Mango: Learn Languages Online Easy-Like
September 19th, 2007 by 5cents
A lot of the xenophobia sweeping the world these days stems from the simple fact that it is hard to understand what the hell that towel-head/spic/wop/sand nigger or chink is saying. This aside from all the obvious cultural differences. Still, just knowing how to say a few phrases in someone else’s language is a huge step towards understanding, tolerance and a moving rendition of Kumbaya.
In search of alleviating said communication barrier is the free web application, Mango, which just launched its beta version this week. Rather than pay an arm and a leg to attend classes on some campus, just grab a few beers and spend 20 minutes on the site. It’s easy to use, beautifully laid out and the phrases are clearly spoken. I imagine it would take a little longer to load on slower internet connections, nevertheless, it is a fantastic piece of kit. Read On! »
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Apparently the Jappos are good for more than ultra-reliable but boring cars, origami, robots and anime. As part of a drive to reduce disposable containers and packaging, they’ve called upon the art of Furoshiki which involves using a simple square piece of cloth to fashion a carrying case. It’s all along the vein of origami and while some might seem obvious, others are really quite clever. It’s just the sort of thing that we need to be doing in order to save this planet from destruction. I can totally see this as a new fashion statement for those eco-friendly types. Hint: Choose some sort of designer cloth (Louis Vuitton or some fine leather) and give it to your girlfriend/mother/sister along with the diagram below. She’ll be the first on the block to rep this style. Makes you wonder how much smarter than us the ancient peoples really were. Remember, you heard it here second (I cant remember where I originally got this image from, sorry). High res pic after the jump.