Have questions? Read through our FAQs below. Still can't find an answer? You are welcome to email your question to us at usg@transparent.com.
Traditional language-learning programs are lengthy and inflexible. Our web-based technology and virtual instruction focus on developing language in a fun, engaging, and cost-effective way. Transparent Language programs develop skills more quickly and reliably, and for a wider range of languages than anyone else.
We differentiate ourselves in three key ways:
Transparent Language Online includes access to over 105 different language courses, including English. We are always expanding the list of languages we support, so please contact us for more information.
We build courses for English beginners as well as intermediate and advanced English learners. The beginner material is built using a paired approach, leveraging the student's native language. The intermediate-advanced material is taught using just English. This approach helps students develop conversational skills, cultural awareness, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The courses are organized around useful, real-life topics like navigating the work environment, getting a job, building relationships, and handling money. Each lesson is built on a conversation, and students listen to native speaker audio before practicing and recording their own pronunciation of the English phrases. For more information, visit www.transparent.com/education/english-learning.html.
Yes. With the Instructor Portal authoring capabilities, teachers and instructors can create their own content with text, audio files, and pictures and then assign it to their students. The purchase of instructor licenses is required.
Upon receipt of a purchase order or payment, Transparent Language Online can be up and running within 1-2 business days.
Our Learning Management System tracks and reports on an extensive range of metrics, including holistic usage, usage by language, individual performance, mobile usage, and time on task, among others. Reporting is available 24-7 and can be exported and downloaded.
We have a wealth of printable materials such as vocabulary lists, eBooks, and grammar guides.
Our language learning technology works on both PCs and Macs, and it can be used with all major browsers. Please contact us for specific system requirements.
We provide webinars to all faculty and staff who are interested in learning more about the features of Transparent Language Online. These private webinars are scheduled around a common time that works for your staff and can be tailored to specific needs or questions.
Training on the Transparent Language Online program is included at no additional charge to schools who subscribe to the program. Simply contact your Educational Representative to setup a webinar.
We have completed a number of case studies on our education customers. For more information, visit www.transparent.com/case-studies/.
Transparent Language Online is no different than any other web-based site, such as a news site, which also offers resources varying from text to videos. The amount of resources our application will consume varies depending on if the learner is viewing grammar videos, flipping flash cards, or simply returning to a cached page containing text resources. It would be safe to say the facility can support the same number of learners using Transparent Language Online as web browsers they support during the day.
Transparent Language Online can authenticate through various proxies, including EZProxy. For our specific EZProxy integration, please see our knowledge base article. For other Proxy questions, please contact support@transparent.com.
Mobile apps are available for iOS and Android devices at no additional change. The program is also fully mobile responsive, so the entire program can be accessed directly through a web browser on a mobile device (tablet or mobile phone). If accessing the website through a mobile device web browser, the program will automatically enhance the experience for the user and take them to the mobile version of the site.
To support users in getting started and beyond, Transparent Language Online includes a number of instructional aids, such as a robust help system, tutorial videos, screen overlays, and onscreen instructions. Technical support for end users is available via toll-free phone and email M-F 9am-5pm US Eastern time. Email cases and in-product web form submissions are generally responded to within 24 hours. Transparent Language will provide designated administrators with high priority email that will be available 24/7/365. Email is regularly monitored by Transparent Language personnel during regular business hours and during off hours. An extensive knowledge base and support contact form can also be found on our website.
For an in-depth look at the listing of the WCAG 2.0 criteria for software applications and web sites with our current assessment of Transparent Language Online status for each criteria, you can read our WCAG information in our knowledge base.
A VPAT is also available for download.
We provide three programs to help schools address their language-learning needs:
These programs can be used individually, or they can be combined at a bundled rate for greater effectiveness. For more information, visit www.transparent.com/education/k-12-language-solutions.html.
Pricing is based on the number of users and on the service/options needed. Please contact edsales@transparent.com for more information.
Our live online instructors can run classes for your students in a virtual classroom space. All you need is a way for students to get online, generally a computer lab or laptop cart. Our instructors can teach from an existing curriculum or they can design a curriculum based on your district or school's guidelines.
No problem. With Transparent Language Online, it is not required that a facilitator speaks a foreign language. Students move through the program at their own pace, using the adaptive exercises and activities to help them learn. Classroom facilitators can run reports on student progress to help them determine how quickly students are moving through the program.
We have a children's language-learning solution called "KidSpeak". This program is available with a paid Transparent Language Online subscription, or can be purchased separately.
