Language Hero

After taking some Mandarin classes and failing to retain much of what I learning, I wondered why it is that most people who study languages fail to learn much either.

So, my partner and I (we have a web design/development business) started looking at online language learning systems. We felt they fail to do the following 3 things, each of which is critical:

1. They don't get students repeating new words enough times in different contexts (hearing, speaking, reading, typing/writing). Studies show you need about 12 repetitions just that for real learning to take place.

2. They don't focus on speaking, offering no chat between native speakers of different languages or chat with no guidance; the result--greetings and a few stock phrases and no real learning.

3. They don't offer keep users engaged and encouraged throughout the learning process, resulting in discouragement and loss of interest.

We developed a teaching system, called Language Hero, which addressed each of these issues.

We invite you to take a look at our presentation, which describes how we do this in detail:

https://youtu.be/AVAIDCY60Ck

In short here's the nuts and bolts of our system:

1. Use a 4-step process, which achieves 12+ repetitions of each new word in different contexts

2. Make chat the main focus, create guided, partially scripted chat, which lets students build conversations on real life topics themselves, even if they don't speak the target language-- instead of reciting silly and useless dialogs. Include live small group classes, review notes, and Duolingo-style Interactive lessons (only more fun) ALL OF WHICH work with and repurpose the same lesson material so students get really comfortable with it.

3. Break long courses down into short "sprints" (modules), each with just 8 classes, make lessons more fun, use points, rewards, badges, etc. Make tutors available at each step, reward users for helping their peers. All this keeps students focused and motivated, and helps them overcome obstacles.