Mango Languages

3 Ways to Make Language Learning Suck.*

*sometimes mangoes are facetious.

Want to wake up dreading to learn a new language? Looking to hate every second of it? Follow these simple steps:

1. Make it tough to access.

The less accessible, the easier to put off. Make sure you have to go through a lot of steps to get started like having to sift through piles of CDs stuffed in your desk drawer.

Foreign language learning mobile apps? Forget it. Make sure you can only learn tethered to an uncomfortable desk chair.

2. Make it super boring.

Think of your least favorite middle school teacher. You know the one. Make sure your experience feels like you’re stuck back in those little desks.

3. Make it impractical.

Being able to use what you’re learning in a new language is too fun. Here are some of the top phrases you should be learning:

The boy eats the elephant.
The tired man sat on the purple bus.
The young girl likes to waterski.

To learn a new language is a lot of work. It’s never easy. But it can be simple. And it doesn’t have to suck.

Mango is easy to access.
You may even have free access through your public library. Go to our website and and click on the library locator at the bottom of the page to find out.

You can learn remotely online at home in your PJ’s. Bonus points if you can find PJ’s with mangoes on them.

Take language learning with you wherever you go with our mobile apps for Android and iPhone mobile devices.

See? Super easy to access.

Mango is not boring.
With interactive features like phonetic pop-ups and a voice comparison tool that lets you hear your accent compared to a native speaker, you won’t be able to wait for the next lesson.

Mango is practical.
Here’s the deal: Mango takes practical conversations, splits them up into bite-sized parts, teaches you those parts and shows you how to build the original conversation and others. It doesn’t get much more practical than that.

Give un-sucky language learning a try with Mango Languages.

Thanks, St. Clair County Library System

A big Pirate shout out to our friends at the St. Clair County Library System (Michigan), where our program was recently celebrated in a major way. At their Pirate Day on June 27, patrons and staff members of all ages dressed up like scallywags to promote the Mango Languages Pirate course. Patrons walked the plank, viewed a live fencing demonstration, created a parrot for a pirate craft, and had everyone laughing with pirate jokes. Kids and parents alike had a swashbuckling good time! Everyone was thrilled to learn how to speak Pirate through Mango (in addition to our other 40+ languages) and every pirate went home with some booty – a Mango bookmark!

What an awesome way to get your patrons talking – in any language! Virtual “high five” to the St. Clair County Library System!

Mango’s Making Waves

Felicidades to Mango CEO, Jason Teshuba, a semi-finalist for Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year program in the category of Services.  The prestigious program has been around for more than 25 years and celebrates those in the community who exhibit the qualities of a true leader. This title is especially noteworthy for Jason, as “entrepreneurial spirit” is one of our core values at Mango Languages, along with positive attitude, innovation, integrity, quality, and fundipline. Congratulations to Jason and the entire Mango team for all of the hard work and for continuing to make a difference in the community!

Click here to see a full list of all of the winners and learn more about the Entrepreneur of the Year program. 

Adios Anaheim, Hola Seattle

Here at Mango, we’re still coming down from our California high at ALA Annual. A little Vitamin D does the body, and soul, good.  So does hanging out with our library friends from all over the world. We hope you enjoyed our Greek and Japanese demos, meeting our new friend Libby the Librarian and of course, the Mango smoothies.

Thanks to all who stopped by the booth to chat especially those who chatted us up in a foreign language. Additionally, félicitations to Maureen Spatz from Lansing Public Library who is the winner of a brand new iPad! We look forward to a slightly colder, but equally awesome, time with all of you in Seattle at Midwinter.

Weren’t able to stop by the booth? Be sure to sign up for a webinar to learn how Mango can make your library a hub for language and culture – and check out all of our pictures from Anaheim on Facebook.

Librarians Are Talking About Mango’s Newest Release

Last week, we introduced you to ‘Libby the Librarian’, Mango’s FREE  course developed specifically for librarians to learn Spanish.

‘Libby the Librarian’ was officially launched at this year’s ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim.  At the show, Libby got librarians talking – in Spanish, as well as English!  Check out the video below to see what they had to say!

We also had the chance to sit down with Patrick Sweeney, Branch Manager at the San Mateo County Library, to talk about how he’s going to use ‘Libby the Librarian’ to educate staff at his branch.

Ready to join in the fun?  Well, Libby’s ready to teach!  Click here to access the course.

Librarians: Learn Spanish with Mango for Free

“Hola. ¿Cómo le puedo ayudar?”  Or in other words: “Hello.  How can I help you?”

