Mango Languages

Travel Tuesday: Riding the Information Wave

Military Librarians met a few weeks ago from December 4-9 for the 55th annual Military Libraries Workshop, and Mango Languages was there “Riding the Information Wave.”

With temperatures at 70 degrees with plenty of sunshine, Norfolk, Virginia served as a lovely backdrop for the over 150 MLW attendees, and 44 major library industry vendors at the annual event.  Everywhere you looked, the town was beautifully decorated for the holiday season, from sculptured mermaids adorned with bow-tied wreaths to the lights along the harbor of Norfolk.

The successful MLW event kicked off with some pre conference sessions, including service meetings for all Military branch personnel on December 4th. Pre-conference sessions started on Monday, 5th December. The traditional welcome and vendor appreciation reception was held on the evening of Monday, 5 December.  Most of my focused time was spent discussing new products, technologies and services targeted for the Military Library user base.  The winners of the 2 Mango Languages door prizes were Cindy Shipley: United States Marines Corps (Mango Passport Gift Card), and Trevor Riley: National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration.  This year’s events included: DTIC boot camp, Veterans History Project workshop and presentation, offsite at the MacArthur Museum and Archives; presentations on information overload, managing your library’s managers, analysis of intelligence, Coast Guard mission and information resources and for a little “after hours” fun, a pub crawl, a ghost walk, and much, much more. The highlight of the workshop was a banquet held aboard the Spirit of Norfolk on Wednesday, 7th of December, with a jazz theme.

Mango enjoyed being a sponsor of this year’s MLD (Military Library Division of SLA) Board Meeting, and especially enjoyed meeting clients, new prospects and vendor colleagues in Norfolk, the cultural heart of the Hampton Roads region. We were also excited to give out our brand new Mango camo bags!

MLW 2011 is a team effort with representation from all military services and other communities within the division.  This year’s MLW hosts were the National Defense University and Joint Forces Staff College, both valued customers of Mango Languages.  Mango Languages supports peace-keeping efforts of all branches of the Military and Government Agencies worldwide.  Mango had such a blast in Norfolk, and we are anticipating seeing you all at MLW 2012!

Can you guess how many Foreign Languages are used by active duty members of the U.S. Military?

Feature Friday: Celebrating Veterans Day

The origin of Veterans Day dates back the end of World War I, which ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of the year. The date was November 11th, 1918. The signing of an armistice agreement between Germany and the Allies marked the end of the First World War, known as the “great war” or the first “war to end all wars.” From then on, November 11th was referred to as Armistice Day and it became a day to commemorate the veterans who served in the war. Unfortunately, war continued beyond World War I and after World War II and the Korean War, President Eisenhower signed a bill drafted by Congress in 1954 to rename the day in honor of all fallen heroes, officially changing its name from “Armistice Day” to “Veterans Day.”

While Memorial Day typically focuses on those who gave their lives in service of their country, Veterans Day is more focused on thanking the living veterans of war. Over the years, Americans have chosen to serve for many reasons — during the Revolutionary War, to create a nation; in World War II, to save humanity from destruction; at various times, to help pay for college. Still, no matter the motivation, our men and women continue to give their all for our country.

Mango Languages salutes and supports both those active and veteran members of our military. Mango Languages is proud to help those serving our country with our 5 Mango Military courses. With customized content in Dari, Pashto, Levantine Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, and Urdu, the conversations are critical to the success and safety of military members around the world. Knowing the importance of foreign language to the armed forces, our courses were designed to meet standards and criteria set by the federal government. Mango Military is most commonly offered via a military library, often allowing personnel and their dependents access to both Mango Basic and Complete foreign language courses.

So how can we continue to support our veterans? Thank them. Talk to them. Invite them to schools so they can share their experiences and teach our children that we all must take care of each other, on the battlefield and in life. It was Colin Powell who said: “Many people refer to the World War II generation as the greatest one, but we’ve had greatness in every single generation of Americans who have served.”

This year on Veterans Day, you can put out your flags, cheer the marchers at parades, and go to veteran tributes. But when you wake up the next day, November 12, remember that it’s still Veterans Day for our veterans–and it will be every day of their lives.

Portions of this blog are shared from Gen. Colin L. Powell’s essay, published in the Sunday edition, November 6, 2011, Parade magazine.

What are you doing today (and everyday) to honor our veterans?

