Comments on: Skype, social networks and language learning http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/ SELF-DIRECTION AND THE NEW LEADERSHIP SKILLS Sun, 29 Jan 2012 11:19:50 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Stephanie http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-13816 Stephanie Sun, 12 Jul 2009 10:49:10 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-13816 Hi Ken, My company, Live-English.net started in 2006 when there were only a few players on the market offering English lessons by Skype. Nowadays Skype is extremely reliable and for a lot of students, learning through Skype was their first opportunity to speak to a native-English teacher (most of my students are from Europe). And apart from that, there are clearly lots of advantages to learn languages this way. You wrote this article a year and a half ago. I would be interested to see what you think about it now. Hi Ken,
My company, Live-English.net started in 2006 when there were only a few players on the market offering English lessons by Skype. Nowadays Skype is extremely reliable and for a lot of students, learning through Skype was their first opportunity to speak to a native-English teacher (most of my students are from Europe). And apart from that, there are clearly lots of advantages to learn languages this way.
You wrote this article a year and a half ago. I would be interested to see what you think about it now.

]]> By: trevelyan http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-216 trevelyan Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:28:43 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-216 > (Content decisions are frequently coming > from software developers, rather than > teachers.) " I think this is actually off-target. The problem isn't a lack of pedagogical input into site design so much as its irrelevant. Web 2.0 VC expectations are for rapid-growth with a focus on advertising-revenues. Since margins on online advertising are very small without economies of scale, why would any site in this situation do something that requires actual knowledge of languages. So we have language-agnostic sites which are generalizable to students of all languages and useful to students of few. > (Content decisions are frequently coming
> from software developers, rather than
> teachers.) ”

I think this is actually off-target. The problem isn’t a lack of pedagogical input into site design so much as its irrelevant. Web 2.0 VC expectations are for rapid-growth with a focus on advertising-revenues.

Since margins on online advertising are very small without economies of scale, why would any site in this situation do something that requires actual knowledge of languages. So we have language-agnostic sites which are generalizable to students of all languages and useful to students of few.

]]> By: Ryan http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-208 Ryan Wed, 23 Jan 2008 02:04:44 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-208 I agree that these online language exchange/teaching networks are incomplete and don’t do a great job at teaching a language. I do, however, think that they are a wonderful language learning tool. I think that once a learner gets to the intermediate level, he/she needs to have consistent contact with the language in order to move up to the next level. It usually isn’t feasible for people, especially adults, to spend years in another country in order to gain fluency but it is quite possible for them to spend a couple of hours an evening webcaming with people who speak their target language. Steve Kaufmann (www.thelinguist.blogs.com) heavily stresses the importance of learner independence and I think that these networks facilitate the learner’s ability to practice the language on his/her terms in a similar way that CPod’s podcasts do. Like it or not, these networks are part of the future of language learning. I agree that these online language exchange/teaching networks are incomplete and don’t do a great job at teaching a language. I do, however, think that they are a wonderful language learning tool. I think that once a learner gets to the intermediate level, he/she needs to have consistent contact with the language in order to move up to the next level. It usually isn’t feasible for people, especially adults, to spend years in another country in order to gain fluency but it is quite possible for them to spend a couple of hours an evening webcaming with people who speak their target language. Steve Kaufmann (www.thelinguist.blogs.com) heavily stresses the importance of learner independence and I think that these networks facilitate the learner’s ability to practice the language on his/her terms in a similar way that CPod’s podcasts do. Like it or not, these networks are part of the future of language learning.

]]> By: Michael http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-201 Michael Mon, 21 Jan 2008 09:04:44 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-201 Hey Mark, Two decades of teaching English has made me quite sensitive to the article "the". A lifetime spent as a consumer has made leery of how it is used in business environments. IMHO I suggest you put every "the" to the acid test and use that process to improve as a business. Hey Mark,

Two decades of teaching English has made me quite sensitive to the article “the”. A lifetime spent as a consumer has made leery of how it is used in business environments.

IMHO I suggest you put every “the” to the acid test and use that process to improve as a business.

]]> By: Marc Anderson http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-197 Marc Anderson Sun, 20 Jan 2008 11:53:44 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-197 Hello Michael, When I first made the statement "The leader in on-line English language instruction" it was meant to convey a sense of our company leading and innovating the way in which online English learning is done. The statement is not to say that we have the most amount of students. The marketing department is really a one person team made up of myself so I do the best I can. Thanks for the question, nobody has ever brought it up before, Marc Anderson Hello Michael,

When I first made the statement “The leader in on-line English language instruction” it was meant to convey a sense of our company leading and innovating the way in which online English learning is done. The statement is not to say that we have the most amount of students. The marketing department is really a one person team made up of myself so I do the best I can.

