Dear readers, subscribers, and fellow language learners,

We at MosaLingua sincerely hope that you and your loved ones are well and will stay that way throughout this global crisis. Today, we are writing to send our support to you, your family, and your friends as you ride out the Covid-19 pandemic that is facing us all.

Much of the world is facing difficult times as a result of the pandemic. Since MosaLingua is a remote company, and our team is spread out across the globe, our professional lives have fortunately not changed much. But our personal lives definitely have. Three of my colleagues are based in Italy, 3 are in Spain, 2 live in Germany, 2 in Hong Kong, 1 in the U.S., 1 in Brazil, 1 in France (myself, as well), etc. For the past few days, our team has been thinking about the best way for us to make our own contribution and help you, our users, through this uncertain time.

mosalingua covid 19
Stoicism, and Turning Obstacles into Opportunities

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot about stoicism, an ancient school of philosophy. One of its central teachings is to turn hardship into opportunity. Many of us will be spending more time at home than usual in the coming days and weeks. I know that it is hard to keep from compulsively reading or watching the news. And I know that we will be somewhat limited in our activities for a while. But instead of bemoaning what we cannot change, let us take advantage of this situation to spend our time productively.

Some of us are already confined to our homes, others might be soon. Which means that all of the time we previously spent out (taking public transport, waiting in line, traveling for work, going out to bars and clubs, etc.) will be freed up. When you think about it, that’s a lot of time. Why not look on the bright side and use it to work on your growth and development?

Think about all of the things you might be able to use this time to do. Think about how you might be able to improve your life and yourself:

  • spend more quality time with your loved ones (even if that means via phone calls or Skype)
  • take stock of your life (personal, professional, intellectual, creative, etc.) and explore how you can come out of this stronger or change parts of your life for the better
  • think and reflect
  • read all of the books, magazines, journals, and newspapers you haven’t gotten around to reading
  • learn new skills.

Our Gift to Help You Get through this Pandemic: Our Apps Are Free for the Next Few Days

As I was saying, we’ve been brainstorming ways to support our readers and users. We have decided that the most useful contribution we could make would be to give you (and your friends and family) our apps for free until Sunday, March 22nd.

I hope that this small gift will help keep your mind off of the upsetting news that seems to keep coming our way, at least for the few minutes you spend working on your language skills. (And that it will be of use to you on the trips you’ll be able to take once all of this is behind us.)

Here are the links to download them:

If you have already paid for one or more of our apps, I hope you’ll understand that these are extremely unusual circumstances, and that your purchase helped support us and allowed us to in turn help others (so thank you!).

That said, I also hope that you will:

  • download the free optional packs (iOS) or other free apps (Android) that you might want to use in the future;
  • let your loved ones know or send them this article so that they can download our apps for free.

Think About the Good that Could Come of This

Here is some food for thought. I don’t know how many of us will have to stay at home, or how long we will be there. It could be two weeks, a month, or longer. That is something that is out of our control. But one thing that is in our control is how we spend our time.

Developing foreign language skills is one of the best gifts we could possibly give ourselves, because it opens so many doors in life. Wouldn’t it be nice to look in the mirror once all of this is over and be able to say, “It wasn’t easy, but at least my time was put to good use and I have something to show for it.”

No matter what aspect of your life you’re choosing to focus on, try to project yourself into the future, and visualize what you would like the other side of this time to look like. For me, at least, it is bright. That is essentially what philosophers like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius were teaching over 2000 years ago. Find opportunities within crises, and turn obstacles into fuel to strengthen and better yourself.

I want to leave you with this optimistic and stoic quote, which I hope will inspire you.

“Oftentimes a reverse has but made room for more prosperous fortune. Many structures have fallen only to rise to a greater height.” – Seneca

On behalf of our whole team, I’m sending you a big virtual hug and lots of good vibes. Take care of yourself,

Luca and the entire MosaLingua team