Learning via social networking

I found a site a month or so ago which claimed to be able to teach me a language via the power of social networking, and tonight I’ve kicked off my efforts to find out whether this is something which is in fact possible.

I’ve signed up with http://livemocha.com, set up a profile, started making friends and am currently in the process of letting everyone know that I am learning Arabic and helping others learn English.

I’ve chosen what I believe will be a very difficult language for me. I cannot make a couple of the required sounds, I cannot pick apart the patterns in the writing enough to even recognise individual characters, and I do not know anyone who speaks the language.

I’m actually really keen. This could be a hell of a lot of fun.

An hour of digging around sees me capable of saying hello, thank you, and God willing. I can say man, woman, girl, boy, thin, fat, tall and short. And, more importantly I have now met several people interested in helping me learn.

The site is setup along very cool lines. If I help people learn, others will reciprocate. When I comment on the submissions of users learning English, assisting them with pronunciation, comprehension and writing, I essentially increase my reputation, demonstrating to others that I am someone who is sticking around and worth their time. This then means that when I submit an exercise others will take the time to help me where I go wrong, or to point out things I might do better.

There is also a chat mechanism where others wanting to practice language skills can chat with me and we can bumble along together. Look forward to hearing me wrestling with letters that I cannot yet fathom.

I’m impressed. This site has the potential to really take off, given the time I will obviously be looking at spending there during any given session, and considering the length of time it will take for me to learn the language.

Let’s see how it goes hey?