Using Kantalk

One of the biggest difficulties facing studentslearning English in a country where English is not spoken as a first language is that they do not usually have chances to practice outside the classroom. Thankfully, the internet now allows us to overcome this obstacle. Applications such as Skype, MSN Chat and Yahoo Messsenger now incorporate phone style communication. Kantalk takes this one step further by allowing language learners to get together and communicate in the language they wish to practice.

I remember me and David, the founder of Kantalk talked about how this could be used in language learning and I expressed the concern that getting complete strangers to chat at length is a bit difficult. I thought that the service would work better if people could talk about a particular topic or theme.

Now Kantalk has introduced an extra service in which anyone can invite others to follow a lesson plan. If you are feeling creative then why not add your one of your own? I added this one earlier today based on something I posted on the blog.

Kantalk - Using the internet to practice speaking skills

Photo by Splorp

One of the problems students face when studying English is that they have limited chances to speak the language outside the class. Unless you're lucky to move in English speaking circles then you are going to find it hard to practice these skills. Luckily, once again the internet has the solution in the shape of Skype.Now anyone with a fast internet connection and a microphone can speak free of charge. Even better Kantalk has been created for those who want to practice foreign language skills with others from all over the world.

Taking this concept a step further they have now created lesson plans which allow people to discuss various topics with others online. Check out their lesson on TV here.

Kantalk 2.0

One of the internet applications that I really think can help my students is KanTalk. This is a Skype based tool that allows language learners find people to help practice their speaking skills. The idea is that you post your profile and you link up with others. For example, a native French speaker who wants to improve their English can find people in say, the USA who want to learn French.

This is a great example of how web 2.0 can allow learners to gain the speaking skills so necessary for exam success even if they don't live in a country where the language they are learning is spoken widely. Now they included stuff that can help with the tricky area of pronouciation in English.

"we've just added a neat feature that allows user to record a short paragraph on the site. It's a good tool for users to get feedback about their accent and pronunciation (the original ideas is from this professor:
http://accent.gmu.edu/)"

Using Kantalk

I had the chance to use Kantalk this morning when I had a great chat with Claude, a professor at a French university. The site allows people to practice their language skills (it's not limited to English, either) and for me it offers the possibility of endless opportunities for people to speak and use the language they've learnt in class. Also,It was great to have the chance to see the world from a different point of view.

KanTalk

the red rotary, originally uploaded by Automatt.

This is an application which has been created by LinguaBee (who is my hero as far as foreign language learning goes). This basic idea is to allow students learning foreign languages to communicate with each other using Skype. I'll be recommending it to my university students next week. It seems the perfect place to do Tandem language learning (see here for more ideas) i.e a place where students can practice their language skills with others who speak that language. So, for example a Peruvian student who is learning English could have a 30 minute session with a American who wants to learn Spanish, then they could swap languages for the next 30 minutes.

Alternatively, anyone who wants to practice their language skills can get themselves a "speaking buddy" and regularly practice.

So check out KanTalk and tell me what you think.