Using Google Translate to Help Library Patrons

Google Translate Keyboard for Georgian Alphabet

  
Recently a patron came up to the Reference Desk and asked the librarian on duty to find an English as a second language conversation group somewhere nearby. What made this a challenging question is that the patron did not speak English, but he did know about a Google Translate feature which you can see in the image above. Go to https://translate.google.com/. Choose the language on the left that does not use a standard English keyboard (the Qwerty keyboard that English-speakers use) and select the language you want to translate to on the right side. So for example, if the patron speaks Georgian, he can type on the left side and the translation can appear in English on the right for our English-speaking librarians. By doing this, our BHPL reference librarian found a nearby ESL group for our patron.

Cool, right? Molto bene, non? Sehr gut! and so on.

If you like learning new languages, try our new language database and app 'Pronunciator.'

Related links:
Literacy NJ   
Google translate
Babelfish translator
LiveMocha online language learning

What if Book Reviews Were Written Like Text Messages? BR=TM

A while ago I wrote a blog post in which I wondered...What if Book Reviews Were Written Like Wine Reviews?


Recent 'Incoming' text messages which I have had to decode by 'Googling' the acronyms sent to me by younger, hipper people (ahem, my kids) got me to thinking about...

What if book reviews were written like text messages with a bit of Twitter hashtags thrown in?
Or should I say #whatif? BR=TM ROTFL because YOLO, I literally can't even um like imagine, but here goes.

In our continuing series of posts about what is new on our non-fiction shelf, LMK if u like these books:



Get What's Yours, the Secrets to Maxing Out Your Social Security by Laurence J Kotlikoff
(368.4 KOT) Our BR=TM: How is that even possible? Define 'yours' #getmoreSS$$

The Teenage Brain, a neuroscientist's survival guide to raising adolescents and young adults by Frances E. Jensen, MD (612.6 JEN) Our BR=TM: RUH ROH enter the teen brain AYOR The Struggle is Real! But seriously folks, if it's quiet, too quiet, check their rooms.

Biscuits, sweet and savory southern recipes for the all-American kitchen by Jackie Garvin (641.815 GAR) Our BR=TM: OM NOM NOM #nuffsaid WTF (Well that's *fantastic, right?)

 How to Be Parisian Wherever You Are, Love, Style, and Bad Habits by Anne Berest et al (305.409 BER) Our BR=TM: Ladies and Germs...I am sure the Academie Francaise is rolling in its collective grave at the very perish-the-thought of les messages SMS. Mais, non! #Jamais! #SacreBleu


I aw8t 4 u 2 reply to this post.

IMHO this post rocks!

Learn Languages on Your Smart Phone

Berkeley Heights Public Library Book Blog: Learn Languages on Your Smart Phone:   The Berkeley Heights Public Library offers free online language tutorials from Mango Languages. Patrons with smart phones (iPhones or Android..)

Click here for the rest of the post about our Mango Language Learning online software program - available to Berkeley Heights Public Library patrons.



Original post:

http://bhplnjbookgroup.blogspot.com/2012/02/learn-languages-on-your-smart-phone.html

The Language of Flowers, a book group favorite

Vanessa Diffenbaugh's The Language of Flowers (2011) is the author's first novel and it has been a bestseller and book group favorite since its publication. The library's Tuesday night book group will be discussing this popular book tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m.
Victoria Jones at age eighteen has just aged out of the foster care system and, after a brief period of homelessness, begins working for a florist where she uses the Victorian language of flowers to communicate feelings and messages for her customers. Her creativity with flowers makes her floral creations very popular and eventually leads to a successful career.
The Language of Flowers shows the problems of the foster care system from the point of view of a little girl who spends her life bouncing from family to family and finally to group homes. Unloved, unwanted and badly behaved, Victoria's damaged soul and obstreperous behavior sets her on a self-fulfilling cycle of rejection, loss and emotional isolation. Just when she finds a foster home where she and the mother begin to slowly form a bond of trust, the situation devolves into tragedy. It is this tragedy that needs to be remembered, confronted and resolved before Victoria can learn to love and trust and build a life for herself.
I enjoyed this book very much and will be interested in hearing the book group members' impressions of the story.

Related links:
Janet Maslin's review in the New York Times
Excerpt from the New York Times review: 'Vanessa Diffenbaugh has used adoption, foster homes, emancipation, homelessness, single motherhood and attachment disorder as talking points for “The Language of Flowers,” her virtually self-marketing debut book. She has set up an advocacy group to support young people making the transition from foster care to independence. And she has compiled her own flower dictionary, modeled on one from 1885'

Information about the author from the publisher's website: Random House

Reading Group Guides Discussion Questions