Modern Language Lab

• Where's the lab located?
The language lab is located in room 284 Kleinpell Fine Arts.


• When is it open? During regular Fall and Spring semesters, the language lab is open from Monday through Thursday, 7:30 am until 4:00 pm, and on Friday from 8:00 am until 3:00 pm. If for any reason the lab won't be open at these times, a sign will be posted well in advance. During the summer, and during winter break, lab hours are a lot more uncertain, so you might want to call first.
  
  
• Who works there?
Clio McLagan runs the shop, and students fill out the staff. Not surprisingly, the student staff are typically skilled in one or more languages themselves. They're there to help you out with the lab resources.


• What can you do at the lab?
Tons! Not only are most of the things super fun to play with, they're great learning tools. Fluency in a second (or third, or fourth) language is becoming the number one selling point in the job market. The tools in the lab can help you boost your skill at both speaking and understanding another language. And when you're over in Qinghai Province or the Sudetenland you'll need some global awareness -- not to mention local awareness -- to communicate effectively. The newspapers, videos, and multimedia programs available in the lab can help you develop the skills you'll need, and build the knowledge base necessary in this ever-smaller world. Set aside some time in the lab to catch up on international news, to immerse yourself in a foreign culture, or to get Philippe and his girlfriend back together again (hey, apartment-hunting in Paris isn't all it's cracked up to be).


• Listen and repeat...
The old workhorse of language study -- audio tapes! Get higher exam results or simply boggle at the rapid-fire speech of other countries. If your prof says listen, then listen. It's worth the time. Listening to and comprehending another language is a skill that you can develop, and the only way to do it is through practice, practice, practice. Tapes are good for that, because people don't like it when you hit their rewind button. Your classes will suddenly become far more interesting, and eventually you'll find yourself thinking in other languages. What's more, you'll get to hear how people really say things, which is something textbooks alone can't give you. And if you feel silly saying "je suis américain" out loud in the lab, you can always check the tapes out to listen to (and repeat) at home.


• Fun with laserdiscs!
Take a close flyby of a chateau in the Loire Valley, help poor Philippe find an apartment after his girlfriend kicks him out, or stroll the streets of Vienna. The lab's getting more multimedia goodies all the time, and not just the laserdisc variety. The vocabulary builder CD-ROMs and Hypercard Stacks make "word torture" fun. You can look at the Eiffel Tower while figuring out the difference between a direct and an indirect object. They're a blast to use and if you're not careful you'll learn a lot too -- they're full of neat information. All of them run on Macintosh computers, so you can just point and click to make things happen.


• Start the microwave popcorn
More movies than the Cannes Film Festival! Well, maybe not, but there's a pretty good available selection. Kick back with films in French, German, Spanish, or Chinese. Try to follow the subtitles while still catching some of the action on the screen. Actually, you may be surprised at how much subtitles can help your comprehension -- just watch the film and if you ever lose track of the plot (this happens rather frequently in French cinema) you can always read the translation at the bottom. It's especially amusing when the translation is poor. So go on, check out a movie overnight and have a slumber party with Gerard Depardieu. But don't stop there! The lab's full of all kinds of learning videos too. French in Action is a running classic. It's a 52-part series (each installment is only a half-hour long) in beginning and intermediate French. Find one you don't understand and watch it until you do. It's all in French, so it's almost like being there -- try to guess whether they're saying Robert or Hubert. The popular Spanish Destinos and Nuevos Destinos video series are also available in the lab for viewing or check-out.


• Magazines, books, and other fun stuff
Browse a Chinese newspaper or some German magazines. Peruse an impossibly vast collection of French novels. Hey, there's a coffee pot and a lounge for snacking and conversation. That's not enough for you? For the more serious student, there are lots of dictionaries and things. There's a bunch of materials on Study Abroad, work abroad, and graduate programs, and plenty of stuff about opportunities like the Peace Corps and International Business. On top of everything, the lab is also a darn good study environment. Grab a cup of java, get comfortable, and hit some books.


• Need more info?
Stop on by or call up the lab at 715.425.3121 and Clio--or one of her lab assistants--will answer all your questions for you.