Transparent Language Blog
Menu
Search

The Best Holiday Gift for Language Learners (Hint: it’s free!) Posted by on Nov 20, 2017 in Archived Posts

The holidays are upon us once again, which means turkey roasting, cookie baking, menorah lighting, family gathering, and—for better or worse—gift giving. This season, don’t buy into the stress and chaos of finding the perfect gift for the language lover in your life. They only need one thing, and best of all: it’s free!

What is this magical gift that opens up a world of languages? Nope, it’s not all-powerful headphones that translate between dozens of languages. Forget about those. Give the gift of a library card!

gift for language learners

Why is a library card the perfect gift for language learners?

Online Courses: We’ll lead with this one to refute any claims that libraries are dusty homes for books. Did you know most public libraries provide some kind of online database for language learning? We work with hundreds of libraries across the U.S. to bring 100+ languages to their community with Transparent Language Online. Best of all, you can access your account at home or on the go as long as you have a library card!

eResources: Speaking of learning online, most libraries nowadays have online collections as well. And it’s not just foreign language eBooks, you can also access newspapers, magazines, and more. The larger your library and the more diverse your community, the more likely you are to find foreign language resources in their online collections—just ask your librarians!

Discussion Groups and Classes: There are benefits to physically going to the library, too. Libraries often offer informal discussion groups or formal language classes, like our friends at Jacksonville Public Library, who received the 2015 Top Innovator Award in Customer Experience for their immersive language classes.

Books: Of course, we can’t forget to mention the books. Most libraries offer international collections, ranging from the most famous foreign novels to translations of popular YA novels. Whether you’re interested in interested in Don Quixote or Los Juegos del Hambre, your public library is the first place to look. (Bonus: they may also have language-learning workbooks that you can photocopy and use for practice.)

Other Lendable Materials: From DVDs to CDs to audiobooks, libraries have a lot more between the stacks than just books. Queens Borough Public Library, for example, is home to an International Resource Center that provides books, CDs, DVDs, and more in a dozen languages from Bengali to Italian. They also have inter-library loan agreements with libraries in China, France, South Korea, Canada, and Russia!

It’s not all about the stuff—as Black Friday marketers would have you believe. It’s about the space, too! From free internet access, to knowledgeable librarians, to a cozy place to study, the library is a language learner’s haven. If you’re not convinced, your local library has a lot more to offer beyond languages.

Keep learning a language with us!

Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.

Try it Free Find it at your Library
Share this:
Pin it

About the Author: Transparent Language

Transparent Language is a leading provider of best-practice language learning software for consumers, government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses. We want everyone to love learning language as much as we do, so we provide a large offering of free resources and social media communities to help you do just that!


Comments:

  1. zakir munawar:

    Where is certificate

    • Transparent Language:

      @zakir munawar Hi Zakir! I’m not sure what you mean by certificate. Library cards are always free, and if your local library offers Transparent Language Online, all you need is your library card to sign up!

  2. Ada Choi:

    Hey,
    Nice post shared here. As this is the time to gift the dearest person in this Christmas everyone planning for the ideas like me. As my beastie is always loved to learn some new languages, topics so your suggestion is really best. Thanks for sharing these ideas. I had gifted her Flags of the world Flashcards from Carddia.com on her birthday & she was really so happy after getting this. So in this Christmas, I am planning to gift something new. So Library card is really one of the best choices for that.
    Thanks dear.


Leave a comment: