Comments for Ken Carroll http://ken-carroll.com networks, languages, and learning 2.0 Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:41:11 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 Comment on Language and social distance by english school oxford http://ken-carroll.com/2008/05/17/language-and-social-distance/#comment-13829 english school oxford Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:43:47 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2008/05/17/language-and-social-distance/#comment-13829 They say that language is the doorway to a culture, that to really understand the language is to get inside the mind of the country or culture. But who's mind do you get in learning English? It is so widespread that it is diversifying itself! Learning English is not the doorway to any specific culture, unless learned within the country. They say that language is the doorway to a culture, that to really understand the language is to get inside the mind of the country or culture. But who’s mind do you get in learning English? It is so widespread that it is diversifying itself! Learning English is not the doorway to any specific culture, unless learned within the country.

]]> Comment on Tearing down the classroom walls by Matt S. http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13824 Matt S. Sat, 01 Aug 2009 13:25:18 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13824 Ken, I'm so intrigued by your last post. As a language teacher, my love for ChinesePod has extended beyond learning Mandarin into day dreams about... well, about MLN! I've been searching the web for this kind of communication platform for a few months now and nothing quite fits. So you can imagine my surprise at reading your post. In my humble opinion, this is not only a huge step for Praxis, but also for the language learning community. I'm so excited to see the details. Good work and good luck. ~matt Ken,

I’m so intrigued by your last post. As a language teacher, my love for ChinesePod has extended beyond learning Mandarin into day dreams about… well, about MLN! I’ve been searching the web for this kind of communication platform for a few months now and nothing quite fits. So you can imagine my surprise at reading your post. In my humble opinion, this is not only a huge step for Praxis, but also for the language learning community. I’m so excited to see the details. Good work and good luck. ~matt

]]> Comment on Tearing down the classroom walls by Ken Carroll http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13822 Ken Carroll Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:49:52 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13822 Good to hear from you, Mike. I see the platform as allowing participation in the social dymanic of a class (with colleagues) as well as the learning thag goes beyond the class (at the times and places of the learner's choosing). Neither has to be confined to 4 walls. A 'school' or 'class' is no longer a building, to my mind, but a series of social relationships. It is no longer time-based, textbook-driven, etc, but something else entirely. The platform was designed in this light. There's a lot to talk about. I'll be writing more. I look forward to your comments. Ken Good to hear from you, Mike.

I see the platform as allowing participation in the social dymanic of a class (with colleagues) as well as the learning thag goes beyond the class (at the times and places of the learner’s choosing). Neither has to be confined to 4 walls. A ’school’ or ‘class’ is no longer a building, to my mind, but a series of social relationships. It is no longer time-based, textbook-driven, etc, but something else entirely. The platform was designed in this light.

There’s a lot to talk about. I’ll be writing more. I look forward to your comments.

Ken

]]> Comment on Tearing down the classroom walls by Mike B http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13821 Mike B Fri, 31 Jul 2009 01:38:13 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/07/26/tearing-down-the-classroom-walls/#comment-13821 Ken, It will be interesting to hear more about this and I wish you luck with the system. At a very basic level do you expect to build a system that makes it easy for students to participate in class (even when they can't be physically present) or participate in the learning? It sounds like the second. I'll be interested to find out what problems you see the MLN solving. It sounds like you are going to ask the platform to address affective problems that partly spring from a lack of social participation in the class building process. Ken,

It will be interesting to hear more about this and I wish you luck with the system. At a very basic level do you expect to build a system that makes it easy for students to participate in class (even when they can’t be physically present) or participate in the learning?

It sounds like the second.

I’ll be interested to find out what problems you see the MLN solving. It sounds like you are going to ask the platform to address affective problems that partly spring from a lack of social participation in the class building process.

]]> Comment on New Year Blogging Resolution by maaku http://ken-carroll.com/2009/01/06/new-years-blogging-resolution/#comment-13818 maaku Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:53:52 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/01/06/new-years-blogging-resolution/#comment-13818 ...and more posts. …and more posts.

