Reddit mentions: The best english dictionaries

If you want web resources, there's a few good things floating about out there. First is [Erin's Web] (http://www.erinsweb.com/gae_index.html). She offers lessons, which seem to be decent. I haven't used them, because I have the good fortune to have classes, but perusing them doesn't lead to any glaring errors. I would suggest you start there, as it also has the approximate English pronunciation equivalents.

If you want books, there's a few that could be helpful. [Briathra na Gaeilge] (http://www.litriocht.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=795) and [Leabhar Mór Bhriathra na Gaeilge] (http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6407961-leabhar-m-r-bhriathra-na-gaeilge) are excellent books for verbs. The first smaller, and has a smaller index, and is easy to carry around and study. The second is huge (Literally titled "Big Book of Irish Verbs"). It contains 112 sample conjugations, as well as a history of the language. On top of that, the index is near inexhaustible, containing over 3,000 verbs, along with their verbal noun, verbal adjective, and a reference to which one they are conjugated similar to.

For general grammar, you have several options. The one my school recommends is [Irish Grammar Book] (http://www.amazon.com/Irish-Grammar-Book-Nollaig-MacCongail/dp/1902420497/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504088&sr=8-1&keywords=irish+grammar+book) by Nollaig Mac Congáil. It's a good overview of the grammar. However, I would suggest the series of [Basic Irish] (http://www.amazon.com/Basic-Irish-Grammar-Workbook-Workbooks/dp/041541041X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504147&sr=8-1&keywords=basic+irish) and [Intermediate Irish] (http://www.amazon.com/Intermediate-Irish-Grammar-Workbook-Workbooks/dp/0415410428/ref=pd_sim_b_4) both by Nancy Stenson. They're part of Routledge's series (Essential Grammar, Comprehensive Grammar, etc.), and I really like how that series, as a whole, is laid out. There's an online grammar, Gramadach na Gaeilge as well, though it's slightly more technical than some of the others, and the Christian Brother's Grammar is widely considered to be one of the best.

For nouns, there's [Irish Nouns: A Reference Guide] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Irish-Nouns-Reference-Oxford-Linguistics/dp/0199213755/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504256&sr=8-1). This books is immense, and awesome. It contains a shit ton of nouns. And also a lot of verbal nouns as well as describing how to decline them and when to decline them. It's an amazing book. I wish I had a physical copy.

For courses, there's the simple [Teach Yourself Complete Irish] (http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-Complete-Irish-Audio/dp/0071758984/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504328&sr=8-1&keywords=teach+yourself+irish) and [Colloquial Irish] (http://www.amazon.com/Colloquial-Irish-Complete-Course-Beginners/dp/0415381304/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1363504346&sr=1-1&keywords=colloquial+irish), however one that's used a lot in Ireland is [Búntus Cainte] (http://www.amazon.com/Buntus-Cainte-Ceim-hAon-Edition/dp/1857910656/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504385&sr=8-1&keywords=buntus+cainte). There are three levels of it, if I'm not mistaken. There's also [Gaeilge Gan Stró] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gaeilge-Gan-Stro-Beginners-Multimedia/dp/0956361447/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363504420&sr=8-1). I haven't used it, but supposedly it's good.

There's also immersion courses, if you have the time and money. One is offered by [Oideas Gael] (http://www.oideas-gael.com/en/), in Donegal. [Another] (http://www.nuigalway.ie/acadamh/cursai/dianchursai_gaeilge/neachtrannaigh_irish.html) is offered in the town called Carraroe, by NUIG. It's the one I've done, and I prefer that dialect.

Which reminds me. That's another thing you're going to need to know: there are three main dialects, one for each province minus Leinster, and the standard official. A brief glance at the [Wikipedia] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_language) page will help explain some of the differences.

If you want to practice speaking, there's a Facebook group called [GaelSkype] (http://www.facebook.com/groups/GaelSkype/) which does Skype sessions. Don't worry; you don't have to show your face if you don't want to. Also using Facebook, there's an Irish-language only group called Gaeilge Amháin. Feel free to talk about anything, as long as it's in Irish. There's also several other, smaller groups, depending on your location. Most of them I know of center around Chicago and Indianapolis, however.

