#smigin

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5 Reasons to Learn Chinese Right Now 

Learning Mandarin Chinese is a lot easier than you think. Compared to European languages, Chinese grammar is actually really simple: there are no subject-verb agreements, verb conjugations, masculine/feminine nouns or singular/plural words. Did that list convince you? If not, here are five more reasons to start learning Chinese today:

One in five people in the world speaks Chinese. That means you could speak to over 1.5 billion more people if you learn it, too!

China is a major U.S. trading partner. Learning Chinese gives international business professionals a huge advantage, especially when trying to access Chinese markets.

Only 8% of China's population speaks English, so you're gonna need all the help you can get to navigate China, Hong Kong and Taiwan without getting lost in translation!

You can order from secret menus at Chinese restaurants. Many Chinese restaurants in the U.S. have menus exclusively for Chinese speakers. Ask for it in Chinese, and prepare for a truly authentic dining experience!

Smigin just launched Chinese! Oh yes, we are so excited to announce that you can now learn to speak Chinese with Smigin! From bargaining your way through bustling shopping markets to ordering green tea in ancient tea parlors, we'll prepare you for real conversations for various situations – so you don't have to be the "annoying tourist" on your next trip to China.

Sounds pretty sweet, doesn't it? Try Smigin for 14 days free and start learning to speak Chinese right now – no credit card required.

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Time to ditch the online translators! Build and translate phrases on-the-go without any WiFi. 

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Smigin presents: American English vs. Irish English 

American English and Irish English are pretty much the same... but so different! Since it's St. Patrick's Day, we're bringing this back for the craic! 

Sláinte!

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Smigin College Ambassador - Apply Today! 

Description: Smigin Ambassadors represent the Smigin Brand to members and affiliates of their college community, particularly the study abroad center and foreign language departments. Ambassadors work remotely at their colleges to raise awareness of Smigin and to form a mutually beneficial relationship between their college and Smigin with the goal of solidifying a strategic partnership.

Interested applicants must be outgoing, intuitive self-starters with a strong ability to represent a brand they are passionate about. Critical thinking and problem solving are crucial attributes.

Smigin Ambassadors will receive monetary reward(s) for their success in solidifying licensing partnerships. Additionally, Smigin will provide t-shirts, laptop stickers, posters, flyers, etc. for Ambassadors to wear and to promote Smigin on their campus. This is a great opportunity for college students to hone skills in business, marketing, and sales.

Requirements:

Meet with faculty members and department heads at your college

Skype with a member of Team Smigin once a week for updates and strategy planning

Strong public speaking skills

Persuasive and clear writing for emails and pitches

If interested, please submit a resume and a short cover letter explaining why you’re the best candidate. Send all attachments to [email protected].

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Smigin is a conversation-based language learning platform that prepares users to speak a new language in real world situations. Using our patent-pending Smigin Method™, users learn how to have everyday conversations just as they would abroad. We currently offer Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and English as a Second Language, with several more languages coming in 2016. Smigin Travel, available on iOS and Android, helps travelers build and translate phrases in multiple languages on-the-go. With support from Google and Apple, Smigin Travel has powered conversations for users in over 175 countries.

The Smigin Travel App is a feature of the Yale Study Abroad pre-departure program with many more colleges joining this year.

Check out our website to get to know us a bit more before applying! www.smigin.com

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Meet Smigin.

After months of preparation and a successful Kickstarter campaign, we’re excited to finally announce that Smigin is now live!

Try it for free at www.smigin.com

Conversation made easy

Think about every single time you’ve tried to learn another language: every course, every lesson, every irrelevant word you’ve ever learned that never made its way into real situations. Words like “ball” and “boy.” 

Imagine going on a trip to Spain, and all you can say is “the boy is under the ball.”

Now imagine learning a language with Smigin.

Smigin prepares you for real conversations. In real situations. With real people.

We skip the 123s and ABCs and allow you to simulate real conversations so you can experience language in a way that feels social. With Smigin, you’ll absorb grammar effortlessly, respond at a natural pace, and know exactly what to say in a variety of places and situations. Whether you’ll be ordering at a restaurant, making hotel reservations, or navigating a foreign city, Smigin has you covered.

Languages available: Spanish (Spain), Italian, Portuguese (Portugal), and English as a Second Language (from Turkish and Portuguese). For now. System requirements: A web browser and an internet connection. That’s all.

Questions? Learn more about us at www.smigin.com or email us at [email protected]

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Growing up “Taglish”: 5 benefits of being bilingual

When I was in college, I surprised a lot of my peers every time they found out that I was an international student from the Philippines. Part of it had to do with my knowledge of Western culture, but a lot of it had to do with my mostly unaccented English. Following questions like “If you’re not American, where are you from?” and “Oh, so does your whole family live there and everything?” people would then ask me which languages I spoke growing up, and whether my first language was English or Tagalog.

