#mangolanguages

[its-hitoshi]

modern! sevika au [low income edition]

Hi I’m also going to be using the last name ‘Jain’. It makes me think of that pretty girl at a summer program I went to that had that same last name and like Sevika, I can’t get her pretty eyes out of my head now. Setting is a general big city. Think of Los Angeles or New York or Toronto

ANYWAY FIRST GEN LOW INCOME SEVIKA REP LETS GOOO. I'm trauma dumping onto Sevika. No one can stop me.

-

Sevika Jain, who grew up on food stamps, always looking forward to that one snack her parents would buy her at the end of their grocery hauls. Some days it was bubblegum and shrimp chips the next. Her favorite was always roasted peanuts though. But none of those ever compared to the snacks her mom would make after she helped carry inside bags of fresh vegetables and gallons of water [from the local water store of course]

Sevika, who’s never had the privilege of having her own bed. Or her own room for that matter. Her entire family – mom, dad – lived in a one bedroom apartment. Growing up, she’d snuggle between them during cold nights under that one thick, flower-patterned blanket.

Having fun was playing on the jungle gym or sports with other kids at a local park. Her baba always took her. It’s how she would spend her summers. She still had asthma though. The air quality wasn’t good.

Sevika, who grew up speaking fluent Hindi, only being able to understand her dad now when he speaks to her. All the words she used to know, she can’t say them anymore. She remembers how they felt on her tongue, how they sound. But when she tries, it all comes out wrong. She doesn’t speak Hindi anymore. [Perhaps in a few years, she’ll try to learn again. Duolingo. Mangolanguages. Maybe she’ll meet someone who’s also having difficulties with their own language. Maybe together, they can try.]

Sevika, whose parents loved her, but still felt the sting of their palms. Or sometimes it was a stick. They said they did it because they loved her. Look at all they haven’t made her do, like other kids. Back in their homes, in their childhoods, she would have been working so much. Doesn’t she see how much they’re doing for her? Why can’t she behave?

Sometimes, when her parents fought, she’d see a flash of silver as their voices rose and things got… violent. Sevika wonders if it was just her childish imagination that saw the window rattle or if they actually did it.

Her father sobbed the day her mother died, nonetheless. All the fighting and all that screaming. The doctors had said it was a stroke. Her mama had been complaining about fatigue. Her head was throbbing the morning she walked out the door to go work. Sevika had had school. Her dad also had work. Sevika didn’t know until her dad pulled her out of school one day, white knuckles clenched around the steering wheel as he says quietly that her mother is dead. They park outside of the hospital, and this is the first and last time she sees her father cry. He still had to go into work the next day.

Sevika, who’s older and seen more of the world now, remembering those who weren’t able to. She went to a Title 1 school. Underfunded, in an area that might have been described as ‘ghetto’ in the past – gentrified now, of course. She wouldn’t be able to afford to live there now. The low-income apartment towers she used to live in were remodeled into luxury apartments, marketed to savvy college graduates who wanted to live close to the heart of the city. She walks past the streets she used to call home and tries to recall where the memorial for her classmate had been. They left flowers and candles at the corner he died at. There it is.

And there, she recalls, another shooting happened. There wasn’t a memorial, but there was a death. School had just been dismissed. It was a drive-by. They weren’t a student, but she had been. Her school’s been shut down now. Low enrollment, low performance, and the like. It’s been merged with another school a few streets down.

She wasn’t the best at school, but she wasn’t the worst. She could do fractions in high school, which was better than some of her fellow students. What she did do, was get into a decent amount of fights. She was tall for a girl. Quiet. Also couldn’t stand it when some bastard was running his mouth with no bite to match up his bark.

She graduated, solid middle of her class. She stayed near the neighborhood as others left for better or for cheaper lives. It was already starting to get expensive.

More deaths started rolling in. A drug overdose here or there.

Girls her age becoming pregnant. Having kids. Sevika wondered if there was ever anything wrong with her. She never wanted a guy like they did. Maybe what they said during high school was right. Maybe she is a lesbian. [in time, she comes to understand that she is. Also, that her desire for people is a little different from others. It’s all okay.]

Sevika walking past a recreation center. They’d given her a scholarship one summer, when she wanted to take lessons. Her baba had told her no, but they said they’d take her anyway. Free. They’d give her a scholarship. Sevika, who usually always spoke in low tones, not just because it was comfortable, but because it would get people off her back, was allowed to sing.

Her baba had recorded it. It’s in a flash drive somewhere, but Sevika also had it uploaded to her computer. It captures the moment she ran down to her baba to give him a big hug. He’d said she was amazing.

