January 2022
Would you like to make yourself more marketable to an employer by being bilingual? Are you interested in other cultures and want to understand their languages? Learning another language can have many benefits, and Fort Bend County Libraries’ (FBCL) “Transparent Language® Online” resource makes learning a new language easier than ever – and it’s free!
The Transparent Languages resource offers online courses for people who would like to learn a new language. The database includes more than 110 languages – from Afrikaans to Zulu – as well as ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for non-English speaking people who would like to learn English.
The ESL English-language-learning courses are available for people who speak Spanish, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Farsi, Hindi, Czech, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Romanian, Swahili, Tagalog, Thai, Urdu, Russian, German, French, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Greek, Arabic, or Italian.
This online resource is self-paced and designed for practicality and simplicity. An audio feature enables the student to hear how words are pronounced. The “Learn” section is packed full of pronunciation, speech, grammar, writing and vocabulary-building lessons, while the “Explore” section helps the student expand the language-learning experience through blogs, a “Word of the Day” application, and more.
This resource can be accessed from any computer – whether at home, school, or at the library – by going to the library’s website. Click on the “Research” tab on the main webpage, and then “Digital Resources & Databases.” Filter the options by “Subject” and select “Online Learning & Test Prep.” Scroll down to “Transparent Language Online.”
Creating an account in the database enables the student to log in and out of the course, and to pick up where he or she left off at the last log-in session. Users will need their Fort Bend County Libraries barcode number from their library card to sign in. When prompted to choose a library, select “Fort Bend County” from the drop-down menu.
FBCL’s Adult Services staff have created an online tutorial, “Transparent Language® Online: Learning a Language Beyond Chapter 1,” for people who are already familiar with this resource, but would like to learn tips on how to get beyond “Chapter 1 Basics.” Learn about the “placement test” feature that enables the user to jump past initial lessons to reach the section that is appropriate for their stage of learning. Hear about two other features of this resource that can help the student retain and use the language skills they have learned. Click here to view this video tutorial.
For more information, call FBCL’s Communications Office at 281-633-4734.