Public Service Recognition Week

Since 2007 Mango Languages has supported public servants across many sectors of government, military, and law enforcement in their foreign language learning (and ESL) needs. Mango believes, as President John Kennedy envisioned, public service is a noble calling and we are grateful to all those who serve. The First Lady, Michelle Obama has declared the week of May 1^st PUBLIC SERVICE RECOGNITION WEEK.  Mango Languages supports hundreds of people in the public service sector everyday by providing language learning resources.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/05/02/public-service-recognition-week

Public servants do a million things we take for granted every day.  These are the people who pick up the phone when you call 911; the police and firefighters who come to your door; the teachers in your schools; and the people who maintain your local parks. Public servants are not always visible. They focus on national security and law enforcement tasks like protecting our borders; they pursue criminals who cross state lines; and they care for our veterans.  Some fifty years ago, in his state of the union address, President John F. Kennedy declared, “Let the public service be a proud and lively career.”

Mango thanks each and every public servant for keeping our homeland and shores secure and safe.

April is Month of the Military Child

Did you know there are 1.7 million American children and youth under 18 with a parent serving in the military and about 900,000 with one or both parents deployed multiple times?

April is designated as the Month of the Military Child, underscoring the important role military children play in the armed forces community.

The Month of the Military Child is an opportunity to recognize military children and youth for their heroism, character, courage, sacrifices, and continued resilience.

Mango Languages supports the Troops and their families by working with United States Marine Corps and the United Air Force.  Mango Languages is an online Language Learning Resource tool offered at Military Base Libraries all around the world.  The online language learning experience is critical to Military personnel during peacekeeping efforts.  Language learning for military families is something that the entire family can share.

For instance a military family member deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq might need to learn Arabic in order to function in a foreign setting on behalf of United States peace keeping exercises.  Learning a new language through a tool like Mango can put everyone on the same page.  Mango offers language learning courses for children ages 0-6 via its Little Pim product.   Accessible and engaging for young children, the Little Pim method incorporates words and themes that are relevant to the child’s daily life, and research shows that early language learning enhances verbal development, social, and cognitive skills. Click here for more information about language courses for your Military Library.

Mango Languages celebrates the brave little souls this month in their support of families on the front line, and says thank you (in 49+ languages) to all the Troops and those family members supporting them at home.

A Trip to the Netherlands

I had never been abroad until a work assignment took me to the Netherlands in the mid March in 2005.  Our first day/night after the eight hour flight from Detroit was in Amsterdam.  I remembered a great suggestion from fellow travelers, when making an international flight “not to go to sleep” when you arrive but continue to go about your daily activities until nighttime in your new time zone.  I followed this suggestion and after dinner we were off to at the lovely was Hotel De Nachtegaal (Golden Tulip) Lisse.

The Golden Tulip Nachtegaal is located in a well-known dune and bulbfield (tulips) area. Although I was in town in March, the hotel is ideally located near the beach, the sea, lakes and dunes, as well as the lively cities Amsterdam and The Hague about 30 miles away (48.2 km), 33 minutes by train.

The hotel has a trendy restaurant, a swimming pool, sauna, solarium and rental bicycles and boats.  Nearby in seaside town Langevelderslag (Noordwijkerhout) we enjoyed a variety of restaurant choices, and settled on a quaint and colorful Mexican Restaurant, where we enjoyed conversation and margaritas.  Timing of our extended business travel was perfect, as March is the opening of the world famous Keukenhof Garden.  This year the Keukenhof opens on March 24, 2011 with a beautiful array of floral designs and garden displays.

An afternoon tour at the Keukenhof, walking among the tulips, the crocuses and other spring blooms was a colorful way to whisk the “winter blues” away.

At the conclusion of my business travels, I traveled to Lisse, a small town where company headquarters (Swets Information Services) was located.  I stayed at a small traditional hotel, the Hotel de Duif and enjoyed a lovely euro “apartment-type” suite at the bargain rate of less than $100 US/74 EUR.  The Hotel de Duif located in Lisse, a picturesque village also known as the “heart of the bulb-growing region”. Lisse has traditionally been central to bulb-growing, not just due to its location, but also because of its role in the cultivation of, and trade in, bulbs. To this day, Lisse is still home to a thriving collection of bulb fields, major bulb auctions and bulb export businesses. I remember walking one morning to a local Pancake House and saw an elderly man walking his dog while wearing wooden shoes.  Watch out however for the local friends who want to share a toast over some“jenever.”  Dutch Gin, traditionally “jenever” is served in completely full shot glasses that have just been pulled from the freezer. The first step to drinking jenever properly is to keep the glass on the table, bend down to the glass and take the first sip without holding the glass.  Before you know it, you will be dancing!

On my last day/night in the Netherlands I returned to Amsterdam.  I was able to visit many local tourist attractions including the Anne Frank House.  It was a solemn way to remember my visit to the Netherlands, a land of colorful flowers, artistic masterpieces, great pancakes, incredible chocolate, and friendly people.

It was an amazing trip overall, and I can’t wait to go back! If you haven’t been to the Netherlands yet, start practicing your Dutch with Mango,  pack your bags, don’t forget your clogs and make your way to the country that is famous for its tulips!