Mango Languages

Travel Tuesday: Lost in Translation

Today’s post comes from an avid Mango user, Betsy Talbot. Betsy and her husband Warren quit their jobs and sold everything they owned to travel the world in 2010. Their new digital guide Dream Save Do: The Step-by-Step Blueprint for Amassing the Cash to Live Your Dream does just what it says. You can learn more about living the good life at their blog, Married with Luggage.

When we first started planning our round-the-world adventure three years ago, we knew the key to saving the money and actually taking off was to act on our plan right away, even though we didn’t have all the answers. We made mistakes, but mostly we learned and moved closer to our goal, reaching it faster than we imagined possible.

We’ve now been traveling for one year, and we’ve discovered that learning a new language requires the same level of action and fearlessness about making mistakes.

Traveling can expand your knowledge, give you a different perspective, and allow you to appreciate the beauty and diversity in the world around you. It can make you feel really smart when you figure something out, engage with people very different from you, or test yourself in ways you never could back home.

Traveling can also make you feel like an idiot, cobbling together sentences like a toddler, and using your hands and facial expressions to get your meaning across. Worse yet, using the wrong word, or the wrong tone with the word, can change the meaning entirely, possibly insulting your new friend or making him laugh hysterically.

• You wanted an egg for breakfast, but you asked for a whole chicken (Thai).

• Instead of telling your new friend you are married, you instead say you are tired (Spanish).

• Not understanding measurements or numbers in the language might get you a full bottle of wine instead of the small carafe – and the bill that goes along with it (French).

Many people hesitate when trying out their new language skills on a trip, fearing they will make a mistake. We have made these and many more, and what we’ve found is that people are generally delighted when you try to speak their language, even if you do it poorly.

As we immerse ourselves in a new culture, we stumble along like 2-year-olds, receiving correction from the locals and repeating the words back to them until we get it right. It is embarrassing at first, but it often turns into a way to better know the people and customs of an area.

We use Mango Languages to help us prepare for arriving in a new country. We can’t always learn the language, but we can always learn the basic words to get by – please, thank you, may I have, where is, excuse me, hello, goodbye. If you make an effort to be part of the local culture, the local people will be much more inclined to interact with you, even if they speak English.

So don’t wait. Take your language lessons before you go, and then dive right in when you get there. Sure, you’ll mess up, but you’ll also learn a lot and possibly even make a new friend.

And don’t forget to learn to say “I’m sorry” in the local language, just in case you accidentally tell someone you are going to kill him. (Spanish)

Have you ever had an experience where something you or someone else said was completely lost in translation? Tell us about it!

US vs. Them: British vs. American English

[Thanks to Matt Owen for this guest post and his perspective!

Hey there! I’m Matt, and I’m from England. I was trying to write a few words for Mango on the differences between UK and US English. I thought it would be fun.

Unfortunately I can’t do it.

I mean, I can write the words down easily enough, but it’s nearly impossible for me to point out the differences.

Because Microsoft Word won’t let me.

As in all fields of combat, the US tends to rely on technology to dominate the battlefield, and the battle for control of the language has been running since you guys decided you were probably better off without the King sticking his royal nose in your business.

And yeah, I’ve tried changing my settings (which incidentally, read “English” or “UK English” – make of that what you will), but every time I save or reopen a document, Microsoft discards all of this.

I’ve tried to convince it that I like spelling “Favour” like that, but it won’t take the hint. Or do me any favors.

Of course, this isn’t the only way American English has become the version most of the world speaks. When Britain was at the height of its powers, it spread the language by forcing people to use it to buy and sell, and by using it in churches and schools across the globe.

America on the other hand simply visits any given country, and quietly builds a Starbuck’s around anyone speaking another language.

I’ve already mentioned the war of independence, and John Adams himself was (unsurprisingly) a great fan of “Americanisms”, happily announcing that he thought the US would do a great job of “Polishing the language”.