We provide three programs to help schools address their language-learning needs:
These programs can be used individually, or they can be combined at a bundled rate for greater effectiveness. For more information, visit www.transparent.com/education/.
Pricing for higher education institutions is sold in two ways: based on the school community's full time population or on a smaller scale to a group of students, such as those taking classes through the language department. Please contact edsales@transparent.com for more information.
Subscriptions to Transparent Language Online come with access to all available languages in the system. You can remove languages from the list of available languages visible to your students, should you wish to do so.
Transparent Language Online goes as deep as your students want to take it. The primary learning materials, our Essentials courses, go up to the advanced-beginner or intermediate level. However, the Essentials courses are supplemented by 100+ additional vocabulary units, as well as thousands of free, user-created resource sets online.
Yes, Transparent Language Online is compatible with EZproxy®.
Students will sign in through your school's designated Transparent Language Online URL. Administrators and teachers can create accounts or allow students to create their own. Various types of authentication can be put in place to verify that users are allowed to create an account within that given school, including barcodes/student ID filtering, HTTP referral, and IP filtering.
We can provide your school with digital and/or printed resources to help build usage. For example, one customer boosted student usage with information and an image on their library's homepage. Other colleges and universities have had great success with posters, flyers, table tents, and bookmarks. We provide this support free of charge and can customize resources to your school.
To discuss subscription options, you can contact us at library-sales@transparent.com. Please include your total annual circulations in your inquiry. We look forward to hearing from you!
Fill out the form on our website to get in touch!
Yes! Subscriptions to Transparent Language Online for Libraries come with access to all available languages in the system. As new languages are added, they will be automatically made available to your learners at no additional cost. Admins can remove languages from the list of available languages visible to your learners, should you wish to do so.
Yes! We allow for unlimited simultaneous usage. Transparent Language Online will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with very limited interruption for maintenance and updates.
Your learners will benefit from several significant differences:
Transparent Language Online includes materials in over 110 different languages, including English for speakers of over 30 languages. We are always expanding the list of languages included in our program, so please contact us at library-sales@transparent.com if your community is interested in a language not on the list.
Yes! Transparent Language Online includes English language-learning materials for speakers of over 30 languages, as well as immersion English lessons and courses for intermediate and advanced learners.
Our English materials include:
While the available material varies by language, all languages generally include enough material to reach the Novice High (Advanced Beginner) level on the ACTFL scale. Many languages include material that will be very useful to a learner in reaching the Intermediate Mid level. In major languages, material that is designed to support learners into the Intermediate High and Advanced levels is provided.
Transparent Language Online includes a variety of culture resources including:
Language and culture are connected in the course content development approach, whereby we choose and phrase all items in a culturally appropriate way. Culture is intertwined into the learning process in the form of comments/hints on vocabulary materials. An "About" reference file can also be found in each language, giving the user a background in the language they are learning.
Many courses in the system also include a Cultural Awareness activity with information about the language and a set of questions at the end of the reading content to confirm the learner's understanding. In major languages, cultural information is communicated through specific topical sections of the course, such as "Business Communication" or "Communication Facilitation".
Cultural education content is also provided through our video and blog content. Transparent Language Online includes Language and Culture blogs in 30 languages. The blogs are designed to provide more in-depth cultural content and connect users to the outside world.
Yes, native speaker pronunciation is included throughout the program for all words and phrases. Every word and phrase in the program are recorded at natural speed by a native speaker, which learners can listen to as often as they like. Our Slow Sound feature lets the learner slow the pronunciation to hear the nuances of the native speaker's pronunciation.
Yes, the speech activities in Transparent Language Online are powered by our EveryVoice™ technology. EveryVoice analyzes and matches learner utterances to native speaker utterances with accuracy in any language. It allows for a variety of speech-enabled interactions, which builds speaker confidence and ability.
Yes. Transparent Language Online is accessible across multiple devices, automatically syncing learning progress across each platform. Mobile apps are available for iOS and Android™ devices at no additional charge for subscribing libraries.
The program is also fully mobile responsive, so the entire program can be accessed directly through a web browser on a mobile device (tablet or mobile phone). If accessing the website through a mobile device web browser, the program will automatically enhance the experience for the user and take them to the mobile version of the site.
Transparent Language provides a wide variety of marketing materials, support, and resources to all subscribing libraries throughout the duration of their subscription.