I forgot dictionaries! [Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla] (http://www.amazon.com/Focloir-Gaeilge-Bearla-Irish-English-Dictionary-ODonaill/dp/1857910370/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&qid=1363505112&sr=8-9&keywords=irish+dictionary) is one of the most respected dictionaries out there, and most comprehensive. However, it only goes Irish -> English. [Foclóir Póca] (http://www.amazon.com/Focloir-Poca-English-Dictionary-Gaeilge/dp/0828817081/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363505172&sr=8-1&keywords=focloir+p%C3%B3ca) is a smaller one (pocket dictionary), which goes both ways. Very useful! Then there's a few websites that help. [Irish Dictionary] (http://www.irishdictionary.ie/home) is a good one, though it can get really, really annoying at times. The same can be said about [Focal] (http://focal.ie/Home.aspx). It's more official, but is really only good for technical terms (like Libertarian, something I looked up the other day.). Google Translate can be helpful, if searching for one word, but I'd check around other places first. [An Focloír Beag] (http://193.1.97.44/focloir/) is a nice one as well, but it's solely in Irish. However, it will conjugate verbs for you, and can find the root based on any conjugation. There's also an [English-Irish] (http://www.amazon.com/English-Irish-Dictionary-Terminological-Additions-Corrections/dp/1857910354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1368104543&sr=8-1&keywords=english-irish+dictionary) dictionary that is the equivalent of Foclóir Gaeilge-Béarla. Both of these are now available online here. There's also a new edition of the English -> Irish coming out in a few years, in print. This is the online equivalent of the English -> Irish dictionary, and will be published in print in a couple of years when it's closer to complete. It's useful if you have internet access. [Collins] (http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=collins+dictionary++irish+app&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Acollins+dictionary++irish+app) also has an app for both iOS and Android which gives you a free 1-day trial, then costs $10. It's extremely useful as well.

If you want to watch TV in Irish, there's TG4. Most shows are subtitled in English, but the news is not, so that can prove quite useful. To listen, there's Radió na Life and Radió na Gaeltachta. However, RnG plays English language stuff later in the evening, so if you're listening to it in America, it could get bothersome to find Irish material.

If you have no scruples, you can take a boat out of a certain bay. But I don't condone that or link to it.

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But to answer your question: I learned at my university, then through two summer immersion programs and a lot of self-study.

I've recently begun to do the same. I'll list off the resources I've come across, and my thoughts on them.

• Pimsleur French (Audio)
  
  Great for learning proper pronunciation alongside some basic grammar and common phrases. I am currently using this as my primary source of spoken French, while learning written aspects from:
  
  
• Easy French Step-by-Step (Book)
  
  I love this book. I looked through a number of different self-study books, and the pacing/order of this one fits me just right.
  
  
• Rosetta Stone: French (Software)
  
  This was actually my first attempt at learning French. I gave up after a while due mostly to lack of interest and a lack of perceived progress. The combination of the book and audio systems listed above have made me feel more at ease with the language than this ever did.
  
  With that said, I've found while studying now that it actually did help me build up a decent vocabulary, and aided a bit with pronunciation. If its price doesn't deter you, I'd suggest considering it as a secondary or tertiary learning tool.
  
  
• Anki (Software)
  
  This is a free, multi-platform flashcard application. As I've been reading through Easy French Step-by-Step, I've been adding the introduced vocabulary, terms, etc. to "decks" in Anki, which I then study until I have them memorized.
  
  I break up what I study based on the quizzes in the book. I.e., I add everything up until the book provides a quiz about them. Study, take quiz, continue until next quiz adding the newly learned vocab, terms, rules. It has worked well for me so far.
  
• A Frequency Dictionary of Core French Vocabulary (Book)
  
  The authors of this book analyzed a number of written and spoken sources of French to come up with the top 5,000 words used in French. In the book they're listed by order of appearance (e.g., #1 is "le").
  
  As the book is already sorted by order of appearance, you can slowly memorize larger chunks, starting from the top, and know that what you're learning is what you are most statistically likely to encounter.
  
  I program for a living, so I went a bit further and bought the ebook, then wrote a script to pull all the info out for me. I'm now able to practice all sorts of things by filtering the data -- "give me the top 50 verbs that end in -re", for example, to practice conjugation.
  
  
• English Grammar for Students of French (Book)
  
  I haven't read this book, but it's another one that was repeatedly well recommended as I did my self-study research.
  
  
• Rocket French (Audio & Software)
  
  From what I've read, this course is somewhat similar to Pimsleur French. However, unlike Pimsleur, of which I was able to find numerous legitimate reviews online, the majority of those I found for Rocket French were astroturfing. They've registered a ton of domains and set up fake reviews of their product. Whether or not it's any good, I don't know, as their decision to do so turned me off from the course.
  
  
• To save myself some writing, I highly recommend you read this blog post:
  La belle in France: Essential French Language Tools
  
  She covers a number of good resources to aid you in learning French. I'd like to single out http://www.wordreference.com (as well as its forums) though, as it has been a fantastic reference site. Easily the best online English<->French dictionary I have found.
  
  
• Another good roundup post:
  Online Classes.org: The 50 Best Blogs for French Majors & Francophiles
  
  I hope that list is of some help.

