The Internet is so overwhelmingly English-based that one might forget that other major world languages such as French and Spanish have portals, directories, search engines and a vast array of websites of their own. There are, for example, French versions of Altavista (http://fr.altavista.com) and Yahoo! (http://fr.yahoo.com), so why not use these and surf a la Francais every so often? Not only would it improve your general use and understanding of French, but it would be excellent training for the reading comprehension section of the exam.
Geography students too will find no shortage of quality material on the web. Many of the best sites for physical geography are on academic servers, but for economic, social and regional geography you are better off checking out the websites of major social and political institutions and agencies. The list below should give you a kickstart, but for a more comprehensive library of links, try the pages at www.leavingcert.net.
Le Monde
www.lemonde.fr/
For French and international news, sports, and culture in the French language, you'll hardly do better than the website of national daily newspaper Le Monde.
French at About.com
http://french.about.com/homework/french/
The wonderful About.com has a wealth of material on French, plus links to many other learning resource sites. Click through to the sections on grammar, vocabulary, verbs, dictionaries, tests, etc. The perfect portal for all your French study needs.
French at eLanguage
www.elanguage.com/eng/default.asp
At the top of the webpage, click on the "Learn a Language" box and select French. The company behind this site, eLanguage, is trying to sell language programme software, but fortunately it has a huge amount of open-access material on the site, including a phrasebook, a grammar guide, a vocabulary builder - and even a talking dictionary! Incidentally, the same services are provided here for students of German and Spanish.
French Grammar Central
http://globegate.utm.edu/french/globegatemirror/gramm.html
A good gateway to French grammar websites. The subheading breakdown is useful, but unfortunately the sites listed under each subheading are arranged somewhat haphazardly and are not evaluated.
Encarta
www.language.msn.com/main.asp
A free online course in French from Microsoft Encarta. Click on "French" on the graphic at the top of your screen and you'll be taken through to a substantial set of lessons at beginner, intermediate and advanced level. Each lesson contains an explanation of points of grammar or language use and has interactive exercises.
France a la Carte
www.francealacarte.org.uk/ Students can pick and choose from an exciting menu which includes planning trips to France for starters, followed by teaching/learning French for the main course. Desserts include a culture section with information on books, music and cinema. Bon appetit!
Geography
Geography portal
http://geography.about.com/science/geography/
Again, About.com is an essential port of call. Follow the links on the navigation panel to the sections on such topics as maps, physical geography, and country facts. Some of the content is About.com's own, but there are also many links to external websites.
World Fact Book
www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/
ThE CIA is full of well-travelled folks who take more than an average interest in world affairs, so who better to give you the low-down on every country on earth! Its World Fact Book is a compilation of country profiles with topographic, demographic, economic, and administrative details - as well, of course, as a record of each country's role in transnational disputes and illicit drug trafficking - as seen from Washington.
The Coast
www-class.unl.edu/geol109/coasts.htm
You'll find it hard to get a better explanation of coastal features and how they are formed than this page provides. It has well-written notes-style text, very clear diagrams and spectacular photos. The downside is that it is one exceedingly long and graphic-intense page, so expect it to take an age to download completely.
Physical Geography
www.geog.ouc.bc.ca/physgeog/home.html
A member of the department of geography at a Canadian university has put together this very fine account of all major topics in physical geography. Though the title is "Fundamentals of Physical Geography", take note that what is "fundamental" for college students may be quite advanced for school students.
The European Union online
http://europa.eu.int/index-en.htm
The Europa website boasts 1.5 million pages of content. Try the ABC section for a timeline, an account of all the institutions, etc.
Earth viewer
www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/
If you'd like to see live satellite shots of the earth, where you can zone in on any area you like, try the Swiss Fourmilab site. Click on the phrase "map of the earth" near the beginning of the text. The pictures are refreshed every few minutes, so you can practically see the lights come on in the built-up areas of the world as the shadow of night approaches. Astounding.
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