Comment Minority languages using the web to play catch-up (Score 1) 165
One of the interesting things happening online that this article doesn't touch on is the way in which minority languages (which have traditionally been quite poorly served by the market, because they are not large enough to justify much expenditure on course development) are using the internet to offer better quality courses - usually a lot cheaper than the big players like Rosetta Stone.
One example is a course for learning Welsh called www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com which I put together with some friends of mine. We're language activists, so we wanted to provide new materials that aren't otherwise available in Welsh - and the internet makes it possible for us to distribute them more or less for free. We give a 13 hour oral course (similar to Pimsleur or Michel Thomas, although of course we'd like to believe that it's a bit better!...;-)) for free.
Our server costs are covered by a small number of people who pay a few pounds a month for access to daily practice sessions - but we give a couple of practice sessions away for free each week as well.
It's going to be interesting to see if more minority languages follow in this kind of direction. I don't think anyone ought to have to pay 100s of dollars to learn another language...
One example is a course for learning Welsh called www.SaySomethinginWelsh.com which I put together with some friends of mine. We're language activists, so we wanted to provide new materials that aren't otherwise available in Welsh - and the internet makes it possible for us to distribute them more or less for free. We give a 13 hour oral course (similar to Pimsleur or Michel Thomas, although of course we'd like to believe that it's a bit better!...;-)) for free.
Our server costs are covered by a small number of people who pay a few pounds a month for access to daily practice sessions - but we give a couple of practice sessions away for free each week as well.
It's going to be interesting to see if more minority languages follow in this kind of direction. I don't think anyone ought to have to pay 100s of dollars to learn another language...
