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!

Oakland Press News 9

Check out this review of Mango on the Oakland Press website!

“Have you ever been on a trip somewhere in the world and wished you were able to talk to the locals more effectively in their language?

That’s something that’s easily achievable through a variety of computer programs, and one Oakland County company – Farmington Hills-based Mango Languages – has its own offering in this category.

I recently gave the company’s Mango Passport a whirl, learning Italian, and was impressed with what I saw.”  Read More…

The Muscat Festival

Beginning in 1998, the Muscat Festival in Muscat, Oman, is a celebration of both traditional arts and culture. Muscat as a city itself is one of the most multicultural centers in the world. Its blend of extreme tradition mixed with modern attractions, along with its position geographically make it a perfect link between Asia, Africa, and Europe.

This year’s festival begins on the 27th of January, and is expected to outdo last year’s attendance of over 2 million people. The festival lasts literally just days short of a whole month, and includes everything from fashion shows, to food festivals, to an extreme sailing series. Littered with concerts, traditional artists, as well as educational events like lectures and novel discussions, this festival literally has something for everyone to enjoy.

Have you been to an international or multicultural festival anywhere in the world? Tell us about it!

Tall Ship Sailing

The thought of sailing the world, seeing different destinations, and meeting people from all over isn’t just something for retirees anymore, and what’s more – It’s free.

There are actually opportunities available for individuals who are able-bodied to volunteer on the deck of a tall ship – that being a ship with masts and sails, the whole deal- and travel from port to port, with your only payment being volunteer work on for the ship. You can pick a departure and destination, hop on, and be on your way. These voyages take place either for a day, weeks, months, or as long as it takes to trek the entire planet. Wow!

I had the pleasure of speaking with a gentleman who had actually participated in this on and off for about five years, and he couldn’t say enough good things about it.  He referred me tohttp://www.sailtraining.org/ to find out more information.

Have you ever been on a boat? Would you be interested in doing something this?

Celtic Colours International Festival

Since 1997, Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia has been the home of the Celtic Colours (Yes, with a “u”) International Festival. For nine days in October, Cape Breton is Celtic-clad with music, dancers, story-tellers, and the like from all over the world: Scotland, Ireland, Wales, England, Spain, Denmark, Cuba, Germany, the U.S., and more.

This festival isn’t just located in just one place or locale.  It is held all across the island. There are concerts and festivals celebrating authentic Celtic culture from town to town, within chapels, community “centres,” and even local fire halls.

The Celtic Colours International Festival has been given a substantial amount of credit world wide, receiving three East Coast Music Awards in recent years.

So if you’re interested in friendly people, beautiful scenery, and spelling words like “centre” and “colour” incorrectly (kidding),  make this your destination next October!

Have you  listened to Celtic music? Do you know anyone who celebrates Celtic culture? Please share!

Fall is All Around

Hello friends,

When you look out of your window, do you experience as amazing fall colors as we do here in Michigan? Red, yellow, green, brown…  Monet would surely be inspired looking at this beautiful array of colors and would probably create another great masterpiece inspired by Michigan’s beauty.  Mother Nature was very gracious to Detroit these last few days. She granted us with lots of sun and warm air. What about smell? No, I am not talking about the pollution in the city! If you are outside, stop for a moment, close your eyes, forget about the world and smell….. I smell fresh fall leaves, a little bit of rain. And just when you think the gloom of winter is near, out comes the sun – oops, a sunbeam just touched my nose! I love fall!! Isn’t life amazing when we actually stop for a moment to enjoy all the beauty that this planet has to offer?

Looking at all the fall colors I always remember my home country, Ukraine, which is also very beautiful during the fall. Ukraine has very similar weather, breathtaking fall colors, and lots of apples.  Speaking of apples, this past weekend my one-year-old daughter enjoyed her first trip to the Cider Mill with my family and she loooooved the apple cider.  It is amazing because she gets the privilege to experience so many things for the first time in her life. Even though she might not be able to remember them for a long time being so young, childhood memories do build up and amazingly influence our being.

How do you experience fall?

Horse Racing isn't Just for Gamblers

Every year in Siena, Italy, the Palio di Siena is held twice annually.  Known as just Il Palio locally, the race consists of ten horses, representing ten of the seventeen Contrade, or city wards, of Italy.

The race takes place both on the 2^nd of July and the 16^th of August every year, each date corresponding with a religious event.

Before the event, a pageant called the Corteo Storico occurs during which there is a choreographed parade with costumes.  This parade in itself attracts visitors from all over the world.   Right before the competition there are last minute meetings between the heads of the Contrada, in which alliances are made and strategy is discussed.  This is serious business!

The race itself lasts literally about a minute and 30 seconds, and it is entirely possible for a horse to win the race even if its jockey falls off and doesn’t finish the race.   As the jockeys all ride bareback on the horses, it isn’t too much of a surprise that they are sometimes thrown off while making tight turns or movements.

Have you ever been to a horse race?  Was it anything like this?

Pourcailhade

Every year on the second Sunday of August, the town of Trie Sur Baise, France is as happy as a pig in mud.  Seriously. Put on by the Brotherhood of the Pig, Pourcailhade is the French festival celebrating the swine.

Trie Sur Baise, where the festival takes place, is one of the largest pig raising areas in France and actually has a dedicated market for everything pig.  During the week of the event, there are eating contests, a pig-outfit contest, general festivities around the whole town, and the biggest event–the national pig imitation competition, in which contestants must not just make pig sounds but be able to do so corresponding to different portions of the pig’s life, like feeding or reproduction.

On top of this, every business in the town must create its own personal character, image, or cartoon of a pig to participate.

So don your snout, your wiry tail, and your best oink, and make your way to France (or send one of your piggish in-laws) to roll around in this festival.

World Wife Carrying Championship!

Alright girls, so we might not have carried you home after the wedding like they do in the movies, but here’s your second chance!

Every year, there is an event held in Sonkajarvi, Finland, in which men race to the end of a 253.5 meter official track while carrying a woman (she doesn’t have to be your wife) through two dry obstacles, and one 3m deep water obstacle.  You can carry your “wife” any way you please: piggyback, fireman (over your shoulder), or Estonian-style (the wife hangs upside down with her legs around the husband’s shoulders and her hands around his waist).

The sport got its origin only about 15 years ago, though it is said to be based on a joke reminiscent of the past, in which men courted women by running to their village, picking them up, and carrying them away.

Today, the sport is practiced worldwide, with a notable competition right here in Marquette, Michigan!  There is a North American Championship held in Maine, after which the winning couple goes to Finland to compete in the world championship.

This year’s champion won a plasma T.V. and his weight in beer.  Who’s signing up with me??

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?