Reviews
Hundreds of resources to help you teach yourself
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…
Jackson Heights, Queens, for Many Languages
General, Hindi, Korean, Polish, Russian, Spanish, Neighborhoods
This is a fantastically polyglottal community in northwestern Queens. Take the subway to Roosevelt Avenue/74th Street and you will find yourself in possibly the most diverse community in the world. You can hear massive amounts of Spanish along…
Central Park
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Parks, Kids
Central Park draws international visitors year round, but if you really want to hear other languages, walk around here during the three non-freezing seasons: spring, summer, and fall. Summer especially is crazy with tourists. You can hear dozens of languages.…
Patel Brothers
Hindi, Food and Drink
I love going to stores with food in other languages. This Jackson Heights establishment is full of unfamiliar foodstuffs and packaging, including giant piles of rice, way beyond what I would ever see in my own regular grocery haunts. Even…
Älskling
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Shopping, Kids
Älskling, which means “darling” in Swedish, sells baby clothes online in dozens of languages. When I first encountered this product in an Upper West Side shop some years ago, I was fortunate enough to be given a tour by…
East 6th Street
Hindi, Food and Drink, Neighborhoods
On East 6th Street between First and Second avenues are numerous Indian restaurants, sometimes referred to collectively as Indian Restaurant Row. When I first moved to New York in 1990, I ate here constantly: yummy, inexpensive food. The Indian languages spoken…
Little India, Queens
Hindi, Neighborhoods
Little India in Jackson Heights offers many languages and a window into a culture that began far, far away. Along 74th Street you can find Hindi and Bengali signs, sari-wearing women, store windows filled with elaborate gold jewelry, the…
Modern Language Association
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Websites, Organizations
This eminent 130-year-old organization “provides opportunities for its members to share their scholarly findings and teaching experiences with colleagues and to discuss trends in the academy.” The Modern Language Association publishes prolifically, academics congregate annually at their annual convention,…
New York Public Library (Mid-Manhattan)
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
The Mid-Manhattan Library, at 40th Street and Fifth Avenue, is the main language-learning repository of the New York Public Library. I used it a lot in 2009 and 2010, mostly for Pimsleur audio lessons, but also borrowed books and other resources as…