The Online Language Learning Database

In today’s world it is becoming more and more necessary to become bilingual. The United States is a nation formed from a melting pot of cultures. While English is the primary language spoken, there are individuals, families and even entire communities that speak Spanish, Hindi, Chinese and other languages predominantly. The continent of Europe is another great example. Most people in Europe are fluent in two, three or more languages. This is because many European countries are small and close-together. If everyone on the planet spoke at least two languages, there would be a greater chance to meet someone who spoke at least one of those languages. This would provide much improved communication between peoples. While it has been done, no one is expected to simply develop fluency in a language without proper education. Schools are beginning to teach foreign languages at younger and younger ages, while television programming for young children has adapted as well. For the adult who has solely been speaking English their entire life, there are online dictionaries and translators to help get you started. 

Arabic

  • Babylon: Get the definitions for individual Arabic words with this dictionary service from Babylon.
  • Arabic Dictionary: An English to Arabic and Arabic to English dictionary that also translates the words that are input.

English

  • Oxford English Dictionary: The dictionary that a large number of professionals use in the fields of education, writing and linguistics.
  • Merriam-Webster: A well-known dictionary service that also has a thesaurus and a Spanish-English translator.
  • Dictionary.com: A very accessible website that also has a thesaurus and translator for many of the world’s major languages.

Finnish

French

  • ARTFL Project: A dictionary and translator that allows to user to search based on either language, root or part of speech. It was designed by the University of Chicago.

German

  • Beilstein Dictionary: A great, user-friendly German to English and English to German translator presented by Stanford University and used for many academic purposes.
  • English-German: A German to English and English to German dictionary that is also compatible with a number of other languages including Spanish, Italian, Hungarian and many, many more. From Dict.cc.

Hungarian

  • Sztaki Dictionary: Convert words from English to Hungarian or switch words back and forth between German, French, English and the different Hungarian languages: Magyar, Olasz and Lengyel.
  • Medios: A simple English to Hungarian and Hungarian to English dictionary created by Peter Fornai.

Italian

  • The Italian Language: Learn the basics of the language and then use a basic-style translator that can be located at the bottom of the webpage.
  • Collins: An English to Italian dictionary that can also translate Italian to English or can be calibrated to assist with Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian and Spanish as well. It is provided by Reverso.net.

Japanese

  • JDIC: A basic Japanese to English translator from the Clayton School of Information Technology.
  • Japanese Dictionary: To contrast with the above, this is a basic English to Japanese translator courtesy of Online-Dictionary.biz.
  • Jeffrey’s Dictionary Server: A very user-friendly Japanese to English and English to Japanese translator that also returns basic definitions. You can sort words by their subjects; for example: science, computers, environment, marketing, etc.

Latin

  • Latin Dictionary and Grammar Aid: Browse a Latin word list or search by stem and ending. This service from the University of Notre Dame also has an English to Latin translator.
  • Lexis: A Latin dictionary from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Multilingual

  • Facstaff: Online dictionaries for the languages of Chinese, English, German, French, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and other specialty categories. Provided by Bucknell University.
  • Free Translation: A free online translator that covers all of the major languages including both simplified and traditional Chinese, Dutch, Danish, English, Finnish, German, multiple forms of Spanish, Romanian, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Serbian and many, many more. Sponsored by SDL.
  • Dictionarist: This talking online dictionary translates between English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish.

Norwegian

Russian

  • Ice Cube: A simple English to Russian and Russian to English translator from the University of California Berkeley.

Slovak

  • English-Slovak: A basic English to Slovak dictionary from Dicts.info

Swedish

  • The People’s Dictionary: A dictionary that will recognize both English and Swedish words and return alternate translations.
  • Foreign Word: A simple English to Swedish and Swedish to English dictionary from Foreignword.com
  • Words and Wonders: Swedish dictionary with an English to Swedish and Swedish to English translator from Lexilogos.

Vietnamese

Other Useful Links

  • Internet Server: Links to sites about Iranian culture, business, law, language, art and architecture.
  • MITP: A catalog of journals and dictionaries from a number of university websites.
  • UNIPD: A list of some online dictionaries, even some which cover slang.
  • Howdy Dave: Online libraries and language resources such as thesauri, dictionaries, and plagiarism checkers.
  • References for Writers: A collection of online dictionaries, thesauri and research tools from Creighton University.
  • Albertsons: A few links to online dictionaries and encyclopedias provided by Boise State University.
  • System: Links to dictionaries, encyclopedias and other language sites that take greater advantage Internet technology. Compiled by the University of Hawaii.
  • Language Media Center: Language resources from the University of Iowa.
  • Dillweed: A collection of links to online dictionaries and other resource websites for writers.
  • Dictionnaires: A French language resource page.