The Brickell-based agency is home to a team of truly creative strategists, technologists and businesspeople who constitute a “super network” capable of helping any brand visually go to the next level. And beyond the agency’s walls, they maintain close partnerships with today’s most innovative companies and individuals, allowing them to co-create with the best in the business; KingCreative.TV. — Jacquelyn Benson
Speak Up
Looking to expand linguistic horizons to prepare for global mobility? Turn to the same source that libraries, government entities and major corporations are using. Mango Languages is a premier provider of self-guided language training software, going beyond words and phrases to help learners achieve immediate conversational skills and cultural understanding. Mango also works with companies to create custom courses tailored to their specific industry needs. In addition, Mango Languages has recently introduced Mango Premiere, a one-of-a-kind product that teaches language through film; 586.651.0059, MangoLanguages.com. — Jacquelyn Benson
Vital Heritage
For many immigrant families, ensuring that their children become fluent speakers of the common language of their new home is a primary goal, opening up greater opportunities for success. But sometimes this effort comes at a cost. As children become more adept in English, they often lose their knowledge of their parents’ heritage language. According to Leanne Hinton of the University Of California, Berkeley, fluency in that original language declines as English improves, so that by high school, these children know only fragments. Both parents and children ultimately regret this loss of culture and connection to their place of origin. Preserving true bilingualism requires work by both families and communities. In the UK, for example, South Asian immigrant families encourage their children to speak their native languages at home, and volunteer-based schools run on weekends or in complement with traditional schooling to help provide further knowledge and practice. Without effort, heritage languages are often completely lost within 2-3 generations. Practicing language at home and within a strong immigrant community while English is used in school and when interacting with the world at large helps to ensure that children maintain fluency in both, giving them an important bridge to connect them to their place of origin and unique, personal culture.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maria Elvira De La Vega is a 2nd Generation Mexican-French Language Specialist who firmly believes in the importance of passing down heritage languages from generation to generation. Her practice includes work with children, adults and families.
Cheap Words
Want to learn a new language on your own without shelling out the big bucks for the famed Rosetta Stone programs? Here are 3 affordable alternatives.
Just Listen
Pimsleur Audio Courses are made up of 90 half-hour lessons meant to take about 3 months to complete. Instead of rote memorization, you learn to translate your thoughts into words; $180, Pimsleur.com.
Personal Approach
Byki offers both free and premium paid options for learning languages, based on a smart and engaging flash card interface. The software is both powerful and personalized, making sure you learn the vocabulary you need; Byki.com.
Right Price
Looking to keep that cash in your pocket? Busuu offers free language learning tools for a wide range of languages with a variety of ways to learn. Study vocabulary or brush up on punctuation and grammar; Busuu.com.