Late at night, when she’s in her apartment far from the heart of her city, far from what was home, but still home, Sevika is cooking a curry. Her kitchen, though small, is filled with little plastic sachets of herbs and spices bought from her local grocer. She has a pestle and mortar to grind up her spices as coarsely or as fine as she’d like. The scent of home blooms in the air. She found a playlist of old songs someone compiled on Youtube. Her parents liked these songs. She hums the melody, mouthing some of the words as she cleans her chicken. Her baba is dead now. Been so for quite a few years. She’s grown. Her college degree is hung up on the wall, a nod to him and his dreams for her. She did it, even if it was a little late. Even if it wasn’t at some big, fancy college where she knew she’d be the odd one out. He’d have a conniption if he knew she lost her arm in an accident. She got a decent settlement from her workplace at least. Kept her from being off the streets.

 If she ever bumps into them, she’ll buy her classmates and their kids something from the food stall at the corner of the street – churros, freshly made by a nice woman who she can’t really communicate with, but food is food, and money is money. Their kids aren’t kids anymore. Teenagers, plucky and ready to take on the world.

She doesn’t need to be on food stamps anymore. She might not be rich, but she’s stable. This curry will last her for a few days. Silco might work her to the bone in his NGO, but she has her sick days. And vacation days that he not-so-subtly asks her to take with his Do I work you hard enough to not visit Vander’s bar? He’s been complaining about me barring his best customer.

Vander and Silco have two girls between the two of them: Powder and Violet. Violet has her mother’s face. Powder reminds Sevika of how Felicia was like when they were all kids together – when they first met. And somehow, Vander finds enough time to volunteer with two more boys. Mylo and Claggor. Sevika’s met them all at this point.

She takes them to the park when Vander and Silco need a break. She watches them play in the apparatus and muses at how… green the playgrounds are nowadays. No more blacktop. Grass and trees and flowers. There’s even music playing from a radio somewhere. Whoever that person is, they have good taste.

So do the kids, apparently, when they eat up the curry she brought them for lunch. She smirks as she knows for certain that she’s given Vander a run for his money now.

(Vander’s also doing the dishes for her in that nice dishwasher he has in his bar)

[latinthusiast]

re: Duolingo using AI and people choosing to stop using it but feeling lost as to how to access language learning

One alternative app you might look into is MangoLanguages -- it's often free through your local public library! Try going to get a library card and checking if they have it as an online resource. If you can't get access for free through the public library, you can pay a few bucks a month (actually might be like $10? I'd have to double check).

(And yes, MangoLangs has Finnish!)

[devilscreekballad]

No, but i legit have not seen anyone put as much care into the kind of writing and research you do for wild west stuff, my family is creole/cajun that moved out west and its crazy to see that kind of rep in ANY game, period. you're doing good work.

<3

thank you, that means a lot.

Also, as previously mentioned, if you have any resources that could help, please throw them my way. I'm currently reading up on Haiti's history and creole and cajun culture (that the right terms?) and language, and every little bit helps

And if anyone knows if there are good Haitian Creole course online (I found one on mangolanguages, but I don't know if it's worth the time), let me know <3

[klug]

I started the mangolanguage course for Tagalog recently and the pitch accent feels so different from ilonggo (what my parents speak at home) everyone is going to be able to tell that my family is from the middle of nowhere 💔

[slimate]

I've been using Duolingo for a fucking year and I still don't know enough Spanish to communicate with the elderly Mexican woman who's set up a fruit stand selling the best mangoes I've ever tasted. I gotta go back to mangolanguages this manipulative green owl does not make you conversational

[latinthusiast]

I'd love to be included in discussions of like an online study group if that happens!!

I think it's time for me to invest in some Finnish workbooks, textbooks, easy reading materials. Looking for good recs!!

Have been occasionally mining this resource for good stuff: https://yle.fi/aihe/oppiminen/suomen-kielen-alkeet

And will probably pick back up with MangoLanguages via my local public library.

Yoooo the duolingo thing sucks such ass. I'm gonna start looking for alternatives, but it was so accessible. I hope theres another language tool similar cause im also terrible at learning through reading or listening only. I need the interactive elements.

I'm also subscribed until late June, ugh. Hate.

Seriously if you find a good alternative, please keep us posted!!

