Enjoy a Mango, If You Need to Learn Languages Quickly

I have a friend who is in Korea now, visiting with the family and friends he left to pursue a law egree in the United States. I'm anxious to see him again, and when I do, I will greet him in Korean.

I told him before he left that I was trying to learn the language, and despite having purchased phrase books and downloaded instructional podcasts, I was stumped when he asked me what I could say.

Many people have the same problem I seem to when it comes to learning languages: no ability to recall the words or phrases you might actually want to say when opportunity presents itself.

But that was before Long Hill Library reference library Marygrace Luderitz helped me get started with the library's Mango program.

Luderitz said my vocabulary retention issues are not uncommon. She also notes many people find such methods unsatisfactory for learning how a language actually works, how sentences or phrases are constructed.

Then, she showed me the Mango languages program the library is offering—anyone. If you don't have a card to the Long Hill Library, or are a resident of Morris County, it's no problem—stop in at the library and they'll get you registered to use the program.

The interactive program explains grammar, adds vocabulary—and frequently repeats it, so you can actually remember it—explains naunces of phrases and sentence construction.

My favorite aspect is that it asks you to think about what you've learned to form new phrases. For example, after teaching you how to say, "The weather is good," and "Korean food," the program asks you to say "Korean food is good."

When I next see Hyun, I'll be able to ask him if his trip was good, if the weather in Korea was nice while he was there, and more.

This, after two Mango lessons....

The program offers lessons in 35 languages, from Arabic to Vietnamese, Canadian French to Haitian Creole, and includes an interactive translator—and my favorite, an iPhone ap (that's where I'm spending most of my study time).

I may even brush up on the Italian I've forgotten over the years...

The library is located at 917 Valley Road in Gillette, just a few blocks east of Stirling Road.