Mango Language Resolution – Weekly Recap 1
We started our Language Resolution campaign with one goal in mind: to help you learn a language by 2013. We hear excuses all too often: “I wanted to learn a language this year, but couldn’t find the time to practice” or “I ran out of steam and lacked motivation.” This year, we’re not going to let that happen. Mango’s got your back – not to mention daily tips, challenges, and motivation to keep you on track. All you have to do is stay tuned to our pages on Facebook and Twitter.
Last week things got off to a strong start on Monday when we challenged our followers to write their grocery or shopping list in the language they were studying. On Tuesday, we followed this up with a vocab challenge focused on greetings and terms of gratitude. Translations of “thank you” and “goodbye” were shared in a handful of languages, including French, Arabic, Japanese and German. Plus, Philip E. shared his personal translation of those phrases into “Southern U.S. English,” as ‘obliged’ and ‘later’. Thanks for giving a mini-lesson to our Detroiter Mango crew, Philip!
Wednesday is all about motivation, so we shared a touching story from one of our patrons based at the Kent District Library in Michigan. Having been in a long-distance relationship for 6 years, she tried everything to learn Swedish without success – including Rosetta Stone. But after starting Mango, she experienced more improvement in a few days than she had done in years! Read her full story here.
We dedicate Thursday to a roundtable discussion of issues and challenges faced when learning a foreign language. Last week we focused on how to successfully learn vocabulary. Our followers had fantastic tips for tackling this challenge, including: using flashcards, playing video games, reading foreign signs or packaging, and creating associations with English words that have a similar sound. The one thing that everyone seemed to agree on is that repetition is key, no matter what method you use. We also agree with this point – which is why repetition of phrases and vocabulary is an important theme in Mango’s courses.
On Friday, we closed out the week with one final challenge for our followers: to “like” or “follow” a foreign company’s page on Facebook or Twitter. This is a great way to infuse foreign content into your feed! Haven’t had a chance to complete the challenge yet? Commit to doing it today! It only takes 5 minutes.
Ready to get things geared up again this week? We’ve got a week chock-full of fun challenges, motivating inspiration, and helpful tips/tricks ahead! Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages daily to keep updated. Remember, 2012 is the year. #LanguageResolution. Let’s do this together.
