We haven’t started yet, but I decided to try to make a blog about learning german, which I will leave at the end of this post.

I’m definitely making a link to this review and then spend the next few months scanning your site.  And seeing as the last response to the comments here, I think was 08/18/2011 12:31 PM,  I’m not expecting a response, but expect to see more of me!

I tried LiveMocha for a while because I’m learning Arabic. I started with the basics even though I already have a basic grasp, but it’s my vocab that’s really limited and flashcards can be quite useful at that point.

The main things that really put me off, though, were blatant grammatical and spelling errors in the courses and exercises themselves. I understand the method is not great to begin with, particularly the exact same grammar points really don’t apply to more exotic languages, but when I realized the content is also just plain wrong at times my trust just went out the window. 

The aspect of meeting people to practice with is superb, and I wanted to use it to overcome my fear of speaking and practicing with other people, but what kinda put me off there is that the vast majority of my contact with native or fluent speakers consisted of their flirtatious advances rather than actual help. but I guess that’s more an issue of rooting out the serious learners and teachers. 

I did have a great time helping other people with Dutch, though and I did enjoy putting a lot of effort in my corrections and my chats with others despite receiving the same reward as for a “well done” remark. I enjoyed the opportunity to help different people I did love that aspect of it either way.

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Ik heb je site net ontdekt via een vriendin, en ik vind het helemaal fantastisch! Heel erg bedankt, als ik in Amsterdam was geweest had ik je graag ontmoet toen je daar was.

All of your comments just confirm that you aren’t prepared for the real world. These strange systems are just shielding you in an ideal world. That’s not helping you.

This post is really interesting. Actually, I`ve read about ten entries so far since I discovered your blog two days ago and I found here many things to think about. Thanks

Maybe my opinion will be interesting for you as a case study. I see you like to compare opinions and explore patterns so here is my case.

I was a complete newbie when I started to study Spanish in october with a group and native teacher from Latin America in one of the language schools for adults in my city. I went to Cuba before that and fell in love with a language and inner spanish passion for life. So I returned and payed for that course A1. Soon I understood that two days a week are not enough and words are vanishing even if I do homework (which was too simple: copypast from the workbook).

I wanted to watch movies with subtitles and read books or articles as I do for revising my English (and to have fun, for sure!) but I couldn`t because it was too hard in spanish. All that verbs in different forms and poor vocab.

So I started to explore web and iPhone apps and succeeded. I need to say I do not afraid to pay for resources I like because I can show my appreciation to the owners. So I can tell things as a paid user in most cases.

What I`ve tried:

1. Livemocha turned out to be a huge database without any usability. Also I found frightening that you have to record your voice to complete stages because I didn`t want to do it. So I decided to stop using it. It`s sad I already made payment before I figured that out. But I wrote big letter with “I think these things are uncomfortable” list to their support so I do not regret spending money: at least I understood weak sides. And they said thanks.

2. Busuu.com is a great language game, I agree with you. It has cute iPhone application with sound and it`s cheaper to pay for an entire course through it: then you do not have to make monthly payments. Some features are still disabled (recording voice) but I was not depressed.
I made A1 and A2 successfully. The course itself is not rich but I was writing after each part and I spoke with natives through chat, that helped me to survive between my offline lectures. Not sure if I want to take B1 stage.

3. Also I discovered awesome free podcasts notesinspanish.com. The guy is from England and the girl is from Madrid. They do awesome podcasts together. They helped my listening a lot! Also the great things are that one can download mp3 files or listen to them in iTunes for free. Payments are only for full transcripts. I do not need them for my Beginner level but I think to order them for Intermediate one.

4. Lingq seemed to me to be very poor in interface to pay for it but suddenly I discovered its unique features and started to pay. It is worth. I like live spanish podcasts there and I like exporting texts and youtube clips with a transcript to learn without paper or electronic dictionary.
And also flashcards in the iPhone app help me to get up in the morning and to make my brain work. It`s a little boring but I feel that it really helps. I had many difficulties with payments there, the system is not perfect so I was waiting many times and writing to support which was helpful.

5. There is also non-free website lomastv.com which for some reason puts free videos as a podcast to iTunes. They have english and spanish subtitles and are awesome. Maybe I`ll try to pay for web version to taste it after watch all free videos.
I saw another one video-site, lingus.tv, which is free, but I think actors there are overacting. It`s not fun on lingus.tv, it`s pathetic…

6. Also there is similar russian site, lingualeo.ru, but they have only english to learn. No spanish. So I`m watching tv-series in english similar to lingq but in a better interface.

That`s all for now I guess. I saw other things but didn`t have a lot of emotions there.

Actually, I have a question for you
What do you think is better for brain: to learn one language at a time or two or three together still are o.k.?
I remember having troubles at school switching between english and french… but now I revise english and learn spanish together and feel nice. Not sure what will happen if I`ll start another one still.

PEOPLE won’t disappoint you. The only websites you need are social networking sites (meetup.com couchsurfing.org etc.) to arrange to meet a native.

PEOPLE won’t disappoint you. The only websites you need are social networking sites (meetup.com couchsurfing.org etc.) to arrange to meet a native.

I decided to give Busuu a go. However when I post written assignments, all answers are (like LM) in German. LM would translate those answers into something I could understand. Busuu does not. Also Busuu has no support whatsoever. The Help page is pretty much useless on explaining how to work some of its features. It also has paid subscribers and there is no easy to way to get a clear list of free features. I saw it briefly when I signed up, never to see it again.

Either way, I think both sites are pretty much useless for me now.

What is your opinion on an open-source type learning community? Do you think a site could be properly organized enough in order to teach languages to each other? It would require bilingual users, but honestly if I spoke another language fluently I would be more than willing to help. Your point about native speakers is well taken and natives could easily double check curriculum.

I don’t know what the answer is. Disappointment is my main problem right at the moment.

I decided to give Busuu a go. However when I post written assignments, all answers are (like LM) in German. LM would translate those answers into something I could understand. Busuu does not. Also Busuu has no support whatsoever. The Help page is pretty much useless on explaining how to work some of its features. It also has paid subscribers and there is no easy to way to get a clear list of free features. I saw it briefly when I signed up, never to see it again.

Either way, I think both sites are pretty much useless for me now.

What is your opinion on an open-source type learning community? Do you think a site could be properly organized enough in order to teach languages to each other? It would require bilingual users, but honestly if I spoke another language fluently I would be more than willing to help. Your point about native speakers is well taken and natives could easily double check curriculum.

I don’t know what the answer is. Disappointment is my main problem right at the moment.