You have to register, but it is free, then you can get in contact and start chatting, emailing through the platform (no email addresses are disclosed) and can even leave voice messages.
No 'teachers' as such are involved, there are however a coupe of useful tools on the interface to help you.
There is;
- a text to speech converter, so that you can type in a phrase and see how it is pronounced
- a multilingual dictionary so that you can get help with translating
- a phrase translator. Type in any phrase you want and get a translation of it
Still a great idea and if enough people get registered this could be a real winner.
I'd love to hear from you if you've tried it.
Best
Nik
5 comments:
Nik,
There's also: HuiTalk - http://www.huitalk.com/ and VoxSwap - http://www.voxswap.com/. HuiTalk started up last summer, and has around 1500 members, VoxSwap opened its virtual doors last week. I think they could all be great environments for learners to develop their language skills.
Regards,
MIchael
Thank you very much, Nik, also on behalf of other teachers and students in Argentina, a country in which EFL students --mainly those in the interior-- are not likely to meet native/non-native speakers of English with whom to practise English f2f.
I'll be meeting my own stds and colleagues next March and will connect them with your sites, very useful compilations of tools for EFL teachers here.
My best, most thankful wishes,
Rita Zeinstejer
www.zeinstejer.com
My 2007 classblog: http://caeb2007.podomatic.com/
Great blog Nik and thanks Michael for mentioning us. I don't want to be seen as promoting on somebody else's blog but, Nik, your readers should find us a useful resource.
We have a virtual keyboard for multiple language support, a built-in Google translator and news feeds from multiple foreign language newspapers (as well as profiles, forums, chat etc..).
We're also completely free and so, unlike some sites, do not offer just limited access for free.
Great blog, keep up the good work
Sean
Sean Hargrave
co-founder www.voxswap.com
Many thanks for your comments. I hadn't seen either HuiTalk - http://www.huitalk.com/ or VoxSwap - http://www.voxswap.com/, so thanks for letting me know about those. I'll be sure to have a look as soon as I have time. Rita I'd love to hear how your students get on with these technologies.
Best
Nik
Hi Nik,
I've blogged on social networking and language learning on my site www.liquidelearning.com. I've covered quite a few sites - like www.livemocha.com, www.italki.com, www.palabea.com and www.voxswap.com.
I've also reviewed www.lingro.com - which is a web 2.0 language learning resource. Hope you check them out and enjoy the posts!
Thanks,
Michelle
Post a Comment