Here at Mango, we’ve met thousands of librarians over the years and have consistently found them to be some of the kindest, most helpful folks you can imagine.   But we know that even the most helpful librarian would struggle when language barriers become an issue.  Which got us thinking: why don’t we develop a Spanish language course designed specifically for librarians?

Enter: Libby the Librarian.

She’s resourceful, she’s intelligent, and she’s pretty darn cute – if we do say so ourselves!  She’s also ready to help other librarians learn useful phrases and vocabulary to assist their Spanish-speaking patrons, like how to get a library card or navigating the reference desk.

The best part?  Libby’s course is FREE.  This is just our little way of saying thank you to the awesome librarian community that we love so much.

Ready to get start learning with Libby?  Click here.

iPhone is “iPhone” in any language. Using Mango mobile apps for ESL learning.

Librarian Andrea Mullarkey shared this story with us:

“They came to the desk together, one speaking heavily accented English and the other just hanging out. The first young man said he wanted ESL resources so we went to our ESL collection and I showed him books, kits, dvds etc. He was pleased and grabbed a bunch to check out.

Then we went back to the desk so I could show him Mango Languages and he was blown away. He put all of the physical items back on the reshelving truck and started chattering briskly with his friend in another language about Mango.

When I mentioned the iPhone app, both their eyes lit up (the friend spoke almost no English but apparently iPhone is iPhone in any language) and pulled out their phones.

One downloaded the app right there at the desk. The other went straight over to a computer and filled out a library card application on the spot.

I haven’t seen them since, and I presume it’s because they are happily learning English on their own thanks to the intuitive interface and design of Mango. It made me so happy to have something to offer them that would so perfectly meet their needs.”

Learn Castilian Spanish with Mango Languages

Our language list has just become a little bit more caliente with our most recent release: you can now learn Castilian Spanish through your library and Mango Languages.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that I have been counting down the days until the release of Spanish Castilian. My love for the language and culture has started with my choice to study Spanish to fulfill my foreign language requirement in high school. My high school teacher was originally from Valencia, Spain and this was when I first learned the differences between Spanish of Spain and Latin American Spanish. She shared many fascinating stories about the history and culture of Spanish (a lot of which you can find in cultural notes in the new Mango Castilian Spanish course). I realized I wasn’t done with Spanish after I graduated and decided to keep learning and majored in Spanish in college.

To this day, that was one of the best decision I have ever made since it lead me to choose a study abroad program in Madrid, Spanish for a summer. From making the perfect paella, to quickly realizing how important futbol is for the Spaniards, the culture of Spain is beautiful to say the least. Being surrounded by native Castilian speakers, I slowly started to pick up the differences.

So what exactly are the differences between the Spanish of Spain and the Spanish of Latin America? A good example is to compare it to the differences between British English and American English. Most people in the Spanish-speaking world can communicate and understand each other, however there are differences that are noticeable if comparing the two.  Some of the common differences is that many Spaniards often pronounce the z and the c before i or elike the “th” in “things.” As far as grammar goes, the biggest difference is the leísmo (the use of the indirect object pronoun le in place of the standard direct object pronoun lo) of Spain and that Spaniards use vosotros as the plural of tú (the singular word for “you”), while in Latin America ustedes is usually used.

There you go, a little lesson and you haven’t even started the course.

Planning on traveling? Not to worry. Whether you’re looking to climb to the top of  Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia in Barcelona (pronounced “Bar-THe-lona”), run with the bulls in the San Fermin festival, or dance the night away in Ibiza, Mango is ready to accompany you on your adventures. Through your library and Mango Languages, not only do you get access to Castilian Spanish, among 40+ foreign languages, but you also get access to our free mobile apps, available on iPhones, iPod Touch and Android devices.

Whether you walk, run or flamenco dance* to your public library, make sure to check out our new Castilian Spanish course!

Buena suerte (good luck)!

*We here at Mango consider flamenco dancing incredibly impressive, videos are welcome. 

Learn Swedish: New Language Release

Learn Swedish for free through your library and Mango Languages!

Little known fact: Sweden is actually the second largest country by area in the European Union. This Nordic land is most notable to Americans as the birthplace of Abba, IKEA, the setting for the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo novels, and, of course, Swedish meatballs. However, Sweden offers much more than just some of our favorite pop culture guilty pleasures (lest we forget Robyn and The Cardigans). Thanks to the brand new Mango Languages Swedish course, you are able to explore this country’s rich history, language and culture.