What John forgot to mention was that we Brits had been polishing away ourselves for several hundred years already, and people continue to do so on both sides of the Atlantic.

To really understand the differences, you have to delve further back into history.

Despite the name, English is actually something that crawled out of the mud of French, Saxon and pig-Latin  [He’s kidding about the pig-latin part, ightray, Attmay? -Rachel].

You can also add a few other factors to those weird roots: A history of being invaded by nearly every country in Europe (quite why the Romans were so keen on trooping all the way from sunny Lazio to get their hands on a small grey island with nothing but a bit of tin and constant rain going for it remains a mystery), and books written by semi-illiterates on printing presses that couldn’t handle all the letters.

Take the word ‘Ye’ for example, it only exists because old printing presses had a symbol that looked like a ‘Y’ instead of a ‘TH’.

Next up, Britain went through an industrial revolution a bit earlier than most countries, with the billowing smog in London, Birmingham, Manchester, and Liverpool filling the local people’s sinuses and having a similar effect on the local accents – they all make you sound as though you’ve got a clothes-peg on your nose [For Americans: case in point; we say clothes pin -Rachel].

Meanwhile, in the US, something more profound was happening. We like to call it “Hollywood”. The movie industry has a huge history of imposing standards on across the world.

Here’s a question for you – what noise do frogs make?

If you answered “Ribbit”, it’s because that’s the noise frogs from Southern California make, most other places they go “Bloik”.

And English is the same. All over the world, countries got used to the language of Shakespeare through films, where trousers were pants, pavements were sidewalks and words followed the general American rule –pronounce it how you spell it.

This approach is sensible, but wouldn’t really work in England, where no word seems complete without a hidden ‘H’ or a silent ‘U’ in the middle. This is why tourists constantly ask me the way to “Li-ses-ter Square”. It’s actually pronounced “Les-ter”, but spelled “Leicester”.

Meanwhile, my American workmate gets weird looks when she asks for Pleated Pants in stores here. In the office, any businessman who wears ‘Suspenders’ probably shouldn’t mention it if he wants that promotion (If you want to know why, try using Google.co.uk to look the word up –just don’t do it while you’re at work!).

We’ve also got different words for commonplace things: some make more sense, some make less. Want to give me a call? I’ll take it on my mobile. It’s a phone, and it’s mobile. Makes sense yes? ‘Cellphone’ actually means ‘battery powered phone’. When you think about it, that’s just weird.

On the other hand, a Truck sounds much better to me than a Lorry…

The differences don’t stop there either: remember the history bit earlier? England has a pretty long tradition of battling with France at every given opportunity, so that any word sounding vaguely French is considered low class, so the Toilet is the ‘Loo’, although you guys might say ‘restroom’. A few years back an Aunt of mine told me that when she first visited back in the 80s, she honestly thought that a restroom was just a quiet area where you could go and sit down and read a book for a while…

And then there’s slang. In the US, English has had a healthy injection of Dutch, German, Spanish, Yiddish and Eminem to help it along, In England we just go for weird rhyming slang (Apples and pears= stairs, dog and bone = phone), text speak and references to weird English sitcoms from the 70s. In other words, If we fancy an ace night out we get bladdered down the nags, and hopefully there’s no aggro involved innit, y’get me?

I’ve tried to come up with an American equivalent for that last line. Let’s just say a few beers after work doesn’t quite sum it up…

Meanwhile the yoofs have well and truly looted the language for all it’s worth. Where I live, most kids is speakin the Jafaican mon [Matt explained this to me as "fake-Jamaican" -Rachel] (when they aren’t stealing ‘Trainers’ from the local sporting goods store), usually in a weird accent that arrives in Hackney after swinging through Kingston Town and early 90s South Central LA. Don U be letting the feds catch ya janga sistrin innit?

