Ancient Mayan Books

You will find most people recommending the following book for those brand new to the study of Ancient Mayan Hieroglyphs:

"Reading the Maya Glyphs" by Michael Coe

I've got to tell you the book really frustrated me. I agree with the reviews on amazon.com that the colored graphic representations of the glyphs is very nice but you're barely into the book when they slam you with grammar point after grammar point. I agree you've got to learn grammar but I really felt it was written in such a "technical" way that it was really overwhelming. Besides that I really felt that the grammar points were very "glossed over" (most only a page or so) to the point that for example when you read about how they did their calendar you really walk away with a vague idea of what they did but you certainly couldn't whip one up on your own or really grasp it if you saw it on a monument.

So I've got a solution for you:

"Understanding Maya Inscriptions: A Hieroglyphic Handbook" by John F. Harris and Stephen K. Stearns.

Much better book in my opinion. I'm about a quarter of the way through it now. I've just gone through the chapter on calendars and I feel like the fog has cleared. Not only do they show you step by step how it was calculated - they give you examples with an answer key to try yourself. I felt like the explanations were much more accessible especially for those of us who have never explored Mayan before. Just goes to show great graphics and colors might look great but taking the time and a couple of extra pages to go through difficult concepts slower and in a language that isn't on such an high academic level really makes the subject accessible to a much wider audience.

Ancient Greek and Latin Recordings

I found some interesting links for you to listen to some of the classics in Ancient Greek and Latin being read. It also includes transcripts in both the original language and English translation. All free - very neat stuff check it out.

http://www.rhapsodes.fll.vt.edu/

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~classics/poetry_and_prose/poetry.html

Le Petit Prince - In Multiple Languages

I am so excited about this website. If you've done any beginning French you have probably heard of "Le Petit Prince." It is a children's book a little like Harry Potter in that a young boy has a big adventure etc. It is primarily used to teach beginning to intermediate French.

Well I found this site http://www.petit-prince.at/links.htm that gives you the same story in a ton of other languages. All free - it's fantastic - by far the best source on the web I've seen.

A Knight In Panther's Skin - Audio

I'm very excited to report that after a very, very long search I have finally located audio available in Georgian, Russian and English for the classic Georgian epic poem by Shota Rustavelli "A Knight In Panther's Skin."

http://www.me4u.biz/pages/rustaveli.html It is $9 each. The audio quality is pretty low but it is the only place on the internet that I have found that has it.

Reliable seller - I've never had any problems with this company and have ordered from them a few times. They are based in Tblisi, Georgia but your payment is through a company in Ohio that handles tons of stuff nationwide like Paypal so you're pretty safe to use your credit card etc. Believe me I checked it out pretty good before I did anything I am definately don't take risks with my credit card.