I got pretty frustrated a few days ago when a Spanish speaking guy who was trying to find his way around in the Brussels North Train Station, adressed me for help. His English was worse then my Swedish and although I once used to manage quite ok in the beautiful Spanish language, I couldn’t really help him out.
Time for a refresh I thought. I’m now carrying my little Spanish pocket phrasebook (Assimil) with me all the time again, but also decided to look for a good online language learning site.
Interesting online initiatives I came across are:
- Busuu (good reviews and free)
- Woxswap (social networking approach)
- iTalki (integrated in facebook)
With my weakness for niche online market places, my attention got drawn by Myngle though. Essentially it is an eBay like marketplace for languages. “Rated” teachers and students can connect and start an online course (via Skype) after an online payment via Paypal.
Coincidentally there was a message on Techcrunch today that Myngle, has just secured nearly €1 million euros in the form of a bank loan which is fully backed by the Dutch government through an innovation program. The company is also nomitated as one of the 20 finalists of promissing startups at the Plugg conference in Brussels.
Tags: language, online market place, web2.0