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Modern Languages Research Guide: Home

Local Public Libraries

Your local public libraries offer tons of in-person resources, as well as digital resources, such as eBooks, audiobooks, magazines, streaming video, and language learning resources!

LA County Library

The LA County Library serves all of Los Angeles County! They have 86 branches, including the East Los Angeles Library, Montebello Library, Huntington Park Library, and the Leland R. Weaver Library (South Gate). 

You can access County Library resources with a library card. If you do not already have a library card, you can get a temporary digital library card through the Library's online form (available for all residents of Los Angeles).

LA Public Library

The Los Angeles Public Library (LAPL) serves the residents of the City of Los Angeles specifically but anybody can visit these libraries and any resident of California can get a regular library card. If you do not already have a library card AND are a resident of the City of Los Angeles, you can apply for an online library card.

Duolingo Podcasts

Duolingo is a free website and app that offers "quick, bite-size lessons" for several languages, including:

  • Spanish
  • French
  • Japanese
  • German
  • Arabic

Duolingo also offers free podcasts (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify) for the following languages:

Language Learning Through Mango Languages

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Mango Languages is a service available at most public libraries, including LA County Library and LAPL. Mango has lessons in over 70 languages, including:

  • Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin)
  • French & French (Canadian)
  • Japanese
  • Spanish (Castilian and Latin American)
  • Arabic 
  • Korean
  • German
  • Portuguese
  • Ukrainian
  • Italian
  • Armenian
  • Haitian Creole
  • Indonesian
  • Russian
  • Vietnamese 
  • Hebrew (Biblical and Modern)
  • Hawaiian
  • Latin
  • Shanghainese
  • Swedish
  • Thai
  • Igbo
  • Urdu
  • Filipino (Tagalog)
  • and more!

You can access Mango Languages from your library's Digital Library.