Mango Languages: An innovative approach to language-learning

The internet offers a variety of language-learning programs. We’ve talked about some of them before and I’m sure we’ll talk about more of them in the future.

What we’re excited about is a relatively new language-learning program, which uses an innovative approach to teaching new languages. Mango Languages, which was established in 2007, is the company behind this program.

While testing out the German program, I found myself instantly entertained and intrigued. So I spoke with Jason Teshuba, founder and CEO of Mango Languages, to find out what makes this language-learning program so unique.

What makes Mango Languages different from other programs?

Mango Languages focuses on teaching conversational skills rather than vocabulary rarely needed when traveling. Their modern language courses vary between 10 and 40 courses, each with 5 to 10 lessons. The lessons range from greetings to encounters you may need to have at the doctor, at the bank or in a restaurant.

Mango Languages promotes the concept of Organic Language Acquisition, Teshuba noted, which teaches users how to learn new vocabulary in another language. Phrases such as “How do you say ______ in [language]?” are taught to help people supplement their own learning when they encounter words they don’t know in their new language.

Throughout all that, the Mango Languages program still finds a way of sneaking grammar into your language-learning, with what Teshuba calls “stealth grammar”. They make it intuitive to recognize changes in tenses and sentence structure, so there is no longer a need to memorize long strings of grammar rules. Instead, they are built into your learning.

Each course is planned and written with the help of highly qualified language teachers. These teachers go through a rigorous selection process to make sure they’ll help build successful courses.

Which platforms can this program be used on?

So where can you test out the Mango Languages program? On more than a few platforms actually! Mango Languages has an app for iPhone, iPod touch and Android, and is of course available online to all.

They are always looking at new technologies, to be available where people need them. The Mango Languages team wants to make it easy to learn a new language no matter where you are, whether it be waiting at the airport or taking a break at work or school.

While you can sign up for it on your own, government entities, universities and public libraries have all gotten in on the action, offering the Mango Languages program to their employees, students and members.

Free through your local library

Not long after Mango Languages was created, libraries began contacting the team to find out how they could give access to the product to library users. To this day, many library systems have bought the program for their users! If your library offers this program, what does it mean for you? It means it’s free, of course!

You can go to FindMango.com to see if your local library offers the Mango Languages language-learning program. If it does, and if you have a library card, you can receive FREE online access to the program!

This allows anyone to have access to the program who would otherwise be discouraged by the price of language-learning.

One of the most touching comments Teshuba ever received from a client was from someone who had used Mango Languages through her local library to learn English. The testimonial, which came in the form of a video (“A real tearjerker,” Teshuba said), showed the woman from California who had just learned English. In English, she thanked Mango Languages for changing her life.

“As a company, what we stand for and what we believe in is that learning a language can change a life,” Teshuba said. “It can make it so much deeper and so much richer.”

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