Tiny Grass » online resources

Encyclopedia Britannica available to bloggers – for free

Arp — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 16:05:16 +0000

I remember getting an encyclopedia as a kid – it was a big deal. We couldn’t afford an ~~Encyclopedia~~ Encyclopaedia Britannica and got Grolier’s instead (I guess it’s the difference between Harvard and a state school). My dad’s first job in America was selling encyclopedias door-to-door, and I wondered whether the industry would survive the internet. Wikipedia was the potential stake in the heart, except it’s not a true authority. You know that the facts are right in an ~~Encyclopedia~~ Encyclopaedia Britannica.

EB wised up and has unveiled Britannica Webshare – basically Britannica widgets for bloggers. In their own words:

A special program for web publishers, including bloggers, webmasters, and anyone who writes for the Internet. You get complimentary access to the Encyclopaedia Britannica online and, if you like, an easy way to give your readers background of the topics you write about with links to complete Britannica articles.

I love this – I’ve liked Wikipedia for the convenience, but always knew that there was a possibility of opinion or misinformation. Now we can get access to more reliable information, which is an absolute goddess-send for homeschoolers everywhere. I tried signing up and their registration form seems busted, so perhaps they’re getting deluged with requests.

Another bonus – I’m pretty sure they have no information on Britney Spears, Paris Hilton or other objects of popular obsession. I don’t know for sure, since I haven’t had access to an ~~Encyclopedia~~ Encyclopaedia Britannica for ages. It’s very possible that the’ve succumbed (or will) to compete with Wikipedia, but such a move would rank right up there with MC Hammer’s gangsta album. Hammer’s ability to be a hard-as-nails OG is about as believable as the ~~Encyclopedia~~ Encyclopaedia Britannica giving a crap about going into rehab for the 8th time.

Coming soon – a virtual community for unschoolers

Arp — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 18:25:10 +0000

My pet project for 2008 has been building a virtual community website for unschoolers. I wanted something that allowed people to make their own groups and forums, and that let them decide whether things should be public or private. Someone might want to make a public group for unschoolers in their area while someone else might want to make a private lounge to discuss relevant topics.

In a week, I’m going to need some brave souls to become the first community members and to test the site before it’s opened to the general public. If anyone is interested, please email me. If you’re curious about the site, check out the Coming Soon page:

www.unschoold.com

5 ways to keep up with Costa Rican news

Arp — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 21:47:56 +0000

We just got a subscription to the Tico Times, a popular English weekly newspaper in Costa Rica. Being aware of what’s going on in our prospective home is important. Our scouting trip was successful because we learned as much as we could, and had a good grasp of what to expect – the good and the bad. The grass isn’t perfectly greener, and being realistic helps. I’ve used a number of resources to learn about Costa Rica and to become aware of the important issues.

The Tico Times – A weekly English language newspaper with a nice pdf option for overseas subscribers.
A.M Costa Rica – A daily English news source (ignore the horrible design).
La Nacion – Costa Rica’s main Spanish newspaper. My Spanish is not nearly good enough to read it, so I use Google Translate for now.
Costa Rica Living – This is a Yahoo group that I joined nearly 3 years ago. Learning from others’ collective experience is great – especially when they have enlightening perspectives on news.
Inside Costa Rica – Another English news resource.

Earth & Sky Kids – a nice science information site

Arp — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 19:24:12 +0000

I just found Earth & Sky Kids while perusing various NPR podcasts. It’s a nice kid-oriented science site, and I can see it being pretty useful for answering the inevitable questions about how things work in nature. I’ve got my fingers crossed that we have a cloud-free night for the lunar eclipse this week

Quick review of some podcasts for learning Spanish

Arp — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 19:03:12 +0000

I tried 3 podcasts today – Notes in Spanish: Inspired Beginnners, Spanish Para Todos and SpanishPod. I have to say that I was disappointed in all three of them. I’m can’t say whether they are really poor or not, but after Coffee Break Spanish, they seem to lack organization and verve. It may well be that Coffee Break Spanish works for me, so perhaps these podcasts shouldn’t be counted out unless you try them yourself.

Notes in Spanish: Inspired Beginners is not meant for the newest of beginners, but it was rather disorganized and lacked continuity from podcast 1 to podcast 2. I think they are attempting to make it a bit immersive by doing quick reviews of the previous podcast, but they reviewed some things so fast as to be generally useless. For example, one phrase they discussed was how to ride a bike, and it went like this:

Guy: Hey ___ – do you remember how to say you are riding a bike in the countryside?
(short pause)
Girl: Yes – (Spanish spoken quickly)
Guy: Great – what about (next phrase)?

Coffee Break Spanish takes things a bit slower and make sure to repeat things more than once, both when introducing a word/phrase or when reviewing it. Notes in Spanish: Inspired Beginners is no longer on my iPod, but I’ll consider trying the Intermediate and Advanced levels when the time comes.

Spanish Para Todos may be good, but the instructor speaks so deliberately that getting started seems to take forever. It’s organized into 5 parts – an English preview of the dialogue, a slow reading of the dialogue in Spanish (twice), a review in English and a final reading of the dialogue in Spanish at a native speed.

Theoretically, this sounds great, but I couldn’t stand how long it took to get started and how slow the initial two readings of the Spanish dialogue was. It was too slow for me, but perhaps it would be just right for someone else. Another thing that bothered me was the scenario of a classroom with good and bad students, but that is definitely the unschooler in me responding. Spanish Para Todos is off my iPod.

For the last one I tried, SpanishPod, but I don’t actually know what their method of instruction is like or if there is any. The vibe is some 20-somethings talking about Spanish and travel, with seemingly great emphasis on talking. The podcast I tried was 12 minutes long and after 5 minutes they still chatting away in English. A friend had visited Mexico and they discussed some cultural aspects but nearly half the podcast was done and maybe 5 or 6 Spanish words had been spoken. It’s nice if you are interested in learning about some culture, but if I subscribe to a podcast to learn Spanish, I want to learn some Spanish. Adios de mi iPod, SpanishPod. Maybe their other podcasts are better, but the first impression I got from them is hard to get over.

It’s clear that Coffee Break Spanish is the one for me, and the one I would most recommend to others. I have not tried their bonus materials, but I like how they refer to them as ‘bonus’ materials and not a vital necessity for learning. They are well organized, well paced and the personalities of the hosts are engaging. Most importantly, my retention from podcast to podcast is very high. I definitely think that trying out CBS is well worth the time.