Digital, downloadable resources can be found in the Library Marketing Kit. The kit includes logos, press releases, social media images, videos, posters, flyers, web banners, web buttons, blog posts, print literature, and much more. We provide this support free of charge and can customize resources to your library, as requested.
Live webinars are hosted throughout the year. In addition, webinar recordings and videos outlining different aspects of Transparent Language Online can be found online and can be used for library staff to independently train on the resource. Web-based videos about components of Transparent Language Online can be found here.
We also provide private webinars for your library staff who are interested in learning more about the features of Transparent Language Online. These private webinars are scheduled around a common time that works for your staff and can be tailored to specific needs or questions. To schedule a webinar training for your staff, please contact libraries@transparent.com.
Yes, designated admins will have access to the administrator portal in Transparent Language Online for the duration of the subscription. Transparent Language Online offers tracking and reporting available 24/7/365 to any designated admin(s) at no additional cost. Statistics can be viewed on screen and easily printed or exported in PDF and CSV formats. Reports can be run for any specific date range for a maximum of 3 years, including monthly. The data available includes, but is not limited to, total sessions, unique users, activity by language, average session time, and mobile activity. Admins can also setup reports to be automatically emailed to them at given intervals for easy accessibility. For issues accessing the admin portal, please contact support@transparent.com.
To help users get started and make the most of the system, Transparent Language Online includes a number of instructional aids, such as a robust help system, tutorial videos, screen overlays, and onscreen instructions.
Technical support for end users is available via toll-free phone and email M-F 9am-5pm US Eastern time. Email cases and in-product web form submissions are generally responded to within 24 hours during business hours. An extensive knowledge base, support contact form, and live chat can be found on our website.
Transparent Language Online will work with all modern Internet connections from DSL of 5Mbps, as well as on 4G & higher mobile connections.
Transparent Language Online can authenticate through various proxies, including EZProxy. For our specific EZProxy integration, please see our knowledge base article. For other Proxy questions, please contact support@transparent.com.
For an in-depth look at the listing of the WCAG 2.0 criteria for software applications and web sites with our current assessment of Transparent Language Online status for each criteria, you can read our WCAG information in our knowledge base.
A VPAT is also available for download.
Language and culture skills are critical in today's global business environment. They enable organizations to expand to fresh markets and develop new partnerships. They enable employees to collaborate across locations and develop more meaningful relationships. Additionally, many organizations are trying to create more globally-minded cultures. Offering a language program sends the signal that a company values personal growth and international opportunities.
We provide three programs to help companies and other organizations address their language learning needs:
These programs can be used individually, or they can be combined at a bundled rate for greater effectiveness.
Transparent Language Online includes access to over 105 different language courses: www.transparent.com/corporate/language-learning-online.html
Traditional language training programs are lengthy, inflexible, and don't develop professional capability. Our web-based technology and virtual instruction focus on producing professional-level language and culture proficiency in a cost effective way. We develop skills more quickly and reliably, and we do so for a wider range of languages than anyone else.
We differentiate ourselves in three key ways:
We build courses for English beginners as well as intermediate and advanced English learners. The beginner material is built using a paired approach, leveraging the learner's native language. The intermediate-advanced material is taught using just English. It helps learners develop conversational skills, cultural awareness, vocabulary, and pronunciation. The course is organized around useful, real-life topics like navigating the work environment, getting a job, building relationships, and handling money. Each lesson is built on a conversation, and learners listen to native speaker audio before practicing and recording their own pronunciation of the English phrases. For more information, please visit www.transparent.com/corporate/english-learning.html
Let's face it: language is hard. If you need fluency, you are likely going to hire a person who already speaks the language. Given this fact, why invest in language skills for your employees? First, even the most basic language skills foster rapport with people from different backgrounds. Encouraging awareness for and sensitivity to other cultures facilitates success with business partners and customers. Though many international exchanges are conducted in English, a few words of greeting or thanks spoken in a person's native language can make a big difference. Second, your employees will gain a critical foundation in language. They will gain basic communication skills or will improve from whatever point at which they begin. The amount of progress depends greatly on the individual student. We provide the tools necessary for students to dramatically improve their language skills, and a motivated individual who uses the courseware regularly is going to achieve solid grounding in a new language.
We have proprietary courses and tools designed to refresh, maintain, or increase existing language proficiency. The Learned Vocab refresh system acts as an adaptive repository for every word and phrase a learner has ever encountered. Additionally, learners may skip content or activities that cover material they've already mastered, and they can hone in on the material most relevant to their current needs.
