72 Resources for World Language Student Engagement

Language teaching brings immense value to society—opening borders, connecting cultures, and empowering students to become culturally and globally conscious. Behind this mission are dedicated teachers equipped with the right resources to make language learning engaging and effective. 

To support your work, Rutgers Alternate Route Teachers have curated a collection of recommended tools and resources they use to advance language learning in their classes. The list includes exceptional resources like ACTFL’s national standards and ready-to-use materials, gamified practice tools like Duolingo and Conjuguemos, and creative resources such as Rockalingua’s music-based Spanish lessons. You’ll also find platforms like Word Wall for interactive games, Spanish 4 Teachers for free worksheets and cultural activities, and Seterra for geography-based language practice.

Whether you want to refresh your curriculum or find new ways to inspire learners, these teacher-selected tools offer practical solutions to elevate your world language classroom.

ACTFL
This site is specifically for teachers of world languages. There are many resources for teachers, and they offer workshops for PD specific to World Languages. Information on standards for teaching with explanations of the criteria to comply with these standards is also available. (Robert G. 9-12)

Alma TV
This website provides a variety of videos covering Italian grammar and culture, making it an excellent tool for students to practice listening and comprehension skills. Alma TV is run by an Italian publisher and also offers professional development opportunities for teachers, adding value for both classroom use and teacher growth. (Benedetta B. 9-12)

American Sign Language University (ASLU)
This site is run by a Deaf professor in the ASL field. It has example lessons, static pictures and short videos of signs, a sign dictionary and sample quizzes. (Dana G. 9-12)

Arbolabc
This website had tons of educational games and activities that kids love to do. Very engaging. (Maria P. K-5)

Arch Chinese
This site is particularly useful for teaching Chinese characters, including stroke orders, radicals, and character structure. It offers animated character writing tools, tone drills, and pre-made vocabulary lists, making it a comprehensive resource for improving writing skills in Chinese. (Hong Y. 9-12)

BBC Languages
Engaging content for Italian and other languages, including live information from Italian news, radio, and TV. Interactive and free. ( Maria C. 6-8; 9-12)

Bingo Baker
I also like Bingo Baker because you can create any vocabulary activity depending on the lesson, the students can open a bingo card in their Chrome books, and each can have access to it and enjoy the game. You can use this source to practice pronunciation and vocabulary depending on your lessons. (Ximena K. K-5;6-8)

Blooket
Game-based way to review signs. It also ranks students so teachers can collect data on who is retaining the material and who is struggling. (Marissa G. 9-12)

British Council
Fantastic website for teaching techniques and developing language skills suggestions. (Alessandra S. 9-12)

Boom Cards
Interactive practice for vocabulary. (Awilda H. K-5;6-8)

Bonjour de France
A site where you can find a variety of material and activities, and games related to all the competencies (speaking, listening, comprehension, and writing) for French teaching. (Lama G. K-5;6-8;9-12)

Boom Learning
I like to apply Boom Learning because students can play with the cards and learn at the same time. I use different levels depending on the grades and students practicing vocabulary learned while playing with the cards. You can buy as many seats as you want depending on the number of students. I have 460 seats so I can use my library cards for the whole school. (Ximena K. K-5;6-8)

Buone Notizie
A site of positive news where students can learn about contemporary events in Italy. All news is positive, allowing students to discuss current events in the target language and practice Italian in a meaningful context. (Balsimelli B. 9-12)

Calico Spanish
Using the curriculum from “Calico Spanish” allows teachers to have better ideas to complete their lesson plans. In addition, this site has different tools as a basis, students begin to build a Spanish vocabulary and an understanding of grammar in the target language. (Sandy A. K-5;6-8)

Canvas
Allows teaching and learning in a more interactive way and allows students to do the assignments within the course in a didactic way and present them graphically. (Santa E. K-5)

Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition
CARLA provides a collection of teaching resources and materials for Arabic educators. Their resources can enhance your teaching strategies and subject knowledge. (Rola A. 9-12)

Chinese Boost
Chinese Boost is an excellent resource for teaching grammar, with lessons organized by level from beginner (A1) to advanced (C1). The site also categorizes content by HSK level, which is helpful for preparing students for standardized proficiency exams. Its in-depth grammar explanations support students in sentence construction and fluency. (Yunjie H. 9-12)

Colorin Colorado
Colorín Colorado has been providing free research-based information, activities, and advice to parents, schools, and communities around the country for more than a decade. (Maria P. K-5)

Conjuguemos
This site is very useful to many World Language teachers. This is because it offers a variety of fun activities and games on a digital platform to practice different languages. There are activities, games and quizzes for practicing verbs, vocabulary, and listening skills. (Kristen D. 9-12)

Creative ASL Teaching
Creative ASL Teaching offers a multitude of resources for teaching American Sign Language, including monthly lesson plans and ready-to-go sub plans for when teachers are absent. The site is a valuable source for structured, engaging ASL activities. (La Chona W. K-5; 6-8)

Crossword Labs
This site allows teachers to create custom crosswords, including support for accented characters. It’s a great resource for French teachers to generate activities, sub plans, or extra credit assignments that stay in the target language. (Art C. 6-8)

