Social Twisters
A friend from Canada called.
Well actually Québec. He refused to be known as a Ca-na-di-an. I told him to speak to me in English. I can’t for the love of Faust understand when he drools in his accent – it sounded like he was suckling on a lollipop or something grotesque. I even told him to visit Paris off and on – just so he’d loose the accent. Brandon thought I was being sarcastic. I could have been, but when a francophobe talks, I’d have to remind myself that s/he is not French and that bastardizing the language comes naturally.
livemocha is a social platform.
If you’ve been into anything social lately, you’d not want to miss out on the service – social porn, social flirt, social lust, social twit, and anything socially responsible or irresponsible like that cheap rubber made elsewhere exported into your glove compartment. What I like about livemocha is it adopts a service you’d likely find off line when you visit a country for the first time, flirting to get to pillow talking in just a couple of months – sometimes, if you’re lucky, you can get laid, and learn a new language. At livemocha you sign-up and practice, learn and exchange notes, listen to believable unaccented native pronouncing words you’re likely adopt and before you know it you’ve probably learnt two other languages apart from being just a unilingual and you’ll be able to serve yourself in a foreign country.
Une petite maison en ruine vaut mieux qu’un palais en commun
If you’re more interested in keeping friends you meet online apart from the notes you’ll exchange with each other, palabea could be a better choice. After having partnered with DW, Babel and Babylon, the site translates almost instantaneously what you’d like to know in another lingo. You can even watch webcasts, and record AV on the fly right from the platform, and learning another language promises a learning trip.
I’d suggest Brandon, and some Suisse friends to consider signing on these two or at least spend a gap year in a given country to pick-up on the language {albeit it can be an expansive experience!} loosing the local twang when speaking making it easier for the listener to conversely have a relationship, even if its for a minute or two. italki is one other service whereby you can pick up a language if you’re using Skype. Join groups, find resources to digest, make new friends, and twist the tongue to pleasurable heights. Learning can be fun, and in the 21st century, it is soft on the pocketbook. If you’re an expert in Malay, Swahili, Klingon or some other universal language you can earn money teaching online – Worldia makes it fun for you to learn and earn at the same time. Introduce yourself, write your thoughts in a diary {bloglike thingy} and exchange tongues – with tools like these, you’ll go very far by exchanging information, and populating your Worldia map.
If you’re still stuck between être and Avoir, drop me a line.
