Having spent many years in a language classroom, I was excited to discover the abundance of free language instruction on the web. The three I found the most impressive were Livemocha, Babbel, and Busuu. All three offer interactive language lessons for a variety of European languages while Livemocha includes a number of less traditional languages (such as Persian, Esperanto, and Urdu). Busuu is based upon the European system of language levels (A1, A2, B1, B2…) and was selected as an official UNESCO project while Livemocha follows the American system of classes (101,102, 201…)
Here is a rundown of each:
Busuu tracks your language progress via a “language garden” where your plant has the opportunity to grow into a tree as your progress through the lessons. Busuu’s strength is vocabulary building since each lesson begins with a picture, pronunciation, English translation, and example sentence. It also attempts to have you learn the language via short passages and related questions. Like Livemocha, there is also a writing section where other users rate your responses. This feature is the main advantage of a true online community where the website can take advantage of a speaker’s native fluency. Thus, the user becomes both the student and the teacher.
Babbel gives the user more freedom to adjust the language to their level and has a stronger focus on common phrases. My favorite aspects of Babbel are its forum and the chatrooms. In the easy to use forum, you can ask specific grammar questions not covered in the lessons. For instance, what really is the difference between nouvel and neuf? Also, the chatroom is a quick and easy way to put your language skills to the test. It should be noted that although all three sites offer a great array of services with a paid membership, Babbel is the most limited for users not willing to pay.
Livemocha tries to incentivize its users to progress with a points system that also hands out awards at different levels. While it is rather basic, I can attest that I have continued to practice lessons simply to attain the next shiny medal available. The lessons are very structured. Each includes a section to learn vocabulary/phrases, review them, complete a writing submission, and record a spoken section. The last two sections are then rated by native speakers in the community. In a sense, this tool provides you with free teachers who correct your grammar and pronunciation. One area I would like to see them add would be grammar. This fall before visiting Turkey, I wanted to use Livemocha to learn a few phrases and sentences. However, I found it difficult to extract even basic grammar only from the vocabulary and sentences the site provides.
All three websites have the possibility to hold conversations with native speakers, which is one of the best ways to learn the language. Their internal chat systems are still no match for more traditional programs such as MSN but they are easy enough to use. As far as their attempt to replace classroom based language instruction, following are some of their individual strengths and weaknesses.
- Strengths: An immense amount of vocabulary lessons are available on a variety of topics. It is also the only one of the three offering written passages and related follow-up questions.
- Weaknesses: The layout of the website is overwhelming as there are many buttons and ads calling you for attention. Also, there is no ability to record your spoken language but rather only the possibility to chat with users online.
- Strengths: I liked the possibility to adjust the level of difficulty within a lesson and the focus on common phrases. The forum for introductions and grammar questions definitely was useful and the chatroom was a quick and less awkward way to begin a conversation with native speakers or other students.
- Weaknesses: Most lessons are closed off to those without a membership and thus it is very limited in free lessons.
- Strengths: It boasts an easy to use site with a point system and predictable lessons. I enjoyed the opportunity to create my own writing and speaking submissions, which were then judged by users. Given my busy life, I cannot always find the time to chat and thus I appreciated the recordable speaking submissions. Also, the customizable flashcards are a nice review of problem areas.
- Weaknesses: Each section of a lesson has 40 questions, which you must complete in order for it to save that section (in other words, you can’t stop in the middle of the 40 questions.) Although I enjoy the structure in the lessons, it becomes repetitive and lacks a much needed grammar guide.
Which site should you choose?
Of course, we all learn differently, but I found Livemocha the easiest to use. The layout and lessons are simple to understand. Additionally, I primarily study French and Hindi and thus, it is the only site that teaches non-European languages. These new language sites have been creative in using native speakers’ knowledge to help other speakers. Whichever site you use, the main advantage is the ease with which you can connect to a native speaker and start using the language. The grammar and vocabulary lessons are not yet ready to replace traditional classroom instruction (although they are a good supplement) but the speaking skills available are a fantastic (and free) way to make the language living rather than keeping it contained to grammar books.
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