All Books

The #1 Chinese self-study course on the market is now available with online audio! Designed for the beginner who has no previous knowledge of Chinese, this guide provides 10 easy-to-follow lessons that cover the basics of the language and can be mastered during the equivalent of one academic semester for adults. Students will be able to start speaking and communicating in Mandarin immediately!

Spoken by over 900 million people worldwide, Mandarin Chinese is the standard dialect for business and trade in China, one of the six official languages of the United Nations, and the world’s most widely spoken language.

Ideal for those new to Chinese, learning at home or in the classroom, Beginner’s Chinese (Mandarin) with Online Audio includes:

• Ten carefully-paced and practical lessons with dialogues, vocabulary, and expressions
• A Chinese-English glossary of vocabulary used in the book
• Additional exercises for teaching stroke order and writing skills
• An index providing traditional character equivalents
• Technology sections on how to read and write Chinese characters on a computer
• Comprehensive section on Internet Resources for students to supplement their study of Chinese
• Online MP3 audio files for download featuring pronunciation by professional voice actors from Beijing

“…blends recipes for favorite Polish foods with the history and culture which created them, using seasonal arrangement to explore Polish life and how food traditions evolved. Recipes have been adapted for American kitchens but retain their authentic roots, while plenty of Polish cultural insights make for inviting leisure browsing by more than just the cook.”—The Midwest Book Review

This popular cookbook by beloved Polish-American author Sophie Hodorowicz Knab combines more than 100 recipes for favorite Polish foods with the history and cultural traditions that created them. Arranged according to the cycle of seasons, it explores life in the Polish countryside through the year and gives readers priceless historical information and insightful answers to common questions (like the meaning behind the Pascal butter lamb) asked by descendants of Polish immigrants. It has been updated with a section on Polish Feasts & Festivals. Lovely illustrations and pearls of practical wisdom ("Household Hints") from the old Polish kitchen marvelously complement this book.

This charming cookbook is perfect for Polish Americans, home cooks, food history buffs, and those seeking to learn more about their Slavic roots.

This comprehensive bilingual Burmese (Myanmar) dictionary includes over 28,000 Word-for-Word dictionary entries, and is approved for ESL/ELL students to use for standardized testing.

Burmese is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken in Myanmar, where it is an official language. It is spoken by over 40 million people worldwide. The government of Myanmar designates it as the Myanmar language, but most English speakers continue to refer to the language as Burmese, after Burma, the former name of Myanmar. The Burmese alphabet is derived from the Brahmic scripts of South Indian languages.

This dictionary’s two-way format makes it useful for both English and Burmese speakers. Each entry includes Burmese script as well Romanization (common sense phonetic pronunciation) for English speakers. Burmese ELL (English-Language Learner) students can look up the meaning of English words they don't recognize, and also translate their thoughts and writing in Burmese to English using this dictionary.

The most comprehensive collection of authentic Afghan recipes published in English, this cookbook brings the legendary hospitality and foods of the Afghan table to readers everywhere.

Since ancient times, Afghanistan’s location in the heart of Central Asia has made it a crossroads for multiple cultures and culinary influences. The ancient city of Kabul was a hub for European, Chinese and Indian merchants as well as intellectuals and spiritual leaders. In this context, Afghanistan’s rich and multifaceted culinary identity evolved.

To this day, Afghans retain the tradition of preparing food with freshly harvested ingredients. In most villages, flour is still ground in local mills and cows are milked daily, and the milk is then processed into fresh butter or yogurt. Kabobs, ranging from chicken, beef, lamb and fish, are seasoned with delicate spices before grilling. A variety of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs, along with lentils and meat, are used to prepare traditional stews called qurmas.  Considered Afghanistan’s national food, rice dishes called palow are cooked with meat, onions, and distinctive spices such as cumin, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and black pepper. Dough prepared with fresh ingredients is shaped into bread, cookies, and cakes before being baked in a preheated ground oven called a tandoor. Aromatic spices and crunchy roasted nuts combined with fresh milk and wheat create unique desserts that are simple to prepare but deliver impressive results

Kabul native Zarghuna Adel brings a lifetime of cooking experience and years of research into this unique cookbook, which features authentic Afghan recipes that were lost or forgotten in the course of four decades of war and displacement. This volume features over 225 recipes, each with easy-to-follow instructions and a color photograph. Fifteen chapters cover the range of Afghan culinary offerings, from appetizers, soups, salads, and main dishes to condiments and desserts, and each chapter includes a detailed introduction to the history, origins, and cultural traditions that surround the recipes.

