 Molly R. Hansen, junior Spanish major, prepares to use Mango, a new language learning program in Belk Library & Information Commons. The program features a multitude of languages and is free for students to use. Katey Bozorth | The Appalachian “Mango is interactive in that you get the visual of the written language, you hear the language through audio, and you get cultural notes on where the language is spoken,” Catalog Librarian Beth Cramer said.
To access this program, students can go to the library’s homepage, where users should click on library databases and e-journals. Users should then click the “m,” to then find “Mango.”
If users are on campus using the university’s wireless Internet, all that is required to access Mango Languages is to click “start learning.”
“The great thing is you can use Mango at your apartment, at your parent’s house, or even in another country,” Cramer said.
Off campus, students are required to type in their banner identification number.
Users have the option to keep track of their progress by always logging in to their account, instead of just clicking “start learning.”
“It can be as complicated as you make it,” Molly R. Hansen, junior art history and Spanish major, said. “You can learn a lot of different conversational phrases within a short period of time.”
Currently, Mango Languages offers 22 languages, with English as a second language as an option.
Mango Languages hopes to double the number of languages offered by the end of the school year.
“Mango really helps improve your long-term memory because there’s so much repetition with a conversational focus, which is a really good way to get the introductory phrases down,” Cramer said.
After a one-year trial period for Mango Languages, the University will investigate renewing it for another year.
Story: JULIANNE OLSON, Senior News Reporter |
