Here you can find a list of recommended resources, organized by target language. As time permits, I will write detailed reviews of each of these resources, with links to the reviews from this page.
Unless otherwise noted:
- Every resource I link to here, I have used, and I can recommend.
- Links to Amazon.com are affiliate links–I will receive a small compensation if you buy after following one of these links.
- Other than this, I receive no financial compensation from the authors or publishers of any of these resources.
General language learning resources
Books
- Fluent Forever: How to Learn Any Language Fast and Never Forget It by Gabriel Wyner
- How to Learn Any Language: Quickly, Easily and On Your Own! by Barry M. Farber
- The Third Ear: You Can Learn Any Language by Chris Lonsdale
Other
- AnkiSRS is a flash card program (available for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, and Android) which makes remembering things, such as vocabulary, easy.
Gabriel Wyner of Fluent Forever has put together some good video tutorials on getting started with Anki. His book, Fluent Forever, provides much more in-depth understanding of how and why to use an SRS system. I highly recommend it for any language learner.
Resources by language
Below is a list of resources useful to students of specific languages. Links that are not in English are prefaced by their two-letter language code in parenthesis.
General
These resources work for any language, so I list them here rather than repeat them for every language below.
Pronunciation
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Forvo features recordings for most common words in most languages. If the word/language you need isn’t there, you can request it, and a native speaker will generally record it for you within a day or two.
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RhinoSpike is a language learning tool that connects you with native speakers to exchange foreign language audio files. Get any foreign language text read aloud for you by a native speaker!
Dutch
Dictionaries
- (NL) WikiWoordenbook (Wiktionary in Dutch) is a good resource.
- (NL) etymologiebank.nl provides extensive etymology information for most words.
English
Dictionaries
- Wiktionary and Merriam-Webster are my favorite online English dictionaries, as I find they are fairly complete, and usually have the best IPA transcriptions.
- Online Etymology Dictionary provides detailed etymology of most English words.
Pronunciation Guides
Misc
- Minimalpairs.net has a good list of minimal pairs for American English.
French
Dictionaries
- (FR) Wiktionnaire (Wiktionary in French) is my favorite French-language dictionary, and is very complete.
Misc
- Minimalpairs.net has a list of minimal pairs for French.
Portuguese
Dictionaries
- (PT) Dicionário Priberam de Língua Portuguesa is my favorite Portuguese dictionary. It usually distinguishes between Brazilian and European Portuguese, so you can easily find the definitions that are relevant to the dialect you’re learning.
Spanish
Dictionaries
- The (ES) Diccionario de la lengua española is the official Spanish language dictionary from the Real Academia Española. It doesn’t cover many slang terms, but is a must-use resource for any Spanish student.