Reviews
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Pimsleur Swiss German
German, Audio Lessons
Pimsleur, part of Simon & Schuster, offers 10 excellent roughly half-hour audio lessons for Swiss German, and I did all 10 of them in 24 hours. I absolutely do not recommend this approach—you are supposed to do one per day—but I…
Transparent Language Online: Free Trial
German, Multimedia, Websites
Nashua, N.H.-based Transparent Language offers a free seven-day trial of its Transparent Language Online products. When I say “products,” I really mean plural: during the trial you can try out any and all languages they have, and…
@Five_Languages on Twitter
French, General, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Vocabulary
Can’t commit to a single language? Go for five at a time, then, with this daily tweet translating an English word into five languages: Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, and German.
Today’s word was “train.”
Portuguese:
Schoenhof’s Foreign Books
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Websites, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
Founded in 1856, Schoenhof’s claims to have the “largest collection of foreign books in North America.” As a student at Harvard, I used to shop at their main store in Harvard Square for my language and literature course materials. I…
Pimsleur German
German, Audio Lessons, Multimedia
Pimsleur offers highly interactive German audio lessons, roughly half an hour each, that give users way more opportunities to practice their oral skills than they would be likely to have in even the smallest of conversation classes. I love Pimsleur…
Goethe-Institut New York
German, Tests, Bookstores/Libraries, Museums/Cultural, Classes/Conversation
The mission of the Goethe-Institut is to “promote the study of German abroad and encourage international cultural exchange,” as well as “foster knowledge about Germany by providing information on its culture, society and politics.” There are events, exchange programs, classes,…
Schaller & Weber
German, Food and Drink
You can find hard-core German food products at this longstanding family-owned Yorkville store, resident on 86th and Second Avenue since 1937. Schaller & Weber’s website says they are “masters of charcuterie.” I had to go look up “charcuterie.”…
Practice Makes Perfect: German Vocabulary
German, Books, Vocabulary
Practice Makes Perfect: German Vocabulary by Ed Swick is divided up into chapters such as “Animals,” “Holidays,” “Farms and gardens,” and “The human body.” It balances explanations, word lists, and examples with exercises. While it is too advanced…