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Hundreds of resources to help you teach yourself

A High Information Density Here

5 Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Websites

This encyclopedia of writing systems and languages is a longtime labor of love of Simon Ager, an Englishman who now lives in Wales. He started the site way back in the Internet dark ages of 1998. Omniglot contains information on…

Cute Website!

Arabic, English, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Kids

I know little about Little Pim, other than that it offers language-learning products for kids, that it was founded by Julia Pimsleur Levine, and that the company’s instructional DVDs span multiple language families. Also that Ms. Levine happens…

The Center

5 Japanese, Food and Drink, Shopping

This is a big, beautiful East Side showroom, a gastronomically seductive space, for lovers of Japanese cuisine. Of which I am one. It is there courtesy of a Moonachie, N.J.-based company called New York Mutual Trading.  …

Visit the Middlebury Language Schools Website for Answers to Application FAQs

5 Arabic, French, General, German, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Classes/Conversation

I don’t normally include language schools here, but Middlebury is famous for its summer programs. While I have not experienced one myself, I have heard great things about them over many years from people I trust.  The typical…

Forvo: For Pronunciations of the World's Words

5 Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Dictionaries, Websites

Forvo’s tagline says it all: “All the words in the world. Pronounced.” Okay, maybe not all, but it is good to have a goal. There are 300 languages on Forvo’s language list, from German and Spanish to…

MLA Headquarters, 26 Broadway

5 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,…

Wow, 2014 Marks the 129th Convention!

Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Yiddish, Conferences/Lectures

The Modern Language Association holds an annual convention each year in a different city—2013 in Boston, 2014 in Chicago, and 2018 in New York City. You do not need to be a member to attend. I have never gone myself, but when…

Read & Speak Japanese for Beginners: I Did Not Find This Book Usable

1 Japanese, Books, Multimedia

I found Read & Speak Japanese for Beginners by Helen Bagley just impossible given the challenges of the Japanese writing system. On principle, the books in this Read & Speak series—which are offered across multiple…

FlashcardExchange.com: Find Flashcards for Your Target Language

4 Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Apps, Flashcards, Vocabulary, Websites, Kids

FlashcardExchange.com claims to be the “world’s largest flashcard library.” It was founded in 2001 by a guy named Culley Harrelson, who was studying for an exam using a giant stack of paper flashcards. Apparently he didn’t find…