CLINTON - In an effort to aid families, students, and others in town who don't speak English as a first language, Clinton Youth & Family Services Bureau along with Clinton Public Schools and the Henry Carter Hull Library combined contributions and used money from a multicultural grant from the Valley Shore Collaborative to purchase a lifetime subscription to Mango. This program is an online language learning system that teaches more than 74 languages-including teaching English-to speakers of 20 different languages.

"We are very excited to have access to the Mango program for our community," said Superintendent of Schools Jack Cross. "This will provide a link in the community for our students and families that come to town from various countries and help them to learn the language quicker and easier."

The Mango language learning system is a completely web-based application that teaches practical conversation skills and uses common, everyday conversations as the basis of each lesson, using memory-building exercises and critical-thinking exercises to teach users.

"This program has been a true blend of services and it will tie in nicely with the work we are already doing in our school system to help these families," Cross said. "I think this is a great opportunity for the community."

Any resident from Clinton who has a valid library card will be able to access Mango and download the application onto his or her device and learn languages from his or her own home at any time. The program will be housed at the library website, www.hchlibrary.org.

"The library is the logical place to house the program, so we can reach everyone in town," said Henry Carter Hull Library Director Maribeth Breen. "The library touches everyone, birth to seniors."

She added, "We are very excited to have Mango here and to have it forever. It is a phenomenal program that can be downloaded to your phone [and accessed through] Bluetooth in the car, and several other devices to help people learn another language in a short amount of time, on their own schedules in a comfortable environment of their choice."

Marie Pinette, a licensed marriage and family therapist with Clinton Youth & Family Services said, "We have a very diverse population here in Clinton and this program will help unite us all. There are currently over 60 students in our school system that speak English as a second language, and this program will help those students as well as their families learn English. We are very happy to have this program and to make it so widely available to our residents in such an easy useful way."

A special kick off program to explain and introduce the Mango program to the town will be held at the Henry Carter Hull Library on Tuesday, Sept. 30, at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited. There will be a brief presentation and walk-through and sign up session. For more information, visit www.hchlibrary.org.