Gift Ideas 21 Goodies, Gadgets and Gizmos for Your Favorite Language Learners

Gift Ideas 21 Goodies, Gadgets and Gizmos for Your Favorite Language Learners Gift Ideas: 21 Goodies, Gadgets and Gizmos for Your Favorite Language Learners All we language learners want for the holidays is to be fluent in our target languages.We want to lay down some fluent Mandarin Chinese. We want to master Japanese kanji. We want to finally nail Spanish gender rules.So, homemade soaps, wool socks and your usual assortment of holiday trinkets arent necessarily on the tops of our wishlists.Of course, any nice person will  love any gift thats given with love. However, sometimes you  really  want to show someone that you care with a super-thoughtful gift that suits them perfectly.If youre shopping for a friend or loved one whos addicted to languages, weve got you covered. Were able to do this effectively because we ourselves are language geeks. This is all too easyâ€"basically, weve just taken the time to type out our own personal holiday wishlists into one neat list for you.Weve been geeking out over the following books, movies, gadgets and gizmos all year long. Gift Ideas: 21 Goodies, Gadgets and Gizmos for Your Favorite Language Learn ersBooks and MoviesHarry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone by J.K. RowlingHarry Potter is the language learning worlds best kept secret (until now, I guess, since Im shouting it out to the whole internet). Lots of language learners turn to these timeless books to practice their skills in a fun way. Plus, if you grew up loving this series, its a fantastic thing to see the books in a whole new language.Lately, Ive been dropping not-so-subtle hints to my family so they know I want the German-language version of book one for Christmas, since Im currently learning German.To find the right version, your best best is to search Amazon for the book title you want + the language. Harry Potter and the Sorcerers Stone + Language yields the following results:Spanish:  Harry Potter y la piedra filosofal Portuguese:  Harry Potter e a Pedra Filosofal Italian: Harry Potter e la pietra filosofale German: Harry Potter Und der Stein der Weisen French: Harry Potter à LÉcole des SorciersAn accompanying Ha rry Potter audiobook or movie will not only be appreciated, it can make for supercharged learning for beginner to advanced learners.Twilight by  Stephenie MeyerOkay, Twilight haters, go ahead and keep reading. Ill admit that Im not a fan of the series myself, but I was gifted the first book in Spanish by a friend once upon a time. It makes for casual, entertaining reading, the language is simple enough for low-intermediate readers, and because its so popular it has been translated into many languages, as have all its audiobooks and movies.This is a great gift for any Twilight fan whos learning a language. Its like having a chance to read the book series all over again when theyre handed  Crepúsculo  (Spanish), Bis(s) zum Morgengrauen  (German) or  La saga Twilight: La fascination  (French).The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. TolkienJ.R.R. Tolkien was himself a famous language learner, and his works provide fodder for linguistic geeks around the globe. I mean, the man invented his own l anguages in this series. Who doesnt secretly wish they could speak Elvish, Dwarvish and Entish?While the books and movies dont come fully translated into those fantastical languages, they have been translated into dozens of our worlds languages:French: Le Seigneur des Anneaux 1. La Communaute de lAnneauSpanish: El Señor de los Anillos: La Comunidad del AnilloItalian: Il Signore degli Anelli : Compagnia dellanello  Portuguese: O Senhor Dos Aneis A Sociedade Do AnelTo find more translations of the books or movies, you can run a Google search for the translated titles (theres a full list of the titles right here).The Lord of the Rings is most suitable for advanced readers, but having it in another language on the  shelf might be good inspiration to keep studying. The movies are approachable for most levels of learners, but they should expect to hear some outdated languageâ€"and youll need to watch out for international DVD compatibility when buying.A Game of Thrones by George R. R. M artinAnother series with a huge fandomâ€"and many a language learner is part of the fandom, thanks to the presence of the fictional language Dothraki on the show. Some language programs have even taken to creating full Dothraki courses.For any language-obsessed fans of A Game of Thrones, you can track down the whole series of books in their target language via Amazon. You can also gift them this Dothraki course by Living Language. Theres a fun, language learning gift theyll never see coming!With Languages in Mind: Musings of a Polyglot by Kató LombHeres a sweet, humorous and totally relatable read for any language learner, particularly one whos gone way beyond language number two.Kató Lomb is a world-famous Hungarian polyglot whose  life was all about languagesâ€"she blazed trails in the fields of translation and interpretation, and was one of the very first simultaneous translators (meaning she delivered translations live while people were actively speaking, no small feat indeed) .As someone who originally studied hard sciences and later found a passion for languages, she has a sharp, incisive and logical take on all things related to linguistics and learning. That being said, her musings on languages in this book are anything but dry!5 Language Visual Dictionary by DKA visual dictionary attaches vocabulary directly to illustrations and pictures, so that language learners can build stronger associations between objects and their names. This visual dictionary takes this to a whole different level, including five very popular languages all together in the same book.GadgetsKindle PaperwhiteI was gifted a Kindle by my father a while back, and its been an essential tool for learning languages. Ive been able to download books, short stories and digital dictionaries in a myriad of languages with my Kindle, making language practice a breeze.  