Livemocha, the world´s largest online language learning community, announced today that its community has reached 1 million members from around the world in its first year of existence. Livemocha also introduced Mochapoints, an innovative new peer–based reputation ratings feature that allows members to evaluate one another´s contributions and monitor language proficiency. In addition, Livemocha will also add Arabic and Korean lessons and translations to the 10 other languages already supported.
With 1 million registered members, Livemocha´s global network is now the world´s largest online language learning community and is outpacing the growth of traditional classroom and CD–based courses. The Livemocha community is made up of members from over 200 countries worldwide, including China, Brazil, India and other countries where accelerated economic growth has increased the demand to learn English, among other languages.
The one millionth member was a college student from Missouri.
"The need to communicate across cultural and global boundaries is becoming increasingly critical in business and everyday life," said Shirish Nadkarni, CEO of Livemocha. "Unfortunately, traditional approaches to language learning take too long, cost too much money, and don´t keep learners engaged. Livemocha provides an engaging, free way to learn the most important language skill: conversational proficiency. Livemocha members learn new languages more effectively by accessing language tutorials online and tapping into a global network of native speakers for real–time practice and feedback."
Mochapoints Peer–based Reputation Ratings: Recognizing Members for Language Proficiency and Community Spirit
Livemocha´s Mochapoints are the first peer–based reputation ratings to measure and display the quality and quantity of both learning and teaching contributions, using peer feedback, advanced algorithms, and other automated calculations. With Mochapoints, Livemocha members can establish their reputation in the community by building proficiency in a new language and helping other members to improve their language skills. Mochapoints can be earned for many activities on the site, including:
- Completing coursework in a new language
- Reviewing the coursework of other members
- Creating Flashcard sets
- Submitting writing and speaking submissions
Livemocha members rate one another based on the quality of their contributions. For members who demonstrate a high degree of expertise in a language and regularly provide valuable instructive feedback to other members, Livemocha will offer an exclusive "teacher" status.
"With Livemocha´s Peer Reputation Ratings, we´ve created a sophisticated way to recognize the valuable contributions of our community, encourage frequent participation, and promote mutually valuable interactions between members," said Clint Schmidt, vice president of marketing and product at Livemocha. "Members can now evaluate the potential merit of the connections they make with other Livemocha members. This built–in qualification mechanism is an important evolution in social networking and ensures that the community is recognized for their learning progress and teaching contributions."
Livemocha will soon provide economic opportunities to members who have reached "teacher" status to offer paid tutoring services for other Livemocha community members.
New Livemocha Content in Arabic and Korean
Due to a groundswell of demand from members worldwide, Livemocha is also announcing the addition of new courses in Arabic and Korean. The courses each include over 100 hours of language instruction, along with the opportunity to connect with both native speakers and peers learning the same language. Additional advanced lessons for these and for other languages will be added in the future.
"Livemocha has grown quickly by expanding the concept of social network technology to tap into a global market opportunity," said Lisa Abrams, Director & Lead Analyst at Outsell (www.outsellinc.com), a research and advisory firm focusing on the education and information industries. "The company uses social networking as a technology platform and built its application for that vehicle. This new development combines technology with ease and familiarity from the consumer side to create a distance learning website, which also offers several potential new revenue streams."
About Livemocha
Livemocha is a Seattle–based company that is redefining language learning by combining dynamic online lessons with the world´s largest community of native language speakers. Livemocha is a free service that allows its members to become conversationally proficient in an ever–growing number of popular languages, including English, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Icelandic, Italian, Hindi, Japanese, Mandarin and Russian. Since launching in September 2007, Livemocha community has already grown to 1 million members, a clear indication of the demand for an engaging, collaborative approach to language learning. There are currently over 375 million people wanting to learn a language worldwide, and the market is currently estimated to be $20 billion, fueled by rapid globalization, immigration and travel.
For more information about Livemocha, please visit www.livemocha.com.
