Mango Languages

It's Not Only What You Say, But Also How

Good Morning Mango Fans!

Last night, I was motivated to improve the little bit of French that I know, and decided to drive in the world of Mango, in French.  I was interested in learning about the etiquette, culture, and vocab when it comes to restaurant outings.  I got to chapter six, lesson 41, slide 7, which was about un plat principal, the main course.  I read the phrase a few times, heard the narrator say it, and memorized it. Each time I said the phrase to myself, I pronounced the phrase louder and louder, feeling confident with my French accent.  I was ready to test my pronunciation skills with narrator using the “voice compare” feature.   As I recorded myself saying “un plat principal” as clearly as I could and played it back along with the native speaker for the 4th time, I realized what I was trying to do.  Why did I want to record and play my pronunciation back over and over again? I was trying to perfect my French accent. I then started to ponder, about accents, specifically English accents…

There are many countries in which English is the native language, yet in all of these countries English sounds very different because of the accent.  In linguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation of a language.  Accents are not only phonetics, but they are an identity.  There are two types of English accents widely spoken in the world today; they are the General American English and the Received Pronunciation (RP), also known as the Queen’s English.  In North America, the interaction of people from many ethnic backgrounds contributed to the formation of the different varieties of North American accents (making up a Boston specific accent and one that is specific to Texans).

Looking back at history, it is difficult to measure or predict how long it takes an accent to formulate.  Accents in the USA, Canada, and Australia, for example, developed from the combination of different accents and languages in various societies, and this had effects on various pronunciations of the British settlers.  Yet North American accents remain more distant, either as a result of time or of external or “foreign” linguistic interaction, such as the Italian accent.

The accent does indeed provide the identity of the country to its native language.  When we hear American being spoken, we associate it with the United States and when we hear someone speak with a British accent with think of England.  Learning the vocabulary, grammar, and use of a language is very important; however practicing the correct accent allows you to indulge in the identity and history of the language and its native country.

Realizing this, I kept practicing, putting the “voice compare” feature to full use.  Un plat principal … u(n) pla pri(n)seepal.

The more I practiced my French accent the more connected I seemed to feel to the French culture.

Next phrase: Comme plat principal, je voudrais le plat du jour (As a main course, I’d like the plat du jour).

They say practice makes perfect… or so I hope.

Mango shoots for the Moon Cakes

Jamie our Accountant brought in traditional moon cakes for us to try. Yummy!

Intuitive Language Construction – Part IV Culture

We are excited to continue sharing our language learning methodology–we call it the linguistic science behind the Mango Languages Online Language Learning Software.

Intuitive Language Construction was developed after looking at current products on the market and listening to feedback from users. The one thing we heard over and over is that they wanted a program that was fun, easy, completely integrated, and that included the following components:

1. Vocabulary (Click to see previous post)
2. Pronunciation (Click to see previous post)
3. Grammar (Click to see previous post)
4. Culture
5. Comprehension
6. Retention

In this post we are going to discuss the fourth component of Intuitive Language Construction…Culture.  This is another big difference in the Intuitive Language Construction methodology.

Mango integrates cultural notes and tips into every lesson, ensuring our students develop an understanding for the expectations, traditions, and etiquette of the people with whom they want to communicate.   Most language learning systems simply ignore culture, but at Mango we think it really is critical to a student’s success in a foreign country.

For example, imagine you didn’t understand the difference between formal and informal greetings.  You wouldn’t want to walk into a meeting with your new boss and exclaim, “Hey Dude. What’s up?”  It would be inappropriate, and in some cultures, it would be a really big offense!  It could possibly even get you fired.

At the same time, you wouldn’t want to be introduced to a new friend at a café, and say something like “I’m very pleased to make your acquaintance.”  That’s a little too formal and can be off-putting.

Understanding culture helps people understand which conversational tools are most appropriate for which situations and which audiences.  Our curriculum is developed by native speaking professional language teachers – many of whom teach at the university level and hold PhDs.  They really understand the cultural challenges that a learner will face for a specific language, and they carefully design each learning experience to help students overcome those challenges.  You just can’t get that through the common word and phrase lists that other learning systems offer.

