materials available for National 5, Mandarin

BBC Bitesize Mandarin – activities available for National 4, National 5. Scroll down the page to choose your level

Po polsku po Polsce

If you are looking to learn some Polish, this self-directed e-learning course might be for you. Jointly supported by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jaggiellonian University in Krakow, this interactive course supports learners to reach a level of A1 in Polish language. For each lesson, there is a cultural element that links to the language lesson. The language lessons are in Polish with sound files to support and there is a Language Bank, also in Polish, to help.

Visit Website

Scholar – all Senior Phase learners have been issued with a login from their schools.  Materials available for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher Spanish 

Español Extra – some free sample resources to practise grammar and all skills  

Bright Red publications – materials for National 5 and Higher are available through the Bright Red Digital Zone. You need to create an account, but the resource is free 

BBC Bitesize Spanish – activities available for National 4, National 5 and Higher 

News in Slow Spanish – as described, authentic Spanish news read slowly so you can follow it more easily

Arsenal Double Club Home Learning - new resources in 10 themes for learners of Spanish developed in partnership with the Consejería de Educación – The Spanish Embassy’s Education Office. The resources feature Arsenal’s Uruguayan international Lucas Torreira and Spanish star Dani Ceballos. Double Club home learning activities also available for French

Pachas en Perú - a YouTube channel comprising a compilation of over 100 short video interviews, organised by topics and level of challenge. Authentic materials about food, families, professions, tourism, the arts, the history of Peru, sports and much much more

BSL

School of Sign Language- free learning resources for BSL

Let's Learn BSL!- channel on YouTube offering a series of 11 lessons

EAL and Bilingualism

We have included a section on how to support bilingual children during the school closures on our EAL and Bilingualism web pages. This includes a video from Naomi Flynn, the Director of Bilingualism Matters in Reading

Multilingual

Au Jeu Mag - is offering a selection of games which are free to print and play. Suitable for different ages and available in a range of languages including Spanish, Italian, Polish, Dutch, German, Czech as well as French and English

Independent language learning - an interactive pdf offering suggested resources to help pupils with remote self-study

Linguacuisine app - allows you to search for and play recipes so that you can try out a range of delicious dishes from international cultures and cuisines, while learning the language. Recipes available in: English, Greek, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Catalan, Turkish, Quechua, Chinese and Korean. Select one of these in ‘recipe language’, then press ‘search’ and the recipe will appear. Available for iOS or Android