Deutsche Welle
Includes interactive exercises, videos, and podcasts, covering German language levels from A1 to C1. There are also special sections for teaching grammar, vocabulary, and cultural aspects of the German-speaking world. (Judith B. 6-8;9-12)

Diccionario de la Real Academia Española
The mission of the RAE is stated in Article 1 of its charter, and it is to “supervise [that] the changes that the Spanish language experiments and its constant adjustments to the necessities of its speakers don’t break the essential unity that holds the Hispanic world”. In a sense, its scope is to police the changes in the Spanish language and to preserve the “purity” of the language. It mediates the differences with the Hispanic world, and it is considered the site of the "official" correct Spanish language. (Andrea L. 9-12)

Discovery Education
Much like PBS it provides both content for class and information for teachers. (Claudia T. 6-8)

Duchinese
Resources specific to Chinese learners and teachers including activities on traditional literature. (Allison G. 9-12)

Duolingo
A site where students can learn French or another language at different levels through games and fun activities. (Lama G. K-5;6-8;9-12)

Edgenuity
Edgenuity supports student work across different languages and subject areas. It provides a flexible platform for personalized learning and helps teachers deliver content and assignments tailored to individual student needs. (Lanny M. 9-12)

Education.com
You can find a lot of resources for your daily lesson plans and fun activities. And some of them are free. (Olivia G. K-5)

Edpuzzle
Important holidays in the World Language-Spanish content/lesson. Edpuzzle has some videos for the students as a support of your lesson and this video has questions that also help you on grading for you as well. (Serna P. 6-8;9-12)

Edutopia
It offers information on teaching techniques and provides ideas for lessons. (Claudia T. 6-8)

FLENJ
Like ACTFL, FLENJ is a site specifically for World Language teachers to find resources and workshops on teaching strategies and policy and collaboration tools for teachers to share their experiences in the classroom. (Robert G. 9-12)

French Today
French Today focuses on modern French language learning and conversational skills. It offers French audiobooks, audio magazines, free lesson plans, quizzes, and practical tips for mastering everyday French. This resource is especially beneficial for students looking to improve their real-life speaking and comprehension abilities. (Adestinee N. 6-8; 9-12)

Foreign Language Teaching Forum
This online community provides discussion boards and resources from foreign language teachers across the country. It’s a great place to exchange ideas, lesson plans, and strategies for effective language instruction, supporting ongoing professional development and collaboration. (Fabiola S. 6-8)

Formative
It is a very awesome site that helps you create many interpersonal activities and readings. You can use so many in every subject. Their library is very wide, and you can adjust them to your lesson. (Catherine E. 9-12)

For Educators Grades 9-12 (NASA)
Lesson plans and concepts for teachers to guide students during STEM class lessons, integrating language learning with science topics. (Campora R. 9-12)

Gimkit
Game-based way to review signs. It also ranks students so teachers can collect data on who is retaining the material and who is struggling. (Marissa G. 9-12)

Gramatica Basica
This site is helpful to me when I am unsure about a grammar rule in Spanish, and it gives ideas for videos and assessments to share with my class in Spanish. (Tatiana J. K-5;9-12)

Goethe Institut
Goethe Institut provides lesson plans and teaching materials for all levels (A1-C2), along with creative classroom activity ideas. The site also offers professional development opportunities for German teachers, such as workshops and online courses, supporting both instructional quality and teacher growth. (Judith B. 6-8; 9-12)

Grades 9-12 Resources (INFOhio)
INFOhio provides a comprehensive collection of resources for both teachers and students in grades 9-12. These materials support efficient and effective learning across subjects, offering access to digital content, lesson ideas, and tools for academic success. (Rossella C. 9-12)

Italianpod101
A platform with authentic podcasts and related online activities, plus downloadable PDFs for Italian language learners. (Maria C. 6-8;9-12)

Learning Basic French with Alexa
Alexa is a great resource that reinforces what I teach my students. The students are dancing with her music while listening and watching Alexa’s pronunciation of the words and phrases. Alexa has a video for every topic in basic French. (Francesse C. 6-8)

Le Point du FLE
Provides hundreds of resources for both teachers and students, including grammar and vocabulary exercises, reading and listening comprehension activities, and materials for lesson planning. (Adestinee N. 6-8;9-12)

Lingolia Español
It is a site where you can explore Spanish grammatical concepts as well as find readings, listening activities, vocabulary, and practice exercises. It is great for the educator as well as the student to go and explore the site. (Andrea L 9-12)

LiveWorksheet
On this website, you can find a lot of worksheets for different subjects and class levels. You can find worksheets from teachers all around the world. I like it because you can find pdf versions or share them directly on Google Classroom. (Damaris B. 9-12)

LTL Chinese
Resources specific to Chinese learners and teachers. I have used a lot of information here, especially for beginners. (Allison G. 9-12)

Mis Clases Locas
Rich, vibrant, and educational resources for Spanish learners of all levels. This site includes various slideshows which I can easily incorporate into my lesson plans. (Ashley H. K-5;6-8)