Nope, I don’t know what that means either…

Overall, the language we speak is vaguely similar, but history, immigration and culture have changed the two so that visitors from either side have to make a real effort. Whenever I write for a website, a good bit of my time is spent going through and putting ‘Z’ instead of ‘S’ in words – although in England even the letter would be pronounced differently, so bad news for any fans of Zed Zed Top out there.

On the plus side it means that the way we speak gets more and more interesting as we go along. The regional diction of newscasters doesn’t really match what people say in San Diego, or in Des Moines, and in England it has to be said that even the Queen (god bless you ma’am…) has a pretty weird accent compared to most of her subjects.

The reason English is so dominant on the world stage is because it’s inclusive, always happy to add in a new expression from a different country or a new technology – look for ‘Twiterati’ in Websters and the Oxford English soon. And hey, next time I walk into a diner and order a beefburger and chips, cut me some slack yo?

Travel Tuesday: Love Locks

The following post is a guest blog from one of our Mangoes, Alana Wolfman. Alana recently returned from a Mediterranean cruise, where she traveled to Italy, Greece, Croatia, and Turkey. Here is a bit about her time spent in Venice.

Crossing the southern end of the Grand Canal, the Ponte dell’Accademia (aka the Academia Bridge) was the one place in Venice, Italy to make such an impact during my 10-day trip through the Mediterranean.

Rebuilt in 1985, the Ponte dell’Accademia is a busy bridge because it’s one of only four bridges in Venice allowing pedestrians to walk across the main canal. It was designed to replicate the temporary wooden bridge built there in 1932, but the new one was to be built with metal support features to maintain its durability throughout the years. The view from this bridge is absolutely outstanding and, unlike any of the other bridges in Venice, the location almost reaches St. Mark’s Basin and you have wonderful sights in all directions.

It was not only the view that caught my eye; looking down on the inner hand rails on the bridge, I noticed a cluster of pad-locks locked to the railing. Looking around even more, there were multiple clusters of pad-locks, each with writing on them. “Mila + Greg 1998″ and “Dimitri <3 Lena 2003″ and “L + K forever” were just a few.

These “love locks” have been noticed in other cities in Italy, but reportedly started in Hungarian city of Pécs during the 1980s. It is meant to symbolize that lovers’ love lasts forever, where they lock their locks to the rails and throw the key into the waters below. There were so many love locks, I couldn’t believe all of those tourists knew about it! If anyone is going to take a romantic trip to Venice, Italy, head over to the Academia Bridge, but be sure to carry an extra lock with you and a permanent marker.

What other “romantic” traditions have you come across in your travels?

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.

Guest Post: The Rhythm of the Words

Bret performing in a language he actually speaks

I’ve been spending the holidays with my best friend and her family, who are Russian. She (my friend) moved to the U.S. when she was 8 and has pretty much mastered the English language. She has the slightest hint of an accent on a few select words, but for the most part could easily pass as an American. Her, family, however, is much closer to the roots of their language and communicate with my friend primarily in Russian. I’d say about 75% of the conversations in the household take place in their mother language and I find myself not understanding most of what is said around me.

However, I’m still able to follow most of the back and forth. The rhythms and cadences of Russian are much different than English, yet it still has it’s own specific sound and variance which make the basic premise of the conversations decipherable, even though I don’t speak the language. I can tell when someone is frustrated, loving, concerned or curious. I can pick-up on interest levels and dynamics. I may not understand the exact specifics of the exchange, but I can absorb the overall feeling.

At first, to be honest, I thought most of the conversations sounded angry. Russian is a fairly abrupt language, full of hard consonants. Add to that the brusque nature of it’s delivery and it’s not hard to see why it took me off guard. It took a few days to settle into the specific sound of the way they talk in their native tongue. But once I did, I found that not only was I mistaken about the anger level, but that there was a unique arc to the spoken words that gave clues to their meaning.

I have found the same to be true of most languages. The have their own unique sound, that fluctuates with the feeling behind the words. I think observing and becoming familiar with these patterns is an important step in the learning of a language. Along with the definitions and assembly of sentences of a language, it’s important to learn the flow. The intent of the words comes through the pattern in which they are presented as much as it comes through the selection of the actual words.

