Language Catalogue
I collect language guides and grammars! This is a catalogue of my collection so far. There are still a lot of languages I don't have books for that I'd like to find - any wishlist languages are marked in red.
I'm limited not only in budget and location (what I can find in my local charity shops) but also in the politics of language books - not every language will have a phrasebook or grammar written for it, especially if it's a language spoken by indigenous people or used in a country that isn't a popular tourist destination. There's a lot to think about even when you do come across a book for a "less popular" language: who wrote this? Why? I was really excited to find my Hawaiian dictionary because it was actually written by a native Hawaiian scholars and not a racist white minister like my Xhosa phrasebook.
Anyway, this page is under construction.
I'm limited not only in budget and location (what I can find in my local charity shops) but also in the politics of language books - not every language will have a phrasebook or grammar written for it, especially if it's a language spoken by indigenous people or used in a country that isn't a popular tourist destination. There's a lot to think about even when you do come across a book for a "less popular" language: who wrote this? Why? I was really excited to find my Hawaiian dictionary because it was actually written by a native Hawaiian scholars and not a racist white minister like my Xhosa phrasebook.
Anyway, this page is under construction.
General language-related books
- 1000 Languages: the Worldwide History of Living and Lost Tongues by Peter K. Austin (2008)
- Alpha Beta: How Our Alphabet Shaped the Modern World by John Man (2009)
- Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch (2019)
- Chomsky for Beginners by David Cogswell & Paul Gordon (1996)
- Dictionary of Languages: the Definitive Reference to More Than 400 Languages by Andrew Dalby (2004)
- Empires of the World: a Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler (2006)
- From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages by Michael Adams (2011)
- The Horologicon: a Day's Jaunt Through the Lost Words of the English Language by Mark Forsyth (2016)
- How Language Works by David Crystal (2007)
- In the Land of Invented Languages: Adventures in Linguistic Creativity, Madness, and Genius by Arika Okrent (2009)
- Introducing Linguistics: a Graphic Guide by R. L. Trask & Bill Mayblin (2012)
- Just My Type: a Book about Fonts by Simon Garfield (2010)
- The Language Construction Kit by Mark Rosenfelder (2010)
- The Language Lover's Puzzle Book: Lexical Perplexities and Cracking Conundrums from across the Globe by Alex Bellos (2020)
- Language: the Cultural Tool by Daniel Everett (2013)
- Language Myths by Laurie Bauer & Peter Trudgill (1998)
- Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher (2011)
- The Unfolding of Language: the Evolution of Mankind's Greatest Invention by Guy Deutscher (2005)
- Why is Q Always Followed by U?: Word-Perfect Answers to the Most-Asked Questions About Language by Michael Quinion (2010)
- Writing: the Story of Alphabets and Scripts by Georges Jean (1987)
Ainu
Afrikaans
American Sign Language
- Signing Made Easy: A complete program for learning and using sign language in everyday life by Rod R. Butterworth & Mickey Flodin (1989)
Anglo-Saxon
- Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer by Norman Davis (1996)
Arabic
- Alif Baa with Multimedia: Introduction to Arabic Letters and Sounds by Kristen Brustad, Mahmoud Al-Batal, & Abbas Al-Tonsi (2004)
- Arabic Calligraphy: Naskh script for beginners by Mustafa Ja'far (2009)
- Arabic Grammar of the Written Language by Rev. G. W. Thatcher (1942)
- Gateway to Arabic by Dr. Imran Hamza Alawiye (2007)
- Get By in Arabic: a Quick Beginner's Course for Holidaymakers and Business People from BBC Books (1989)
- Mastering Arabic Script: a guide to handwriting by Jane Wightwick & Mahmoud Gaafar (2005)
- Moroccan Arabic Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (1999)
- Noorani Qaaidah: a Gift for Proper Learning & Teaching Holy Qur'an Specially for Children from Darul Kutub (?)
- Dictionary of English, Baluchi, and Omani Arabic by William Foxton (1980)
Baluchi
- Dictionary of English, Baluchi, and Omani Arabic by William Foxton (1980)
Basque
Bengali
- Hindi, Urdu & Bengali from Lonely Planet (2011)
Belarusian
Blissymbols
Breton
British Sign Language
Bulgarian
Burmese
- Burmese Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2008)
Cambodian
- Colloquial Cambodian: a Complete Language Course by David Smyth (1995)
Chinese (Cantonese & Mandarin)
- 15 Minute Mandarin Chinese: Learn in Just 12 Weeks by Ma Cheng (2018)
- Chinese Calligraphy made easy: a structured course in creating beautiful brush lettering by Rebecca Yue (2004)
- The Chinese Classrom Book 2 by Hua Cai (2008)
- Chinese Radicals Volume 1 by Tan Huay Peng (1986)
- Easy Peasy Chinese: Mandarin Chinese for Beginners by Elinor Greenwood (2007)
- Easy Peasy Chinese Workbook: Mandarin Chinese practice for beginners by Elinor Greenwood (2015)
- Get By in Chinese from BBC Books (1995)
- Mandarin Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2006)
- Mastering Chinese: the complete course for beginners by Catherine Hua Xiang (2010)
- The Most Basic Chinese - All You Need to Know to Get By by James McGlasson (2012)
- No Sweat Cantonese: a Fun Guide to Speaking Correctly by Amy Leung (2003)
Catalan
- Catalan Dictionary & Phrasebook by A. Scott Britton (2015)
Cornish
Croatian
- Croatian Phrasebook from Collins (2007)
Czech
- Czech Phrasebook & Dictionary from Berlitz (1993)
- Czech Phrasebook & Dictionary from Lonely Planet (2013)
- Teach Yourself Czech from Teach Yourself (1993)
Danish
- Teach Yourself Danish from Teach Yourself (1958)
Dothraki
- Living Language: Dothraki by David J. Peterson (2014)
Dutch
- Compact Woordenboek: Engels-Nederlands & Nederlands Engels by
- Dutch Dictionary from Teach Yourself (1976)
- Dutch Phrasefinder from Collins Gem
- Teach Yourself Dutch from Teach Yourself (1999)
- Traveller's Dutch by Arthur Eperon (1981)
Egyptian Hieroglyphs
- How to Read Egyptian Hieroglyphs: a Step-by-Step Guide to Teach Yourself by Mark Collier & Bill Manley (2000)
- Introducing Egyptian Hieroglpyhs by Barbara Watterson (1981)
- More about Egyptian Hieroglpyhs by Barbara Watterson (1985)
English
- Anglais: la grammaire from Bescherelle (2008) [French]
- Angliyskiy yazyk: Kratkiy spravochnik by G. P. Shalaeva (2009) [Russian]
- The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language by David Crystal (2009)
- Collins Children's Dictionary: thousands of words clearly defined, colour illustrations throughout from Collins (1978)
- Help Your Kids with English: a Unique Step-by-Step Visual Guide by Carol Vorderman (2013)
- Holmes' Comprehensive English Grammar for Senior Classes in Primary Schools Part III from W. & R. Holmes (1950s?)
- Immediate Modern English Letter by C. P. Cheung (1990) [Chinese]
- Modern English Conversation for Beginners from Sino-Anglo Publishing Co.? (1990?) [Chinese]
- Modern English Pronunciation Practice by M. D. Munro Mackenzie (1967)
- Notes on Learning English by Ralph Cooke (1960)
- The Prodigal Tongue: the Love-Hate Relationship Between British & American English by Lynne Murphy (2019)
- Slikovni rječnik Engleski from Compact (2011) [Croatian]
Esperanto
- A Complete Grammar of Esperanto by Ivy Kellerman (2008)
- The "Edinburgh" Esperanto Pocket Dictionary from Thomas Nelson & Sons Ltd (1944)
- Esperanto-English & English-Esperanto Dictionary & Phrasebook by J. F. Conroy (1999)
Estonian
- Baltic Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2001)
Faroese
Farsi
- Farsi (Persian) Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2001)
Finnish
- Teach Yourself Finnish from Teach Yourself (2003)
Flemish
- I Want to Become a Doctor - Ik wil doktor worden: English-Flemish (Belgian) Children's Bilingual Picture Dictionary by Richard & Suzanne Carlson (2020)
French
- Essential French for Kids: Phrases Teacher Never Told You by AA Publishing (2000)
- French for Travellers from Berlitz (1982)
- The French Travelmate from Lexus (1984)
- Get By in French: a Quick Beginners' Course for Holidaymakers & Business People from BBC Books (1992)
- The Glossary of French and English Management Terms by James Coveney & Sheila J. Moore (1979)
- The Never Not Nothing No More Book from E. J. Arnold & Son Ltd (1973)
- The Ski-Mate: French, German, Italian by Iseabail Macleod (1982)
- Sky My Husband! Ciel Mon Mari! by Jean-Loup Chiflet (1987) [French]
- Toute la grammaire by Bénédicted Gaillard & Jean-Pierre Colignon (2005) [French]
- The Usborne First Thousand Words in French by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright (1990s?)