I personally recommend the Paperwhite version, as its easy on the eyes and makes longer reading sessions much more comfortabl e.Its convenient for the learner who happens to also love traveling, as they wont have to lug around a whole library with them to maintain their reading skills. Theyll even be able to download a dictionary in the language theyre learning, so while reading novels (or whatever theyre reading) in that language, that they can simply touch any word to look it up.ASUS ChromebookIf youre looking to spoil a traveler and language lover with a bigger-ticket gift, this is the way to go. Plus, the ticket isnt even that bigâ€"being a Chromebook, its quite affordable. A Chromebook basically has the functionality and storage space of a tablet, with all the sturdiness of a legit laptop.ASUS crafts some of the most durable computer shells and hardware, and the one Ive brought around with me on travels since 2010 (different ASUS model, same basic idea) has served me extremely well for writing emails to family members, Skyping and keeping in touch with people, writing blog posts and all-around taking care of business.Plus, its so tiny and lightweight that it can be safely and discretely traveled with in a normal-sized backpack.Voice RecorderTo practice speaking skills, hone pronunciation, get feedback and keep records of your progress, theres nothing quite like a good, old-fashioned voice recorder. Give a language learner a voice recorder with a built-in USB connection, and theyll get tons of mileage out of this.LabelmakerDo you happen to notice little sticky notes with foreign language writing all over your gift recipients house? One very common learning strategy, especially for beginners, is to label everything in your house in the language youre trying to learn. This way, every time you see a chair, you also see the word for chair in the foreign language attached to it, which is great for building vocabulary.Even better, give Vocabulary Stickers as a gift,  and the gift-receiver will have well over 100 foreign language words to put on items they use and see every day around t heir  home and office.Casio Multilingual WatchThis nifty watch displays the date and lets you scroll through its settings in 13 different languages.Language Learning  CoursesFluentUSign them up for a FluentU membership!FluentU makes it possible to learn languages  from music videos, commercials, news, inspiring talks and more.With FluentU, you hear languages in real-world contextsâ€"the way that native speakers actually use them. Just a quick look will give you an idea of the variety of FluentU videos on offer:FluentU really takes the grunt work out of learning languages, leaving you with nothing but engaging, effective and efficient learning. It’s already hand-picked the best videos for you and organized them by level and topic. All you have to do is choose any video that strikes your fancy to get started!Each word in the interactive captions comes with a definition, audio, image, example sentences and more.Access a complete interactive transcript of every video under the Dialogu e tab, and easily review words and phrases from the video under Vocab.You can use FluentU’s unique adaptive quizzes to learn the vocabulary and phrases from the video through fun questions and exercises. Just swipe left or right to see more examples of the word youre studying.The program even keeps track of what you’re learning and tells you exactly when it’s time for review, giving you a 100% personalized experience.Start using FluentU on the website  with your computer or tablet  or, better yet,  download the FluentU app from  the  iTunes store  or  Google Play store.Rosetta StoneYou already know the buzz about Rosetta Stone. This is a top-notch choice for someone who has talked endlessly about learning a certain language but hasnt gotten their momentum going yet. This can provide the structure and comprehensive support they need to get the ball rollingâ€"and to keep it rolling. Rosetta Stone is available in a ton of languages, including French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Ch inese and many, many more.Give the gift of Rosetta Stone! They make it easy to send to your loved one by mail or email.PimsleurAlright, what about that person who spends tons of time driving? Pimsleur is the way to go if you think someone has ample time to practice languages in their car.This is another gift idea Im drawing from personal experience. A lovely family memberâ€"hi, Aunt Valerie!â€"once gave me both the Arabic and German Pimsleur CD collections for Christmas, and I still use them to this very day.All in all, theyre fun, effective and super useful for anyone whos on the road often. You can find them featuring a huge variety of languages including French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese and more.Household StuffPolyglot MugLet them admire the writing in all these different languages first thing in the morning, while theyre sipping their first cup of coffee and studying some quick language lessons before work.Multilingual DoormatStyle up their house and help them show the world that theyre on the road to being a polyglot with this cool doormat.Sticky NotesThe sticky notes Ive picked out to share above featured a cute map-of-the-world background, which is appealing to most people who love language, culture and travel. On the practical side of things, language learners tend to use lots of sticky notes to jot down thoughts, label items and mark important pages in their textbooks and foreign-language novels.Magnetic PoetryA staple of college dorms everywhere, magnetic poetry sets can really do worlds of good for language learners. Grab them a set in their target language for their refrigerator so they can play with words and phrasings while their coffee is brewing. Ive tracked down several options for you in different languages: Spanish, French, Dutch, Italian, German, Chinese.Scratch the WorldThis Scratch the World map is a really cute way for any travel enthusiast to keep track of their many adventures and display them proudly on their wall at home.Co rkboard Adhesive MapNothing is more helpful for language learners than having a place to stick their notes, flashcards, study schedules and assignment papers. This corkboard goes beyond the boring, rectangular version, has a beautiful map-of-the-world cut-out design and sticks right onto walls.Travelers NotebookWhats better than being organized? Whether theyre traveling the world or just moving around town with lots of study materials, this travelers notebook does a nice job of holding onto tiny papers, important documents, pens and littler items.Well, thats the end of the list. Are you feeling inspired?Hopefully weve given you some nice ideas for holiday gifts for that special language learner in your life, so you can brighten their winter days a little.Have a wonderful holiday season!