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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.”

Global Language List!

4 General, Websites

This Wikipedia entry has a table listing the world’s languages in descending order by number of speakers. Besides the quantitative information, the table also displays the countries in which the languages are spoken and provides some helpful notes. For…

Craigslist for Language Exchange

3 General, Websites, Classes/Conversation

I used Craigslist for language purposes just once, to find an Italian conversation partner in late 2009. He was a very nice guy, and the exchange, while short-lived, was pleasant and productive. While writing this review about three years later, in…

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. …

Do You Think There's a Below-Average Number of Grammatical Errors on This Site?

English, Websites, Organizations

I think years ago I might actually have been a member of this organization, but I can’t remember for sure. In any case, they have a lovely mission statement: “The Council promotes the development of literacy, the use…

New York Has a Lot Going On!

General, Websites, Fairs/Festivals/Parades

This website includes listings of events around town, to enable you (according to its tagline) “see the city like a native ‘New Yawkah.’” I am including it here primarily because of its extensive list of fairs, festivals, and parades, which…

Dictionary.com Can Tell You the Origins of Words Like Schadenfreude and Aardvark

5 English, General, Dictionaries, Websites

I love this free resource. When I need absolute certainty about what I am looking up, I will go to my beautiful and totally current hardcover American Heritage dictionary, but for a quick check of a word’s…

Great Works at University of Rochester!

General, Websites

The goal of Three Percent is to be “a destination for readers, editors, and translators interested in finding out about modern and contemporary international literature.” Originating at the University of Rochester, the website got its name through the sad fact…

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…