I am new to trying to learn a second language and, admittedly, have no basis for this other than my own observation, but it’s definitely helping me on my way to comprehension and the ability to express myself in a new way. Even though I am pretty sure I can sense the feeling of what’s being spoken, I’m looking forward to learning the vocabulary to go along with rhythm, so I can finally understand what the heck these people are actually saying!

The World Cup: Bringing People Together One Game at a Time

Watching the World Cup go through it’s process of selecting host cities this week was fascinating. So many different countries with such varied cultures all vying to host the same international spectacle is not something we get to witness often. And what an eventful year! Not only does Russia get to host the games, forcing them to pump billions of dollars into their infrastructure to prepare, but there is also going to be the first World Cup in the Middle East when Qatar hosts the games in 2022. The average American may not realize the significance that the tournament has on world culture, but it is huge. The World Cup is an international, cross-cultural, unifying event rivaled only by the Olympics.

It got me thinking about the unification of cultures across our world. We tend to see different countries as incredibly foreign…no pun intended. We are far too often focused on the things that separate our cultures, rather than the things we share. It is profound to think that a simple game like soccer can be such a touchstone for so many citizens of the earth, regardless of where they are from.

On some level, the same could be said for language. When I was in high school, I opted to take Latin instead of Spanish. I can’t recall why…probably because there was a cute girl in the Latin class. That’s not the point. The point is, having a background in Latin has helped tremendously while studying new languages on Mango. I have found that Latin is the base for most of the romantic languages and elements can still be found in all of them. To think that a language spread out across the world and morphed into the dialog of so many different cultures is kind of awe-inspiring. Here is something that the citizens of these countries use everyday…language…and it can all be traced back to one source. Without even realizing it, the very words they say connect them to people on the other side of the Earth.

So, whether it’s a sport or simply the words we use, times like this show us that there are many things that join us with the rest of the world that we don’t usually consider. Almost as much fun as exploring the world and discovering all the things that make us unique, is exploring the world and finding the things that make us the same. I have absolutely no idea who is going to win the tournament in ’18 or ’22, but I know the world will be watching it and talking about it. Thanks to Mango and my old Latin teacher, I might just understand what they have to say.

The more I learn here on Mango, the smaller the world gets…that’s one of my favorite things about it.

Guest Post: Alumni Weekend

Mango Languages is proud to have guest blogger Dick Kuettner write about an Alumni event at Washington and Lee University in Virginia, at which they showcased Mango Languages.

Washington and Lee University, a highly-selective institution of higher learning and one of the Nation’s oldest, has made wise use of its contract with Mango Languages.

Students studying abroad during spring term 2010 had the opportunity to study the language of the country where they would be residing in advance of, during, and after their study abroad experience.  Those studying photography in France learned French.  Those studying business administration learned Spanish to prepare for their stay in Nicaragua.  Italian was the language studied for chemistry students in Italy.  And Greek was pursued for future geologists studying the terrain in Greece.  In all, ten groups studying abroad took advantage of what Mango Languages has to offer at both the basic and complete levels.

But the Mango experience is being taken beyond the classroom as well.  Faculty and staff at Washington and Lee also had occasion to enhance their multi-cultural needs.  During the same contract period, some brushed up on their language skills for languages already under-the-belt, while others enriched their global perspective by undertaking a new language or two.  Especially appreciative were those faculty members traveling or doing research in foreign lands where communicative skills would be imperative.

Even University Alumni got into the act and were given access to Mango Languages after a demonstration during a Modern Languages Alumni Reunion Weekend Open House held at the Tucker Multimedia Center for Foreign Languages on Washington and Lee’s historic campus.  Their participation only proves that languages are essential and the need for skills in this area never dissipates.

Questions about these Mango Languages’ uses and observations can be directed to Dr. Dick Kuettner, kuettnerd@wlu.edu, organizer of the project.