]]> Comment on An enduring insight by Marc http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13817 Marc Tue, 14 Jul 2009 13:12:14 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13817 Dear Blogger, We have received 473 nominations for the top 100 language blog 2009 competition. For each category, we have admitted 100 blogs into the voting phase. You are amongst the 100 blogs in the 'Language Technology' category, congratulations! As stated before, 50% of the final score will be based on user voting. You can promote your blog with the following voting button on your page. Simply add the code to a blog post (similar to embedding a YouTube video) so that your readers can vote for you directly. [Find the HTML code on our website] The voting phase starts today and ends July 28. Winners will be announced July 30. Good luck for the competition! Kind regards, Marc on behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team [http://bab.la] [www.lexiophiles.com] Marc Lütten bab.la GmbH | Baumwall 7 | 20459 Hamburg | Germany Phone: +49(0)40-707080950 http://bab.la/ Handelsregister AG Hamburg | HRB 101207 Geschaftsführer: Dr. Andreas Schroeter, Dr. Thomas Schroeter, Patrick Uecker Dear Blogger,

We have received 473 nominations for the top 100 language blog 2009 competition. For each category, we have admitted 100 blogs into the voting phase. You are amongst the 100 blogs in the ‘Language Technology’ category, congratulations!

As stated before, 50% of the final score will be based on user voting. You can promote your blog with the following voting button on your page. Simply add the code to a blog post (similar to embedding a YouTube video) so that your readers can vote for you directly.

[Find the HTML code on our website]

The voting phase starts today and ends July 28. Winners will be announced July 30.

Good luck for the competition!

Kind regards,
Marc
on behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team
[http://bab.la]
[www.lexiophiles.com]

Marc Lütten

bab.la GmbH | Baumwall 7 | 20459 Hamburg | Germany
Phone: +49(0)40-707080950 http://bab.la/
Handelsregister AG Hamburg | HRB 101207
Geschaftsführer: Dr. Andreas Schroeter, Dr. Thomas Schroeter, Patrick Uecker

]]> Comment on Skype, social networks and language learning 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.

]]> Comment on An enduring insight by Marc http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13812 Marc Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:32:38 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13812 Dear Blogger, you are nominated for the "Top 100 Language Blogs 2009" competition. Congratulations! After last year’s success the bab.la language portal and Lexiophiles language blog are hosting this year’s worldwide language blog competition once again. We are confident to surpass more than the 350 blogs which entered the competition in 2008. We have made two major changes to last year: 1. Due to the amount of blogs we have created categories. (Language Learning/Language Teaching/Language Technology/ Language Professionals) You are in category Language Technology 2. User voting will count 50% towards final score Voting will start on July 8, leaving you enough time to prepare your readers for the upcoming voting. Voting will close on July 27 and the winners will be announced on July 30. For more information on the 2009 competition and what it is all about visit [http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/top-100-language-blogs-2009-nomination-started] So now you may ask yourself what you can do. Here are some suggestions -Nominations are open until July 6, so feel free to share any blog you like with us -Each blog will have a one-sentence-description for the voting. If you would like a special description to go along with your blog, just send me an email [marc@bab.la] Kind regards, Marc On behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team [http://bab.la] [www.lexiophiles.com] Marc Lütten bab.la GmbH | Baumwall 7 | 20459 Hamburg | Germany Phone: +49(0)40-707080950 http://bab.la/ Handelsregister AG Hamburg | HRB 101207 Geschaftsführer: Dr. Andreas Schroeter, Dr. Thomas Schroeter, Patrick Uecker Dear Blogger,

you are nominated for the “Top 100 Language Blogs 2009″ competition. Congratulations! After last year’s success the bab.la language portal and Lexiophiles language blog are hosting this year’s worldwide language blog competition once again. We are confident to surpass more than the 350 blogs which entered the competition in 2008.

We have made two major changes to last year:

1. Due to the amount of blogs we have created categories.
(Language Learning/Language Teaching/Language Technology/
Language Professionals)
You are in category Language Technology
2. User voting will count 50% towards final score

Voting will start on July 8, leaving you enough time to prepare your readers for the upcoming voting. Voting will close on July 27 and the winners will be announced on July 30.