Tbh we should have a study group at some point, I feel like it could be fun haha. And a ton more ethical

[osceolalibrary]

Don't forget: You can still #stream or #download your favorite #films, #books, #magazines, and #news articles straight to your device or learn something new with online #classes thanks to our #digital resources! Learn a new language, read the classics or new releases, help your kids learn to read with read-alongs, learn skills like video editing or a new software, or stream movies (without paying a subscription to do so), and more. It's all here, and it's all FREE with your Library card or eCard number. Find it all on our website at osceolalibrary.org/databases #osceolalibrary #librarynews #onlineresources #languagelearning #ebooks #audiobooks #mangolanguages #lynda #washingtonpost #orlandosentinel #rbdigital #newsbank #tumblebooks #beanstack #odilo #hoopla #cloudlibrary #kanopy https://www.instagram.com/p/B99nmSlJc1n/?igshid=1lp2ml7c27epm

[woodlibraryteens]

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Learn a language with @mangolanguages ! All you need is your library card, find the link to Mango in our bio! #mangolanguages #learningathome #languagelearning #woodlibrary https://www.instagram.com/p/B_8C0w1jEmE/?igshid=1sfu6fqya2yv0

[lauroe1964]

Meet my girlfriend

hi girls,

So you might be thinking “Lauren, you have found the love of your life already? Aren’t you going a little fast?” And yeah, our relationship has gone fast, but love is love, and that’s the tea, sis

We first met in the NYU lobby. She was gazing right at me. I smiled and went up to her. The rest of history...

She is so sweet and makes my heart flutter. She never disappoints and is always supportive.

Everyone, please meet the love of my life, my partner, my girlfriend, the 50 cent espresso machine.

And just because I have met my future wife, doesn’t mean that I am a changed woman. I still turn metal incapacitated whenever the lady at the boulangerie asks me “ça tout?” (“That’s all?”) after I order my baguette. Just today I tried to ask someone “Where is the trashcan?” but accidentally asked “Where is the wallet?”  Why am I like this.  

Anyways I hope things are going well in the States. What you have been up to? How’s your internship? What’s your man’s up to? I’ve been learning my ABCs and looking at slabs of cement that have once been Roman baths. Pretty invigorating if you ask me.

Parle à vous prochain semaine!

-L  

[only-mildly-evil]

also when they taught us the words for different majors to use when discussing university or college they gave us the words for business and finance first......... mangolanguages is there something you want to say about the demogrphic of people who traditionally speak yiddish 🤨

well. at least they waited until unit 2

[scribesandvibes]

#eLibrary #Repost @dekalbreads ・・・ #MangoMondays: #LEARNANEWLANGUAGE via #MangoLanguages from #dekalbcountypubliclibrary #referencedatabases | #turnupabook #theresanappforthat #scribesandvibes #galileolibrary #econtent #languagelearning | #dcpldigital / #dekalbreads: bit.ly/dcpl-mangolanguages ・・・ #vibewise: #THINKBEYONDTHEBOOKS... #experiencethelibrary #beyondthewallsofthelibrary! #thinkDIGITAL think #LibraryIoT [#libraryinformationscience + #theinternetofthings] use your #DCPL #librarycard to learn over 70 #ForeignLanguages and #AmericanSignLanguage within Mango Languages. -@scribesandvibes | #libraryoutloud / #reimagineyourlibrary https://www.instagram.com/p/Bsn4ufJFpU2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=11tc4vj88ieq2

[fluentzebra]

#fluentzebra #mangolanguages #languagelearningresources #learnlanguagesonline #languagelearning #learninglanguages #language #polyglot #foreignlanguage #languageschool #learnlanguages https://www.instagram.com/p/ChC55T5Ox0B/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[adventuretaryn]

Alright I have my five languages

and dammit Imma stick to them until I get somewhat fluent! Im saying five because that’s how many I can keep in a solid list on mangolanguages. 

1. French

2. Dutch

3. Finnish

4. Chinese

5. icelandic

[libraryoutloud]

#GoodEvening ! #Buonasera! #experiencethelibrary #beyondthewallsofthelibrary! #LEARNANEWLANGUAGE via #MangoLanguages from #georgialibraries #referencedatabases. Join #dekalbreads or #rockdalereads for #MangoMondays by utilizing your #librarycard to learn over 70 #ForeignLanguages and #AmericanSignLanguage within Mango Languages. | #turnupabook #theresanappforthat #scribesandvibes #galileolibrary #econtent #languagelearning ・・・ #vibewise: #THINKBEYONDTHEBOOKS... think DIGITAL think #LibraryIoT [#libraryinformationscience + the internet of things] -@scribesandvibes | #libraryoutloud / #reimagineyourlibrary ・・・ #dcpldigital at #dekalbcountypubliclibrary: bit.ly/dcpl-mangolanguages ・・・ #crlsdigital at #conyersrockdalelibrary: bit.ly/crls-mangolanguages https://www.instagram.com/p/BuDAXdnhodH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=jzg3basdaecn

[djzibaz]

It's like bilingual conversation group at the library every Thursday in Long Beach but it's language exchange at the bar every Thursday in Valencia, free! #LBPL #🇪🇸 #españa #mangolanguages #iLuvlibraries #zebrapizzahoneymoon #languageexchange (at Radio City Valencia)