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Beginner to Intermediate (ILR levels 0+ to 2)

 

  • Wikipedia - Spanish Language
    An introduction the Spanish language and its history written in English, including links to official Spanish language academies.
  • Wikipedia - Spanish Characters
    Article focused on Spanish characters and writing history
  • Omniglot - Spanish
    Useful for those who need a basic introduction to the Spanish alphabet for elementary research.  Site also has additional information and language related links.
  • Virtual Spanish Keyboard
    Useful tool that allows one to type in Spanish using mouse and then do directed searches in Google, Yahoo, YouTube, etc.
  • Google Translate
    Far from perfect, this application can translate a word, a phrase, or a document from Spanish to English or viceversa. Based on statistical models using bilingual texts, it provides a first approximation to the text.
  • Lexilogos: Virtual Spanish Keyboard, Spell Checker, Terminology, and Study Resources
    Useful tool presented in English to type Spanish text, with easy access to accented letters as well as a list of shortcuts (using alt key) to Spanish special characters. This site also includes a good selection of Spanish terminology and study resources (scroll down for Spanish study and grammar links).
  • Conjuguemos.com
    Easy guide for vocabulary and conjugation of Spanish verbs. This tool allows for teachers to follow up on students work and progress.
  • Spanish proficiency exercises
    Spanish Proficiency Exercises, a project of the University of Texas at Austin, is a compilation of brief video clips in which native speakers of Spanish from various locations throughout Latin America and Spain demonstrate various language tasks. The objective of the exercises is to provide students of Spanish with the necessary tools to be able to talk about the same topics in Spanish. The following resources are provided: video clips, vocabulary lists, phrases lists, and mini-grammar explanations.
  • Intermediate to Advanced (ILR levels 2 to 3 and higher)

  • Joint Language University
    This extensive NCS-managed language training portal is available to USG and military only through account registration. Resources include LangNet Assessment Objects, a large collection of exercises that mirror MCQ of DLPT5 in reading and listening comprehension; and LangNet Learning Objects, an online repository of reading and listening exercises for acquisition, enhancement, and refresher training. Also useful for self-study are many of the SCOLA products: news broadcasts, news archives, and the Insta-Classes, a variety of exercises DLIFLC Language Products
    Developed by the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC) for military linguists, this website includes excellent sustainment materials. Within this sire, GLOSS prrovides carefully compiled reading and listening comprehension exercises.
  • BBC Spanish Language Links
    This is an archived (no longer being updated) BBC resource site with interactive tools for developing language proficiency in reading and listening, as well as links to Spanish-speaking media outlets.
  • Wikipedia - Spanish Edition
    This is the portal to the Spansih language version of Wikipedia. Articles include not only Spanish versions of English ones, but original content. Used for reference, it is always advisable to seek verification sources. Used as a resource for reading materials, it provides readily accessible articles written in excellent Spanish. Articles are at ILR 2 to 3 levels, but most link to English language versions, thus facilitating comprehension and minimizing use of working aids.

Advanced Resources, Dictionaries, Media, Entertainment, and Miscellaneous

  • Academias de la Lengua Española (ASALE)
    This is the portal for the 22 separate Spanish language academies around the world. The first academy, Real Academia Española (RAE), was created in 1713 in Spain to unify the Spanish language, creating the first official dictionary (published between 1726 and 1739), spelling guide (1741), and grammar (1771). Since then, academies have been created in 22 Spanish speaking countries, including the US with its Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española (ANLE, founded in 1973) which addresses specific issues to Spanish in the USA. In the XXI century, ASALE has created pan-Hispanic versions of the original resources, including a new comprehensive grammar of the Spanish language (addressing morphology and syntax; phonetics, phonology, and spelling guides with references to regional variations; as well as several dictionaries. The main online resource is the Diccionario de la lengua española, also known as Diccionario de la Real Academia Española (DRAE).
  • Instituto Cervantes - Hispanic Culture
    Instituto Cervantes is a network of teaching centers created by Spain in 1991 to promote the Spanish language and Hispanic culture around the world. In addition to in-person instruction in 90 centers around the world, Instituto Cervantes offers a wealth of resources online, particularly through the portal Centro Virtual Cervantes, which includes links to language, literature, teaching, art, and science information in Spanish.
  • Fundación del español urgente
    A site dedicated to elucidate Spanish language conundrums.
  • El Castellano, la página del idioma español
    Informational outlet created by translation professionals with reading resources and study materials.
  • WordReference
    A robust online resource including monolingual and translation dictionaries as well as a forum for discussions, in which language professionals address difficult words, phrases, and nuances of meaning in Spanish.
  • Proz
    This website was created to help professional translators address both linguistic and other professional issues and includes a forum for discussion.
  • Termium
    This is a Canadian Government created tool through its Translation Bureau. Originally developed for French and English, and extremely robust in this pair, it includes a growing corpus of Spanish terms.
  • Linguee and Linguee en español
    Linguee is a combination of dictionary and terminological database and uses bilingual corpora that allows the user to see translations in context.