I meant to post these links on Friday and never got around to it…

20 forgotten English words that would be useful today. 

A world map with countries’ names in their official languages.

New State Department travel advisories make it easier to see how they rate a country’s safety. (Note: I would take them with a grain of salt; their travel advice tends to be about as risk-averse as your average Jewish mother’s.)

The New York Times’ first “52 Places” traveler answers questions. She sounds great, and I love her answer to, “What is your greatest hope for the trip?”

Want to learn French animal sounds? Here you go.

And, an older article I don’t think I ever shared here: a heart-wrenching story of theimpending extinction of an Amazonian language and the pain felt by its last speaker.

Also late, Le Parisien’s words of the year word cloud, in the photos above and below. I found it an interesting window onto French culture. 

And really, really late (18 years to be exact), an old This American Life program I recently revisited, about Americans in Paris, featuring a hilarious-as-usual David Sedaris. I have a new appreciation for this episode since being an American in Paris myself.

Happy Monday… I will try to post an actual piece of writing this week…