Reference Tools
Here are some supplementary references you can consider using to aid you in your language learning journey:
DICTIONARIES
WordReference | This is a stellar online dictionary that not only gives you definitions of words, but also helps you to choose the right translation of a word when—for example—an English word has multiple meanings, based on its context. Dictionary entries are laid out clearly, with grammatical gender/number indicated where applicable. N.B. If the exact meaning you're looking for isn't available in the main dictionary entries section, scroll down to the 'Forum Discussions' section—you'll likely find a thread answering your question. (French, Spanish)
Dictionnaires Le Robert | For higher-level French students, you'll probably want to get a copy of Le Petit Robert. For years, it's been THE go-to dictionary for serious students of French as well as for Francophone scholars. Don't be misled by its name, though. Le Petit Robert is anything but petit—my copy weighs over 2kg. The name is a reference to its bigger brother of which it's a condensed version, Le Grand Robert. While the full version is a multivolume box set (discontinued since 2013 in favour of an digitized version), Le Petit Robert is a single-volume behemoth that you probably wouldn't want to lug around. But as a stationary reference, you can't go wrong with it. It's been in print since the 60s, and the older editions are mostly just as good as the most recent editions. For those of you who aren't about the hard copy life, digital web access and app versions are now available. (French)
Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary (Digital Dictionaries of South Asia) | A digitized version of R. S. McGregor's Hindi-English dictionary—probably the gold standard for Hindi dictionaries in the English-speaking world. Relatively modern (1993) for a dictionary of this size. Great thing is that you can search this dictionary in English (i.e. English to Hindi), in Devanagari (e.g. किताब) or romanized Hindi (e.g. kitāb). Covers a lot of etymological ground: McGregor's dictionary includes lots of Urdu/Perso-Arabic vocabulary that's used in standard-register Hindi (e.g. वादा), in addition to the more Sanskritic borrowings/neologisms (e.g. दुरदर्शन). (Hindi, Urdu)
Platts Urdu/Hindi-English Dictionary (DDSA) | A digitized version of J. T. Platts' Urdu/Hindi-English dictionary. If McGregor's dictionary didn't exist, I'd probably consider Platts' to be the best option out there. Definitely outdated (it was originally compiled in 1884) but it's VERY complete. You can search in Urdu (e.g. خوب) or romanization (e.g. khūb); however, the way that the dictionary was coded is kinda weird, and some Unicode characters on a standard Urdu keyboard (e.g. ی، ک، ٹ، ڑ، ھ) aren't mapped properly. I'm guessing it's because the original dictionary used characters that aren't used today in Urdu (like the dotted-ye, the Arabic ك kāf and four-dotted variants of ٹ and ڑ) and the coders wanted to keep the digitization as faithful to the original as possible, sacrificing full compatibility with modern orthographic standards. Despite the caveats, the Platts dictionary is still a very solid reference, especially if you're reading older Urdu texts, with more posh, flowery language. (Hindi, Urdu)
Shabdkosh Punjabi | A decent, bare-bones Punjabi-English online reference dictionary. Most of the common words you need in everyday language will be in here. Grammatical gender is given (though they'll add it next to English definitions, which is weird and not really correct, but whatever) so you can be sure your verbs and adjectives are done correctly. You'll want to search by English definition or Punjabi (in Gurmukhi script), because although searching by romanization kind of works, it doesn't seem to follow a consistent transliteration scheme, so... I wouldn't rely on it. (Punjabi)
GRAMMAR
Bescherelle | Some of you (especially if you were in French Immersion) might have used a hard copy of the Bescherelle L'art de conjuguer book. This is an online version of that beloved verb conjugation reference—all you need to do is type in the verb you want conjugated and it'll list them all out for you. Nothing particularly fancy about this site... but if you're up for a challenge, there are some grammar quizzes and dictées that you can try out in your free time, as a way to practise and internalize those grammar rules. (French)
PROOFREADING TOOLS
Antidote | Not free, but I know people who have been using this for a while and don't regret shelling out for the purchase. You can type your work into Antidote, or add its plugin into Word, Pages, etc., and then have it proofread your work. It's great, because it actually explains the grammatical structures it's correcting you on—that's the key to effectively using proofreading tools because then you're receiving constructive feedback on how to improve. (French)
Linguee | This free resource allows you to look up phrases in your target language—the benefit being that the translations are given to you in context (i.e. a phrase within a sentence/paragraph). Linguee works by drawing on the vast repository of websites online with multilingual presences, so a lot of the reference sources you'll find are government documents, social services organizations' websites, etc. Be aware though, sometimes the target language documents are poorly translated, so aim to cross-check with a dictionary or another proofing resource.