Ask any bilingual person and you’ll realize that the answers aren’t so clean-cut. It doesn’t matter which language I “learned” first; I’ve been a fluent speaker of both English and Tagalog for as long as I can remember. While growing up, I’d even incorporate both languages in the same sentence, a practice fondly known to Filipinos as speaking “Taglish.”

I’ve always been fascinated by bilingualism. As it turns out, growing up bilingual has tons of perks. To give you an idea, here are five of them:

We’re smarter. Studies suggest that bilingualism encourages efficient cognitive activity, since the brain has to quickly alternate between two languages instantly. Thanks to years of constant code-switching, people who grow up bilingual or multilingual tend to be better planners, multitaskers, and problem-solvers.

Different languages bring out different sides of our personality. The language we speak and the way we think are intrinsically related, and anyone who speaks multiple languages can confirm that some words don’t translate so easily into other languages. When we switch between languages, the way we think also shifts ever-so-slightly – sometimes we even feel like a different person! But in a cool way.

There’s an unspoken connection among people who speak the same language, especially in a diverse city like New York. I love meeting other Filipinos in NYC – or even hearing conversations on the street among strangers in my language!

We can communicate with a wider variety of people compared to those who can only speak in one language. And since most of us grew up with constant cognitive workouts, we also tend to learn new languages a lot more easily.

It looks great on job applications! Well, it should at least give your resumé a boost when applying to jobs in the US. While most of the world is, in fact, bilingual, only about 20% of Americans are fluent in at least one other language. If you’re bilingual or multilingual in the US, you’ll likely have a lot more job opportunities than an applicant who only speaks English.

If you’re one of the 80% of Americans who speak only English, fear not: it’s never too late to learn a language!

Kaye Kagaoan Creative/UI Team Smigin

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How “dead languages” still crop up in everyday speech 

Turns out that so-called “dead languages” aren’t actually dead at all.  Sanskrit and Ancient Greek are truly ancient (dating back to 2500BC certainly counts as ancient), but are still used today in everyday speech.

For example, many yoga terms – Virabhadrasana (Warrior pose) and Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Dog) – are taken from India’s oldest language, Sanskrit. Also known as the ‘”language of the gods,” the earliest written evidence of Sanskrit dates back in 1500BCE. While it’s no longer spoken fluently today, remnants can still be heard in various religious texts, and yes, from your yoga instructor.

Ancient Greek has long been associated with the great philosophers and scholars of the world — think Homer, Plato, and Socrates. But chances are, you actually know a lot more Greek than you think! About 30% of English words are of Greek origin, including “antique,” “surgeon,” or “telephone.” If you’re a language geek like us, you can click here to find more English words with Greek origins. (And yes, we totally resisted writing a “geek”/”Greek” pun just then.)

Some languages “die” as a result of colonization, when they are eventually replaced by the language of the conquering country. But don’t confuse a dead language with an extinct language.  Extinct languages no longer have any living speakers, while “dead” languages can still be used in sacred contexts or for scientific and legal purposes. No wonder they’re all so hard to understand!

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Losar: drinking, dancing and general merriment 

Losar, also known as Tibetan New Year, is the biggest, craziest event on the Tibetan calendar, celebrated with three days of drinking, dancing and feasting. Sounds familiar, right? Who knew, we have a lot more in common with the Tibetans than you may have thought.

First, Tibetans attend traditional ceremonies at local monasteries, such as the dance of the deer and battle reenactments. Then, they take to the streets singing, dancing, chanting, twirling burning torches, and shouting “Tashi Delek!” (Happy New Year). These ancient rituals represent the struggle between good and evil – and sound a lot more comfortable than cramming for the ball drop at Times Square.

Though Losar usually lasts up to 15 days, the first three are the most important. Probably because people have to go back to work at some point.

Day 1: Get your house in order Monasteries are decorated, homes are painted with religious symbols, kitchens are scrubbed, chimneys are swept, and khapse (special deep-fried pastries) are prepared for family meals.

Day 2: Losar Eve The calm before the storm: people visit local monasteries to worship by giving offerings and gifts to the monks. Families have dinner and set up their Losar shrines. Then it’s time for the Festival of Banishing Evil Spirits: a lot of running, yelling and swirling of burning torches along with firecrackers to banish evil spirits.

Day 3: Losar Day Tibetans worship the gods by placing offerings in front of their Losar shrines – and then celebrate with even more eating, drinking, and gift-giving.

However, tradition reigns earlier that morning, when housewives would get up before dawn and head to the local river or well. According to Tibetan tradition, the first woman to fetch the first bucket of water for her family will be blessed with luck for the coming year. Imagine the scrum to be first to the well!

Wishing you Tashi delek from Team Smigin!