I’ve been speaking Spanish and interpreting in the clinical setting for almost 7 years. If you are already fluent or a native speaker and you have a complete grasp of the language then you should not need anything more than to learn specific words and then of course to know what they actually mean. As an RN, you will already know a lot of what means what when it comes to medical terms. Fortunately medical terminology is all Latin based so many of the actual strict medical terminology is almost identical. For that, I would simply recommend a medical terminology dictionary and then to do flashcards of everything you could imagine yourself needing to use. I would recommend using Anki as it will make it a million times easier and faster. Now, that being said, the vast majority of people you’ll be coming into contact with are not medically educated. Whether that be in English, Spanish, or Cantonese. So being able to tell someone that they have pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis doesn’t actually help you or them very much unless you’re able to tell them that it’s a disease caused by excessive inhalation of volcanic ash. Which should be easy for you to do if you’re fluent. So, while it’s nice to know medical terms in Spanish most of your interactions with the patients are going to be simplified into smaller more layman terms. If you’re going to be giving a dissertation in front of medical staff in a Spanish speaking country then that is when all your medical terminology knowledge would truly be allowed to shine. People use native speaker rather loosely around the US and I’ve found that can mean literally anyone who’s parents happened to speak Spanish which often results in “native speakers” not being close at all to what a true native speaker is capable of in the language. Which is fine, but it’s good to know where you are at and what you need work on. Working on basic organ and physical structures is a good start as that is what most of your translating will consist of. Then, move into more complex medical terms as you see fit.

Spanish-English English-Spanish Medical Dictionary: Diccionario Médico Español-Inglés Inglés-Español (Spanish to English/ English to Spanish Medical Dictionary) (Spanish Edition) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608311295/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_zL.SBbEHMCFMV

This book is as extensive as you could possibly need.

If you need general improvement in your Spanish I would suggest Coffee Break Spanish podcasts from radiolingua. If you’re well-versed I would skip to the 2nd-4th seasons. Many native speakers are not formally educated and don’t actually know why things are the way they are. So while you may be able to tell me what “Yo quisiera que estuvieras aquí conmigo” means you might not be able to tell me why the imperfect subjunctive was used and the intricacies that that implies. And you don’t need to be able to in order to be fluent but it can give you a much better grasp and control of the language which in turn can make you appreciate it and your ability much more. If you desire that, coffee break will give it to you.

Goodluck :)

Alright, so. Put simply, there really isn't anything comprehensive to get you on your feet in Cajun French like Duolingo, though maybe that'll change one day. There was a small online program by Tulane called Allons! which served as that kind of thing, but it wasn't even close to actually teaching the language and only taught a few dozen words and phrases, and now it appears to be gone.

I find myself unsure of what to recommend a lot. Certainly, I want the Cajun dialect to be spoken, but trying to jump into Cajun French without any prior knowledge of French is really hard, not because you need to know Standard French to know CF, but because there is a big lack of learning resources on CF. The best way to learn it (talking with speakers and immersion) is getting harder to do, even for someone living here, since slowly native speakers are dying.

My recommendation (which is my own opinion) is to get a grasp of Standard French because the resources available make that much easier, nonetheless keeping in mind that differences between the dialects can pop up at any time. Duolingo, teaching SF, uses manteau for "coat" while Cajuns would probably say capot. SF uses voiture for "car" where Cajuns say char. Duolingo will use nous, "we," most of the time where Cajuns nearly always use on. It teaches savoir for "to know" where most Cajuns use connaître for everything, etc. etc.

That's not to say that they are hugely different. Cajun French is still French. To get in tune with these differences, there are a few resources I'd recommend. Principally, the Dictionary of Louisiana French (2009) is the most extensive and best resource put out on the dialect. It might honestly be the best money I've ever spent. Not only does it extensively reference works going back to 1930 on the dialect, it includes their own field work with thousands of sentences by native speakers showing how the language is actually used. Most entries include real-world example sentences, and it also includes copious derivative expressions.

Another one I use sometimes is Cajun French: Dictionary & Phrasebook (2002). Far less extensive than the DLF, but still useful as it has a more "educational" lean to it in the beginning, highlighting basic CF grammar.

There are also two books by Rev. Jules O. Daigle: A Dictionary of the Cajun Language (1984) and Cajun Self-Taught (1992). Now these books are a little more...we can say "controversial"? They aren't as good because Father Daigle was pretty biased against SF, believing that "the Cajun language is no more a dialect of French than French is a dialect of Latin," which, need I say, is wrong. Nonetheless his dictionary is useful sometimes when I can't find what I need in the DLF, and Cajun Self-Taught is supposed to be (as the name implies) a self-teaching tool, though a poor one, as it's little more than a word bank most of the time. He also includes a lot of example conjugation tables in CST which can be useful, but only once you know how the mechanics of French works.