For more information on the 2009 competition and what it is all about visit [http://www.lexiophiles.com/english/top-100-language-blogs-2009-nomination-started]
So now you may ask yourself what you can do. Here are some suggestions

-Nominations are open until July 6, so feel free to share any blog you like with us
-Each blog will have a one-sentence-description for the voting. If you would like a special description to go along with your blog, just send me an email [marc@bab.la]

Kind regards,
Marc
On behalf of the bab.la and Lexiophiles team
[http://bab.la]
[www.lexiophiles.com]

Marc Lütten

bab.la GmbH | Baumwall 7 | 20459 Hamburg | Germany
Phone: +49(0)40-707080950 http://bab.la/
Handelsregister AG Hamburg | HRB 101207
Geschaftsführer: Dr. Andreas Schroeter, Dr. Thomas Schroeter, Patrick Uecker

]]> Comment on What’s happening at the Economist? by oohkuchi http://ken-carroll.com/2007/11/23/the-economist-at-its-misguided-worst/#comment-13810 oohkuchi Tue, 23 Jun 2009 12:48:46 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2007/11/23/the-economist-at-its-misguided-worst/#comment-13810 I haven't read the offending article but from Ken's huffy point-by-point dismissal of it, I can see that the Economist was probably right. There is no money in Chinese outside China, and not much even in China/Taiwan. You should only get into this language if you have a deep, enduring interest in the country and culture. Knowing Mandarin unquestionably opens cultural doors and personal relationships. But it is a massive effort. I speak half a dozen languages and have worked with and in Chinese for twenty years. Believe me, this is an extremely difficult language, and you will not get fluent in it unless you spend five to ten years in a Chinese environment. Reading fluently takes at least a decade of daily practice. Writing is a life sentence. I don't believe people who claim fluency in two years. To freely discuss politics, negotiate business, even tell someone your feelings about them--it takes years of vocabulary acquisition and practice. It is nothing like learning Italian or French, which can be done at night school with a bit of effort. And it is also sadly true that you forget Chinese like no other language. It requires constant refreshing. I haven’t read the offending article but from Ken’s huffy point-by-point dismissal of it, I can see that the Economist was probably right. There is no money in Chinese outside China, and not much even in China/Taiwan. You should only get into this language if you have a deep, enduring interest in the country and culture. Knowing Mandarin unquestionably opens cultural doors and personal relationships. But it is a massive effort. I speak half a dozen languages and have worked with and in Chinese for twenty years. Believe me, this is an extremely difficult language, and you will not get fluent in it unless you spend five to ten years in a Chinese environment. Reading fluently takes at least a decade of daily practice. Writing is a life sentence. I don’t believe people who claim fluency in two years. To freely discuss politics, negotiate business, even tell someone your feelings about them–it takes years of vocabulary acquisition and practice. It is nothing like learning Italian or French, which can be done at night school with a bit of effort. And it is also sadly true that you forget Chinese like no other language. It requires constant refreshing.

]]> Comment on An enduring insight by Jared Albin http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13802 Jared Albin Tue, 19 May 2009 15:29:14 +0000 http://ken-carroll.com/2009/03/16/an-enduring-insight/#comment-13802 Regarding the story of the elephant and the blind men, did you know that while this story is making claims that no-one has the real truth, the irony is that the person telling this story is simultaneous claiming that he/she does have the real truth. In other words, no-one ever seems to notice from whose perspective the story is told from. One blind man grabs the elephant's trunk and says the elphant is long and flexible---another blind man grab's his foot and says 'no the elephant is thick and round and tough', and another grabs his ear and says its thin and leathery. Yet this story is told from the perspective of a man who assumes that he is not blind. So in an effort to state that no-one has the truth, at the same time you are affirming that you yourself have the truth and can see clearly enough to know that others do not have the truth. Ironic is it not? --Jared Regarding the story of the elephant and the blind men, did you know that while this story is making claims that no-one has the real truth, the irony is that the person telling this story is simultaneous claiming that he/she does have the real truth.

In other words, no-one ever seems to notice from whose perspective the story is told from. One blind man grabs the elephant’s trunk and says the elphant is long and flexible—another blind man grab’s his foot and says ‘no the elephant is thick and round and tough’, and another grabs his ear and says its thin and leathery.

Yet this story is told from the perspective of a man who assumes that he is not blind. So in an effort to state that no-one has the truth, at the same time you are affirming that you yourself have the truth and can see clearly enough to know that others do not have the truth. Ironic is it not?

–Jared

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