Learn Swedish

Through practical conversations, you will learn how to greet people, how to navigate around the city, and even learn how to request help with your Swedish. Users will learn how to ask “What is the word for this in Swedish” and “Can you say that again?” Mango gives you the tools to improve your language comprehension on your own, without being confined only to the phrases taught in the program. When you learn Swedish with Mango Languages, you are sure to avoid the Abba effect. Too bad our program wasn’t around in the 70s to help our favorite Swedish pop band learn English!

So strap on your Sverigedräkten and get cracking on some Swedish!

Learn Tagalog with Mango: New Course Launches to Libraries and Institutions

Learn Tagalog online for free through your library!

To celebrate the recent release of Mango’s Tagalog course to libraries, I sat down with our resident Tagalog-speaker, Eon Rodrigo, for a little chat about the language and his native country, the Philippines.

Originally from Batac, Eon joined Mango’s creative team in 2011.  During our conversation, Eon offered up his advice to learn Tagalog, indulged us in his recommendations for top-notch Filipino food, and even provided insight into his favorite Tagalog word (you’ll never guess what it is!)  Read on below for more on my conversation with Eon.

learn tagalog

Tiffany Neumeyer:  Hi Eon, thanks for sitting down with me today.

Eon Rodrigo:  No problem.

TN:  For starters, could you tell our readers a little bit about your background?

ER:  Sure.  I was born in Batac, which is in the northern Phillipines.  Growing up, I spoke Ilocano at home, but both Tagalog and English were taught at school.  When I was three, my Dad emigrated to the United States in order to offer our family a better life.  Nine years later, my Mom and I were able to join him.

TN:  So you were 12 years old when you moved.  Were you completely fluent in English at that time?

ER:  Yes, but I spoke it with a very heavy accent, so I was extremely shy around other kids to begin with.  It actually took almost two years until I was able to completely drop my accent.  Watching TV – especially music videos – really helped me.

TN:  Since moving, have you had the chance to go back and visit the Philippines?

ER:  Yes, once, in 2005 – but I’m hoping to go back again sometime this year.

TN:  What is your favorite thing to do or see when you’re over there?

ER:  Obviously, catching up with family and friends is the most exciting and important thing.  But in my free time, I love spending time outdoors or going to the beach.  My family lives 30 minutes from the Pacific, so it’s an easy drive.  Plus, living in Michigan now – where it’s relatively flat – makes me appreciate the beautiful mountain landscape that surrounds my hometown in the Philippines.  Oh – and the food!  I can’t forget the food.  It’s awesome.

TN:  I bet.  Do you have a favorite dish?

ER:  It’s really hard to pick just one.  Given a few, I’d say chicken adobo, arroz caldo, and Ilocano empanadas.  The empanadas sold by the street vendors there just can’t be beaten.

TN:  Shifting gears to a completely random question: what would you say your favorite word or phrase in Tagalog is?

ER:  That is a random question!  I guess I would have to say “pare” (PAH-reh), which means “buddy” or “friend”.  It’s a pretty common word that you’d hear a lot on the streets.  Another word that I love is “kili kili” (kee-LEE, kee-LEE).

TN:  What does that mean?

ER:  Armpit!  I know it’s a strange word to like, but it just sounds so funny in Tagalog!

TN:  Haha, I have to agree with you there.  So Eon, what advice would you give to students learning Tagalog?

ER:  First of all, I would encourage them to try to think in the language as much as possible.  Just like with most foreign languages, it’s almost impossible to directly translate phrases from English into Tagalog.  So I would encourage students instead to focus on learning the rules and structure of the language – and then try to formulate sentences while thinking in Tagalog.  It’s much more effective than trying to directly translate from English.

Also, don’t be afraid to pronounce something incorrectly.  Most Tagalog words are written exactly as they sound – but even if you do make a mistake, that’s just part of the learning process!

TN:  Agreed 100 percent!  I’ve just got one final question, Eon.  What’s your favorite part of Mango’s Tagalog course?

ER:  There’s so many great features, but I personally like the Cultural Notes.  It’s a feature that I’ve enjoyed in all of Mango’s courses, not just Tagalog.  For me, to learn a foreign culture provides you with greater insight and understanding into the language.  For example, when is it appropriate or not appropriate to say certain things?  When should a formal or informal case be used?  These are all things that are important to consider when learning a foreign language.

TN:  Eon, thanks so much for giving up some of your time to sit down with me today.  I really appreciate it!  And readers – don’t forget to check out Mango’s newest library course and learn Tagalog!

To find a library near you that offers Mango, click here.

Eon’s favorite Mango feature is the Cultural Notes.  What do you like best about learning with Mango?