iPod+iBook, originally uploaded by philomglol.
Foreign languages have been a frustrating subject to teach at home. We’ve tried several languages and methods at our house with mixed results. The only good, consistent results came from online, real-time courses offered by the Potter’s School. Rosetta Stone is very good but we bogged down because I would have had to learn French myself in order to help my son where he was stuck. That wouldn’t be bad to learn French but it’s one more thing to add to my to-do list.
But how about this? The Economist reports on the future of foreign language learning at home using Web2.0 sites:
IT IS early evening in Berkeley, California, and Chrissy Schwinn, a sinophile environmentalist, walks ten feet from her kitchen to her home office for her Chinese lesson. She has already listened to that day’s dialogue, which arrived as a free podcast, on her iPod. She has also printed out the day’s Chinese characters, which arrived along with the podcast. Now her computer’s Skype software—which makes possible free phone calls via the internet—rings and “Vera”, sitting in Shanghai where it is late morning, says Ni hao to begin the lesson.
How cool! Potentially, this could be an effective way for kids to learn at home using a service provided by Praxis Language Service. Podcasts are free. Pdf transcripts are $9/month, extras are $30. Realtime online instruction is an additional premium. Chinese and Spanish are the languages available at this time. Skype, of course, is free.
Hat Tip: Weblogged-ed.com
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