Reviews

A Review of Sony’s Extra Bass WI-XB400 Bluetooth Earbuds

by

I previously wrote about how much I loved my Skullcandy Ink’d earbuds, and this review wouldn’t exist if not thanks to my dog wanting to be my muse: she got my earbuds and annihilated them. They had made it just under 2 years before recycling.

That said, I’ve been exploring a bunch of different earbuds to replace them. Nothing really felt the same as that specific set (for what I like at least) until I found the Sony WI-XB400‘s.… Read the rest

A 2021 Review of Youdao’s Language Translator Device Multilingual Dictionary Pen

by

Youdao’s Dictionary Pen 3 is the most modern iteration of a smart way to increase your Mandarin learning. When I started this article a few days ago, the Dictionary Pen 2 was the only one you could actually get in the US without specially importing it. That said, either way, you can run a “pen” across a page and have a modern translation of text as well as dive into each character, word, and phrase in the block of text.… Read the rest

A Review of Zhou Xiaogeng’s “Essentials of Chinese Lexicology”

by

Zhou Xiaogeng’s Essentials of Chinese Lexicology is a great vocabulary book for learning Mandarin. It focuses primarily on the rules and forms of word formation. This isn’t just a vocabulary book, and it isn’t a linguistic analysis of word formation, but it’s somewhere in between with a focus on practical learning. It’s a great tool for students of Mandarin at all levels.… Read the rest

A Review for Tuttle’s “Mini Thai Dictionary”

by

I talked a little about Tuttle Publishing in my Instant Thai review. They have a long history of producing quality materials about and related to Asia and Asian culture, including foreign language materials. While a long history doesn’t necessarily guarantee quality, their Mini Thai Dictionary is great at pretty much everything it claims to be. It’s small, it’s efficient, it works bidirectionally, and it’s cheap.… Read the rest

A Review of Tuttle’s “Instant Thai”

by

Tuttle Publishing needs no introduction if you’re interested in most Asian languages. They produce works in almost every well-known Asian language as well as content such as martial arts, history, art, etc. Stuart Robson and Prateep Changchit’s Instant Thai occupies a niche most language books don’t. It’s a phrasebook based on you acquiring some actual linguistic knowledge of Thai.

You aren’t getting a traditional phrasebook or a textbook; you’re getting something that will let you actually learn enough Thai to get by.… Read the rest

A Review of Sinolingua’s “Graded Chinese Reader” Series

by

Sinolingua‘s Graded Chinese Reader series is great if you want something to read, learn from, and not feel like a textbook. While a lesson intentionally shoehorning 15 new words in each paragraph might be more efficient, there gets to be a point where you just want to read something that isn’t structured or guided.

These are legitimate short stories which have been edited to fit a vocabulary limitation without entirely controlling the content.… Read the rest