Tag language learning

The photograph shows a map of the world with various objects lying across it, including cameras, a passport, photographs, sunglasses, a string of light bulbs, and a coffee cup.

Ready to See the World? We Can Help!

sahanacallahan Leave a comment
The photograph shows a map of the world with various objects lying across it, including cameras, a passport, photographs, sunglasses, a string of light bulbs, and a coffee cup.
Photo by Charlotte Noelle on Unsplash.

by Sahana C.

The library is the home of adventure, with new unknowns to explore with every turn of a page. Visiting the library can leave you with a wealth of knowledge about a new place from every book you borrow.

But sometimes, reading about another far-off place or watching a movie set in a distant land isn’t enough. Sometimes, you’re looking for a more immersive experience, and your imagination just isn’t cutting it – it’s time for the real deal. Planning trips can be exhausting, though, and finding where and how to start can be the hardest part. Let us help plan your trip! Between travel guides, our passport centers, and ways to brush up on your language skills, the library can get you ready for your next big adventure. You’ve dreamed about it, book in hand, so let us help you get there.

Wander down the travel aisle at any of our six branches, and starting with the 914s, you’ll find inspiration for all sorts of far-off places to begin your journey, whether that be on the other side of the world, or just on the other side of the country. Once you’ve discovered your destination and decided it’s time to go, our Passport Centers in HCLS East Columbia and Glenwood Branches will accept your passport application and help you through the whole process.

In the meantime, while your passport is processed, use our language resources, Mango and Rosetta Stone Online for the adults in the family, as well as Little Pim and Muzzy Online for our younger friends! Practice your newfound language skills in the community at East Columbia and Miller Branches at our monthly World Language Cafés, working with native language speakers and other language learners.

To avoid missing us while you’re gone, make sure to pick up a Flat Booker from your closest branch too, and take pictures to show us once you return, so we can share in the adventure too.

Practice Before You Go with World Languages Café
For adults.
Meet to practice a world language with fellow community members, facilitated by a native or fluent speaker of that language. Please indicate in the registration comments field the language you would like to practice. In partnership with Columbia Association.
At East Columbia: register here.
Tuesday, Nov 28
7 – 8:45 pm

At Miller: register here.
Thursday, Dec 14
7 – 8:45 pm

Sahana is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Savage Branch. They enjoy adding books to their “want to read” list despite having a mountain of books waiting for them already.

The image says "How to use Mango Premiere: film-based language learning," with the Mango logo, an "M" comprised of multicolored squares and triangles in patterns red, blue, yellow, green, black, and white.

Voulez-vous voir un film ce soir?

Holly Leave a comment
The image says "How to use Mango Premiere: film-based language learning," with the Mango logo, an "M" comprised of multicolored squares and triangles in patterns red, blue, yellow, green, black, and white.

By Holly L.

Are you interested in learning French, or another language, but find traditional tutorials tedious?  

Consider Mango Premiere, an online language learning system that offers instruction through film for select languages. While enjoying a movie you can familiarize yourself with your chosen language by studying the dialogue while also focusing on grammar, vocabulary, phrases, and culture.

Customize your learning experience by viewing the film in “Movie mode,” in which you can view the movie with your choice of subtitles (English, the language you are learning, or both at the same time).

The still photograph from the film Around a Small Mountain is labeled "Scene Introduction" and depicts a man and woman standing next to a small convertible on a sunny street. The captions read, in French, "L'homme revient, et Kate l'invite á son spectacle de cirque ce soir-là gratuitement." This is followed by the English translation: "The man returns, and Kate invites him to her circus show that evening for free."s

Choose “Engage mode” for an in-depth scene exploration. In this mode, you begin with a Scene Introduction, an overview of what to expect in the coming scene. Next, you have the option of scrolling through Words You May Encounter and Cultural Notes. After viewing the scene you may click on to a Followup, a detailed breakdown of the scene with grammar and cultural notes. The subtitles are enhanced by phonetic pop-ups and Mango’s semantic color mapping, which demonstrates connections between the learner’s target and native language.

The illustration shows two translations from English to French: "I speak French very well" is translated to "Je, parle très bien français," and "Oh, good morning" is translated to "Tiens, bonjour." Each word is in a different color with a block underneath indicating Mango’s semantic color mapping, which demonstrates connections between the learner’s target and native language.
A visualization of Mango’s semantic color mapping.

While exploring the features of Mango Premiere, I watched Around a Small Mountain (or 36 vues du Pic Saint Loup), a 2009 French drama by director Jacques Rivette (one of the founders of the French New Wave) featuring Jane Birkin and Sergio Castellitto. With a cast of characters whose lives revolve around a travelling circus, the film is very dialogue-driven and I felt that the Engage Mode features helped me achieve a more nuanced understanding of the story.

There are more than 70 languages you can learn on Mango, with movies currently available for the following languages: 

English (for Spanish speakers) 

French 

Spanish (Latin America) 

Italian 

Chinese (Mandarin) 

German 

Hopefully Mango will expand its Premiere services to include films in more languages. I for one may be more motivated to brush up on my Korean language skills if I can do so while watching a fun K-drama. 

Access Mango and Mango Premiere for free with your HCLS library card.

Holly is an Instructor and Research Specialist at the Miller Branch. She enjoys knitting, preferably with a strong cup of tea and Downton Abbey in the queue.