Our language learning technology works on both PCs and Macs, and it can be used with all major browsers. Please contact us for specific system requirements.
Our Transparent Language Online system gives all users free access to mobile apps for both Android and iOS (Apple) devices. Learners can download lessons and material, including material assigned by Transparent Connect instructors, from Transparent Language Online for use on the go and while disconnected.
Our technology and live instruction courses support the full spectrum of skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing). However, they can easily be modified to focus on specific language skills, and learners can select the activities most appropriate to their skill needs. Live-online courses can be tailored to specific skill development.
Our self-guided materials contain business-related learning material, such as money and finances; relationship building; and office terminology. Live instruction courses can be tailored to cover material specific to corporate environments. Industry-specific content, such as "Marketing" or "Metals and Metallic Alloys" can be imported from our online repository of 15,000+ content sets.
Our Learning Management System tracks and reports on an extensive range of metrics including holistic usage, usage by language, individual performance, mobile usage, and time on task, among others. Reporting is available 24-7 and can be exported and downloaded.
Our technology can be integrated with all major SCORM compliant Learning Management Systems.
We have a wealth of printable materials such as vocabulary lists, eBooks, and grammar guides.
Our Transparent Connect program provides virtual classroom courses and/or online tutoring. Both options cover language, regional knowledge, and culture. All of our teachers are experts in their language and highly trained for web-based classroom instruction. Visit www.transparent.com/corporate/ for more information.
Pricing varies, based on the size of the organization, the number of learners, and the service/options needed. Our most basic solution can be implemented for as little as $2,000 per year; specific price quotes are available upon request.
We provide two models for licensing our technology: individual user seat licenses and community licensing. Under a community license, all employees within a company, division, or agency have access to the Transparent Language Online system. Companies generally find the community license more economical if over 10% of employees will use this resource. By eliminating the administrative cost of managing seat licenses and encouraging use by any member, organizations ultimately realize a greater value for their investment.
Transparent Language Online is no different than any other web-based site, such as a news site, which also offers resources varying from text to videos. The amount of resources our application will consume varies depending on if the learner is viewing grammar videos, flipping flash cards, or simply returning to a cached page containing text resources. It would be safe to say the facility can support the same number of learners using Transparent Language Online as web browsers they support during the day.
To support users in getting started and beyond, Transparent Language Online includes a number of instructional aids, such as a robust help system, tutorial videos, screen overlays, and onscreen instructions. Technical support for end users is available via toll-free phone and email M-F 9am-5pm US Eastern time. Email cases and in-product web form submissions are generally responded to within 24 hours. Transparent Language will provide designated administrators with high priority email that will be available 24/7/365. Email is regularly monitored by Transparent Language personnel during regular business hours and during off hours. An extensive knowledge base and support contact form can also be found on our website.
For an in-depth look at the listing of the WCAG 2.0 criteria for software applications and web sites with our current assessment of Transparent Language Online status for each criteria, you can read our WCAG information in our knowledge base.
A VPAT is also available for download.
The CL-150 Platform (CL-150) is a comprehensive suite of innovative technology and content that supports language learning, sustainment, assessment, reporting, and program management for government personnel and programs. The CL-150 offers a variety of content and capability in over 120 languages. Material is oriented to both general proficiency and dozens of specialized government purposes, such as humanitarian relief, economics, military training, medical, law enforcement, and diplomacy.
The CL-150 offers a very broad and deep set of resources for language learners, instructors, and program administrators. In addition to general social language for common languages, the CL-150 offers content and capabilities for teaching and learning many less common languages, and for learning language needed to work in specialized fields, such as medicine, diplomacy, military cooperation, humanitarian relief, or international liaison.
The CL-150 offers materials in over 120 languages and is further designed to quickly support new languages when needed to address unexpected language surge requirements related to disaster relief or arising conflicts.
The CL-150 offers materials specifically customized for many US Government language schools and curricula, as well as general interest "Essentials" courses. In many cases, CL-150 resources support a "flipped classroom" or "declaratively accelerated" (DABL) approach to blended learning.
In Declaratively Accelerated Blended Learning (DABL) models, the words, phrases, and sentences a student should learn are put into computer-delivered CL-150 activities or courseware. These materials are then assigned by instructors "just in time" to empower students to perform optimally on each new lesson or during each new training day. Computer, web, and mobile devices are used to deliver and track lexical mastery. Lexically empowered students are then delivered to great classrooms. The blend of great anywhere/anytime technology timed exactly to a given course schedule, plus great teaching by instructors who are trained in blended-learning best practices, is powerful and reliable.