Thanks for the question, nobody has ever brought it up before,

Marc Anderson

]]> By: Michael http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-190 Michael Fri, 18 Jan 2008 13:04:29 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-190 Marc, Your site says TalktoCanada.com is THE leader in on-line English language instruction. Is this merely the marketing department talking (and boy do those guys like to talk!) or do you have a real, measurable reason for saying this? Marc,

Your site says TalktoCanada.com is THE leader in on-line English language instruction. Is this merely the marketing department talking (and boy do those guys like to talk!) or do you have a real, measurable reason for saying this?

]]> By: Ken Carroll http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-182 Ken Carroll Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:20:09 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-182 Marc, Iteration is the cornerstone of any internet business. I think the genre will mature and we will see some great solutions over time. I wish you good luck. Ken Carroll Marc,

Iteration is the cornerstone of any internet business. I think the genre will mature and we will see some great solutions over time. I wish you good luck.

Ken Carroll

]]> By: Marc Anderson http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-181 Marc Anderson Thu, 17 Jan 2008 15:31:14 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-181 Hello Ken, Great posting on "Skype, social networks and language learning." I couldn't agree with you more that in order to make any serious money on individual lessons over such a medium as Skype will require a large of amount of teachers. I am in the business of online English lessons over Skype and I feel that this challenge is the ultimate goal to achieve in being a success. My company (TalktoCanada.com) is just in the beginning stages of development and with time I don't doubt a few definite winners will appear, lets just hope it's myself and not somebody else. Thanks once again for the well written article, it is great to hear somebody talk about the underlying problems and solutions to SN 2.0. Marc Anderson (Manager TalktoCanada.com) Hello Ken,

Great posting on “Skype, social networks and language learning.” I couldn’t agree with you more that in order to make any serious money on individual lessons over such a medium as Skype will require a large of amount of teachers. I am in the business of online English lessons over Skype and I feel that this challenge is the ultimate goal to achieve in being a success. My company (TalktoCanada.com) is just in the beginning stages of development and with time I don’t doubt a few definite winners will appear, lets just hope it’s myself and not somebody else.

Thanks once again for the well written article, it is great to hear somebody talk about the underlying problems and solutions to SN 2.0.

Marc Anderson (Manager TalktoCanada.com)

]]> By: admin http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-166 admin Tue, 15 Jan 2008 15:24:33 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-166 Dave, Alexa rankings aren't the most trustworthy. Either way we dropped the 'www' from our URL some months ago and sent us way down on Alexa. With 250,000 unique visitors per month, however, I think we probably get more traffic than any other Chinese learning site. Prince Roy, Nice pun. I think it might be possible to school you relativits again on Friday evening!!! This stuff is definitely best done over beers, though. I look forward to it. Ken Carroll Dave,
Alexa rankings aren’t the most trustworthy. Either way we dropped the ‘www’ from our URL some months ago and sent us way down on Alexa. With 250,000 unique visitors per month, however, I think we probably get more traffic than any other Chinese learning site.

Prince Roy,
Nice pun. I think it might be possible to school you relativits again on Friday evening!!! This stuff is definitely best done over beers, though. I look forward to it.

Ken Carroll

]]> By: Dave http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-165 Dave Tue, 15 Jan 2008 14:25:23 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/01/14/skype-social-networks-and-language-learning/#comment-165 Ken, interesting post which voices some of the thoughts I have had over the last few months. Every few weeks or so another one of these sites pops out of the woodwork. Even New Oriental is now in on the game. My feeling though, having signed up to several of these, is that most are in the experimental stage and are feeling their way around. One or two of them I visit relatively frequently. All this activity is good news for language learners who can enjoy a lot of content for free and connect with different groups of people. I currently tend to steer towards the China-based sites, Chinesepod and China-8.com, the former for the excellent podcasts and the latter simply because they seem to have something new every time I visit. Looking at the Alexa rankings for all these sites is interesting - you have a leader in Chinesepod with one or two of these sites really playing catch up. While Alexa rankings in themselves don't mean much, they do give a pretty good idea of which sites have traction and as such can be considered to be on the right track. My take on these sites, including Chinesepod, is that as long as there isn't any clear category winner a la Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Flickr etc. we are going to see manor more sites coming up. I am almost half-tempted to start one myself. Kidding! Ken, interesting post which voices some of the thoughts I have had over the last few months. Every few weeks or so another one of these sites pops out of the woodwork. Even New Oriental is now in on the game. My feeling though, having signed up to several of these, is that most are in the experimental stage and are feeling their way around. One or two of them I visit relatively frequently.

All this activity is good news for language learners who can enjoy a lot of content for free and connect with different groups of people. I currently tend to steer towards the China-based sites, Chinesepod and China-8.com, the former for the excellent podcasts and the latter simply because they seem to have something new every time I visit.

Looking at the Alexa rankings for all these sites is interesting – you have a leader in Chinesepod with one or two of these sites really playing catch up. While Alexa rankings in themselves don’t mean much, they do give a pretty good idea of which sites have traction and as such can be considered to be on the right track.

My take on these sites, including Chinesepod, is that as long as there isn’t any clear category winner a la Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, Flickr etc. we are going to see manor more sites coming up. I am almost half-tempted to start one myself. Kidding!

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