Welcome to the Language Learning bookshelf!

We in SIL believe it is important for the language field worker to learn as much as possible of the language and culture of each minority and endangered language we work with. In the last 50+ years, language workers from SIL have learned more than one thousand different languages!

Most of those languages had never been written down. They had no dictionaries, textbooks, or grammar descriptions --- and there weren't any language courses or schools to attend.

SIL has been helping people prepare to learn new languages on their own for more than 15 years. We have found that

• People don't all learn in the same way
• Different languages present different challenges
• Different learning situations may require flexible approaches
  

Many language workers have had to design and manage their own language learning, but they often don't know where to start or how to go ahead. Or they may have tried a method that didn't seem to fit their personality or their situation.

The Language Learning bookshelf has been designed to help you discover the right resources to help you in your particular situation.

Using the Language Learning bookshelf

• You will discover how you learn best and how to use your strengths in language learning
• You will have help in setting your own goals, designing a learning plan, and choosing language learning techniques and activities
• You will learn how to check up on your progress, and to identify and solve your personal language learning problems
• The Language Learning bookshelf can even help you tune your ear to distinguish phonetic sounds better and make them more accurately
  

The Language Learning bookshelf has a wide range of

• articles by language learning coaches
• worksheets for planning and managing your language learning that you can modify for your situation.
  

The bookshelf also includes IPA Tutor. This program allows you to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet on your own. The program allows you to listen to, distinguish, and mimic the sounds represented by the IPA and to learn the symbols and technical names of each sound. These skills may help you to develop a better pronunciation in a new language, to be able to transcribe the sounds in a way that others can read, and to understand written descriptions of the sound systems of languages.

We know your computer can't teach you a language. The only way you can really learn a language and culture is by interacting with people. The resources of the Language Learning bookshelf are linked together in a way that you will be able to browse wherever your interest and needs lead you.