hola!

As promised earlier last month, I spent some time perusing Mango, which is available through our library website. Access is granted with your library card and access code, and the portal is easy to navigate. One has the option to create an account in order to save your lesson progress. Current languages offered are: Mandarin, French, German, Italian, and (Latin American) Spanish. In a fairly short time, I was through the first three lessons which are offered in slide format with audio. The technique is a combination of read and repeat with options to replay any statements which are not clear. I was able to set my own pace and quickly move through any slides which I had felt as if already mastered. My preference was to use the keyboard rather than the mouse for more rapid navigation. [Despite the fact that we have been on a French kick lately with book club, I decided to revive my old Spanish language skills.]

Each lesson is around 85 slides, and it appears as though there are around 100 lessons for Spanish on the "in depth" (Complete) option. There is also a Basic alternate if one is traveling soon or has less time to devote to learning. The site also has a dashboard if you are interested in statistics like time spent, lessons learned, etc. [Ahem, math.]

Overall, I think Mango appears to be a very easy and gentle introduction to a language. I plan to keep moving through the lessons so perhaps another update will be due in a few weeks. Hasta luego!