DICTIONARIES
WordReference | This is a stellar online dictionary that not only gives you definitions of words, but also helps you to choose the right translation of a word when—for example—an English word has multiple meanings, based on its context. Dictionary entries are laid out clearly, with grammatical gender/number indicated where applicable. N.B. If the exact meaning you're looking for isn't available in the main dictionary entries section, scroll down to the 'Forum Discussions' section—you'll likely find a thread answering your question. (French, Spanish)
Dictionnaires Le Robert | For higher-level French students, you'll probably want to get a copy of Le Petit Robert. For years, it's been THE go-to dictionary for serious students of French as well as for Francophone scholars. Don't be misled by its name, though. Le Petit Robert is anything but petit—my copy weighs over 2kg. The name is a reference to its bigger brother of which it's a condensed version, Le Grand Robert. While the full version is a multivolume box set (discontinued since 2013 in favour of an digitized version), Le Petit Robert is a single-volume behemoth that you probably wouldn't want to lug around. But as a stationary reference, you can't go wrong with it. It's been in print since the 60s, and the older editions are mostly just as good as the most recent editions. For those of you who aren't about the hard copy life, digital web access and app versions are now available. (French)
Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary (Digital Dictionaries of South Asia) | A digitized version of R. S. McGregor's Hindi-English dictionary—probably the gold standard for Hindi dictionaries in the English-speaking world. Relatively modern (1993) for a dictionary of this size. Great thing is that you can search this dictionary in English (i.e. English to Hindi), in Devanagari (e.g. किताब) or romanized Hindi (e.g. kitāb). Covers a lot of etymological ground: McGregor's dictionary includes lots of Urdu/Perso-Arabic vocabulary that's used in standard-register Hindi (e.g. वादा), in addition to the more Sanskritic borrowings/neologisms (e.g. दुरदर्शन). (Hindi, Urdu)
Platts Urdu/Hindi-English Dictionary (DDSA) | A digitized version of J. T. Platts' Urdu/Hindi-English dictionary. If McGregor's dictionary didn't exist, I'd probably consider Platts' to be the best option out there. Definitely outdated (it was originally compiled in 1884) but it's VERY complete. You can search in Urdu (e.g. خوب) or romanization (e.g. khūb); however, the way that the dictionary was coded is kinda weird, and some Unicode characters on a standard Urdu keyboard (e.g. ی، ک، ٹ، ڑ، ھ) aren't mapped properly. I'm guessing it's because the original dictionary used characters that aren't used today in Urdu (like the dotted-ye, the Arabic ك kāf and four-dotted variants of ٹ and ڑ) and the coders wanted to keep the digitization as faithful to the original as possible, sacrificing full compatibility with modern orthographic standards. Despite the caveats, the Platts dictionary is still a very solid reference, especially if you're reading older Urdu texts, with more posh, flowery language. (Hindi, Urdu)
Shabdkosh Punjabi | A decent, bare-bones Punjabi-English online reference dictionary. Most of the common words you need in everyday language will be in here. Grammatical gender is given (though they'll add it next to English definitions, which is weird and not really correct, but whatever) so you can be sure your verbs and adjectives are done correctly. You'll want to search by English definition or Punjabi (in Gurmukhi script), because although searching by romanization kind of works, it doesn't seem to follow a consistent transliteration scheme, so... I wouldn't rely on it. (Punjabi)
GRAMMAR
Bescherelle | Some of you (especially if you were in French Immersion) might have used a hard copy of the Bescherelle L'art de conjuguer book. This is an online version of that beloved verb conjugation reference—all you need to do is type in the verb you want conjugated and it'll list them all out for you. Nothing particularly fancy about this site... but if you're up for a challenge, there are some grammar quizzes and dictées that you can try out in your free time, as a way to practise and internalize those grammar rules. (French)
PROOFREADING TOOLS
Antidote | Not free, but I know people who have been using this for a while and don't regret shelling out for the purchase. You can type your work into Antidote, or add its plugin into Word, Pages, etc., and then have it proofread your work. It's great, because it actually explains the grammatical structures it's correcting you on—that's the key to effectively using proofreading tools because then you're receiving constructive feedback on how to improve. (French)
Linguee | This free resource allows you to look up phrases in your target language—the benefit being that the translations are given to you in context (i.e. a phrase within a sentence/paragraph). Linguee works by drawing on the vast repository of websites online with multilingual presences, so a lot of the reference sources you'll find are government documents, social services organizations' websites, etc. Be aware though, sometimes the target language documents are poorly translated, so aim to cross-check with a dictionary or another proofing resource.