I know I'm forgetting other resources, as I've been doing this for nearly four years, so much of the time I can't even remember where I learned what I know, from experience, a book, online, the FB group, academic papers, who knows. Of course, as others have said, there is /r/CajunFrench, which I tend, so any questions you might have, ask away. I also have a Discord chat for the sub if you'd want to join, which isn't super active, but nonetheless serves to communicate, practice, and ask questions. Obviously this is the type of question that I just can't seem to type only a little bit on, so if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me.

as a kid, i used to grab the dictionary whenever i got bored. mom bought a set of the World Book Encyclopedia, and with it was a two-volume dictionary. i had no idea most people would think it was odd, or i'd have probably stopped reading it. but frankly, it was great fun. i'd learn a bunch from just a single page.

arguably, though, Johnson's dictionary is probably the most "readable" in terms of straightforward enjoyment and entertainment. of course some usages are now antiquated... but you might find it a good option if your desire is to read from A to Z, literally, in order.

"He is even believed to have made up some words. His definition of oats is very rude to the Scots. He defines the word as 'A Grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.' Johnson was criticised for imposing his personality on to the book. However, his dictionary was enormously popular and highly respected for its epic sense of scholarship." From the British LIbrary. You can get an abridged reprint HERE

The OED is the grand poobah. but a full set is not viable, unless you want to read it in the library. The condensed two-volume set requires a magnifying glass.... But if you wanted as close an experience to the real thing, an abridged Oxford English Dictionary would be excellent. I like the OED because it delves into etymology, and the usage examples are the definitive examples of first known appearance in print.

https://www.readthekanji.com/

For kanji, this is a great website - it's not free, but if you're a serious student it will absolutely deliver results if you keep up with the program. Presumably since you'd be paying for it, that might be some incentive :P

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http://www.japaneselearningtools.com/

The above website is based on this Excel macro (it's free), which is no longer maintained but will still be a huge help in learning kanji if you're just getting started.

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http://www.amazon.com/The-Kodansha-Kanji-Learners-Dictionary/dp/4770023359

The best kanji dictionary money can buy short of an electronic dictionary (denshi-jisho).

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http://www.amazon.com/Kodanshas-Furigana-Japanese-Dictionary-Japanese-English/dp/4770024800/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

One of the better vocabulary dictionaries by the same company.

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http://www.tangorin.com

Probably the best site to search for vocabulary, kanji, and example sentences for just about any word or grammatical construct.

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http://www.nihongodict.com

Similar to Tangorin, but just a faster way to search. Mostly has the same dictionary as Tangorin.

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http://www.alc.co.jp/

Once you get more familiar with Japanese, this site is the best for finding examples and contextual Japanese to learn how to properly use grammar and vocabulary.

Hope this list helps you out a little. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or need specific resources.

Looking at the early usages of an idea is always an interesting way to first approach that term. You get to see how the idea, in this case metafiction, was first handled in literature and how that idea developed as it was used by different writers in different periods all with different cultural / literary agendas.

So, here are a couple of early examples of metafictional literature:

• The Canterbury Tales: the narrative frame constantly, by its nature, alludes to itself as a piece of writing. The speakers frequently mention how they are telling a tale and why they are telling that tale.
  
• Don Quixote: the hero of the novel reads so many novels he decided to try and enact those novels. There are many scenes where the speaker would alert the reader to the fact they are also reading one such novel.
  
• Shakespeare: There are quite a few moments in Shakespeare where a character addresses the audience and reminds them that they are watching a play. Some of the best examples are the play-within-a-play moments, such as in Hamlet. These are moments where the play meditates on what it means to be acting or watching a play. We might better call this technique metatheatre.
  
• The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman: If you say pre-postmodernist metafiction this is the novel that most people will think of. It is metafictional is every single sense of the word. Constantly referring back to its own writing process, layering of narratives, etc etc.
  
• Melville's The Confidence Man. This short story discusses how literary techniques are used in earlier chapters.
  
  Then we have postmodernism itself, the literary period that this term is synonymous with. The reason why it is much more important as a critical term here, even though it was being used earlier, is that metafiction for the postmoderns comes to be used as way of interrogating one's philosophical relationship with the world. It is much, much more than the playful layering of narrative that is usually was prior to postmodernism. It came to be for the postmoderns a meditation about how we know something, how we are able to read and write and what the point of those activites are. It was also used to dislodge the idea that there existed some kind of absolute and universal truth. Reality was a construct, a discourse and metafiction highlighted this better than most other techniques.
  
