

The Web Way to Learn a Language - derekc
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/28/technology/personaltech/28basics.html?src=me&ref=technology

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quant18
I find LiveMocha particularly interesting for their use of crowdsourcing ---
which has evolved quite a bit since I joined. Basically, they have generic
course templates in English, and then give people "MochaPoints" (which as far
as I can tell are completely useless) for translating the course into their
own language, or making recordings of phrases, or even just evaluation others'
translations. And of course, MochaPoints are prominently displayed on every
profile, making you aware of the pecking order and incentivising you to
increase your own points.

This isn't a perfect approach (it's heavily biased towards people who like
learning by memorising phrases, rather than people who like learning by
picking apart sentences through detailed study of grammar --- I don't think
crowdsourcing explanations of grammatical points will ever bring satisfactory
results, anyway), but it works well for people who like it.

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RyanMcGreal
>even ending her declarative sentences in that rising questioning lilt
characteristic of many young Californians.

I really enjoyed this bit?

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mclin
The problem I have with most language software is they don't take advantage of
spaced repetition. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaced_repetition>

I looked at Rosetta Stone a year or two ago, and the best they had was
occasionally bringing you back to a previous lesson.

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etherael
I tried to learn Estonian from a software package called Byki, it taught that
"Head ööd" means good night, but later I heard it had connotations more along
the lines of "I'm going to bed now".

It suddenly became clear to me why the waitress across the road would smirk
every time I said good night to her, oops.

~~~
luminarious
I have reason to believe the latter connotation may have been a
misunderstanding. As an Estonian, I am quite convinced that "Head ööd" means
"Good night" and is in no way connected to wether you are actually going to
bed. Unless you add a wink or something.. :)

~~~
etherael
Iiinteresting, my buddy's wife may have been pulling a fast one on me. Not
typical of her and there were three other people saying the same thing but
perhaps I was just being duped.

