World Languages Video CollectionThis collection features language instruction titles for Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, American Sign Language, and Spanish as well as hundreds of supplemental titles on the culture, history, literature, and art of the countries where those languages are spoken. Many of the supplemental titles are presented in the native tongue, often with English subtitles—ideal for listening comprehension practice.
Collection Highlights:
Real Chinese – a 10-part series that reveals today’s China—its people, their traditions, and their evolving lifestyles—all in the context of building Chinese vocabulary and phrasing knowledge.
Sueños: World Spanish – a 20-part series covering practical basics for beginning speakers of Spanish—shows the language being used in the richly diverse cultural contexts of Spain, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay, and the U.S.
Being… Italian: A Language Primer – a program shot entirely on location in Rome that follows a pair of Italian students through their daily lives as it demonstrates the meanings and usages of numerous words, phrases, and expressions. A great learning tool that mixes fun, facts, and real-world situations to reinforce language comprehension. Also available: Being…Chinese; Being… Spanish; Being… French; and Being… German.
Talk German – filmed in and around Munich, an energetic six-part series introducing all of the necessary components of contemporary conversational German while spotlighting cultural aspects of the country. Also available: Talk Italian; Talk Spanish; and Talk French.
That Surprising French Language – an engaging five-part series that studies a language often called the most cultured and colorful in the world. Topics include reading and writing, speaking and spelling, a bit of French history, and a journey around the globe to see and appreciate the universality and vitality of the language.
On-the-Go Chinese with Xinwen: Mandarin Chinese Language Lessons – taking a functional approach to language acquisition, a massive collection of 50 three-minute lessons that uses simple scenarios based on everyday situations to immerse learners in the elements of practical conversation.
Multilingual Hong Kong: A Sociolinguistic Case Study of Code-Switching – makes the hot-button phenomenon of language mixing (Cantonese and English) easily accessible through interviews with dozens of Hong Kong residents as well as linguistics experts.
Asi Son! Video Clip Collection (in Spanish) – specially created to help students understand casual, conversational Spanish—a sitcom-formatted collection of 10 video clips centering on a group of young friends living in Madrid who share the ups and downs of daily life.
Fire & Ink: The Legacy of Latin American Literature (Spanish with English subtitles) – a 13-part, Telly Award-winning Spanish-language series that guides viewers chronologically and thematically through Latin America’s varied genres and narrative styles, linking them to centuries of warfare, colonization, and national struggles for independence and identity.
The Molière Collection by La Comédie-Française (in French) – an outstanding 10+ hour collection of Molière’s plays in French. Dramatized by France’s oldest and most prestigious theater company, La Comédie-Française, which was formed in 1680 by Louis XIV himself.
The Glories of Spanish Literature (in Spanish) – filmed on location at literary landmarks throughout Spain, a stylish 13-part series, in Spanish, that examines the rich history of Spanish literature.