  So, some of the big names in postmodern metafiction:
  
  
• Anything by John Barth
  
• John Fowles
  
• The People of Paper
  
• House of Leaves
  
• Flann O'Brien (not really postmodern, on the cusp of postmodernism)
  
• Brecht (same as above)
  
• Pale Fire
  
• Mumbo Jumbo
  
• Crying of Lot 49
  
  EDIT: Just re-read your question and see that you are more interested in a history of the term and not so much its literary manifestations. Start with an etymological dictionary. This one is very good: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Oxford-Dictionary-English-Etymology/dp/0198611129/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369152716&sr=8-1&keywords=etymology+dictionary.
  
  There are also a couple of very good books that look at metafiction and that also go into the term's history. For example
  
  
• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metafiction-Practice-Self-Conscious-Fiction-Accents/dp/0415030064/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369152738&sr=1-1&keywords=metafiction
  
  
• http://www.amazon.co.uk/Metafiction-Longman-Critical-Readers-Currie/dp/0582212928/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1369152738&sr=1-3&keywords=metafiction
  

I haven't read /u/BuiltLikeTaft's suggestion, but I have read A Writer's Grammar by C. Beth Burch and I thought that was pretty good. It was for a class on traditional English grammar at my uni, so I did have an instructor who was able to help with some of the difficult aspects. Still, this would be my top recommendation. I actually laughed out loud where some of the example sentences get a bit... strange. It is almost as if the author was slowly losing their mind while writing this book.

I have also read English Syntax (2nd Ed.) by C. L. Baker, and while I did not like that one as much as the previous, it had a lot of useful information. Again, it was read as part of a course on modern grammar, so the instructor was extremely helpful.

While not exactly what you're after (and it sounds like the CGEL might already fit this role), I have a smallish Oxford Dictionary of English Grammar for reference that is pretty helpful.

The Japanese Federation for the Deaf did make an English dictionary of JSL, but it's quite expensive unfortunately as it's out of print:

https://www.amazon.com/English-Dictionary-Basic-Japanese-Signs/dp/4915675408

It's not quite as useful as a dictionary, but NHK does sign language news that comes with very clear subtitles (with furigana on all of the words too) - might be a good resource.

http://www.nhk.or.jp/shuwa/

Edit: looks like there's an app that teaches some basic phrases in English too. Found it via this Tofugu article, which also lists some good youtube resources: https://www.tofugu.com/japan/japanese-sign-language/ (sorry if you've read it already!) Since the grammar of JSL and spoken Japanese are quite different, the signs would probably be most helpful for nouns and simple verbs and adjectives, but I think this is a great way to enhance your Japanese learning and I hope you are able to continue with it! I'm sure JSL speakers (signers?) would enjoy teaching and working with you too if you have a chance to come to Japan someday.

>Kibokh mijgolat turoyo?

Yes
>If yes did you grow up speaking it or did you learn it?

Well the two

>I'm trying to learn Turoyo online right now.


Here is what you have to do:
Watch:
AssyriaTV Many good interviews, by far the best channel, good journalism also.
SuroyoTV News / Tebe / other programs in Arabic and Suryoyo Our first channel!
SuryoyoSAT, Live here with other programs, another link with News in Sureyt/Turoyo AND Classical (the only one), good shows on Seyfo our literature and Aramean & WCA propaganda.

Books:
Modern Aramaic-English/English-Modern Aramaic Dictionary & Phrasebook: Assyrian/Syriac: Best book to learn both dialect!
Last but not least, the best of the best:
Kthowo Qadisho bSureyt: The new testament in Surety/Turoyo and Suryoyo/Classical Syriac. Translated by Malfono 'AbdMshiho Saa'di, he introduced a new syntax/Orthography for our spoken dialect so that it's close to Classical Syriac, by far one of the best contribution to our language in the XXI century!

Another question:

I'm currently learning to read and write Assyrian and I must say that online resources and material are really scarce. As an academic specializing in Syriac studies and with your vast knowledge of Syriac, you are in a great position to amend this.

My question: Do you have any personal plans to create more resources to make it easier to learn Assyrian? Like books, apps, websites etc making it easier to learn both Western and Eastern Assyrian?

If not, then please consider doing it, preferably as easy as possible with a low threshold. There are numerous young disconnected Assyrians who would benefit greatly from this!

Btw, I've already purchased one of your excellent books, Modern Aramaic, Assyrian/Syriac Dictionary and Phrasebook, which has been invaluable for me so far.

Thank you so much! :)

Welcome to OCPoetry (as commenter)! That didn't come off as ranty at all. I think we need longer (considered, earnest) comments on the internet.

