Blog
Spring Awakening
In which my thoughts turn to studying Chinese, Arabic, and Russian.
Last week I thought to myself, it would be cool to learn some Chinese characters right around now. Even though I spent a little time on Chinese some years back, I focused on spoken skills and pinyin and never learned…
Reviews
Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary
Polish, Books, Dictionaries
The Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary is extremely usable and useful. I am picky about dictionaries. I like the aesthetics of this one: the readability of the print, the weight of the book (light), and its dimensions (small-purse…
BarCharts Spanish Vocabulary Flash Cards
Spanish, Flashcards, Vocabulary
I am picky about my flashcards. These Spanish vocabulary flashcards from BarCharts come in a box of 1,000. It’s a good number of flashcards, and if you buy them and learn them all, or even most of them, you…
W J Bookstore
Mandarin, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
There are three of these bookstores around New York City, one in each of the three major Chinatowns. Besides the one listed in this entry, in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, there is one on 377 Broadway in Manhattan (212-226-5131) and one…
AFFOI
French, Organizations
AFFOI, short for Assemblée des francophones fonctionnaires des organisations internationales, seeks to safeguard the linguistic diversity of international organizations. On its website, AFFOI asserts, “La diversité linguistique, culturelle et conceptuelle est une condition sine qua non…
Lederhosen
German, Food and Drink
This Greenwich Village establishment is described on its website as a “German Wurst and Bierhaus.” When I was there (this was in 2010), multiple people working there spoke German, so I think your chances of combining food-ordering and food-eating activities…