Sample recipes:

·       Ashak (leek dumplings with yogurt and ground beef)

·       Kabob Teka (marinated lamb and vegetable kabobs)

·       Badenjan Borani (eggplant appetizer with tomatoes and yogurt)

·       Chapli Kabob (fried spicy ground beef patties)

·       Qabeli Palow  (long grain rice with onions, spices and tender meat)

·       Halwa Ardi (wheat flour halwa with cardamom and nuts)

·       Rout (fluffy sweet bread with sesame and nigella seeds)

·       Chai Chawa (green tea with ginger, fennel and walnuts)

Fulani is a language widely spoken across about 20 countries in West and Central Africa (including Senegal, Guinea, Gambia, Cameroon, and Sudan) by people who call themselves Fulɓe, also known as Fulani or Fula in English. The language—which also known as Fula, Fulfulde, Fulah and Pulaar—has approximately 24 million native speakers and belongs to the Senegambian branch within the Niger-Congo languages, which does not have tones. It also belongs to the Atlantic geographic grouping within Niger–Congo family.

This unique, two-part resource provides travelers to Western and Central Africa with the tools they need for daily interaction. The bilingual dictionary has a concise vocabulary for everyday use, and the phrasebook allows instant communication on a variety of topics. Ideal for businesspeople, travelers, students, and aid workers, this guide includes:

• 4,000 dictionary entries
• Phonetics that are intuitive for English speakers
• Essential phrases on topics such as transportation, dining out, and business
• Concise grammar and pronunciation sections

“. . . fills a void for the delightful, little-known and vibrant cuisine of this South American nation. You will be thrilled by the ethnic diversity and originality of the dishes passionately and thoroughly gathered by native chef Patricia McCausland-Gallo.” —Jacques Pépin

From the coffee and cacao grown high in the Andes Mountains, to the tropical fruits of the Caribbean and Amazonian regions, the great cattle farms on the plains, and bountiful seafood from the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea, Colombia is a country of varied and exotic culinary offerings.

Now updated with a new chapter on lighter Colombian fare, this bestselling Hippocrene cookbook shares even more secrets from this beloved cuisine. With a 16-page color insert, glossary of Colombian foods and ingredients, an introduction to Colombia’s cuisine and regions, and of course, over 200 easy-to-follow recipes, this cookbook brings the vibrant culinary tradition of Colombia alive!

Sample recipes:

• Pandebono
• Ajiaco bogotano (Chicken and Potato Soup)
• Crema de Zapallo o Ahuyama (Cream of Pumpkin Soup)
• Buñuelos de Maíz (Corn Fritters)
• Pernil de Cerdo (Fresh Leg of Pork)
• Carne Desmechada (Stripped Beef)
• Cocktail de Calamares (Squid Cocktail)
• Pescado Frito (Whole Fried Fish)
• Bolas de Tamarindo (Tamarind Balls)

A Hippocrene Trilingual Reference

Quechua is a Native American language spoken by nearly 10 million people, primarily in the Andes region of South America. It is best known as the language of the ancient Inca empire. Alongside Spanish, Quechua is an official language in Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Ideal for anthropologists, students and travelers, this dictionary features over 11,000 entries as well as an introduction to the Quechua language and basics of grammar.

This unique full-length dictionary includes 3 sections: English-Quechua, Spanish-Quechua, and Quechua-Spanish-English. Spanish is a logical conduit language between Quechua and English, and many Quechua words are found in Peruvian Spanish.