Mango Languages

Guest Blog: Celebrating Veteran’s Day

Today’s guest blog post comes from Mango Government Ambassador and Client Care Specialist, Jane Potee.  Thank you for sharing your touching story with us, Jane!

This year’s Veteran’s Day has special significance to me.   My 83-year old father relocated in September from Indiana to an assisted living facility nearby my home in Michigan.  This year we will celebrate Veteran’s Day closer than we have for years.  I always knew my father was retired United States Air Force Korea, but I never knew much of his time spent in the military.  I am learning more now that we are closer in distance.

A few years back I was privileged to accompany a group of U.S. Marine Corps Veterans on a trip to visit the war memorials in Washington D.C.  During this trip our group visited the following memorials: Vietnam Wall, Iwo Jima, World War I, World II, Korean War monuments and Arlington Cemetery.  I picked up a Korean War Veteran’s hat at one of the local D.C. souvenir stands to bring back to my Dad.  My Dad was a business executive and for much of his career his attire was shined shoes, suit and tie.  I was not sure if Dad would welcome my gift of the Veterans’ hat, let alone wear it.

Imagine my surprise when he started wearing it.  In fact he began to share stories with me of strangers on the street who would come up and thank him for his service to his country.  I soon noticed a bit more “spring” in his step and a straighter posture when he was wearing his Veteran’s hat.  Merchants and business people also took to noticing him in his hat, and acknowledged him for his country’s service.  Sixty some years later, he was receiving validation for his time in military service, and it was gratifying.

In the few years that have passed since Dad first got his hat, his body – like his hat – has become more tired-looking and ragged with age.  The emblem on the hat, however, still shines bright, much like the light within the retired Air Force Korean veteran that wears it.

So how does this story connect to Mango Languages?  Mango Languages, a FEDLINK certified vendor, is proud to support thousands of active and retired Military and Government users all over the world.  Many of these Mango users connect to Mango online via their assignment to a military base or affiliation to one of our Armed Forces.  Mango created a customized program, Mango Military, which uses critical commands and phrases to better enable service personnel deployed overseas.  Our program is also used by service members for whom second language proficiency is critical to their rank or command.  For more information on Mango’s language learning solutions for the government, click here.

This year on November 10th, 2012 Veteran’s Day, take time to thank a Veteran.  Like the quote says, “…they rose to the occasion.  All of the values their mothers and fathers and grandparents taught them, they learned.  They stepped up to the plate.  They did not just follow their leaders, they ACCOMPANIED their leaders.  Sometimes, they LED the way!”… And sometimes they still wear the hat that proves it.

FEDLINK Veteran’s Day Promotion:

To celebrate Veteran’s Day, Mango is offering new FEDLINK clients their choice of 3 Mango Playaway devices to add to your library’s collection.  The set, valued at $120, will be provided completely free-of-charge to new FEDLINK clients that sign up for a Mango subscription by December 31^st, 2012.  For more information, please email usa.gov@mangolanguages.com or call 1-899-626-4611, Government Sales.

Congrats, Madison County Library.

Mango would like to wish hearty congratulations to Madison County Public Library in Kentucky for being selected as the library with the “Most Outstanding Usage” for the month of September.  The number of total user sessions at MCPL skyrocketed an awe-inspiring 347% between August and September.

Library Director, Ruthie Maslin, explained that they have worked hard to increase awareness of their digital resources by highlighting tie-ins with special collections and creating visual displays.  She said that Mango is also a great resource to promote at the Back-to-School Fair hosted by the library in the fall.

Congrats again, MCPL – and keep up the great work!

Inspiration: It’s What Keeps Me Going

At the gym the other day, between the monotonous stomping of my feet on the treadmill, I overheard a woman speaking in heavily-accented English.  She was asking her workout partner to show her how to correctly do a push-up.  I listened to her for a few minutes, as she struggled to find the words to describe what she wanted to say.  It made me reflect upon my own experiences as a study abroad student in Munich.  I remember how frustrating it would be to run into situations where I couldn’t accurately express myself.

On one particular occasion, my inability to remember the verb “to pay” meant that I couldn’t tell the waiter that I had already paid my bill.  I recall repeating over and over again: “ich habe schon…ich habe schon…” (“I already…”)  But the word escaped me.  I tried to motion a “paying” action with my hands, but it just confused the waiter even more.  Finally, I remembered the verb and was able to complete my sentence, satisfying the waiter and setting him on his way.

Running into situations such as these occurred on almost a daily basis when I first moved to Munich.  Things that should take moments to complete, often became stressful, drawn-out processes simply due to my inability to correctly express what I wanted to say.  As a grown adult, it was extremely frustrating to have my vocabulary set back to the level of a child, particularly when I still needed to do “grown-up things” (like set up a cell phone or register with the city).

So suffice to say, I completely sympathized with the woman at my gym when I heard her struggling in broken English.  But when I turned around and saw who she had been speaking to all along, I felt an even higher level of respect.  The woman had been speaking with her husband.  It was obvious that they shared the same mother tongue, so it would have been much easier for her to carry on in their native language.  But the fact that she chose to instead practice her speaking skills and converse with him in English, made me beam with admiration.

I’m now married to German-American man, but I have to admit that our daily conversations in German are usually limited to short words and phrases.  Rarely do we commit to conversing fully in German, simply because English is the more natural medium for both of us.  My husband moved to the US when he was 10, so he speaks English as if it were his native tongue.  Plus, we met before I even started studying German, so it’s become what we’re used to.

But I have to admit that seeing this courageous couple made me realize that there’s no excuse not to try.  It also made me think of all the people living in the U.S. who struggle to learn English because they want to create a better life for themselves.  I’m lucky that learning a foreign language has never been imperative for me – it’s always been a choice.  A choice that nonetheless opens the door to many opportunities and experiences.  So what excuse do I have not to practice more often?  Better yet: why would I not want to?

What motivates you to study a foreign language?  When things get tough, what “keeps you going?”

To join Mango Languages’ Language Resolution campaign, follow us on Twitter, like us on Facebook or use the hashtag #LanguageResolution to join the conversation.  Our goal is to make this the year that you commit to learning a foreign language by providing daily challenges, tips, and motivation.  Together, we can do this.

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.

Lilia Comes To Mango Grove for a Visit

We were so excited when Lilia Mouma, our head linguist, came all the way from Greece to visit the Mango Grove for three weeks. We talk to her all the time via skype but having her here in person is awesome! Check out her welcome by the Elves! Warning…we are huggers!

"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.