Who Ruined Livemocha? The Death of a Great Language-Learning Tool

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A few years ago, I was a big fan of LiveMocha. At the time, it was one of the best free websites to learn foreign languages. Now that it's been bought by Rosetta Stone, it's horrible. I still think Rosetta Stone is a decent piece of software, but I don't understand why RS had to ruin a good thing. Tonight, I registered on LiveMocha again, hoping to learn some basic vocabulary. How disappointed I was! Now the website is completely different. I want the old LiveMocha back. While no program, web site, book, CD or DVD aimed at the language-learning crowd will ever be perfect, LiveMocha was a great alternative to paid products (which sometimes disappoint). The lessons were complete and weren't so much based on translation as on one of the greatest abilities we all have--inferring the meaning of new words. By slowly introducing new words and some grammar, LiveMocha was essentially spoon-feeding the user. I also really miss the recording feature. Users would record a text in the foreign language, then native speakers would correct their pronunciation. To be honest, I think Rosetta Stone is similar to LiveMocha in many ways. The main problem is that it's a very expensive piece of software. LiveMocha was such an inviting website that I really wanted to study multiple languages on it--just to get more points and meet new people. The social features of LiveMocha have all but disappeared, and the website won't stay free for much longer. It's been a long time since I've used RS for American English but I'll do some digging and see if I can find the CD somewhere. I probably won't be able to test RS in other languages unless I find out that they have it at my school.

Fluent Language Tips Twitter Feed! @language_tips

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I hope you are all having a great day!
Even though I'm currently taking exams and working on a research paper, I took the time to create a Twitter account (@language_tips) and I must say I am loving it!
My tweets are mostly about languages and motivation. Most of what I write/retweet is written in English but I might use French/Italian in the future.

Right now, I'm following 125 people. Since I'm still studying English, I'm mostly interested in tweets written in English. You never stop learning a foreign language!

If you aren't on Twitter yet, I highly recommend you get an account. I've heard that Twitter is the new Facebook, and it just might be true. As a language learner, you cannot afford to miss out on updates from the language-learning world.

I'll be posting more information about Twitter and tips to become fluent in a foreign language soon.
Until then, find me on @language_tips

How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 3

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This is Part 3 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.

You undoubtedly lead a very busy life. I'm honored you found some time to visit my blog about language-learning.
Second language acquisition doesn't have to eat up all the hours of your day though.
I think most people have at least 30 minutes of unused time per day.

If you're washing or doing the dishes, how about playing the radio at the same time? A foreign language station can keep you entertained for hours.
While you wait for the water to boil, get that grammar book out. It may not be the most interesting book in the world, but reading it beats looking at water that's sitting in a saucepan.

You could also listen to some language-learning CDs and repeat the dialogs to memorize them. That way, you will work on foreign vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation at the same time.

Using these little abandoned chunks of time will help you become fluent in a foreign language. Thirty minutes of daily study is plenty. If you kept this up for a year, you would have accumulated over 150 hours of study!

Trust me, after 150 hours, you will be reasonably fluent in French/Chinese/Japanese/English/Spanish... I know that languages which use other writing systems take longer to learn at first, but 150 hours is plenty to learn all the basic kanji you need and some phrases/grammar/pronunciation.

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How to Have More Time to Learn a Foreign Language Part 2 Commuting

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This is Part 2 of my mini-series dealing with time management and language-learning.
Here is Part 1: http://fluent-language.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-have-more-time-to-learn-foreign.html

If you work or if you're still in school, commuting probably takes you a lot of time. Maybe you take the train or the bus if you're still fairly young. You might also drive to work with your own car (lucky you!).

What you have here is wasted time, even if you like to people watch. How about putting that time to good use instead?

Here are some language-learning tips for commuters:
* Put a CD into your car stereo and turn up the volume. Voilà, you're bopping your head to groovy Spanish music! (Or maybe not.)
* If you're more of a traditional language learner, you might like listening to audiobooks in your car. There are language-learning tapes out there, but they usually aren't any good. Play a simple audiobook instead, and your language abilities will improve quickly!

All those wasted minutes turn into hours if you don't harness them. Moreover, commuting is a lot more fun with a little music.
If you're alone, you could repeat the words to a song to practice your pronunciation.

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Do You Need Penpals/Friends to Learn a Foreign Language?

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I started voice-chatting in Italian after studying the language for only a few hours. I was very shy at the time but I did learn a lot from this first experience. I ended up finding an Italian friend that I called on a regular basis. I was still a beginner at the time.
Talking with my new friend helped me improve my Italian language skills, and it was a lot of fun too!


However, if your penpal speaks your native language very well, you might be in trouble. I picked a penpal who didn't speak a word of French or English. That's why I had such a great time talking to her.

If your friend speaks great English, they will quickly get tired of correcting your mistakes and trying to understand you. They may even switch to English.


Make sure you know some basic phrases before looking for a language-exchange partner/friend.

As long as you're polite (and apologetic if you make mistakes), you're good to go!

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The Importance of Listening to Material in Your Foreign Language

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Listening to material in the language you're studying is very important. However, I'm not an advocate of passive listening for the sake of passive listening. Such artificial "immersion" isn't beneficial in the long run.

For example, listening to hours of K-pop won't teach you a word of Korean unless you look up the lyrics of the songs and use a dictionary.

There are some songs which actually teach you vocabulary, but they were made for little kids--think "Sesame Street" or "Dora the Explorer".

If you're visiting this blog, surely it's because you want to become fluent in a new language.
How about turning this goal into a reality?
Take a piece of paper and write your daily "listening goal". Be reasonable: if you're a busy adult who is working full-time, you probably have little time to set aside for language learning.
That being said, I'm sure you can play a CD when you're commuting.

Unless you're currently studying for a very difficult exam or in the middle of a big project at work, devote at least 30 minutes to active listening every day.

I think beginners should start by studying a few songs that they like. Watching TV is less rewarding than understanding a short song in its entirety when you're just starting out.

Good luck with your language-learning endeavors!

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Don't Put the Cart Before the Horse

It'll take you a lot of time to learn a new language. There, I said it. Following the advice on this blog can expedite the process, but you'll still need to put in the hours.

When I was still in high school, I was forced to write in Italian/ German/ etc when I took exams. Most people would say "This is good practice."

How is this good practice?

How is making a bunch of mistakes in a foreign language beneficial?



Unless you have unlimited access to native speakers who can correct you, I strongly suggest you only practice in controlled settings. Doing exercises in high-quality language learning books is a great way to improve one's grammar without "learning" more mistakes.

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Why Sticky Notes Are Useful for Learning Foreign Languages

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Sticky notes (or Post-Its) are useful for learning foreign languages because you can stick them everywhere. I suggest you cover your walls with them if you want to learn your new language fast!
Draw on them, write sentences and cool words on them, and replace them often.
If you haven't made new ones lately, move around the old sticky notes so that your eyes don't get accustomed to seeing them in the same place.
If you like lying on your bed, you could also invest in a poster for your ceiling.
Sticking notes onto your computer is also a good idea if you use the internet a lot.
Use sticky notes to review difficult words, especially the ones that you always fail to remember when you're going over your flash cards.

It's okay if you don't have Post-its: just take a piece of paper and some sticky tape. I suggest you decorate the fridge and/or the bathroom mirror to start!

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