Guest Post: Brazilian Portuguese for the Utterly Confused

Guest Blogger Marina Khonina has taken on the task of using Mango Languages to learn Brazilian Portugese.  She is providing monthly updates through our blog as she progresses through the course. Here is part three:

One of my recent Mango Languages lessons in Brazilian Portuguese was entitled Direções Para o Hotel (Directions to a Hotel).  As luck would have it, shortly after completing the lesson I found myself navigating the streets of Istanbul with my Portuguese-speaking friend looking for an elusive hotel that housed a visiting professor from Brazil and his companion. The professor was interested in the history of Byzantium, I was told, and, as an aspiring scholar of Byzantium and a great admirer of the historic city where I happen to live these days, I agreed to give the visitors a brief tour of the Byzantine monuments in Istanbul.

Thus started a new chapter in my adventure with Brazilian Portuguese. Although the professor spoke English, his companion did not.  My Brazilian flatmate cheerfully joined our improvised field trip along with her sister, who was here for a visit, and so Portuguese was heard with increasing frequency as our small group moved from one historical site to another.  My brother, who does not share my Lusophone passions, dutifully tagged along, and so it is to him and to his patience in the midst of Brazilian and Byzantine chatter that I dedicate this post.

The field trip proved to be exceptionally rewarding, linguistically speaking.  After beating myself up for forgetting the simple phrase, “Prazer em conhecê lo” (“Nice to meet you”, Mango Languages – Lesson 1), I eventually found myself understanding quite a bit of the conversation and even surprising my brother by translating a joke from Portuguese. Alas, I did not succeed in breaking my self-imposed vow of silence in encounters with the speakers of foreign languages.

Apart from this day-long immersion experience, however, I am not very happy with my lack of significant progress in Portuguese.  This, I believe, is a direct consequence of letting too much time elapse between my Mango lessons (exacerbated, perhaps, by my earlier decision not to supplement Mango Languages with other learning materials at this point).  Whatever breakthroughs in understanding that I experienced recently were largely a result of exposure to spoken Portuguese.  Since visiting professors from Brazil are hard to come by in Istanbul, I suppose it is time to intensify my Mango Languages lessons, aiming for at least 3 lessons per week (as opposed to the once weekly lessons I have been doing so far). This should be easier to do now that the spring semester is over and my university-related commitments are not nearly as overwhelming.

I find it crucial to maintain a consistent schedule for reviewing previous lessons. For this purpose, the “Phrasebook Review” option offered by Mango is usually sufficient: I am quizzed on various parts of the lesson’s dialogue, which are then presented in their complete form.  I presume that if I complete more lessons per week these “forced” reviews will become unnecessary, since there appears to be a repetition algorithm built into the Mango Languages system.

As I work to complete my Mango Languages challenge, the support of my Twitter followers is invaluable.  Many a time I find myself being cheered on by fellow language learners or by Portuguese native speakers.  Sometimes, these brief interactions turn into learning experiences: a few days ago a Brazilian follower wrote to me saying, “Português é Legal!” Who would have thought that “legal” can also mean “cool”?  Luckily, I have my flatmate to explain the intricacies of Brazilian slang in moments when it leaves me utterly confused!

Guest Post: Brazilian Portugese–Lesson 2

Guest Blogger Marina Khonina has taken on the task of using Mango Languages to learn Brazilian Portugese. She is providing monthly updates through our blog as she progresses through the course. Here is part two:

Several weeks into my Brazilian Portuguese learning adventure, I am more thrilled about this experiment than ever. I was able to stick to my (very laid-back) plan of one lesson per week, although the temptation is often strong to abandon my other activities and concentrate solely on my Portuguese. This urge goes hand-in-hand with my habitual impatience, which is regularly challenged by Mango Languages’ insistence on slow, deliberate practice.

Guest Post: Is there such a thing as THE method to learn a second or foreign language?

