Lingq

I love when readers comment and when they refer me to new language learning sites. Today, a reader referred me to an interesting site called Lingq (www.lingq.com). This site offers both free and paid lessons.

Lingq offers a variety of languages. I chose Italian; I have many Italian friends from as they refer to it, the old country. Also, for each language CD or site I review, I'll choose a new language.

At Lingq, you can create your own course or purchase a course offered by a tutor. I chose to create my own course from the free lessons. A wealth and variety of free courses are available. You choose from the many categories offered. Some of these categories are: Beginner 1, Business and Economics, Food, Literature, and New and Politics. There are many more categories. There are also blogs and podcasts to choose from.

I chose the Beginner 1 category which provides me with ten lessons about eating out (good start :) ). This course also includes eight Greeting and Goodbyes lessons and a 26-chapter story titled "Who Is She?".

Each lesson consists of five steps: Listen and Read, Creating Lingqs - highlighting words that you don't no to create lingqs (links) to create flashcards, Download and Listen, Submit Writing, and Speak (to a tutor via Skype). There is also an online forum.

Lingq looks very promising. I like the philosophy (the five steps). Many sites offer just listening and speaking, but don't offer solid reading, and often ignore writing.

I will share my Italian learning experience on Lingq with you.