Unfortunately, most people don't always have access to a good teacher. Independent learners can also take CL-150 courses and use CL-150 materials to very good effect on their own.
Beyond initial learning, the key to maintaining and improving language skills over a career or lifetime is to use that language every day. A significant capability of the CL-150 is automated refreshing of each individual's growing collection of learned words and phrases. Every item learned in a CL-150 activity or course is added to the learner's Learned Vocab list. Over time, words and phrases will go "stale" according to how well a learner has remembered an item in the past and how long it's been since the last review. The buildup and refreshing of learned words and phrases is synchronized among a learner's web, laptop, and mobile devices.
From a personal perspective, language skills will broaden and enrich anyone's life. From the US Government viewpoint, Americans are famously weak at languages relative to other cultures. In today's global environment, America's chronic language deficiency, particularly in less-common languages, unacceptably decreases opportunity and increases risk for USG organizations and personnel. To increase language capability, we need to make language learning and language sustainment faster, more reliable, more relevant, and more integrated into the learner's daily life. That's the mission of the CL-150.
Of the 7,100 or so living languages on Earth, relatively few attract much in the way of resources or attention from the commercial sector, or even governments. The purpose of 7000 Languages is to make world-class language-learning and language-teaching technology and support available at no cost to experts and advocates of those under-supported languages that attract little or no commercial interest: "the earth's other 7,000 languages." What started as an internal charitable initiative at Transparent Language has now become 7000 Languages, an independent nonprofit. Transparent Language donates its unique technology and support, while 7000 Languages dedicates 100% of its time and resources to benefitting the speakers, communities and advocates of languages largely ignored by the commercial world.
No. After you have created a CL-150 account, you will have a unique profile. You will develop a learning history and a growing set of learned words and phrases that are unique to you. You should not provide your account information to others.
Yes. If you need to adjust your information, for instance provide a new email address or change your password, you can do so by logging in, clicking your username in the top navigation bar, and choosing Edit Profile. If you are accessing the CL-150 via a designated organization portal, you may need to make changes to your portal profile.
Yes, this process is called "account rollover". You can begin the process from the profile page of your new account; you may also be prompted to roll over from an old account when your new account is first created.
No, only if you have user data you want copied to your new account, like your learning progress.
Rolling over allows you to transfer your learning data from an old account to a new account. When you roll over an account, all of your list progress, course progress, and learned words and phrases from the old account will be added to the new account. Your old account will then be deactivated, if it wasn't already.
Your old account's synchronization password, which you can find in the profile screen of your old account or on the denied access page that appears if your old account, is already inactive.
Login on your smartphone the same way you would login on your laptop via your preferred portal. Ex: If you browse to the CL-150 from SOFTS, then you would do the same on your smartphone, entering your SOFTS or CL-150 username and password. The synchronization password is not used.
Each provides an option depending on time and place. If you only have 5 or 10 minutes available to learn, use the CL-150 Mobile app to practice your vocab and you'll accrue learning time for the lesson. If you have more time available but no access to an iPad, tablet or computer, then you can switch to the CL-150 Mobile Web version optimized for smartphones.
All courses are now accessible through the Browse screen in the CL-150 learning application. Supplementary materials, such as course books, instructor handbooks, and other downloads, are available there as well.
On the CL-150, instructors and others can manage classes, list-sharing groups, students, and lists. To access these tools, click the "Manage Classes" tile on the CL-150 homepage.
In the CL-150 learning application, click "Authoring" in the main navigation to go to the Authoring screen. You will be presented with the option to create a vocab lesson or any other kind of lesson.
The Authoring screen runs on port 8080, and sometimes IT Administrators will block that port. If you receive an error message when entering the Authoring screen, be sure to check with your IT administrator about whether port 8080 is blocked.
Lessons are unassigned after a two week period. Those lessons are still available to you and can be found in the Browse screen, under the categories "ILR Cohort Lessons" or "MINE Cohort Lessons".
There is no defined start and end point. You can join a CL-150 Cohort and complete the lessons at any time! Choose currently assigned lessons or go to the Browse screen in the learning application and select "ILR Cohort Lessons" or "MINE Cohort Lessons" to find previously assigned lessons to help with your language sustainment.
A MINE lesson (Major International News Event) is a one-level lesson assigned to a cohort when there is a major event.