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American readers who enjoy international or translated literature do not have accesss to many books from U.S. publishers.  Only 3% of the books published each year in the U.S. are translated into English from other languages.  For readers looking for foreign literary works, sites like amazon.co.uk have often been the only solution short of a trip abroad.

A few publishers have stepped up to expose American readers to literary works from abroad, including Open Letter Books.  Open Letter only publishes literature in translation, and it has released 16 books in the past year by authors from Mexico, Croatia, Brazil, Germany, Russian, Poland and South Africa.  Best of all, the price is right.  Open Letter offers a subscription service; for $100 a year (or $60 for six months), readers will receive every book that is published during that time.   To sweeten the deal, shipping costs within the U.S. are free.

Photo by mansionwb under license from Creative Commons.

Did you promise yourself that next year you'll go away for Christmas?  For those who like to travel over the holidays, Travel + Leisure has chosen the 10 best places to spend Christmas.  There's something for everyone on the list: cities, beaches, snow, and exotic destinations.   It may be too late for you this year, but researching and dreaming about the top 10 destinations may get you through your post-holiday slump.

If you could spend Christmas anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Photo of San Miguel de Allende by RightIndex under Creative Commons license.

Students trying to learn English are right to complain it is a difficult language.  Spelling and pronunciation are all over the map: try explaining why rough and dough do not sound alike, or why "i before e except after c and in words sounding like neighbor and weigh".  Add to that the differences between US and UK pronunciation (why do we treat the ch in schedule as a k?) and you begin to have a whole new level of respect for people who stick with their ESL lessons.

Is English really that difficult compared with other languages?  The Economist has an interesting overview of the difficulties posed by many languages.  What language has been the hardest for you to learn?

Image by tochis under Creative Commons license.