Select a Topic and Materials

You may reach a point when you are comfortable with the foundational vocabulary and grammar found in your language textbook, and what you need now is exposure to more advanced subjects and materials that will give you a chance to push your language skills to the next level. If you are taking a Topics course with us---or if you are just looking for a way to structure your independent study---we recommend selecting a specific topic to focus on, to help you narrow down your choice of materials and develop the ability to converse about a specialized subject.

Below are a few methods to help you select your topic. If you already have a topic you are strongly interested in, you can move on to finding materials.

Selecting a Topic

• Follow one of these sample course outlines
  • Current Events (Dari) (Word doc)
  • Literature (Romanian) (Word doc)
• Use lists & keywords
• Use Concept Mapping
• Consult with a Librarian or Writing Center
  • A librarian can also help you find materials about your topic and further research related to it.
  • Libraries: Ask a librarian or make a research appointment with librarian:
    • Amherst College
    • Hampshire College
    • Mount Holyoke College
    • Smith College
    • UMass
  • Make a Writing Center appointment:
    • Amherst College
    • Hampshire College
    • Mount Holyoke College
    • Smith College
    • UMass

Finding Materials

There are many resources available online and through your campus library. Here are some options for where to find resources that fit your topic.

• Library Resources:
  • Search the Library:
    • Library Catalogs:
      • Amherst College
      • Hampshire College
      • Mount Holyoke College
      • Smith College
      • UMass
  • Search Library resource/research guides for the target language, region, country, topic of study:
    • Amherst College
    • Hampshire College
    • Mount Holyoke College
    • Smith College
    • UMass
  • Ask a librarian or make a research appointment with librarian:
    • Share your topic and interest in finding resources in your target language
      • A research librarian can also help with your topic selection
      • Amherst College
      • Hampshire College
      • Mount Holyoke College
      • Smith College
      • UMass
• Language-specific resource documents:
  • Arabic (MSA and dialects)
  • Bangla
  • Cantonese
  • Czech
  • Danish
  • Dutch
  • Filipino
  • Greek
  • Haitian Creole
  • Hindi
  • Irish
  • Norwegian
  • Persian
  • Swahili
  • Turkish
  • Urdu
  • Vietnamese
  • Yoruba
  • We are updating and adding languages; if you don’t see the language you’re studying listed, ask us for any resources we do have.
    • If you have resources to add, please share them with us. You can email your course organizer, put it in your self-assessment, or tell us in the course evaluation at the end of the semester.
• LangMedia language collections
• GLOSS - Global Language Online Support System
• Language Courses
  • Many of these have language basics; some have more extensive resources for some languages
  • Beelinguapp
  • HeadStart2
  • Live Lingua Project (public domain courses)
    • Foreign Service Institute Language Courses
    • Peace Corps Language Courses
    • Defense Language Institute Language Courses
  • MyLanguages
  • Omniglot (look at the resource lists at bottom)
  • Open Culture
• News/Radio
  • BBC News (scroll over title to see language name in URL)
  • Media Landscapes
  • 4 International Media & Newspapers
  • Learning through online news sources
  • All You Can Read
• Podcasts
  • Depending on the app you are using, you can try the following:
    • Search for the name of the language
    • Change the language setting or add a preferred language
    • Change the country location
• Tedx
  • Search for the target language
  • Search YouTube as a whole ‘Tedx’ AND a location where the language is spoken (major cities work best, but try also: country, region, universities)
    • E.g. Tedx Beirut ; Tedx Bangkok ; Tedx Oslo
• YouTube
  • Change your country location to see trending videos
  • Change your language setting
  • Search for the language or country or a specific region, city or university
  • Search using the term in the target language
  • Use a language captioning service:
    • Language Reactor
• Streaming services (such as Netflix, Hulu, Mubi, Magnolia)
  • Rakuten Viki: Asian TV shows
  • Use a language captioning service:
    • Language Reactor
• Encyclopedia/Wikipedia in other languages
  • Select your language from the Wikipedia homepage.
  • Find a topically relevant article and click the Languages drop down to see if your language is present.
  • Compare and contrast the English and target language articles.
  • Follow references or external links for additional information.