Reviews

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Berlitz Polish Pocket Dictionary, with Pencil for Scale

Polish, Books, Dictionaries

For my Polish studies, I ended up using the Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary instead of this one from Berlitz, just because that one happens to be bigger (though still small) and holds more words. The Berlitz Polish…

A Cultural Extravaganza

5 Portuguese, Fairs/Festivals/Parades, Sports/Fitness, Kids

This annual event takes place on a (usually hot) June day in Central Park. Activities include running races—for both kids and adults—as well as a festival, food, music, and more. The adults’ race is five miles and huge:…

Spanish Grammar Drills: Lots of Good Translation Exercises

4 Spanish, Books

“If you’ve picked up this book,” writes Rogelio Alonso Vallecillos (fabulous name!) in Spanish Verb Drills, “you know that to learn a language well—to read and write and to understand others and be understood yourself—at…

Search for Hindi Meetup Groups in Your Area!

Hindi, Classes/Conversation, Social

On the far right of the Hindi Language Meetup page, you can type in your zip code to see whether there are any groups in your area dedicated to Hindi-related meetings and events.  In March 2013, for example, a search…

Basic Korean Grammar and Workbook: Not Basic Enough

3 Korean, Books

I did not get far at all in Basic Korean: A Grammar and Workbook by Andrew Sangpil Byon. I straggled through to page 21 and stopped. A big question for me was, who exactly is the target audience? …

The Entrance to the Mall Containing Fang Gourmet

3-5 Mandarin, Food and Drink, Shopping

At this Flushing shop you can buy fancy teas for all kinds of ailments, sit and drink tea at low tables with your friends, buy fancy tea sets, or (something I did) ask a lot of questions. The…

Check Out the Video on Their Website!

4 Mandarin, Sports/Fitness

The USA Shaolin Temple, according to its website, “teaches Chan Philosophy through the core Shaolin disciplines of martial arts or action meditation: Gongfu (Kung Fu), Taiji Quan (Tai Chi) and Qigong (Chi Kung). Students of all backgrounds, religions, ages, and…

Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal: Good Luck NOT Finding a Dutch Word in Here

Dutch, Dictionaries, Websites

Published by the Institute for Dutch Lexicology, the Woordenboek der Nederlandsche Taal (Dictionary of the Dutch Language) is supposedly the largest dictionary in the world, many decades in the making. It covers more than 500 years’ worth of…

Read Their Website in English...

Korean, Organizations

This association, whose acronym KAAGNY automatically makes me think “Lacey,” offers both Korean and English versions of its website. KAAGNY has been around since before I was born, serving the roughly half a million Korean-Americans living in the New York…