Anyway, I'm not an expert by any means, just a friendly loner/devotee with a spending problem and a massive library. I've read a lot of poetry and writing about poetry -- I think that's probably the key to understanding the stuff on a deeper level as both a reader and a writer.

I'm going to be brief with this comment cause I'm at work, BUT with the addition of read, read, read, my advice to /u/grandmasterlane above stands: Spend more time with your poems. Find ways to make the poem you're working on the only thing you think about.

Additionally, buy a copy of Roget's and a good dictionary and spend lots of time in those places and on etymonline.com exploring the meaning and origin of words. I think loving words is super important. Every time you choose one word over another it has to be an act of determination, calculation, holistic consideration. Every word collides with every other word in a poem. It's a weird thing to see a masterful poet make that work. I'll try and think of a particular great example and get back to you. (Immediately I think of Wallace Stevens' "Not Ideas About the Thing but the Thing Itself" a poem in which the poet uses EVERY. SINGLE. WORD. to alchemically evoke the image/experience of a sun actively rising in the reader's mind. That short poem appears in my mind because I've spent hours with it. Reading. Rereading. Defining every word that I thought I knew. Memorizing. Reciting.)

OK. That's it for now.

It will expose you to French and force you to use it, but you won't become fluent in French in five weeks nor will your vocabulary/pronunciation/whatever have time to improve significantly unless you do something pretty drastic.

The thing is, unless you spend six or more months living, working and sleeping in French, immersion alone won't do much. Otherwise you have to take a rational approach to learning and use your five weeks as a kind of real life test or laboratory.

Try this :

• First, make sure you know at least the 5000 most frequently used words in Quebec French (maybe use something like this and add Quebec slang from something with a word list and examples, like this). Give precedence to the second, spoken Quebec French list as it will be more useful during your stay.
  
  
• When you learn words, learn them with their determinant since you always need one in French anyway (learn "la chaise" instead of "chaise (feminine)").
  
  
• Learn the stupid French grammar and its plethora of exceptions. Just accept it for the pile of shit it is and don't give it too much thought at first. Most of the really stupid parts don't apply to speech anyway.
  
  
• Learn verb conjugation. Concentrate on the spoken forms if you must, they are much easier. What is important : indicatif présent, passé composé, imparfait; conditionnel présent; subjonctif présent; participe passé (usually the same as in the composé). For the future tense, the modern tendency in spoken French is to use "aller", conjugate it in the indicatif présent, then affix the future action verb in the infinitif présent or passé. For example, instead of "je conduirai" (I will drive), you say "je vais conduire", "je vais avoir conduit" for "I will have driven". You can also use "j'allais conduire" (imparfait + infinitif) for "I was about to drive". Btw, "I will go" and "I was about to go" would be "je vais (y) aller" et "j'allais (y) aller" (drop the "y" when making a statement, i.e. "je vais aller à Québec" vs. "je vais y aller à Québec!"). No one says "j'irai".
  
  
• To practice your pronunciation, use some real sentences from French TV (better something real like news even if it's read because it's more natural than most drama dialogues) and shadow them, that is repeat them aloud as the speaker say them, with half a second delay, and try to match the rhythm, pitch and accent (in order of importance). The accent or the actual pronunciation of each syllable in a word in the French way, can be practiced in isolation and differs in every French dialect. You should have already done a lot of that, but if you don't feel confident, practice each word from the example sentence independently before shadowing it.
  
  
• Think reading aloud is hard? Try it in a second (or third) language! Buy both the audiobook and the written version of some modern French or Quebecois piece of literature and try reading it aloud while comparing to what it sounds like when read by a native Frenchman. Or use it as a shadowing tool if you think your pronunciation still sucks too much at that point.
  
  
• Go in the real world and speak some French like a boss (confidence is key).

Endangered Words: A Collection of Rare Gems for Book Lovers , The Word Museum: The Most Remarkable English Words Ever Forgotten, Other-Wordly: words both strange and lovely from around the world, not to mention a unabridged dictionary I have that is over a hundred years old.

I teach ASL in Tokyo and can get by in JSL. There is only one JSL-English dictionary, published by the Japanese Federation of the Deaf. You can read info about it here but I don't recommend ordering it through them - they seem to charge a lot for shipping! Amazon JP used to have it, but I don't see it there now. Amazon US has it listed but it's way too expensive through them. I could try to get and send you a copy if you want - it would fit in a large padded envelope.

You mentioned being on the West Coast. If you're anywhere near the Bay Area, Ohlone College in Fremont has a partnership with the Nippon Foundation - there are usually half a dozen deaf Japanese students there at any given time.

I second what millionsofcats wrote, but I would add that there are some prescriptive works on English grammar that are well regarded by many linguists. The best example is probably Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage.

