Picking up and starting somewhere new is tough.

Finding a new home. A new job. A new doctor. A new school. Even just a new grocery store.

Now throw in a language barrier. Surrounded by people, but you can’t ask for help. It’s not tough, it’s nearly impossible.

The new “English for Newcomers” course is designed to help immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers to the U.S. quickly gain the English they need to navigate their new daily lives.

This 25-unit course covers everyday basics, immediate needs, and newcomer-specific situations, including:

• Shopping for groceries & essentials
• Looking for work & interviewing
• Securing housing & utilities
• Getting medical & dental care
• Using technology
• Navigating public transportation
• Enrolling in public schools
• Understanding the U.S. government, immigration processes & citizenship

Unlike a beginner English textbook or course, “English for Newcomers” prioritizes rapidly memorizing the vocabulary learners need most, as our Director of Content Orsi Gall explains:

“This course is about function over form. Learning English as a newcomer in the thick of it isn’t about perfecting grammar or speaking eloquently. It’s about understanding and being understood—especially for immediate needs like navigating public transit to find a grocery store. Sometimes just a handful of key words is all you need. The course content and the spaced repetition activities are designed to help learners quickly pick up what they need, when they need it.”

And by key vocabulary, we mean 1,782 essential words and phrases. From start to finish, the course takes about 56 hours. But! There is no fixed order, so no one has to do it from start to finish. Learners can hop around, learning what they need most in the moment. Doctor’s appointment tomorrow? Jump right to that unit, no need to finish any of the previous units.

Each unit also incorporates native speaker audio, images, and cultural comments with tips about language usage and information about living in the United States.

To help acquire new vocab ASAP, the course is taught in 15 native languages:

• Amharic*
• Arabic
• Brazilian Portuguese
• Chinese
• Dari
• Farsi
• French
• Pashto*
• Russian
• Somali
• Spanish
• Turkish
• Ukrainian
• Urdu*
• Vietnamese*

(*Coming in April 2025.)

If you’re wondering where that list of languages comes from… it’s what ELLs around the country are already learning through their public libraries! Meaghan McGonagle, our Marketing Manager who interviewed dozens of libraries in the “Supporting ELLs at Your Library” Guide, explains:

“There’s 140 languages in Transparent Language Online for Libraries. And English is our most learned. Libraries are on the front lines of supporting immigrants and refugees. And we want to support them in that effort. Which means providing English courses not only for beginner basics, but also for the unique needs that newcomers have, taught in the languages they speak.”

English for Newcomers is one component of the 300+ hour ESL collection in Transparent Language Online. Explore the entire ESL collection in the free trial to see if it’s right for the ELLs in your community.

(And if your library already subscribes, English for Newcomers is automatically available to you and your patrons!)