LINKDING

<blockquote>The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a set of symbols that linguists use to describe the sounds of spoken languages. This page lets you hear the sounds that the symbols represent, but remember that it is only a rough guide. There is lots of variation in how these sounds are said depending on the language and context. For example, in English voiceless plosives usually end with a puff of air called aspiration, but the voiceless plosives on this page aren't aspirated. Click on a symbol to hear the sound it represents.</blockquote>

<blockquote>The author says that we may pronounce the names as we please, but many readers wish to know how she pronounces them. Without getting too finicky, this is to give an indication of the syllables which are more emphasized and the approximate values of the vowels and consonants of most of the names used in the Vorkosigan universe of Lois McMaster Bujold. Brief identifications will include the work in which the person or place principally appears, if it appears little outside of that work</blockquote>

tenlittlebullets: <blockquote>If you suspect a word’s meaning has shifted since the 19th century and modern-day dictionaries aren’t turning up results that make sense, look it up in this database and it will give you a bunch of different dictionary entries from the 17th through the 20th centuries.</blockquote>

<blockquote>If anyone’s trying to learn a language I’ve recently discovered this company called the Language Pod Company and it is so much better than Rosetta Stone and it’s completely free (unless you’d like one-one-one teacher-student help then it’s like $25 a month which tbh you shouldn’t really need because they make it really clear in the lessons). It’s super easy to navigate and it even gives you a history of the language. There are audio and video lessons. Real-life situations and different speakers. They even write the letters for you because I know sometime it’s hard to learn to write in a language that doesn’t use the same alphabet that you’re used to. You’re welcome. </blockquote>

➤ spellchecks your fic against the source text to show you any words you use that the source text didn't. (currently includes Les Mis, some Balzac, Count of Monte Cristo, and some Victorian-era erotica) ➤ updated url: http://chanvrerie.net/fun/fic-spellcheck/

tenlittlebullets on learning language:<blockquote>Don’t worry if you don’t know the past tenses or anything, just keep looking up unfamiliar words. If they’re verb forms you don’t recognize, WordReference will give you the infinitive and you just have to go to the “conjugate this verb” page. You can look up brief summaries of what each tense is used for and how it’s constructed</blockquote> ➤also: <blockquote>Single best English<->French dictionary on the web. The dictionary itself has a lot of secondary and idiomatic meanings, but even if it misses some, every entry includes the search results for that word on the WordReference forums, where people ask all sorts of fiddly obscure usage questions. Also, it will conjugate any verb for you, and any time a verb appears in a dictionary entry there’s a little link next to it to do just that.</blockquote>

<blockquote>We offer translations in many different languages, ranging from colloquial and regional expressions to more technical or field-specific vocabulary. Special features include search filters, synonyms, pronunciation, sample sentences and much more. Simply choose your preferred dictionary from the list below. Help us to improve our dictionaries by suggesting new translations in the entry box at the end of the page.</blockquote>

➤ hungarian dictionary because I seem to be falling down the sparkly hungarian fandom rabbit hole

➤ An excellent explanation of what the so-called "passive voice" actually IS, and why it's been hideously and erroneously maligned by people talking about good writing style