Reviews
Hundreds of resources to help you teach yourself
Forvo
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…
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,…
Nom Wah Tea Parlor
Mandarin, Food and Drink
This place is on the coolest of old Chinatown streets, but it seems to me to be the victim of its own popularity. The last time I was there, the wait staff were the only Chinese people in the place,…
The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine
Mandarin, Books, Sports/Fitness
The Web That Has No Weaver: Understanding Chinese Medicine by Ted Kaptchuk will not teach you Chinese, but it has Chinese words in it! I read it as part of my foray into Chinese culture. I am…
Chung Hwa Bookstore
Mandarin, Bookstores/Libraries, Kids
I visited this bookstore in Flushing’s Chinatown soon after I began my Mandarin studies, and boy, did I feel helpless! I could not read a word. A friendly Chung Hwa employee helped me out, giving me advice on which…
MLA Annual 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…
Visual Education Chinese Vocabulary Cards
Mandarin, Flashcards, Vocabulary
You can buy these Chinese vocabulary cards directly from the publisher, Visual Education, or from other distributors such as Amazon.com. Each card has both Chinese characters and pinyin on one side, and English on the other. When I…
