Memrise
http://www.memrise.com/courses/english/
Memrise is an excellent resource for visual learners. The focus of the lessons I tried was on vocabulary. The website allows users to browse free courses and apparently permit them to study as many languages as they wish at one time. I tried beginning Korean and French and Intermediate English. The Korean lessons assume you have the ability to type Korean characters which is why I switched to French. At least I had a chance of typing the correct word! Users add “mems” or memory aids for each word. Mems I’ve seen are YouTube videos, homemade clipart, and photographs. Some of the words have audio pronunciation guides which are very helpful. I noticed both British and American accents in the English section.
Livemocha
http://livemocha.com/
Livemocha is a language learning network of lesson plans created by native speakers around the world. The feature I like the most is that users can buy lessons they want using points they earn from giving feedback on others. For example, my first language is English so I can earn points by giving feedback to others who are learning English. I want to learn Spanish so I can upload my responses to language prompts and have them rated by a native Spanish speaker. It looks like a win-win situation to me. My only complaint is that the server doesn’t always work. I have been on the website several times today and I have gotten the “come back later” notification twice. This is definitely a website I will be exploring further.
http://www.memrise.com/courses/english/
Memrise is an excellent resource for visual learners. The focus of the lessons I tried was on vocabulary. The website allows users to browse free courses and apparently permit them to study as many languages as they wish at one time. I tried beginning Korean and French and Intermediate English. The Korean lessons assume you have the ability to type Korean characters which is why I switched to French. At least I had a chance of typing the correct word! Users add “mems” or memory aids for each word. Mems I’ve seen are YouTube videos, homemade clipart, and photographs. Some of the words have audio pronunciation guides which are very helpful. I noticed both British and American accents in the English section.
Livemocha
http://livemocha.com/
Livemocha is a language learning network of lesson plans created by native speakers around the world. The feature I like the most is that users can buy lessons they want using points they earn from giving feedback on others. For example, my first language is English so I can earn points by giving feedback to others who are learning English. I want to learn Spanish so I can upload my responses to language prompts and have them rated by a native Spanish speaker. It looks like a win-win situation to me. My only complaint is that the server doesn’t always work. I have been on the website several times today and I have gotten the “come back later” notification twice. This is definitely a website I will be exploring further.