Nearpod
Excellent pre-made presentations on different topics, not only Spanish. (Axel M. K-5)

Online learning platform in Spanish
Interactive resources that you can do so that the student feels engaged with the language without getting bored. (Rocio G. 9-12)

PBS Learning Media
I like the website, PBS Learning Media provides access to a vast library of high-quality educational content, including videos, lesson plans, interactive games, and other multimedia resources. These resources cover a wide range of subjects and grade levels, making it a versatile tool for educators. (Ariadna T. K-5)

Pear Deck
High quality digital content and ability to make interactive presentations. (Jordan G. 9-12)

Profe de Ele
It allows students to practice their skills, and at the same time learn vocabulary, grammar, and more. (Santa E. K-5)

Qatar Foundation International
QFI offers a range of resources for teaching and learning Arabic. They provide lesson plans, instructional materials, and professional development opportunities for educators. (Rola A. 9-12)

Quizlet
On this website, students can study vocabulary words and do interactive activities to understand the words. (Damaris B. 9-12)

Real Academia Española
A critical resource for ensuring that the language taught in class is accurate and aligned with current grammatical standards. The site offers guidance on grammar, spelling, and language usage. (Fabiola S. 6-8)

Resilient Educator
Provides step-by-step advice on how to implement differentiation strategies that can be used in the classroom all researched by Tomlinson. (Sylvia J. 6-8)

RockaLingua
The site has very specific content to certain topics that the Spanish curriculum covers. They also scaffold multiple topics for different age levels which I appreciate. The images they use for their activities are helpful, and they have videos that they make which you can use as well. The best thing about everything is that most of it is free. (Olivia M. 6-8)

Savvas Online
Offers a plethora of information, activities, articles, and creative ideas to promote language learning. (Steen M. 9-12)

SpanishDict.com
Provides multiple translations for each word or phrase, as well as a wide range of video lessons that are highly effective for learning Spanish. (Conroy P. 9-12)

Spanish Learning Lab
This site is like the first one in worksheets and lesson plans. However, the other thing that I love about this site and have used often is the excellent infographics/posters that they have for vocabulary and grammar lessons. It makes it very easy to show a new skill and walk the students through it. Recently I made use of the "me gusta" grammar infographic, and it helped my students tremendously to have such a clear visual of the grammar rules and examples. (Amanda P. 9-12)

Spanish Playground
This site provides many resources for language teachers. The site offers songs, games, short readings, and videos to be used in language classrooms. One activity I liked was Dia de los Muertos: Easy Spanish Conversations. I would have my students listen to it and have them answer questions I created to go along with the conversation. The other activity I liked from this site was the 7 Spanish Greeting Songs. This would be useful for beginners and younger students. (Kristen D. 9-12)

SpeakingLatino.com
This site has free resources such as worksheets and activities as well as the lesson plans to go along with them. They also provide scaffolded plans when necessary. I have used many of their worksheets and often glance at their lesson plans for ideas or to adjust some for my classes. The only downfall is that you have to sign up. (Amanda P. 9-12)

Toward Proficiency
Brimming with ideas for teaching World Languages in a comprehensible way. There is a fantastic blog and lots of free resources. (Rachel W. 6-8)

Teachers Pay Teachers
This specific store on this site has countless low-prep materials. It has holiday games, hyperdocs for additional topic practice, expanded curriculum, it even has options for online teaching. (Dana G. 9-12)

Tell Me In Spanish
It has a large collection of simple pdfs explaining key concepts, as well as containing information for all levels of Spanish learning. (Peter C. 9-12)

The Comprehensible Classroom
Brimming with ideas for teaching World Languages in a comprehensible way. There is a fantastic blog of free resources. (Rachel W. 6-8)

The French Experiment
This site contains children's stories translated into French. In addition to the text, there are also videos and audio tracks for each story. This is a fantastic resource for students who would like to practice listening comprehension while reading along. (Art C. 6-8)

The Teacher Toolkit
I can find different topics for my Spanish class, whether video or readings, they also have authentic lesson plans and materials, a complete development. (Jenny D. 6-8)

Virtual Learning (Speakable.io)
Provides many pronunciation and learning resources in Spanish, supporting students in developing their speaking and listening skills. (Rocio G. 9-12)

Vocaroo Recording
Vocaroo Recording is a simple tool for students to record their reading and for teachers to review and correct students' pronunciation. (Changhui S. 6-8)

What Works Clearinghouse
The primary benefit of the WWC is that it provides evidence-based information on educational programs, practices, and policies. It conducts rigorous reviews of research to determine the effectiveness of various educational interventions, helping educators and policymakers make informed decisions. (Ariadna T. K-5)

Wordreference
This site is a dictionary tool. However, if one would like to make themselves a member they also have access to an online forum. In this online forum, one can ask complicated questions about translations and also read other posts of people who perhaps have asked the same questions. (Michael S. 9-12)

Word Wall
It contains different games on topics in Spanish that the student can practice. Additionally, teachers can create their own game for their lessons. (Aurora N. K-5, 6-8)

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