With international travel to green list destinations set to be back on the agenda, you may want to brush up on your language skills for that dream getaway or important business trip and there are 110 reasons why Manchester libraries’ Transparent Language service is the best place to start.
Transparent Language (TLO) is a complete online language learning system. There are 110+ languages to choose from, with courses to suit everyone from absolute beginners to those with some basic knowledge of the language already…. and best of all, it’s free to library members.
Whether you just need the essentials for a foreign holiday, like ordering a taxi, or that all important shopping, want to use your language skills at a more professional level for a business meeting, or just want the kids to be able to access extra help with languages they are learning at school, Transparent Language Online is all you need. As a library member you can access the service 24/7….365 days a year. Children have their own area called “Kidspeak” too where they can learn a range of 6 different languages.
KidSpeak™ is a fun, age-appropriate online language course designed for children ages 6 and up! Accessible through Transparent Language Online, KidSpeak introduces your children to English, Spanish, French, Italian, and Mandarin Chinese. The program teaches words and phrases suitable for your child’s age, needs, and interests.
More than 40 activities, puzzles, and songs guide young learners through the basics, along with a cartoon “friend” who speaks the language.
TLO works on any internet connected device, so start your learning in the comfort of your own home, or in the library, then download the app to continue on-the-go. Your progress is saved, so you can always pick up right where you left off.
If you are worried that you won’t be able to learn on your own… don’t be! It’s like having your own built-in teacher, keeping you on track to achieve your language goals. You set the pace, choose what you want to learn, and at what level, gradually building the four core skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
There’s good news for those wanting to learn English as a second language too. With Transparent Language Online you have access to English courses in over 30 native languages, including Urdu, Arabic and Chinese.
All courses are delivered in a fun, engaging way through a combination of interactive activities, videos and audio clips designed to improve understanding and place your learning in context. As you save your progress you will be able to see just how much you have achieved, and revisit anything you still feel unsure of.
You can choose to focus on improving your grammar and punctuation or just develop your conversational skills to get the best from that long overdue trip. All recordings are delivered by native speakers and can be slowed down to help you master perfect pronunciation, so you’ll be chatting with the locals in no time.
You can learn more than one language at once if you wish and change to a different language at any time. Once you discover that learning a language can actually be fun….. and is a lot easier than you remember from school, there are over 100 languages to keep you busy.
So, come on! What are you waiting for?…. those Hotel’s won’t book themselves.
To access Transparent language, please go to our online reference library or ask staff for more details.
Oh! and don’t forget your travel guide…… libraries have lots of those too!