Learning languages on the go

Livemocha.com is a great place to check out if you have a flair for languages. It has over two million members and is designed for all language goals and skill levels. It offers free learning options for the basic level in English, Spanish, French, German, Mandarin Chinese, Hindi and many more languages.

Based on your registration, Livemocha will help you find like-minded language learning partners. These self-study lessons develop reading, listening, speaking and writing skills. “I’m learning Spanish on the site as there are no qualified instructors in the city. And it’s not a boring method, since it is interactive,” says IT Professional K Prasad

For example if you are learning Italian, the first step is to describe people, objects and professions. You can take a small test at the end of the session to see your score. There are even writing and speaking exercises which follow. When you submit either of these, native speakers in the Livemocha community provide you with helpful reviews and tips to improve. To return the favour, you can help them learn your native language! Your language proficiency and teaching contributions are measured with Mochapoints, so you can monitor your progress and identify the most helpful members in the Livemocha community. As you attain more Mochapoints, you will earn medals.

Each lesson builds on the next. When you connect with your native Italian speaker you can improve on your conversational skills, pronunciation, grammar and even cultural tips.

The virtual keyboard provided is perfect for the job. If you are learning Italian for travelling, the Travel Crash Course will teach you basic travel words and phrases. The online course will help you interact with locals, find your way around, see the sights, conduct business, make travel arrangements, and more. Put MP3s and videos of travel words and phrases on your iPod or MP3 player and print out vocabulary lists to practice on the go. “It’s a fun and easy way to learn languages without having to travel to a class,” says Analyst Sheena A.

Language learning is now in its new online collaborative social networking avatar.