International Mother Language Day

As a result of the internal survey, we identified an additional 20 languages to add to our Multilingual Meeting Mastery Global Repository! Together, we developed a handy resource to help teammates learn some simple greetings and courtesies for when collaborating with teammates from other nationalities, and/or traveling to new places. Feel free to add your own languages in if they are still missing!

We also established some cool facts about our teammates;

• Out of the 14 countries we operate in, our team based in Spain are our most linguistically diverse with 11 different first and second languages! Closely followed by the US, India, and Poland with 8, and the UK and Ireland with 6!

• A whopping 84.5% of respondents speak more than one language - 46.5% are fluent in 2 languages, 28.7% speak 3. 

• A portion of our survey participants do not consider themselves fluent in English - something we should all be mindful of

• The rarest first languages named were Basque, Kannada, Nepali, Serbian, Catalan, Tagalog, Valenciano with only 1 or 2 speakers each

• We even have teammates learning American Sign Language - kudos to you for your inclusive efforts!

And now for our most multilingual Grouponers (drumroll, please!)🥁........

Ever read or watched The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy? Well if you have, you will know that a Babel Fish is a small, bright yellow fish that can be placed in someone's ear to help them translate any language into their own! As the the most linguistically versatile Grouponers Aishwarya and Charlotte are our very own Babel Fish speaking 15 languages collectively!! Get to know them a little more below;

How did you come to learn so many languages? 

Aishwarya: This I would credit to my parents. Having been born with a different mother tongue than the area we lived in, resulted in me being multilingual from a young age. Konkani, Hindi and English were commonly used at home, making it easy to pick them up. Moving to south India for my Dad's job resulted in adding Tamil and Malayalam to my repertoire. The other languages (Spanish, French and Japanese - all very basic level, to be entirely honest) were added on for more selfish reasons.

I started learning French in school - as my third language - and I often take it up to dust off my meagre skills in the language. Spanish and Japanese are more recent additions - the former just to indulge in my love for languages and the latter was mainly because I have been wanting to visit Japan for the longest time - to try out the vast varieties of Kitkats that they have there. And it felt like knowing a bit of Japanese would help.

Charlotte: I've always loved learning languages, travelling and discovering other cultures, which is why I chose to study French, Spanish and German at university. And that's how I became fluent in French and Spanish (and intermediate in German). Other than that, I like to study a bit of the local language on Duolingo before travelling to a new place, which is why I've studied so many languages. But apart from some Italian and Portuguese, I've forgotten nearly everything!

How has learning other languages helped you at Groupon? 

Aishwarya: I think knowing different languages makes it easy to collaborate with people. I haven't had the chance to use my multilingual skills here yet, but I'm excited to see if they might come to use in the future.

Charlotte: Actually, being multilingual is the reason why I got my job at Groupon, as I'm the Content Administrator for France and do a lot of my work in French!

What does being multilingual mean to you?

Aishwarya: I feel that being multilingual gives me more viewpoints - especially as it lets me into the world of literature and art in those languages as well. Also, knowing multiple languages helps me make friends and find communities wherever I go. Being multilingual can help you understand human emotions across different cultures, and give you a deeper understanding and appreciation of languages. Furthermore, the entire process of learning a new language, when you become an adult is quite humbling.

Charlotte: Being multilingual is definitely one of my proudest achievements. I feel that each language you know opens up a new world for you, and can allow you to develop a deeper understanding of other cultures.

Do you have any tips for others who want to learn new languages?

Aishwarya: I don't have many tips, but I can tell you what I do when I try to learn a new language. If it has a different script (like Japanese), you learn the alphabet first. This helps with pronunciation from the get-go and might help you with the language as you learn it. Whether you are using an app like Duolingo, or learning from YouTube, always have a language notebook/Google sheet (although I prefer the former) and you take down any words that are new to you. And you revise now and then. Have a strict learning schedule - even if it is 30 minutes a day, you do it every day. I use flash cards with the Leitner system. I also, when I find it extremely difficult to remember certain words - write it on a sticky note and put it on the object it denotes. For instance- sticking the word for cupboard on your cupboard - which hopefully helps your brain connect the two every time you notice it.

Charlotte: I would recommend studying a little bit (even just 5 minutes) every day, and making language learning fun by listening to podcasts or watching movies in your target language.

Do you have a next language goal?

Aishwarya: I am looking to reach an intermediate level in French, Japanese and Spanish by the end of the year. The next new language I am looking forward to learning is German and Mandarin. However, I will be putting a bigger gap between Japanese and Mandarin because learning a new language and a new script is quite time-consuming.

Charlotte: I would love to be totally fluent in German someday, but it's a difficult task!

Finally, the winners of our lucky dip raffle and the proud owners of subscriptions to help boost their further language learning with our great merchants Mondly are (Livia Thomas, Jarot Czuba, and Sara Marzorati)! And Rosetta Stone, (Lisa Allen, Aditya Kasthuri, and James Dempsey)! Huge congratulations - we can’t wait to hear about your progress!