English & Other Languages
English
Ask Oxford - An authoritative source of guidance for those wishing to write or speak English correctly. The site includes English FAQs, dictionaries, quizzes, crosswords, quotes, language links, and more. For American English, choose 'US view' near the upper right-hand corner of the page. (Oxford University Press)
Big Dog's Grammar - A fun and easy-to-follow guide to the basic rules of English grammar. (Personal site, by Scott Foll)
Changing Language - 'The English language is vast, flexible, fascinating, frustrating, challenging, inspiring and endlessly changing... This website explores the way that the language has developed over hundreds of years.' Includes a timeline and a variety of learning activities; high school. There is also a related page, Why Write?, exploring how 'cultural, social, historical and personal circumstances influence the way we write and the scripts we create.' (British Library)
Commonly Confused Words - Lists dozens of commonly confused word pairs, such as affect & effect, discreet & discrete, and flaunt & flout, with tips on how to use them correctly (Oxford University Press).
Diagramming Sentences - Diagramming sentences is a way to visualize how the different parts of a sentence fit together. On this page, you can learn the process one step at a time, or jump to a particular section using the table of contents. (By Dr. Kip Wheeler, an English professor at Carson-Newman College)
Dictionaries and Thesauri [UPDATED LINK!] - Links to general dictionaries and thesauri. Use the tabs to access subject-specific dictionaries for art, business, clothing, computers, education, food, humanities, language, law, medicine, health & psychology, photography, science, sign language, social sciences, and technology. Some resources are available only to University of Wisconsin students.
Dictionaries: Farlex Free Dictionary 
- 'English, Medical, Legal, Financial, and Computer Dictionaries, Thesaurus, Acronyms, Idioms Encyclopedia, a Literature Reference Library, and a Search Engine all in one.' Merriam-Webster Online offers an online dictionary, thesaurus, Spanish - English dictionary, plus word games, puzzles, podcasts and other features. Merriam Webster also hosts Word Central for younger students, with games, daily buzzword, and 'Build Your Own Dictionary' feature. Your Dictionary includes a dictionary, thesaurus, grammar, and more, plus a directory of
Specialty Dictionaries covering many subjects in business, arts, sciences, education, trades, sports and hobbies. All the above dictionaries provide pronunciation audio. Use the
OneLook® Dictionary Search to search dozens of web-based dictionaries from one site. (All commercial sites)
Dr. Goodword's Word Wizard
- Colorful vocabulary website designed for kids aged 7 - 13, featuring games, puzzles, and other fun learning activities. (Commercial site: Lexiteria LLC)
Dr. Grammar - This website provides answers many commonly-asked questions about English grammar (lay or lie? good or well? its or it's?) and also offers resources on grammar, word origins, English as a Second Language, citing sources, and more. (University of Northern Iowa)
Elements of Style - William Strunk's classic reference book on 'the principal requirements of plain English style... the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated. (Bartleby.com; commercial site)
Grammar Bytes - Definitions of common grammar terms, fun quizzes, quick tips and rules. (Personal site by Robin L. Simmons, Valencia Community College)
Grammar Hotline Directory - Can't find the answer to your English grammar questions online? This site offers a listing of colleges and universities which will answer short grammar questions by telephone or e-mail. (Tidewater Community College, VA)
Guide to Grammar and Writing - This site on English grammar defines the different parts of speech (nouns, adjectives, etc.), explains sentence structure, and provides tips for composing good sentences, paragraphs, essays, and research papers. Also offers quizzes, FAQs, and other helpful tools. (Capital Community College Foundation, CT)
How to Write a Paper and Cite Sources - Selected links to sites offering guidance on planning, researching, and writing an essay or term paper. (South Plainfield Public Library)
Interesting Things for ESL Students - Word games, puzzles, quizzes, slang, proverbs and more, for students of English as a second language (personal site by Charles I. Kelly & Lawrence E. Kelly, Aichi Institute of Technology, Japan). For more English/ESL links, see South Plainfield Public Library's Useful Websites: LANGUAGE page.
