Free Foreign Language Classes
Free foreign language classes are available from myriad websites and universities. Students can study different languages simply with an internet connection and a laptop or home computer.
Spanish Programs
This website offers a free online course in basic Spanish concepts and comprehension. The program makes available nearly 500 lessons. Topics include greetings, grammar, and verbs. Students can take quizzes to assess what they have learned.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MIT offers students the chance to learn about various foreign languages for free. Students can choose from languages like French, German, Chinese, and Japanese. The Japanese course has online resources with six lessons of practice materials. Study materials for the German course include 15 weeks of PDF files of handouts and classroom activities.
Open University
Open University provides a plethora of resources for students looking to study Spanish. Included are grammar tutorials, Spanish dictionaries, Spanish study aids, and online Spanish lessons. The advanced German course is designed for students who already know the language to increase their German speaking skills.
Carnegie Mellon University
This university offers two elementary French courses for interested students. Topics covered include origins, age, personality, my family, my neighborhood, modes of transport, and political opinions. Required materials for the courses will be chat and videoconferencing software.
About.com
This website offers online lessons in German for students looking to learn the language. Lessons will cover topics such as pronoun usage, verbs, adjectives, numbers, and nouns. Quizzes will help assess your knowledge.
Utah State University
Utah State University offers language language courses online for free in Chinese and Latin. For the Chinese course, students can access PDFs of worksheets and video lectures. In the Latin course, students will be able to browse a multitude of lessons on the subject, based on the textbook An Introduction to Latin, Based on Ancient Authors 3rd Edition. Lessons will cover things like nouns and adjectives, prepositions, and verbs.
Free Online Foreign Language Courses At a Glance
| Course & School | Program Level | Format | Assignments | Quizzes & Exams | Downloadable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic Spanish course from SpanishPrograms.com | Beginner | Online lessons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spanish I course from MIT | Undergraduate/graduate | Texts/in-class activities | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| French I course from MIT | Undergraduate/graduate | Textbooks | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German I course from MIT | Undergraduate | Texts/projects/study materials | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Chinese I course from MIT | Undergraduate | Textbooks/reports | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Japanese I course from MIT | Undergraduate/graduate | Texts/online lessons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Spanish resources from Open University | Beginner-advanced | Online resources/lessons/tutorials | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German course from Open University | Advanced | Text | Yes | No | Yes |
| Elementary French I course from Carnegie Mellon University | Beginner | Online lessons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Elementary French II course from Carnegie Mellon University | Beginner | Online lessons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| German for Beginners course from About.com | Beginner | Online lessons | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| First Year Chinese II course from Utah State University | Unspecified | Texts/video lectures | Yes | No | Yes |
| Beginning Latin course from Utah State University | Unspecified | Online lessons | Yes | No | Yes |
