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…
Pimsleur Polish
Polish, Audio Lessons
My only complaint about Pimsleur Polish is that there just isn’t enough of it—a mere 30 lessons’ worth. Such a shame. A Pimsleur lesson is a miracle of audio interactivity, with constant prompting that gets you speaking in your…
Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary
Polish, Books, Dictionaries
The Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary is extremely usable and useful. I am picky about dictionaries. I like the aesthetics of this one: the readability of the print, the weight of the book (light), and its dimensions (small-purse…
Google Translate (App)
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Apps, Dictionaries
I have a tendency not to get around to downloading iPhone apps onto my iPhone, but fortunately I have a husband who will take my phone and do it for me. I’m very glad he stuck this app on…
Berlitz Polish Pocket Dictionary
Polish, Books, Dictionaries
For my Polish studies, I ended up using the Oxford Essential Polish Dictionary instead of this one from Berlitz, just because that one happens to be bigger (though still small) and holds more words. The Berlitz Polish…
Foreign Service Institute Language Courses
Arabic, Dutch, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Audio Lessons, Websites
These Foreign Service Institute language courses were recommended by a reader. I haven’t tried them, but the holdings are extensive and consist of older courses that are now in the public domain. They are also free, so the main…
Modern Language Association Language Map
Arabic, Dutch, English, French, General, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Persian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Yiddish, Websites
The Modern Language Association has a spectacular online language map showing the languages of the U.S., as well as a data center with searchable language information. For free! These tools will be updated soon…