Lesson 6: Mango Languages

You have to set up an account first.  If you think you did, but can't get in, sometimes it's quicker to just open a new account.  And sometimes, like with Noel Wien, you must start over with a new account, as now all Alaskans can access Mango, not just Noel Wien patrons.  Someone else commented that they couldn't get in without going to the library itself, but I've had no problem accessing Mango while traveling, at home, or at Paxson (however slow!).

intro:
"Mango uses real-life situations and actual conversations…By listening to and repeating after material designed from native conversations, you'll not only learn the individual words and phrases, you'll know how they're used in practical situations and conversations…

Going to Courses, I selected French.

French
There's an introduction about the language.

Basic
Mango Basic teaches simple, practical skills for common, polite conversation situations in only a few short hours.

Complete 2.0
Mango Complete 2.0 teaches in-depth and comprehensive language and grammar skills.

Spoken by:
about 77 million (native), 390 million (non-native) speakers.
Spoken in:
France, Canada, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina, Faso, Niger, Senegal, Mali, Belgium, Guinea, Chad, Haiti, Burundi, Benin, Switzerland, Togo, Central African Republic, Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, Djibouti, Luxembourg, Vanuatu, Seychelles, Monaco.

I thought this was really useful as a reference.  I once had a kid ask me where in the South Pacific was French spoken (he was heading that direction with his parents).  This actually lists the countries, although there is a comma between Burkina and Faso, and that's one country, so maybe it's not totally a  useful reference.  But at least a start!

You must have a current javascript and Adobe Flash player loaded onto your computer before it will operate.

I worked all the way through the French chapter 1.  Generally, I totally was in agreement with what I would say, based on what I already know about French.

Next, I tried German, which I don't know except for a couple of expressions like Guten Tag and Gesundheit.
Interestingly, the conversation and actual topics are different, which impressed me.  No language translates exactly the same, and the meanings in English are often different from what we think we'd say.  For example, in English, you say "I miss you."  In French, "you are missing to me"  - Tu me manques.  I thought it was interesting that there are masculine, neuter, and feminine nouns in German, and there isn't really much way to tell except to learn them with the der (masculine), das (neuter), and die (feminine), which is essentially "the."

I really like that by logging in, Mango retains what I've done already (I don't have to remember).  Also, any time I want to go back and review, I can.  It's very easy to move back and forth in a lesson when I don't remember something.  I also like that I don't have to listen to the audio if I don't want to, but I always can, to get a better grasp of the particular word or phrase.  There is a button that lets a person turn off the narrator completely (lower right of screen).  I also can plug my earbuds into the computer and listen if I want to.

The inclusion of little grammar tidbits helps too.  The Keyboard controls can be turned on and are good for only using the keyboard.  E.g., if you are taking a test or quiz, type the space bar to see the answer.  You can extend clock time during tests and quizzes by using the Shift+arrow up buttons.  Left or right arrows will give you the previous slide or go to the next slide.  And the Return key will replay the current slide from the beginning.

There's also the Feedback button, which would be to share an idea with the creators of Mango, contact Customer Service if you are having problems, or reporting an error you discover in the program info.

Sometimes, you want to say something in a language, but the course info doesn't give that.  There's a translation tool in the main menu for all languages.  Generally I'd use Google translator and check what it says with a few other translator options.  For example, I might check BabelFish, but it says "Je vous manque" instead of "Vous me manquez!" or "Tu me manques!"  It is essential to always check when doing translations.

The Support given by Mango is really quite good - it will actually check that you have the correct versions of Adobe Flash and Javascript, and if you don't, gives good explanation on how to update your computer.  Even Font display issues are addressed.

Under Courses, you can work with the basic language, or you can advance to Complete 2.0.  At least with the French, I think it takes you through approximately the end of a high school 2nd year book.  I'd say at the college level that the French is more like 1.3, although in a couple of items you might reach into 2.1; it is definitely  not a full 2nd year of the language at the collegiate level.  That said, I think I could get along well as a tourist in Italy by working through the complete Italian Course 2.0.  Sure, I wouldn't know everything, but I'd have basic language skills and using my iPhone app iTranslate Voice when needed in country, I could make it, I think, and really enjoy the experience.  In a foreign country, it is always appreciated that an American will try to speak the local language, even when s/he "butchers" the pronunciation or puts the words out of order.

I see Mango as an excellent reinforcer for all foreign language teachers in Alaska as well as for the tourist or someone who is just interested in learning the basics to a particular language.  There is a good selection of languages from which to choose.