Introduction

Library of Congress Classification

Materials in Reference Collection

Foreign Language Periodicals

Indexes and Databases

Internet Resources

Introduction

The primary goal in learning a foreign language is to obtain speaking and/or reading fluency in a language other than one’s one. This is achieved through practice, through reading materials in that language and in developing speaking and listening skills. The focus is one of practical application, as opposed to more theoretical study of a language, which comprises the field of linguistics. However, more advanced language study may involve academic research on the literature, history or culture of a foreign language or its speakers.

Library Of Congress Classification

Library materials are organized by a system created by the Library of Congress that groups materials based on what they are about. This LC system uses letters and numbers to determine the call number of a book, which serves as that book’s address within the collection. The advantage of this system is that books about the same subject, say the French Revolution, should be in the same area. Find a good book on your subject and you should be able to find others in the same area.

The Library of Congress system places all books on foreign languages and literatures in Class P. Class P (Language and Literature) is further broken down into subclasses that define more specific subjects. Some important subclasses are listed below. Click here for a more complete look at Library of Congress Class P.

A good way to search for books on specific topics is to use the Online Catalog. One can search by title, author, subject and keyword to find books owned by the library. A good research strategy is called subject heading tracing. This strategy involves first doing a keyword search to find books relevant to a topic. Once a ‘good’ book is found, look at its subject headings. Then do a subject search and type in that subject heading. You should find other books on your topic this way.

Materials In Reference Collection

The library’s reference collection contains materials that are quite useful to students learning a foreign language, including dictionaries, encyclopedias and guidebooks to foreign literature. These reference items include:

French

French Bibliography, 1940-1989
Ref. Z 2171 F7

French Language and Literature: An Annotated Bibliography
Ref. Z 2175 A2 B39 1989

Larousse French-English Dictionary
Ref. PC 2640 G68

New Oxford Companion to Literature in French Ref. PQ 41 N48

Oxford French Dictionary
Ref. PC 2640 O94

Spanish

Bibliographical Guide to Spanish American Literature
Ref. Z 1609 L7 R438 1988

Collins Spanish Dictionary
Ref. PC 4640 S595

Encyclopedia of Latin American Literature
Ref. PQ 7081 A1 E56

Latin America: A Guide to the Historical Literature
Ref. Z 1601 G75

Latin American History and Culture
Ref. F 1406 E53

Spanish American Women Writers
Ref. Z 1609 L7 S6 1990

German

Collins German Dictionary
Ref. PF 3640 C68

German-Speaking Countries in Europe
Ref. Z 2000 K73 1988

Oxford Companion to German Literature
Ref. PT 41 G3

Greek and Latin

L’Annee Philologique, 1914-1971
Ref. Z 7016 M35

Cambridge Encyclopedia of World’s Ancient Languages
Ref. P 140 C36 2004
This volume brings systematic presentations of grammars which were accessible previously only by consulting multiple sources.  For some languages,

this is the only existing grammatical description.

Greek-English Lexicon
Ref. PA 445 E5 L71

Oxford Classical Dictionary
Ref. DE 5 O9

Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
Ref. DE 5 H3

Oxford Companion to Classical Literature
Ref. PA 31 H69

Oxford Latin Dictionary
Ref. PA 2365 E509

FOREIGN LANGUAGE PERIODICALS

A good way to practice one’s language skills is to read articles from foreign language newspapers and magazines. Below is a list of titles the library currently subscribes to:

French

Etudes
L’Express
French Review
Journal Francais
Review Thomist

Spanish

Cambio16
Dos Mundos
Hispanic American Historical Review
Latin American Literary Review
Latin American Theatre Review

German

Deutschland

Indexes And Databases

Indexes and databases are tools used to find journal articles about a particular topic. Some are used primarily for academic research, while others can be used to find popular articles to practice one’s reading skills. Some are available only in print, while others will be electronic and may even contain the full-text of the article. See our Electronic Resources page for a complete list of electronic indexes and databases.

Clase and Perioda
This database indexes documents from Latin American scholarly journals published in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. Subjects cover the humanities, social sciences, sciences and technology.

Lexis-Nexis Academic
This general academic database includes a section on foreign language news from magazines in French, Spanish, German, Italian and Dutch.

A user's guide for this database is available in PDF format via Adobe Acrobat.

For information on how to cite sources retrieved from Lexis-Nexis Academic, go to Citing Print and Electronic Sources in Research Papers.

MLA International Bibliography
This bibliography identifies critical writings, published from 1926 to the present, on national literatures, languages, linguistics, literary theory & criticism, literary forms & genres and folklore. Approximately 75% of the works cited are scholarly journal articles. The bibliography does not include the full-text of the works cited.

Internet Resources

For those with internet access, the web is a great way to find resources to help one learn a foreign language. From online dictionaries and magazines to recipes and music, the web has it.

World Yahoo’s
The most popular website in the world has different versions in different foreign languages. What is great is that not only is Yahoo in a foreign language, it also indexes websites from that country.

French
http://www.yahoo.fr

Spanish
http://espanol.yahoo.com

German
http://de.yahoo.com

English
http://www.yahoo.com

iLoveLanguages Page
http://www.ilovelanguages.com/
This vast directory lists over 2000 resources for over 100 foreign languages.