language learning

Stay on Top of Summer Learning this Summer!

Did you know that Allegheny County offers a variety of online resources to help fight the summer slide? 

Tutor.com has learning games, practice worksheets, and flashcards. You can connect with a live tutor for more help or just drop off a question.  

Check out Mango Languages to brush up on your skills this summer! This eResource offers interactive lessons with both audio and visual elements. 

Practice my Skills screenshot taken from tutor.com

BookFlix is a great resource for encouraging young readers. It pairs a non-fiction and fiction children’s book together that have a similar theme. Each book pair comes with a set of educational activities such as sequencing, fact or fiction, and word matching.  

Lastly, don’t forget to sign up for your local library’s summer reading program! It’s another fantastic way to beat the summer slide. 

-Erin Weaver, Bridgeville Public Library

Continue ReadingStay on Top of Summer Learning this Summer!

New Year – New languages!

There are many benefits to learning a new language!

  • You can have a deeper connection with friends
  • Traveling will be less stressful
  • It’s a cognitive workout for your brain, keeping your brain healthy as you age
  • Your dating pool will widen
  • Increases career opportunities (and salaries!)

Mango and Udemy are great mobile-friendly resources for those just getting started and for those that just need a refresher. They are also great alternatives if you’re tired of the local, hostile green owl.

Mango offers 70+ languages, structured with lessons, exercises and clear goals. In addition, they have “Mango Movies” that incorporate what you’ve learned in lessons to a film with dialog and relevant cultural content.

Marketing Materials: https://www.promotemango.com/marketing-materials

Udemy offers a variety of courses for beginners and more specific courses with focuses on business, travel and exams (such as IELTS and TOEFL iBT). Courses can be as long as 40 minutes to 50+ hours. After completing any course, learners will get a certificate. Udemy also shows reviews for every course to help you decide if it is the right course for you.

Marketing Materials: https://support.gale.com/products/udemy

Leigha Lamont – Wilkinsburg Library & Eastridge Branch

Continue ReadingNew Year – New languages!

Learn a new language with Mango Languages!

Learn anything from Cantonese to Ukrainian to Shakespearean English with this digital resource. Mango Languages offers multi-level courses for children and adults with visual and auditory elements. Some languages feature specialty units such as Spanish for Business or Japanese Mimetic Words.

list of languages
list of specialty units

Mango also offers a free app so that you can learn on the go! The program will keep track of your progress so that you can pick up right where you left off.  

Happy learning! 

-Erin Weaver, Bridgeville Public Library 

Continue ReadingLearn a new language with Mango Languages!

Learn a Language With Mango

Mango is an online language learning system that teaches conversational skills.

You do not need to create a user account, but it allows you to save your progress as you go. It requires only an email address and password.

Mango offers many, many languages to choose from from French, German, and Spanish to Pirate, Farsi, and Cherokee.

Lessons begin with with salutations and small talk and provide context throughout. As you move through the lessons, topics include basic topics such as the weather and more practical like moving through customs at the airport.

I hope this helps you keep busy during the summer months. Learning something new can be distracting, fun, and rewarding.

Lisa Akenhead – Northland Public Library

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