Why do you think culture is important in the language learning process?  Or do you have a funny cross cultural story to share?

Mango Summer Fiesta Friday Fun

Last Friday after work, we got together and played on the new Mango Languages’ Patio at our new office.

We love Stephen’s laugh!  Can’t help but smile too!

Gotta Have My Java!

It’s a safe bet that most people reading this are no strangers to Java.  Let me rephrase that- most people reading this are most likely no stranger to a cup of Java.  How many people are familiar with the island of Java, however, is an entirely different question.

Java is actually the 5^th largest island in Indonesia, and the 13^th largest island in the world. Home to a population of 130 million, it beats the Japanese island Honshu for the most populous island in the world.  Most people speak Indonesian, either as a first or second language, alongside languages like Javanese (in development for release by Mango!), Sudanese, and Madurese.

Java is almost entirely volcanic, which has created abundantly rich soil. This, along with the ideal climate, has made Java a perfect place for its coffee industry to flourish and become synonymous with our morning cup of Joe.

So, do you think you could you make it all the way to Java without a cup of Java?

Video: Time Around the World

This is a great video discussing how time is perceived differently by various cultures.  When we learn about foreign languages and cultures, one of the largest differences is the concept of time.  Watch this interesting video to learn more.

How do you perceive time? Why do you think you perceive time that way?

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: Brazilian Portuguese – Lesson One

I am very excited to share this post by Guest Blogger, Marina Khonina. (previous post) She is using our online language learning program and will be providing monthly updates on her progress to learn Portuguese.  She approached us with this assignment – to learn the language and blog about it.  We thought…what a great way for us to share how Mango works and see if there are areas where we can improve.

Today I am starting my experiment in learning Brazilian Portuguese with Mango Languages.  I will track my progress with regular blog posts, in which I will reflect on my experience, as a fairly seasoned language learner, with the lessons designed by Mango.

Before I delve into lesson-specific details, however, some background information is in order.  I find Brazilian Portuguese an exceptionally beautiful language, but I have been hesitant about learning it because I could not possibly imagine how I would get my tongue around all these strange, mesmerizing sounds.  I have been exposed to a fair amount of spoken Brazilian Portuguese (my long-time flatmate is from Brazil), yet pronunciation remains for me the most difficult aspect of this language.  I hope that Mango Languages will help me surmount this challenge, which is exacerbated by the fact that I am extremely shy about speaking in a new tongue.

I dabbled with Portuguese about a year ago, listening briefly to a couple of Brazilian podcasts and asking my flatmate to teach me a few basic words.  At that time, however, I had too many things on my plate to start a new language.  Now I have a great opportunity to devote some serious (albeit, limited) time to the study of this language.

Portuguese is not my first Romance language: I studied French in school, achieving upper-intermediate proficiency, but since then my French has gotten rusty.  I also have a basic command of Esperanto, which should be helpful in my study of Portuguese.  In fact, after I started learning Esperanto, I noticed some improvement in my understanding of written Portuguese.

Now on to the actual lesson. Today I completed Lesson 1, and it was absolutely delightful to discover that Mango did not expect me to learn to say “This is a cat” or some other such nonsense before learning how to greet another person properly.  Another thing that I immediately liked about my Mango Languages lesson was how each sentence or conversational unit (e.g. “Hello. How are you?”) is presented with an appropriate English equivalent and a word-by-word translation.  This enabled me to see from the very first lesson how the language is structured and to pay attention to any peculiarities of grammar or word usage.

