free 11-unit spanish course
Better serve Spanish-speaking patrons at your library with this free 11-unit Spanish course for librarians, staff, volunteers, and anyone working in a library.
Prepare to speak confidently about services from every corner of the library, like:
Issuing library cards
Checking out materials
Issuing library cards
Checking out materials
*If your library subscribes to Transparent Language Online, create an account via your library's website. Trial accounts expire (but will gladly be extended for free.)
hear from your peers
I enjoyed the different formats that it offered for me to learn and review all the vocabulary. It was helpful and informative for interactions that actually could happen in a library.
- Micaiah O., Johnson County Public Library
They target phrases that I can see myself using in my day to day work. It was super helpful for my level of fluency and focused on useful phrases.
- Elise S., Deschutes Public Library
The online lessons are fabulous and very helpful. I learned a lot of key phrases to help Spanish speaking patrons feel more comfortable.
- Wendy P., Johnson County Public Library
There is a wider range of lessons than many other online courses. It was totally a wonderful experience.
- Devaki N., Carol Stream Public Library
what you’ll learn
The course contains 11 modular units covering nearly every section of the typical public library: circulation, reference, children & youth services, adult programming, library technology, and more.
Explore as much or as little as you need based on your current Spanish abilities and your specific duties in your library. Feel free to learn it all, or to skip units or lessons that you do not need.
Unit 1 of 11
Practice issuing a library card to a patron.
Filling in forms
Meeting and greeting
Nouns and gender
Definite articles
Unit 2 of 11
Practice telling a patron about available resources, from books and audiobooks to computers and the Library of Things.
Library materials & resources
Translation facilitation
Plurals
Indefinite articles
Personal pronouns
Unit 3 of 11
Practice helping a patron track down a specific book and locate it inside the library.
Locations within a library
Book genres
Making polite conversation
Conjugating "estar" (to be)
Prepositions of location
Unit 4 of 11
Practice helping a patron check out materials and explain how to return them.
Check out and returns
Online holds and renewals
Numbers
Conjugating "ser" (to be)
Expressing existence with "hay"
Unit 5 of 11
Practice helping a patron use a library computer and print a document.
Computer terms
Printer terms
Office supplies
Modal verbs: can, should, want
Demonstrative adjectives
Unit 6 of 11
Practice talking about available e-resources for audiobooks, research, language courses, and more.
Types of e-resources
Creating accounts
Common verbs
Question words
Present tense -ar verbs
Unit 7 of 11
Practice introducing adult programs like English classes and use dates and times to explain when they meet.
Types of adult programs/events
Registering for events
Times of day
Ser vs. estar
Asking questions
Unit 8 of 11
Practice promoting a book club to a patron checking out a book.
Registering for events
Days of the week
Singular subject pronouns
Plural subject pronouns
Unit 9 of 11
Practice explaining the library's Summer Reading Program to a patron checking out a book for her daughter.
Summer Reading Program terms
Months
Possessive adjectives
Conjugating stem-changing verbs
Present tense -er and -ir verbs
Unit 10 of 11
Practice helping a patron sign up his children for storytime.
Storytime terms
Registering for storytime
Common adjectives
Expressing states with "tener" and idiomatic expressions
Adjectives that follow nouns
Unit 11 of 11
Practice answering a patron's questions about the library's rules and policies including library hours.
Library hours
Library rules
Asking the time
Possession and obligation
Impersonal "se"