It is my pleasure to introduce Henrick Oprea as our guest blogger. Henrick is a teacher, teacher trainer and Director of Studies at Atlantic Idiomas in Brasília, Brazil. He’s been teaching English for about 13 years and is currently taking his MA in TEFL/TESL from the University of Birmingham.  Like any good Brazilian, he’s a football fan and supports Vasco da Gama, the best football team in the world (or so he thinks).  He’s also a blogger and you can read his thoughts on his blog.  You can also find him on twitter.

How do you study languages?  Many different methods and approaches have been used, and they all seem to come and go from time to time.  Actually, they all seem to come and refuse to leave.  If we think about the aged Grammar Translation way of teaching/learning a second or a foreign language and all that came after it, it might be shocking to see it’s still there.  In regular schools in Brazil (where I live), for instance, it’s still the mainstream.  Why is that?  Well, for the very same reason that different approaches and methods have been created.  Were we still living in a world in which there were very little chances to travel abroad, we’d probably be happy with such an approach.

But the world has changed (and has been changing).  When people started feeling the need to actually speak foreign languages rather than simply being able to read a couple of disconnected sentences, it was clear that Grammar Translation wasn’t going to be of too much help.  Hence, other methods came, and new ones kept emerging over the past 100 years or so.  As our need for collaboration and communication grew, people started taking second language learning more seriously.  Some people tried comparing it to learning your first language; some methods advocated the use of music; yet others claimed that mistakes were to be avoided at all costs.  As usual, the many different methods rose and fell in popularity over time.  Yet, they’ve all contributed something to the way we see Second Language Acquisition (SLA), and in particular English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL).

Nowadays, at least in the Western civilization, Communicative Language Teaching (CLT) is considered mainstream. If you meet an English teacher and ask him or her about his teaching practices, you’re likely to hear something like, “I teach according to the principles of CLT.” Unfortunately, many of these teachers haven’t got a clue about what CLT means in terms of approach, design, and procedures – they’re just doing what they were trained to do: repeating something. But this isn’t really the focus of this post…

In addition to CLT, the “modern” English teacher is likely to mention other methods as TBL (task-based learning), the Lexical Approach, and Dogme, which, by the way, has just turned 10 years old. If you add to these all of the other methods and the myriad language institutes which claim to follow methodology A, B, or C, you may wind up with a very big question mark floating over your head:  what is the best methodology for one to learn a foreign language?

Methods (or methodologies) are created – hopefully – based on principles of SLA theories. There isn’t much we know about the way the brain works, but based on current research, we can attempt to take some guesses to answer the question. We’ve got three main views of SLA theories: behaviorism, cognitivism, and constructivism. Each one of these views presents different perspectives towards language learning and teaching, and none should be discarded. Is there a better way to learn a second or foreign language? The answer can only be, “No, there isn’t.” If our answer is any different, we’re saying that we are sure all people learn the same way. We’re actually stating that we aren’t all unique and that one size does fit all. I’m one who does not share this view – an opinion formed both from personal observation and experience and from research.

There’s still no magic pill or microchip that will make you speak a language instantly. However, there are things we believe will help you learn a foreign language. For instance, Krashen mentioned the hypothesis of comprehensible input (what is known as i + 1), and Swain mentioned the comprehensible output hypothesis. In terms of learning, any kind of learning, we tend to do better on tasks we learn by doing than the ones we learn by passively observing others. In language learning, we value input, and we know exposure is a necessary condition, yet definitely not the only one. And then comes learning strategies. The more you know about how you learn, the easier it will be for you to learn a foreign language.

To answer the question asked on the title of the post, I don’t believe there is such a thing as the method for language learning. There isn’t only one way for us to learn languages. But there are things I believe will always help. Interaction, negotiation of meaning, exposure, and authenticity will never, in my humble opinion, get in the way of your learning. Next time you wonder what method can help you learn a second or foreign language, start thinking about how you learn. This might lead you to the right answer.