Reviews

Hundreds of resources to help you teach yourself

View from the Street

5 Japanese, Food and Drink

For a relaxing cup of tea, you might consider this attractive East Village tea house. It is owned by T.I.C. Group, which also owns an insane number of other Japanese restaurants in the immediate area. For…

CIDLeS Home Page

General, Websites, Organizations

Founded in 2010 and based in Minde, Portugal, the Interdisciplinary Centre for Social and Language Documentation (CIDLeS) is “dedicated to the documentation and preservation of the linguistic and cultural heritage in Europe.”

Maps Available on the Brooklyn Arts Council's Website

Arabic, Neighborhoods

Through the Brooklyn Arts Council, you can enjoy occasional inexpensive tours of Arab neighborhoods in Brooklyn. They also post maps online, for Atlantic Avenue and Bay Ridge, should you prefer to tour on your own for…

Ferrara, Little Italy

5 Italian, Food and Drink

When I visited this Little Italy café back in 2009, I had the most heavenly latte I can remember having in my entire life. It was also at that time the most costly latte of my life. As I drank it,…

Learn Portuguese, Read Portuguese

5 Portuguese, Websites, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids

The tagline for Atlantico Books is “Brazil and Portugal Delivered.” I have never met the owner, Elena Como, but she has been pleasant and responsive in my e-mail communications with her, and she is clearly very passionate about Portuguese. …

Storefront, 72nd Street

4-5 Hebrew, Food and Drink

This West 72nd Street café is a fabulous language lab—one of the best free local resources I have found for any language I’ve studied so far during this project. I went there a lot 

Store Entrance

5 English, French, General, Italian, Spanish, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids

This is a truly gorgeous bookstore with a wonderful selection of books—in English, Italian, Spanish, and French. There are not many stores in New York with a meaningful supply of foreign-language books. This is one, and it seems to…

They Have Cool Events Here

4 Italian, Museums/Cultural, Classes/Conversation

Visit the Istituto Italiano di Cultura di New York for a wide range of events: film screenings, musical performances, lectures, etc. There is also a library, which as of this writing was under inventory and not available to…

A Lovely Home for French

5 French, Museums/Cultural, Conferences/Lectures

Founded in 1913, the Maison Française has had several homes, but now resides in Buell Hall on Columbia University’s Morningside Heights campus. It is a center for all things French: lectures, conferences, movies, seminars, salons, exhibits, a book…