Mashable Is Going French
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Mashable may not be considered an English news source of the same calibre as the New York Times, but it’s still a great place to learn a few things you probably never, ever, ever thought you needed to know (like the fact that a mall in China held a “bra unbuckling” contest to celebrate International Women’s Day). Sites like Mashable and BuzzFeed appeal to the modern crowd precisely because they are a mix of the serious and silly. You can get your dose of sombre news (drug decriminalization in the U.S.) alongside fluffier articles (Idris Elba’s visit to Buckingham Palace) that help to take the edge off the grim things that are happening in this world.
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Until now, Mashable has been a single language site dedicated to sharing news of all kinds in English and English only. This is odd considering that most popular sites have to incorporate multilingualism into their structures in order to survive. However, it won’t be monolingual anymore! Mashable is looking to tap into a new market and its first language of choice turns out to be French. The popular site has now set up shop in France and plans to offer multimedia and news stories aimed specifically at French speakers.
Why does this matter to me? You (the English-speaking language learner) may be wondering. Well, one of the best ways to practise a language and acquire a sense of modern language rhythms is to peruse sites like Mashable which provide trending and viral stories written using modern language and pop-culture rhetoric. Want to keep up with Keisha’s on-going legal battle, read stories about cute supermodel cats, and be up to date on what François Hollande is doing these days? Do it in French! By following contemporary news in a foreign language you are studying up on your French whilst not losing interest. It’s a win-win!
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Here’s to hoping Mashable will keep that foreign language trend going. Although there’s no news of the site branching out into other languages, one can always hope that someday Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic will be a few of the other options available, too. Thankfully there’s plenty of foreign language multimedia sites out in the World Wide Web to keep us satisfied until then.
Do you have any suggestions for great news sites ideal for practicing reading and comprehension in a foreign language? Let us know which ones are your favourites!