Guided Tour of the Portal

Introduction to the Portal

Transcription

We are pleased to introduce you to the Language Portal of Canada. In this Introduction module, the first of the series, we will give you an overview of the Portal's wide range of resources.

The Language Portal offers free access to language and writing tools, word games and content produced by governments, universities and other organizations from across Canada. It also provides many links to sites on language training and Canada's two official languages.

Let's explore the site together.

Here we are on the Portal's home page. We'll start with the navigation bar at the top of the page.

The button Français takes you to the Portail linguistique du Canada, the French equivalent of the Language Portal. These two sites are alike but not identical since they deal with problems specific to each language.

To go back to the Language Portal's home page at any time, click on Home.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the site, click on Contact Us to find out how to reach us.

The Help button provides useful information on navigating the site.

The Search button takes you to the site's search engine. To perform a search, enter one or more keywords in the search box and click on Search. This will bring up a list of all the pages in the Language Portal that contain the word or phrase entered.

Finally, the button canada.gc.ca takes you to the official Web site of the Government of Canada.

Now let's go to the left column. You can access this column at any time, from anywhere in the Portal.

First, let's look at the Language Portal menu. The About the Portal link takes you to a general information page on the Portal and its goals, content and developers. Another link takes you to the site map.

There's something new on the Portal every week. In What's New?, you'll find a list of our most recent updates to the site. They include headlines, articles on language problems, a quiz and a tip of the week. Just click on the links to view the updates.

Let's go back to the Portal's home page. In the middle of the page, you'll find the Headlines section. Visit this section to stay on top of language-related news, facts and events from across Canada. To read the headlines, just click on the pictures or the titles.

Have you missed any headlines in recent weeks? You can read them in Archived Headlines. They are listed by publication date.

Now let's go to the right column of the home page. TERMIUM Plus^® is the Government of Canada's terminology and linguistic data bank. Use it to find the translations of nearly four million English and French terms. In the search box, enter the term you wish to translate, for example, bird call. In this case, since your term is English, select "from English to French." Then, click on Find. TERMIUM Plus^® gives you possible translations for bird call in French.

If you wish to continue searching in TERMIUM Plus^®, make sure that the search key matches the language of the term to translate. For example, to get the English translation of a French term, click on the Search Keys button and set the search key to French Terms.

To exit TERMIUM Plus^®, click on Home. This will take you to the home page for TERMIUM Plus^®. Then, click on ourlanguages.gc.ca to return to the Portal.

Now let's look at the Well Written, Well Said menu. The first link in the menu provides you with another way to access TERMIUM Plus^®.

Just below TERMIUM Plus^®, you'll find the Writing Tools link. These tools are online guides and reference works. They cover the many facets of English and French grammar, style and usage. You can also get to the Writing Tools section by clicking on the picture in the right column of the home page.

The Well Written, Well Said menu also contains the Gateway to English section. Here you'll find a collection of articles that deal with the finer points of the English language. This is where you'll want to go for practical advice on grammar and syntax, spelling, punctuation, typography, and much more.

In the Quizzes section, you'll find exercises to test your knowledge. Select a quiz on a topic of your choice. Click on the answers you think are correct. Then, click on Submit at the bottom of the page to get your score and the correct answers.

Below Quizzes, you'll find the Clear and Effective Communication section, which is produced by the Translation Bureau. If you want to write clear, easy-to-understand texts that get the message across, don't skip this section! To get to it, just click on Go to the Clear and Effective Communication section at the bottom of the page.

Now let's look at the Discover section. This section is a library of hyperlinks. It contains hundreds of language-related Web resources. The Portal team has selected for you a wide range of quality language tools and references—all produced in Canada. It has also listed interesting sites on Canada's official languages, certain Aboriginal languages, language training and many other subjects. There's a wealth of information to discover!

Let's move on to Our Contributors. The Portal team includes contributors from across Canada.

The Geographical Index contains the same hyperlinks as those listed in the Discover section. This time, they are sorted by province and territory. Under Canada (national), you'll find links to sites created by various pan-Canadian associations and organizations.

You can also access this geographical index from the home page by using the map of Canada in the centre of the page. Just click on a province or territory, or on the word Canada, to access the hyperlinks.

Below the map, you'll find articles written by people actively involved in languages in Canada. You'll also find them under Articles, in the Our Contributors menu.

Now let's go to the right column. Here you'll find the Tip of the Week, which provides you with simple solutions to common language problems. To read the tip, click on the link or the picture.

Just below the Tip of the Week is the Flash Quiz. It lets you test your knowledge with just one click. Every time you return to the home page, the Flash Quiz challenges you with a new question.

This ends the Introduction module for the Language Portal of Canada. You can continue exploring the Language Portal in the other modules. To access these modules, click on Guided Tour of the Portal at the top of the left menu.

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