Mango Languages

Do you speak tech?

“Just google it.”
“He texted me yesterday.”
“He liked my Facebook status.”
“Did you read my tweet?”

Our language is infused with technological influence. Consider this sentence:

“He liked my status.”

Ten years ago this would have been a weird sentence, implying that a man appreciated the speaker’s marital status perhaps? But today, we understand this to mean that a man clicked the “like” button underneath the speaker’s post on Facebook.

Speaking of Facebook, at this year’s f8 conference, Mark Zuckerberg discussed updates that will affect the language of Facebook:

“When we started, the vocabulary was really limited. You could only express a small number of things, like who you were friends with. Then last year, when we introduced the Open Graph, we added nouns, so you could like anything that you wanted. This year, we’re adding verbs. We’re going to make it so you can connect to anything in any way you want. It is all part of building this language for how people connect.”

Check out this fascinating article that examines the effect this change will have on the way we speak. You can also watch Zuckerberg’s entire keynote speech here.

What do you think of Facebook’s impact on language? Do you have examples of technology’s influence on vernacular?

Meet Our Newest Mango, Kevin!

We would like to extend an official welcome to our newest Mango, Kevin Winconek. Kevin has joined the Mango team a couple of weeks ago as our Project Software Coordinator.

Let’s learn more about Kevin:

How did you hear about Mango Languages? I heard about Mango Languages at a U of M career fair back in January of this year.

What is your official title and job description here at Mango? My official job title is a Project Coordinator in the technology department. As for my job description, I’m responsible for running Mango’s software QA (Quality Assurance) which involves testing of the company’s web-site, admin tool, MAP, course software, and the iPhone app. I’m also hoping to get more involved in project management and later business analysis.

Where did you study/work before this? I graduated this year from the University of Michigan-Dearborn earning my Bachelors in Business Administration in Information Technology Management. I was previously a personal assistant during college before coming to Mango Languages.

Any international travel stories? I actually was a trip assistant to one of U of M’s lead art historians for four years and have traveled to The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Austria, and the Czech Republic on art and architecture tours.  I have had an amazing experience seeing some of the most famous works of art and architecture in the world.

What do you love most about working at Mango? For me that’s a hard question because I love a lot of things about working at Mango! Whether it’s the awesome work environment, the wonderful “Mangoes,” the empowerment that we are given as employees, or the positive attitude of the company, I feel very honored to be working for such a great company!

What core value describes you best? Definitely integrity. Having a high standard of ethics and morals I feel has gotten me to where I am in my life today and here at Mango.

Such cool facts!

Welcome to the Mango Team!

From Snail-Mail to Email

Hello Mango Fans.  This morning after talking to another fellow Mango about our study abroad experiences, it got me thinking about how technology has changed our lives. When he went on a study abroad trip a couple decades ago, communicating with people back home wasn’t as easy. One was left with the options of writing letters by hand and the occasional, expensive, landline phone call.  When I studied abroad last year in Madrid, I sent picture messages to my friends back home, updated my Facebook status through my Blackberry, and got to physically communicate with my family and friends for free with Skype.

We treat technology as a family member, even if that is a little co-dependent. You can’t blame us, though; it’s certainly made aspects of our lives easier!  We’re no longer forced to send letters through the postal service, book vacations through travel agents, shop in stores, visit the library for research material, or wait for our photos to be developed.  Thanks to technology, all of these activities can be performed either digitally or online.

Think about it, kids these days don’t have to get caught passing notes to each other, they can just text.  Instead of buying greeting cards at Hallmark we can send ecards for special occasions that get delivered instantaneously to multiple people. We are no longer bound to long-distance charges, either. Many folks have already kicked their landline phones to the curb and replaced them with Voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) and mobile phones.

With thousands of applications now available at our fingertips with the use of iPhones, Blackberrys , and other smartphones (including the Mango iPhone application), people are more addicted to their phones than ever before.  The world we live in is moving at, what feels like, the speed of light when it comes to technology. For the most part, however, technology does us more good than harm: it’s reconnected us with old college roommates, helped us learn foreign languages, and encouraged us to exercise.

As you read this blog on your iPad, laptop, smartphone, or even TV screen think about the ways technology has changed your life.

Maybe in a couple more decades, when students sign up for to study abroad they can be teleported across the pond any time they choose. We’ll see…

Design Act 2010

All things industrial design are included in this festival held from August 31^st to September 5^th by the Moscow Centre for Contemporary Art (The Winzavod).  Being the 4^th annual Design Festival, this has been done in a similar fashion by major cities like Tokyo, London, New York, and Vienna.

This festival has transformed from a professionals-only event to a country-wide Festival, increasing the interest in industrial design among both young people and consumers.  While this may not be your typical “PARTY” Festival, it is still attended by people of all ages, classes, and professions.

Anything from bicycles, to decorations, to various multimedia and filmmaking exhibitions can be found during the course of the festival.

If you’re interested in design, this is definitely something you’ll want to check out!

Learning By The Book(mark)s

I think, naturally, that there is a dichotomy in most peoples’ minds between the quality of traditional, book-based education in schools and that of newer online instruction–but is this separation really merited? I argue that it is not. More and more, schools which still continue in-classroom education are moving toward online instruction, yet there is a stigma as to the quality of online instruction when compared against traditional methods of learning.

Online instruction, as opposed to what you may be inclined to think, doesn’t necessarily replace book-based learning, but it does greatly enhance a student’s experience by offering supplemental materials and up to date content that books or CDs simply cannot.  Still being a student myself, I have been lucky enough to experience the educational system both before and after the emergence of online resources.

For example, while studying Japanese, I had the pleasure of receiving a book this year through my class which was accompanied by an online component. Aside from everything I would learn inside of the class time and through the text, I was also able to log in to the book’s website and watch videos or print off supplementary materials that  pertained to the subject matter. Being able to access any of these materials at any time soon opened the door to the best semester of Japanese instruction I’ve had yet. There is only so much that can be absorbed during a few hours a week of instruction, but being able to, at my leisure, interact with what I’m learning gives me that much more motivation to do it.

We all know a more motivated learner is also much more receptive to what he/she is learning, so it follows that creating an environment in which the student feels most comfortable is the most conducive to actual retention. This is where the popularity and effectiveness of online learning lies, and is precisely the reason that interactive methods of learning are quickly becoming the favored method of many educational institutions.

Have you had any experience with online learning, whether in school or on your own? Do you prefer learning by the book or by the bookmark?