OER Catalog

Basic Urdu is a theme-based, interactive open-source online textbook for the true novice learners of the Urdu language. The book aims to help true novice learners of the Urdu language to achieve intermediate low to mid-level American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) proficiency level. The book has eight chapters. Chapter 1 focuses on the Urdu script. Chapters 2 to 8 follow a similar pattern. They all begin with stated goals followed by three to four readings and listening, followed by grammar points. Reading and listening sections have the vocabulary, pre- and post-activities which follow a combination of pedagogical approaches to language teaching. It also has grammatical points so that users can build overall language proficiency inductively or deductively. Each chapter ends with cultural notes and extra online resources. The book has several interactive activities with in-built feedback for independent learners.

This open textbook is designed for beginners learning Chinese as a second/foreign language. This book aims to introduce learners to standard Chinese pronunciation, character knowledge, basic conversational phrases, grammar and vocabulary use, and cultural knowledge. Throughout the eight chapters, learners will explore: greetings and self-introduction, hobbies, nationalities, family members and occupations, inviting friends to dinner, talking about food and beverage, making phone calls, and talking about classes and exams. Learning activities include audio recordings so students can listen to the pronunciation of vocabulary words and observe dialogue between speakers. The book also includes videos with captions, allowing learners to listen, watch, and read. Original interactive activities have been created by the author to facilitate the practice of target vocabulary and dialogues.

Elementary Chinese II is aimed at those who have learned Chinese as a second/foreign language for one semester, using the OER textbook “Elementary Chinese I“.

This open textbook contains six main lessons, including topics such as school life, shopping, transportation, weather, eating out, and asking and giving directions. They are organized in a straightforward and well-structured manner that are easy to follow. Within each lesson, there are a set of two dialogues or a set of one dialogue plus one narration. The texts of the dialogues or narrations are created to provide real-life Chinese language to beginning learners. After the texts, vocabulary words are listed for them to study and review. Grammatical points are explained in English and example sentences are provided for students to understand. Each dialogue or narration ends with culture notes where learners can read and better understand the target text.