For example, I discovered that in Portuguese, you say “How goes the Mrs.?” when politely asking a woman about how she is doing.  Furthermore, a literal translation of this sentence shows that Portuguese speakers use the verb “to go” where an English speaker would use “to be.”  Even more importantly, the individual is addressed in the third person (the Mrs./Mr.), rather than in the second person (you).  These two facts, gleaned from a word-by-word translation of a single sentence, can give me, the learner, plenty of insights into the culture and the language:  i.e. politeness is expressed by emphasizing the distance between the speakers through the use of the third person/noun instead of second person/pronoun; a person’s daily life is seen in terms of movement (going) rather than existence (being).  Of course, it’s easy to go too far with this analysis, and my insights may not necessarily be correct, but they certainly motivate me to explore more of the language and to embrace the culture along with the linguistic aspects.  Failure to do the latter often proves to be a major hindrance to language mastery; as was the case with my study of Turkish, until recently.

What I did not necessarily like was the anglicized pronunciation given for each word in addition to the audio.  I would advise you to regard this as a personal pet peeve, however.  As a language geek, I prefer the International Phonetic Alphabet (of course!), but it would be too much to expect a first-time or casual language-learner to learn IPA conventions before starting a language course.  In fact, this requirement is likely to discourage the learner! At any rate, the phonetic help in Mango Languages only appears on mouse-over, so learners like me, who prefer not to use it, can easily ignore this otherwise useful function.

While I initially found the lesson long-ish and repetitive, it was reasonably—and surprisingly—challenging.  When it comes to learning languages, I tend to prefer speed and novelty over repetition. Yet, with Mango Languages I discovered that if I let my attention wander even a little, I begin to flounder.  This means that Mango lessons are comprehensive enough, so there’s no danger of skimming and forgetting soon thereafter.  Most importantly, the built-in repetition algorithm (and my experience leads me to assume there is one) is close enough to the natural memory curve to ensure sufficient retention.

To conclude, I am happy with my first Mango Languages lesson in Brazilian Portuguese.  I like the feeling of learner autonomy, contrasted to the force-feeding of information that characterizes some other programs.  The recordings are clear enough for a first-time learner without being unnaturally stilted.  The pace feels a tad slow for my taste, but I am beginning to see the value of not rushing through the lesson too much.

As for my study plan, I will try to cover one lesson per week.  This is a relatively slow pace, which leaves large gaps between each lesson, but, given my current schedule, this is the only realistic plan.  Looking ahead, I wonder whether the communicative emphasis of Mango Languages will help me, a self-admitted introvert and fearer of native speakers, to overcome the communication barrier.  If I manage to utter something (anything!) in Portuguese to my flatmate, that would be a major breakthrough already.

Question to ponder: How soon should a language learner attempt to speak the new language?  Some learners believe that speaking a language as soon as you possibly can makes all the difference (Benny Lewis, a.k.a. the Irish polyglot, is an ardent supporter of this view).  Others, like Steve Kauffmann, argue that a certain “silent period” is necessary before a learner can converse in a new language.  What do you think?  What has your experience been with trying to speak a new foreign language?

Guest Post: Tasting your way around the world

We are very excited to have Greg Solomon guest blogging for Mango Languages. Greg works in the fascinating world of structured finance, and gets to travel a lot. His frequent flyer mileage must have built up to the equivalent of the GDP of a small country by now. He has been blogging about his path towards Mandarin Chinese fluency at MandarinSegments.com. Come along for a taste.

Greg is pictured here eating … whaaaaat?

When I was young, I remember my late father used to collect matchboxes from his travels. At home he had a large plastic jar, filled with boxes of different sizes, styles & colours. I used to love playing with them (the boxes, not the matches!), reading the names of the places and countries, and imagining …

So when I began doing lots of travelling in my early 20s, I started my own collection: sugar sachets. I knew some others who were doing that, and it seemed like a good idea. Each hotel, each restaurant, each city – another sachet. Unfortunately, upon returning from a holiday some years later, I discovered my large plastic bowl was filled with ants – they had found the sugar. And that is when my sugar collecting ended.

Then, a few years ago, while planning a trip to Singapore, I found myself thinking that I should make a point of drinking a Singapore Sling cocktail while there. And I did. It was at the famous Raffles hotel, which opened back in 1887. The following day, not far from that hotel, at the Lao Pa Sat market, as I made a huge mess eating an amazingly tasty Singapore Chilli Crab, I realised that I had been collecting something without knowing it …

I had been collecting localised taste experiences, foods and drinks which (by name, anyway) had originated right where I was.