- Vocabulary of Iron and Steel Terms from British Steel (1971)
Gaelic (Scottish)
- Elementary Course of Gaelic by Duncan Reid (1951)
- Everyday Gaelic by Morag MacNeill (2006)
- Gaelic Dictionary by Malcom MacLennan (1991)
- Gaelic-English & English-Gaelic Dictionary from Lomond Books
- Gaelic is Fun! by Colm Ó Baoill (1989)
- Gaelic Learners Handbook by Ruaraidh MacThómais (1976)
- Gaelic Verbs: Systemised and Simplified by Colin Mark (2013)
- Gaelic Without Groans by John Mackechnie (1970)
- Scottish Gaelic in Twelve Weeks by Roibeard Ó Maolalaigh (2018)
- The Pocket Guide to Scottish Words by Iseabail Macleod (1986)
- The Tourist's Hand-book of Gaelic and English Phrases for the Highllands by Mrs Mary Mackellar (2009)
- What's in a Scottish Placename? by Peter Terrell (2021)
German
- German: Language Survival Guide from Collins (2001)
- German Visual Phrase Book from Eyewitness Travel Guides (2008)
- Get By in German: a Quick Beginners' Course for Holidaymakers and Business People from BBC Books (1987)
- Grammaire Allemande by Emile Sigwault & Ch Bauer (1891) [French]
- Newnes German-English, English-German Dictionary from Newnes(1952)
- The Ski-Mate: French, German, Italian by Iseabail Macleod (1982)
Greek
- Essential Greek Phrase Book from AA Publishing (2002)
- First Steps in Greek by F. Ritchie (1955)
- Greece: a Hugo Phrase Book from Hugo's Language Books (1982)
- Greek for Travellers from Berlitz (1982)
- Greek Phrase Book from Penguin Books (1973)
Hawaiian
- Illustrated Hawaiian Dictionary by Kahikāhealani Wight & Robin Yoko Racoma (2007)
Hebrew
Hindi
- Hindi, Urdu & Bengali from Lonely Planet (2011)
Icelandic
- Fast Talk Icelandic from Lonely Planet (2018)
Igbo
Inuktitut
Irish
- Foclóir Scoile: English-Irish, Irish-English Dictionary from An Gúm (2006)
- Motherfoclóir: Dispatches from a not so dead language by Darach Ó Seaghdha (2017)
- Usborne Language Guides: Irish for Beginners by Angela Wilkes & John Shackell (1989)
Italian
- Italian Phrase Book from Penguin Books (1988)
- The Ski-Mate: French, German, Italian by Iseabail Macleod (1982)
- Teach Yourself Quick and Easy Italian from Teach Yourself (1986)
Japanese
- Star Wars: English-Japanese Dictionary for Jedi Knights from Gakken (2015) [Japanese]
- Essential Japanese from Berlitz (2009)
- Essential Kanji by P. G. O'Neill (1988)
- The Handbook of Japanese Verbs by Taeko Kamiya (2001)
- Instant Immersion Japanese by Meghan Barstow (2003)
- Japanese at a Glance: Phrase Book & Dictionary for Travellers by Nobuo Akiyama (2006)
- Japanese for Busy People I from Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (2011)
- Japanese for Busy People II from Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (2011)
- Japanese for Busy People III from Association for Japanese-Language Teaching (2012)
- Japanese Grammar by Keiko Uesawa Chevray & Tomiko Kuwahira (2004)
- The Japanese Language by Haruhiko Kindaichi (2010)
- Japanese Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (1998)
- Japanese Step by Step: an Innovative Approach to Speaking and Reading Japanese by Gene Nishi (2001)
- Japanese Vocabulary by Shigeru Eguchi & Orie Yamada (2001)
- Learn 162 Kanji with Hai!ku by Charlotte Martin & Lewis Plowman (2020)
- Let's Learn Hiragana: First Book of Basic Japanese Writing by Yasuko Kosaka Mitamura (1985)
- New Penguin Paralelle Text: Short Stories in Japanese by Michael Emmerich (2011)
- Power Up Your Kanji: 800 Basic Kanji as a Gateway to Advanced Japanese by Mayumi Oka (2009?)
- Takahashi's Pocket Romanized English-Japanese Dictionary by
- Teach Yourself Business Japanese from Teach Yourself (1992)
- The Usborne First Thousand Words in Japanese by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright (1990s?)
Klingon
- How to Speak Klingon: Essential Phrases for the Intergalactic Traveler by Ben Grossblatt & Alex Fine (2013)
- The Klingon Dictionary by Marc Okrand (1992)
Korean
- Gateway to Speaking Korean: Practical Text for Foreigners from The Association of Foreign Language Propagation (1996)
- Korean Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2002)
Latin
- Hugo's Latin in Three Months from Hugo's Language Institute (1970s?)
- Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer by Sir James Mountford (2010)
- Latin Grammar by James Morwood (1999)
- A Latin Word List by K. C. Masterman (1971)
- Teach Yourself Latin from Teach Yourself (1986)
- The Usbrone First Thousand Words in Latin by Heather Amery & Stephen Cartwright (2007)
- Usborne Internet-Linked Latin for Beginners by Angela Wilkes & John Shackell (2001)
Latvian
- Baltic Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2001)
Lithuanian
- Baltic Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2001)
Lojban
Luxembourgish
Malay
- Malay Phrase Book for Tourists by HJ Ismail Ahmad & Andrew Leonki (1991)
Maltese
- Pocket Dictionary and Phrase Book: English-Maltese by Capt. Paul Bugeja (2004)
Manx
Māori
- Instant! Māori by Nick Theobald & Pāora Walker (2006)
Maya Glyphs
- Reading the Maya Glyphs by Michael D. Coe & Mark van Stone (2020)
Na'vi
- The Easiest Way to Learn Na'vi EVER!! by Dusty White (2011)
Norwegian
- Hugo's Norwegian in Three Months from Hugo's Language Institute (1970s?)
Old Norse
- A New Introduction to Old Norse Part I: Grammar by Michael Barnes (2008)
- A New Introduction to Old Norse Part II: Reader by Anthony Faulkes (2011)
- Viking Language 1: Learn Old Norse, Runes, and Icelandic Sagas by Jesse L. Byock (2017)
- Viking Language 2: The Old Norse Reader by Jesse L. Byock (2015)
Polish
- Polish Phrase Book & Dictionary from Berlitz (2003)
Portuguese
- Brazilian Portuguese Phrasebook & Dictionary from Lonely Planet (2014)
- Portuguese Phrase Book & Dictionary from BBC Active (2007)
- Teach Yourself Portuguese from Teach Yourself (2003)
Punjabi
Quechua
- Quechua Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (1989)
Romani
Romanian
- Romanian Phrase Book & Dictionary from Berlitz (1994)
Russian
- The Penguin Russian Course by J. L. I. Fennell (1963)
- Russian Phrase Book from Collins (1968)
- Russian Script Hacking for Beginners by Judith Meyer (2019)
Saami
Samoa
Scots
- The Old Scots Tongue: 10,000 Scottish words and their meanings by Cleishbothan the Younger (1858)
- The Pocket Guide to Scottish Words by Iseabail Macleod (1986)
Serbian
Sinhala
- Sinhala Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2008)
Spanish
- 15 Minute Spanish: Learn in Just 12 Weeks by Anna Bremon (2012)
- Beginner's Spanish: an introduction to conversational Spanish by Terry Wilson (1983)
- Usborne Internet-Linked Spanish for Beginners by Angela Wilkes & John Shackell (2001)
- Spanish: Language Survival Guide from Collins (2001)
Swahili
- Swahili for Travellers from Berlitz (1982)
- Swahili Sayings 1: erevuka na yaliyomo by S. S. Farsi (2003)
Swedish
- Sohlman Conversation Guide by Waldemar J. Adams (1947)
- Fast Talk Swedish from Lonely Planet (2018)
Tagalog
- Survival Tagalog by Joi Barrios (2016)
Thai
- Guide to Thai Conversation by Dr. Parichart Jumsai (2000)
- Thai Phrase Book from Eyewitness Travel Guides (2003)
- Thai Phrasebook from Lonely Planet (2004)
Tibetan
- Tibetan Phrasebook & Dictionary from Lonely Planet (2020)
Tolkien's languages (Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdul)
Tok Pisin
Toki Pona
Tongan
Turkish
- Essential Turkish Phrase Book from AA Publishing (2003)
- Get By in Turkish: a Quick Beginners' Course for Holidaymakers and Business People from BBC Books (1989)
Ukranian
Urdu
- Get By in Hindi & Urdu: a Quick Beginners' Course for Work or Travel from BBC Books (1989)
- Hindi, Urdu & Bengali from Lonely Planet (2011)
Vietnamese
Volapuk
Welsh
- Geirfa a Chystrawennau Cymraeg by D. Brown (1973) [Welsh]
- Welcome to Welsh by Heini Gruffudd (2017)
- Welsh Pocket Dictionary from Collins (1995)
Xhosa
- Xhosa Phrase Book by James Stewart (1906)
Yiddish
Yoruba
Zulu
- Learn Zulu by C. L. S. Nyembezi (1994)