Tag: English as a second language

Databases Series: News for You

~ rmanuel191 ~ Leave a comment

Hello!  My name’s Rebecca.  For those who haven’t been following this series, I am the Information Literacy Librarian here at the Chester County Library.  (You might recognize me as the librarian with the purple hair!)  Welcome to this series here on our blog where every week (or thereabouts) I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases.  A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!

Following in the past couple weeks’ trend of introducing you to newspapers, I would like to talk a little about News for You.  News for You is a weekly news publication written at a basic adult English level for ESL (English as a Second Language) speakers and others with limited English proficiency.  The articles cover a wide-range of subjects both domestic and international.

For those who prefer to read a physical newspaper, we do offer copies on a limited basis for free upon request at the CCL Reference Desk.  But for those who don’t mind reading online, News for You Online includes curriculum and assignments for ESL students and teachers, vocabulary lists pulled from the week’s articles, teacher guides and voting guides, and more to support English language learning.  The best feature, however, is the built-in ability to listen to the articles read out loud.  You can click the play button at the top of each article to play the article out loud in full, or you can click on a single sentence to hear only that sentence.

Contact the Reference Desk at 610-344-5957 or ref@ccls.org to receive the login code.

Find News for You Online on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> N –> News for You Digital Access

This post is number thirteen in this databases series!  If you missed the previous installments, you can view them here.

Databases Series: Mango Languages

~ rmanuel191 ~ Leave a comment

Hello!  My name is Rebecca, and I am the Information Literacy Librarian here at the Chester County Library.  (You might recognize me as the librarian with the purple hair!)  Welcome to a new series here on our blog where every week (or thereabouts) I’ll be introducing you to one of the library’s databases.  A library database, for those who are unsure, is essentially just an online resource that the library pays for so that you can access it for free with your library card!

This post is number five in the series!  If you missed the previous posts, you can find them here.  Continuing on the theme of New Year’s resolutions, I figured this would be another good resource to mention, specifically for those with “learn a new language” on their 2025 resolutions list.  This resource is Mango Languages.

If you know of Duolingo, Rosetta Stone, or Babbel, then you’ve essentially got the measure of Mango Languages, except with Mango you get full access with your library card without having to pay any fees for premium content.  Mango offers lessons in over 70 world languages and more than 20 English courses for second language speakers.  In these lessons, you will find not just basic vocabulary and grammar, but also specialty courses that offer a range of culturally specific topics.  Lessons can be downloaded for offline access, and you can access the program through your internet browser or the app.  Create an account to save your progress, or access it as a guest if you just want to try it out for the day.

Find Mango Languages on our website by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> M –> Mango Languages

For more language learning, you can also check out Transparent Language Online, a resource provided for free to all Pennsylvania library card holders through the State Library of Pennsylvania!  Find Transparent Language Online by going to chescolibraries.org –> Tools and Research –> All CCLS Databases –> T –> Transparent Language Online.