Literacy Rules: Language Arts Help - Scroll down to 'Useful Information' for a list of handy printable PDF fact sheets on various language-related subjects, including 'Punctuating Conversation', 'Commonly Misspelled Words', 'Basic Essay Answer', 'Poetry Terms', 'Grammar Quizzes', and more. For middle school students and teachers. (Personal site by Consuella Jackson)
New Words and Senses - A sampling of new words and new definitions of words that were added to the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary in 2006, such as 'mouse potato', 'biodiesel', and 'supersize'. There is also a page with 20 of the new words for 2007 and 2009 (Commercial site)
Picture Dictionary - Look up a noun by first letter or category to see a simple picture of that object. You can look up words in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. Merriam-Webster offers a more extensive Visual Dictionary Online , which includes detailed, labelled images and audio pronunciation. A similar site is Visual Dictionary, which offers images labelled in English or French. (Commercial sites)
Proofreading Symbols - Meanings and examples of common proofreading symbols and abbreviations, with links to some online aids for proofreading and editing. (Capital Community College)
Sentence Sense - An online textbook in basic writing, examining how sentences work, reviewing errors that commonly appear in written English, and suggesting techniques and topics for developing ideas in writing. (Capital Community College, Hartford CT)
Visuwords™ - This online graphical dictionary can help you understand how words are related. When you look up a word, Visuwords will produce a diagram which graphically illustrates that word's associations with other words and concepts. Be sure to read the brief instructions at the bottom to get the full benefit of the site. (Commercial site)
Vocabulary Games 
- Fun quizzes to help you learn SAT / GRE words, improve your vocabulary context skills, and learn computer or medical terminology. (Commercial site: Sheppard Software)
Vocabulary University - Word puzzles and other exercises to help build your English vocabulary. Divided into three grade levels. (Commercial site, by Jan Cook and Carey Orr Cook)
Word of the Day [UPDATED LINK!] - Increase your vocabulary by learning a new word each day; site provides both definitions and usage examples. THIS SITE DOES NOT WORK IN INTERNET EXPLORER 6. (Commercial site: New York Times / Merriam-Webster)
Wordsmyth - A simple, easy-to-use online English dictionary and thesaurus.
Writing Resource Center - Online resources to help you learn about academic writing & research, business writing, grammar & punctuation, spelling & mechanics, and more (Empire State College). Links to additional writing resources, arranged by subject, are available from the University of Kansas Writing Center [UPDATED LINK!].
Other Languages
African Writing Systems - 'African artworks from a range of periods, regions and media testify to the rich diversity of scripts and forms of graphic communication. They challenge conventional understandings of the written word as something static applied only to paper, and they demonstrate the dynamic ways that artists from many African cultures have creatively used script, or the idea of script, in their works of art.' (Smithsonian)
Arabic Alphabet - Illustrated information on learning to read and write in Arabic. (Commercial site: al-bab.com, British-Yemeni Society; content by British journalist/author Brian Whitaker)
ASL University - Extensive resources for learning American Sign Language. including a photographic sign language dictionary (by ASL educator
Dr. William Vicars, California State University). See also videos for Classifiers in American Sign Language 
(John A. Logan College); classifiers are used in American Sign Language to show movement, location, and appearance.
BBC Languages - Interactive online courses in French, Spanish, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, and Chinese, with audio and video. Also offers resources for learning Japanese, Polish, Urdu, and several other languages, plus essential phrases in 36 languages, and news from BBC World Service in 32 languages.
Chinese: ZON - 'A multiplayer, online learning environment designed to teach Chinese language and culture through gameplay.' Registration required. (Michigan State University)
Omniglot - Examples of all different types of writing systems and alphabets from around the world, plus tips on learning languages and useful foreign phrases. (Personal site, by Simon Ager)
Picture Dictionary - Look up a noun by first letter or category to see a simple picture of that object. You can look up words in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. (Commercial site)
Verbix - Conjugates verbs in over 100 languages. A list of sources is provided. (Non-profit organization, site includes advertisements)
World Languages - A directory of links to language sites geared mostly toward learning about a language (its history, variations, etc.) rather than learning to read and speak the language. (Minnesota State University)
Yiddish-Hebrew-English-German-Russian-French Picture Dictionary - Click on a word from the left-hand list to see the word written in all six languages, with a picture. (Ester-Basya Vaisman & Fishman Foundation for Yiddish Culture)
YourDictionary.com: Foreign Language Dictionaries - Links to online dictionaries for more than a hundred languages. (Commercial site)
