Online language groups: a new learning experience
The internet is a galore of language groups nowadays. I don’t think I am exaggerating when I say that there are millions of such groups on Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram, and other social networks. However, if you take a closer look at the posts in such groups and chat rooms, you will notice that many of the members are actually asking for the links to other, better, and more active groups, in the hope of finding something closer to a real learning experience. But groups that provide such an experience are rare. Even the ones that seem active are full of static questions, with just a few answers to each post. There is barely someone ready to answer in real-time.
Languages
I was already on the verge of deciding, language groups just aren’t for me, when I suddenly came across a website focused on what I was searching for: www.telegramlanguagegroups.com. It took me to a bunch of related groups on Telegram, and I ended up in an amazing setting for language learning. The project bears the name Learning Creators, and they claim to have invented online group learning. It sounds pretentious, but surprisingly I wasn’t disappointed when I joined their groups: vocabulary games, spelling and pronunciation exercises, syntax and translation quizzes, all designed by native teachers from all over the world. But it’s not only the exercises that make the groups so charming; it’s the community.
24/7 Available
There are teachers in the groups 24/7, providing personal feedback to the learners. And helping solve questions and doubts, apart from giving regular lessons based on a common syllabus; those are even stored in separate rooms to allow peaceful studying in an otherwise constantly active environment. Learners register for a management system that keeps track of their progress. And makes learning more competitive between the students of each proficiency level. And what’s best about it: all 25 language groups are free. Of course, some groups are still to reach the standard of constant activity. But the groups for big languages, like English, German, Arabic, French, and Chinese, are just overflowing with messages.
If someone had told me that there was still something to come across in the field of e-learning, except the idea of autonomous bots or super translators that allow you to communicate without actually learning the language, I wouldn’t have believed them. But what I saw is an extraordinary idea of bringing the learning back to the roots: human to human, while taking full advantage of the possibilities of social media. And that brings the learning to a whole new level: real online group learning. The community is constantly growing, and its creators keep adding new features, so I’m curious to see what comes next.