Mango Languages

Theory Thursday: Listening, not just hearing, Global voices

Happy Thursday Everyone!

For those who have not yet heard about TED Talks, get ready to have your world rocked, (in a very educational way). TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing people together from the worlds of Technology, Entertainment and Design. TED.com now hosts the best talks and performances from TED and partners that are available to the world. They believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world and we here at Mango couldn’t agree more.

In honor of Theory Thursday, I wanted to share a really interesting video from TED.com. Ethan Zeckerman, a researcher at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University,  provides a really interesting discussion about the clever strategies to open up social media channels, such as Twitter, and read the news in languages you don’t even know.

Check out Zeckerman’s Talk, Listening to Global Voices. This Talk is thought provoking and inspiring. The Talk ties into social media and global communication and how much the two are interconnected this day and age.

We would love to hear your thoughts. How have you seen social media change global communication? What has your experience been like using social media to connect and understand international topics, relations and/or ideas?

Twitter > Textbooks: why social media is tres/muy/molto useful for language learning.

Twitter recently announced the release of the social networking site in 5 new languages bringing the total number of available languages to 17. As a student of French and an avid social media user, this news made me stop and think about the many ways in which social media (Twitter specifically) has shaped my language learning.

Since I first created a Twitter account, I began following French speakers who were influential in topics that interested me. In my case, that means I follow graphic design and marketing professionals from France and French-speaking Canada.

I was able to “eavesdrop” on their topical conversations to learn industry-specific vocabulary. Learning real-word vocabulary, grammar, and slang specific to my interests is something I could have never experienced reading out of one of my college textbooks.

Sorry to any of my dear professeurs reading this but here’s why I think social media is better than traditional advanced language-learning methods:

1. It’s more fun.

Let’s be honest: hanging out on Twitter is more fun than making conjugation charts or writing a literary analysis of a French poem. While learning the basics first is necessary to understanding and interacting in a new language online, once you build a foundation, you’re more likely to stay engaged with something fun that doesn’t feel like homework.

Bottom line: textbooks are expensive and they’re horrible conversationalists.

2. It’s real.

The language you read on Twitter from native speakers is unstructured and natural. People express themselves on social media the same way they do in real life.

If your end goal is to be able to communicate effectively with native speakers of the language you’re learning, the best way to do it is talk with them! If a luxury séjour in the south of France isn’t 100% doable for you right now, logging on to your social networking accounts might be a cheaper alternative (albeit minus the tan).

My advice on how to use the [excessive, in my case] time you spend on social networking sites to accelerate your language learning? Follow, respond to and make your way into the online social circles of native speakers of your target language.

In my experience doing exactly this, I’ve learned cultural nuances, new vocabulary, met fascinating people from around the globe and have even attended tweet-ups in other countries.

Not ready to start chatting-up foreign strangers? Understandable.
A great place to start is by changing the default language on your accounts to the language you want to learn. It’s a simple way to learn new vocabulary words and have them really sink in!

Do you have a success story or suggestion for ways to utilize social media to learn a language?

Mango goes to the Bees Awards

Last week, I got the chance to go to San Francisco, California for the Bees Awards.  The awards program honors the best social media marketing practices of the year.

The day started off with a social media seminar that focused on international social media practices. I got to meet Guy Kawasaki who signed my Enchantment book. So fun, I have been following him in the social media space for over 3 years.

In the evening, we all dressed up and moved to the Legion of Honor where the actual awards ceremony was held. Such a great venue, there were statues from Rodin, including The Thinker. Really neat space.

Mango Languages sponsored the student brief section of the awards. We created a project brief and several students from around the world submitted ideas. They were all great ideas. From Facebook Games to cool new product ideas. We actually had a vigorous debate on who should win. Great submissions! We plan on using one or two soon.

I was asked to present 3 awards and to give the student brief winner a check for $2,000. I was so excited to be at the ceremony and all of us had a great time. I particularly liked giving the check. It was one of those huge checks like from Publishers Clearinghouse. That was a first for me! I guess I can literally “check” it off my list now.

What do YOU love most about social media?