I’ve eaten Boston Cream doughnuts (not one, but two) in Boston USA, very near to where the original “Cheers” pub can be found. In New York I ate a New York Strip steak (the restaurant had a Park Avenue address, but was actually about 5 minutes walk from Park Avenue). Further north in Buffalo New York I ate BBQ Buffalo Wings at a friend’s BBQ. And to the west, in California I ate a California Roll – my first taste of sushi as a 13 year old.

I’ve eaten Swedish meatballs in the cobblestone old town of Stockholm, Sweden. (Which wasn’t as weird as the pickled herring I ate for breakfast that day, but that’s another story.)

In Beijing at the famous DaDong Roast Duck Restaurant I ate Peking Duck – then to prove a point to my host, I promptly ate both the tongue and the (very tiny) brain too.

I was in the South African town of Knysna as I tucked into a massive plate of the freshest Knysna Oysters (with a sprinking of tabasco), in Wales when I ate Welsh Rarebit, in Zürich Switzerland when I ate Zürcher Geschnetzeltes (a white wine mushroom veal dish, which on one trip I ate four meals in a row), in Germany’s Black Forest while devouring an extremely rich slice of Black Forest gateau, and I was in BoKaap (a small colourful suburb of Cape Town, at the base of Table Mountain) when I ate Cape Gooseberries. And, although this feels like a bit of a cheat, I will take credit for using English Mustard in England.

To wash it all down, while I Mumbai I had a gin & tonic, poured with Bombay Sapphire Gin. I drank a huge glass of Bergundy in the Bergundy region, although I didn’t get around to drinking Champagne in Champagne.

I have also not yet had a Danish pastry in Denmark, Feta cheese in Feta, drank port in Porto or Madeiran wine in Madeira. I’ve also not had Jerusalem artichoke in Jerusalem (although to be fair, I’m not even sure it’s available there!) And I am still thinking about the Baked Alaska and Mississippi Mudpie that might be out there, waiting for me.

I don’t think I will have achieved my life’s ambitions until I’ve eaten a frankfurter in Frankfurt, a hamburger in Hamburg, and Yorkshire pudding in Yorkshire. But right now, while I write this, I am sufficiently pleased to be drinking English Breakfast Tea. In England.

Additionally, when I travel – which I’m sure you’ve worked out I do quite a lot – I always like to learn how to say the following words in the local language: hello, goodbye, please, thanks. So while I do speak four languages (although my Mandarin isn’t quite where I’d like it to be!) – it’s amazing how much more fun I’ve had interacting with locals using only these four words, in about 20 different languages. (“hallo, hallo – bitte Black Forest cake, danke danke”)

What is the most unusual thing you have eaten in a foreign country?

"Wai" is Product Development So Fun?

Product Development at Mango, with all its varied duties typical of the department, is naturally intriguing.  From working with our tech team and their newest technologies to dealing with team members in distant countries (which sometimes requires unusual middle-of-the-night meetings), the constant demands that keep you on your toes is characteristically fun for us.  And the good times continue during those moments of inspiration, wherever they may occur, when those seemingly good ideas for new features come suddenly and make you scramble to jot them down before they float away beyond your reach.  But, most fun in the product development department, at least for me, is coming across the cultural notes found in the Mango chapters.  I think it is so amazing how the different cultures from all over the world do things.  For example, the “wai” was so cool that I was doing it over and over again in front of my computer.  This explanation of “wai” comes straight from the Mango software:
 
The “wai” is the Thai greeting and shows respect.  Just press your palms together near your chest and bow.
 
This “wai” is such a nice break from the usual handshake that incorporating it into my day and experiencing the occasional reciprocation is extremely enjoyable.  It is discovering cultural information like the Thai “wai” that is extremely fascinating about developing the Mango product.