I'm sure you mean Irish. There is no language called 'gaelic'. This is like posting "I want to learn Romance" when you mean "Spanish" or "I want to learn Slavic" when you mean "Russian".

Rosetta Stone has an Irish module if you're wealthy. I've used "Teach Yourself Irish" and the fantastic Focloir Poca Irish Dictionary (Gaeilge/Bearla)

For dictionaries, I'd maybe recommend Kodansha's furigana dictionary, although I don't have a copy myself. But I think it will be great for your reading ability to get used to working with Japanese only in kana (and kanji).

Yeah, start learning Katakana, then move onto Hiragana. Right off the bat you're going to have to memorize all of it. Seems a bit daunting but sooner or later it'll be just like the English alphabet :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#Table_of_katakana

edit: as for dictionaries, I used this one: http://www.amazon.com/Kodanshas-Furigana-Japanese-Dictionary-Japanese-English/dp/4770024800/

I went to amazon to preorder a copy but then the price made me cry

I hope the price comes down after it is released. I would love to have a copy but it's definitely not worth over $300 to me.

You can always buy frequency dictionaries. Here is a link for the French one:
http://www.amazon.com/Frequency-Dictionary-French-Vocabulary-Dictionaries/dp/0415775310/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1375190873&sr=8-1&keywords=frequency+dictionary

They are good, I've used them to help identify the most important words, typically they have the top 5,000 most used words. They will take words and assume you know how to use them, so a while the verb to be comes in mutiple flavors in English it will only be indicated once for an English dictionary in the infinitive. I've also found similar lists for free through Wikipedia of every thing written in wikipedia and each words shows up with how many times it is used across the entire site. Its free but you'll have multiple forms of each verb, present, past, future, etc listed instead of the verb just listed once based on its frequency.

It’s fun watching idiots try to get the upper hand when they have zero idea what they’re talking about.

By the way: [you’re welcome!](Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage https://www.amazon.com/dp/0877791325/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_od60AbRAE12C6)

The older American Heritage dictionaries (red cover) had a marvelous supplemental section on Indo-European roots (which were referenced in the main text) - I still treasure mine for that (and other) reasons.

At some point (the 1990's?) they split that appendix off into a separate book.

There's also this

It's hard to find an exact replacement for S&W, but that's only because it's not so much a language guide as an apocryphal collection of the authors' pet peeves dressed up as "advice." For a comprehensive book on usage you want something like The Cambridge Guide to English Usage.

How about this dress?

Or if that's too vague, how about The Describer's Dictionary?

Thanks for the contest :)

Purposefully picked this one. Use as a shield and a diagram to strategically bring her down!


I love the smell of napalm in the morning

Maybe you should buy this Official Oxford Dictionary which contains over 120,000 words!

While reading your Oxford Dictionary, you might need to cool down with a nice bottle of Pepsi Next which has 30% less sugar (than the leading cola brand).

After that, consider purchasing Pao Brand Toilet Paper because you are likely going to be sitting on the toilet while reading your new dictionary and drinking your cola.

This is a surprisingly good read

http://www.amazon.com/American-Heritage-Dictionary-Indo-European-Roots/dp/0618082506

you chose 2 grammar book. the second book, the "easy" one, might be too simple for an intermediate. if you want simple grammar drills for repetition, then it could still be useful. for vocabulary, I got this workbook-- "frequency dictionary for french: core vocabulary for learners" by deryle lonsdale.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0415775310/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

5000 top vocabulary. I want to make an anki deck with it (app flashcard deck)...... I downloaded a vocabulary premade deck-- not french, spanish-- the deck was terrible as flashcards for me..... the entries were so lengthy with sentence structure examples. horrible for speed drills. maybe there are good premade french decks, but I thought I would start off with exactly what I want by building my own.

edit: fluent-forever recommends adding images and sound to basic anki flashcards when building your own deck. I'll see how my basic cards go first. I want to focus on speed drills and skype conversations with an italki professional tutor. here's fluent-forever's anki advice..... https://fluent-forever.com/chapter2/

I'll make sure to let you know! I've just placed the orders.

http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/9780198612582.do?keyword=compact+oed&sortby=bestMatches

http://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Websters-Collegiate-Dictionary-Laminated-Cover/dp/0877798079

... The OED is expensive as hell, but this will be worth it. So very worth it.

http://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Dictionary-Philosophy-Quick-Reference/dp/0199541434/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1457487586&sr=8-2&keywords=dictionary+philosophy

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Dictionary-Philosophy-Robert-Audi/dp/1107643791/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457487586&sr=8-1&keywords=dictionary+philosophy

I own both. They're both good.

