March 2009

Here is a short video tutorial to perform multilingual journal searches in the Auraria Library's many Ebsco databases. Select the tutorial for Multilingual Options. http://support.ebsco.com/training/tutorials.php


February 2009

Literacy Coalition of Colorado functions as a referral service for individuals and groups by matching them with local programs providing ESL instruction, citizenship classes, family programs, and more. www.literacycolorado.org


January 2009

TV 411 is the television series for adults who want to strengthen their literacy skills. It is produced by the Adult Literacy Media Alliance (ALMA). www.tv411.org
December 2008

The New Americans site is really interesting. In addition to a quiz, there are online videos, recipes, music, a journal where people can record their migration stories, and more. http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/quiz.html Literacy News has a free, computerized Readability Tester. The tester can analyze a sample of course materials using a variety of formulas including Flesch Reading Ease, Fog Level, and Flesch-Kincaid. http://www.literacynews.com/free-readability-tester.php


NOVEMBER 2008

Center for Digital Storytelling www/storycenter.org This excellent website has audio stories recorded by individuals of all ages, from all walks of life, many of whom have come to the U.S. from afar. Thoughtful, emotionally direct stories provide listening practice for ESL students. Click on "watch stories".

The Key: A Newspaper for New Readers www,keynews.org The Key features current news in an easy-to-read format

Colonial House Interactive History November is a time for giving thanks. This fun, interactive site highlights the early colonial period of the first Thanksgiving feasts. Be sure to take the quiz "Would you have survived on the colony?" Click on the "interactive" link

OCTOBER 2008

Baseball Idioms (Interactive) This is a light-hearted, interactive quiz just in time for the World Series.
Federal Reserve System Banks, money, credit, and bank failures are daily newsfare. These pages explain the Federal Reserve in terms ESL students, and even we poor, confused citizens, can understand.

Federal Reserve Quiz (Interactive) There are more quizzes and games here.

Many liken current economic developments to the Great Depression. What do they mean? The Great Depression recordings of Presidents Hoover and Roosevelt provide good listening practice for ESL students. The accompanying text provides an excellent nutshell summary of those times. Click on the hotlink, then click on "listen".



CITIZENSHIP

Supreme Court Justices Quiz

U.S. Constitution Quiz (Interactive)

The Jury System (Interactive Quiz)

United States General Knowledge (Interactive)

Vote Book (Interactive Quiz) http://heraldsun.southernheadlines.com/votebook/citizenship/ The practice test is based on the official test. The computer randomly selects a different set of questions every time you take the test. The multiple choice format allows you to choose an answer and get your score as you go along.

Citizenship Toolkit AURARIA LIBRARY GOVPUB DVD HS 8.19:T61/DVD

Promise of Freedom: Introduction to U.S. History and Civics for Immigrants AURARIA LIBRARY GOVPUB DVD HS 8.19:H62/DVD

More English As A Second Language: Resources for ESL Students Here are just a few resources students who do not speak English as a primary language may find useful... WEB SITES Dave's ESL Cafe <http://www.pacificnet.net/~sperling/eslcafe.html> Created by Dave Sperling, an ESL Instructor at California State University at Northridge, this site provides a wealth of information related to teaching or learning English as a second language. Includes a Discussion Center, a Quiz Center, an Idiom Page, and a Help Center. .The ESL Center <http://members.aol.com/eslkathy/esl.htm> Links to many Web sites for grammar; exercises; pronunciation and conversation; reading and writing; newspapers and magazines; televsion, cable, and radio sites; vocabulary and word games; business English; dictionaries; and travel resources. Internet English Resources <http://www.iei.uiuc.edu/student_internet_res.html> Links to ESL resources on the Web for grammar, listening/speaking, pronunciation, reading, writing, vocabulary, and other collections of Web links. DICTIONARIES Foreign Word <http://www.foreignword.com/Tools/transnow.htm> Search 178 dictionaries. Translate from 63 source languages into 64 target languages - over 300 language combinations. YourDictionary.com <http://www.yourdictionary.com/index.html> Provides a portal for language and language-related products and services with more than 1800 dictionaries in 250 languages The Oxford Dictionary of Idioms AURARIA LIBRARY REF PE1460 .O94 2004 Dictionary of American Slang AURARIA LIBRARY REF PE2846 .D457 2007 And just in time for the upcoming American elections... Hatchet Jobs and Hardball: the Oxford dictionary of American political slang AURARIA LIBRARY REF PE3727 .P6 H38 2004 PRONOUNCING GUIDES Easy Pronounciation (audiobook) Living Language This downloadable audiobook from Netlibrary may be accessed via the Auraria Library catalog. It has over 6 hours of pronounciation instruction. The Auraria Library does not own a large number of recorded books on language instruction so you may also want to check out your local public library for other types of sound recordings. WRITING GUIDES OWL Handouts in Outline Form <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/index.html> From Purdue University's Writing Lab, this site functions as a Web-version of an English grammar handbook. TOEFL STUDY GUIDES Here are just a few of the study guides available in the Auraria Library... Longman preparation course for the TOEFL test : next generation iBT / Deborah Phillips. Ref; LIB USE ONLY ; PE1128 .P46176 2005 400 must-have words for the TOEFL [electronic resource] / Lynn Stafford-Yilmaz, Lawrence J. Zwier. Internet; ONLINE ; PE1128 .S734 2005eb Delta's key to the next generation TOEFL® test : advanced skill practice / by Nancy Gallagher. Media, Ref PE1128 .G24 2004 MORE BOOKS To locate more books in the Auraria Library catalog, try subject headings such as English language Study and Teaching foreign speakers or English language Textbooks for foreign speakers Books in Languages Other than English ..and sometimes students need to take a break from English... Using the "Find A Book" line on the Auraria Home Page, type in the title, author, or subject to be requested and hit "go". When a list of titles appears, use the limit/sort button and pull down language menu to select works in a language other than English. If a book is not owned in the Auraria Library, hit the Search Prospector button to see if you can order it from another Colorado library. If not, interlibrary loan service is available. Digital Assets Repository Bibliotheca Alexandrina (http:// dar.bibalex.org) This is a select but nice collection of Arabic scroll and flip books. E-Libro (Spanish E-Books) database trial This is here for a limited time only. Let the library know if you like it. user name elibro password jy6aTalq LitGloss A select, but nicely rounded, selection of e-books in languages other than English. Newspapers in Languages Other than English Here are some databases you may want to try... Internet Public Library: Newspapers User-friendly access to newspapers from around the globe Kidon Media-Link: 19306 newspapers and other news sources, Kidon Media-Link Links to 19,306 newspapers from almost every country and territory of the world LexisNexis® Academic: News Provides news coverage from major world newspapers in Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and other languages. SoftLine - ENW Ethnic Newswatch Spanish-English coverage includes a minority slant on the news and the "other side of the story" Tobey Stein 2008 Tobey Stein

Auraria Library ESL Guide