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Languages
Beginners’ German: food and drink
This free course, Beginners' German: food and drink, provides materials that support the development of listening, reading, writing and speaking skills. The content focuses on food, restaurants and eating habits. The course also gives examples of how grammar, vocabulary, cultural aspects and study skills are taught by the OU in the Beginners' ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Languages
A brief history of communication: hieroglyphics to emojis
This free course, A brief history of communication: hieroglyphics to emojis, is an introduction to the history of writing, and the key role it plays in human communication. It tracks this history from the invention of writing around 5500 years ago to the mass popularity of emojis today.
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level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Intermediate French: Understanding spoken French
This free course, Intermediate French: Understanding spoken French, is aimed at intermediate learners of French with an interest in language and culture. It is designed to develop your understanding of spoken French through six video portraits of people living in the Touraine region in France and in Brussels in Belgium. It introduces you to ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Languages
Translation as a career
This free course explores translation as a career. During the course you will meet professional translators discussing their work and reflect on what they say. You will assess your own language level and find out how translators maintain their language skills. You will also engage in a short translation activity.
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level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Intermediate German: Understanding spoken German
This free course, Intermediate German: Understanding spoken German, is aimed at intermediate learners of German with an interest in language and culture. The six-hour-course is designed to develop your understanding of spoken German through video portraits of people in the German cities of Hamburg and Passau. It introduces you to naturally ...
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level 1: introductory icon
Languages
Beginners’ French: food and drink
Improve your language skills by learning to communicate more easily and effectively in French. In this free course, Beginners' French: food and drink, you will also gain an insight into French societies and cultures through focusing on food and drink. You will listen to French speakers in a variety of situations, and you will be provided with ...
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level 3: advanced icon
Languages
Advanced French: At the science museum in Paris
Using the topic of science and technology in France, this free course, Advanced French: At the science museum in Paris, will show you how to structure arguments, write a summary, use the subjunctive, report numbers and express wishes in French.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Languages
Cultures
In this free course, Cultures, you will address the question of traditional music and music from the francophone world, and you will examine the place they occupy in the world of artistic creation. The course is divided into three sections: 'Is traditional music, current music?', 'The musical heritage of Normandy' and 'Music of the francophone ...
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level 2: intermediate icon
Languages
How to be a critical reader
In this free course you will focus on how to be a critical reader. Reading critically is an essential skill at university. It means being aware of your own purposes and opinions as you read and being able to recognise the writer's purposes and opinions in their writing.
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level 2: intermediate icon
Languages
Intermediate Italian: describing people
This free course, Intermediate Italian: describing people, requires some basic knowledge of Italian. It focuses on describing both physical appearance and personality, as well as on developing listening skills and work on pronunciation.
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level 3: advanced icon
Languages
Grammar matters
Grammar matters because, combined with vocabulary choice, it is our main way of making meaning. This free course introduces you to one approach used to understand how meanings relate systematically to different aspects of grammar and shows how this deeper understanding can be applied to make everyday communication more effective.
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level 3: advanced icon
Languages
Advanced Spanish: Language in context
This free course, Advanced Spanish: Language in context, will develop your knowledge and understanding of the societies and cultures of Spain and Latin America and extend the practical skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. The course focuses on the many ways in which living languages - notably Spanish - adapt to the contexts in ...