Infanticide definition
“Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants.”

Abortion definition
“Abortion is the ending of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus before it can survive outside the uterus.”

Dictionary on Amazon, great read, I’d recommend trying it

This is commonly used too: Butcher's Copy-editing: The Cambridge Handbook for Editors, Copy-editors and Proofreaders.

This is a very good guide, but for some reason it's rarely mentioned: [The Cambridge Guide to English Usage.] (http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Guide-English-Usage/dp/052162181X)

And then there's the style guides for various newspapers.

Unfortunately there isn't a British style guide that's as useful as CMOS concerning punctuation.

Looking it up on Amazon was the first thing I did, too. I did so expecting it to be unaffordable, though. ;)

It's even a little more expensive here in the UK.

In addition to this advice, I've found that people who read (and do exercises from) one of these (or one of these) are statistically unlikely to make this kind of mistake.

> xa = (double pow/SNIP/

You didn't happen to confuse the synopsis for an example when you were reading one of these, did you? "Synopsis" and "Example"... the words are so similar, right?

There should be some take-home point here... like uhh... don't stop reading and start guessing at some arbitrary point... or better yet... read; don't guess.

For writing, I like the Describer's Dictionary.. It is arranged by category: a section for faces, one for shapes, one for landscapes, etc. On each left side page are examples from professional writers, and on each right page is something like a thesaurus, but solely for describing things in the given categories. It could give you a lot of ideas for how to describe paintings.

I'd recommend getting this book.

I have biographies of Al Capone, Peter the Great, and Napoleon, The New Ethnic Mobs, Women and Russia: Feminist Writings from the Soviet Union, Word Museum in hardcover, and Created Equal.

More recent: Three Cups of Tea in hardcover, and The Master of Disguise in hardcover

I have others, but I need to look through them and haven't had a chance yet. I also have travel, true crime, and lots of literature.

I bought this a while ago. I'm surprised that some of the words I use are actually western (I speak mostly eastern)

http://www.amazon.com/Aramaic-English-English-Modern-Aramaic-Dictionary-Phrasebook/dp/0781810876

The reference is an actual dictionary ...

If you prefer the Webster website, then that works just fine too.

https://www.amazon.de/Oxford-English-Dictionary-Dictionaries/dp/0199640947?ie=UTF8&tag=googdemozdesk-21&hvadid=323869644414&hvpos=1t1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=663141390978116049&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=b&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1029873&hvtargid=dsa-19959388920&ref=pd_sl_3520asae4i_e&language=en_GB

Here is the mobile version of your link

I got you

Oxford English Dictionary https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0199640947/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_r-TADbTYYTQ26

Here you go mate you could use this

Also, is this the same version as the one you were looking at? https://www.amazon.com/Paperback-Oxford-English-Dictionary-Dictionaries/dp/0199640947/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1536687304&sr=1-1&keywords=Oxford+English+Dictionary&dpID=51Dbr7rxUuL&preST=_SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_&dpSrc=srch

www.dictionary.com


or



https://www.amazon.com/Merriam-Websters-Collegiate-Dictionary-Laminated-Cover/dp/0877798079

Try to get your hands on a copy of the American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots by Watkins. I used it as one of my primary references for an IE course a while back.

You can probably find a cheaper one at half price books

You should buy this: https://www.amazon.ca/Paperback-Oxford-English-Dictionary-Dictionaries/dp/0199640947/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538340635&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=oxford+english+dictionary&dpPl=1&dpID=51Dbr7rxUuL&ref=plSrch

This will help

It's missing The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots. I know, it doesn't sound like a pageturner, but it's full of insight into the culture we came from, and the cultures we became. It is by far my most-stolen bathroom book.

> Do you have the French frequency list somewhere neatly structured in a spreadsheet or something with the definitions or do you know of a place where I can find this without needing to look up 2000 words separately?

Not OP, but I spent the day turning this dictionary into a flashcard-friendly spreadsheet. I'm still in the process of collecting decent sound samples, so the last column can be ignored for now.

Not OP but for your last question, you can use a frequency dictionary. Here is an example for french.. The only problem is that they're quite expensive, especially if you plan to learn Thai, German, and Filipino.

Just find Kodansha's Furigana dictionary and it'll be the right one. They're all e-j j-e, so far as I know. (Wouldn't be much good only going 1 way.)

US Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Kodanshas-Furigana-Japanese-Dictionary-Japanese-English/dp/4770024800

And Arisen is right. Dump romaji as quick as you can. After a while, you'll realize what a burden it is on Japanese learners. The same goes for Japanese learning English. They should switch to the alphabet as soon as possible. katakana-english is one of the reasons that the Japanese are so horrifically bad at pronouncing English.