Myngle partners with SpacedEd and Language Bridge

Posted on by

Myngle announced two new partnerships with language learning providers through its Changes Bulletin recently.

The companies are SpacedEd, a social learning platform that offers a mobile learning solution and Language Bridge which is a non memorization, non grammar method in form of a software for learning a language.

I know both companies for over a year now and had some talks with Joe Pollicino, one of the early team members of SpacedEd and Arkady Zilberman, the inventor of the Language Bridge method.

SpacedEd

SpacedEd enables educators to build a set of questions / flashcards that will be  delivered automatically to any student who signs up for the course. The method is built upon the spacing effect that will automatically repeat a question at a certain time, so that the information sticks in your brain.

This method or similar ones are more frequently used online education or mobile learning. Smart.fm uses it, MindSnacks Spanish which I reviewed recently uses it, Babbel has its algorithm  and CoboCards will be implementing it shortly. So, that’s a busy space to be in.

As SpacedEd is pointing out on their website, it is a proven method. In fact the Leitner algorithm is known since the 1930s and already in 1886 Herrmann Ebbinghaus did a research on how memory works. But of course it needed a lot of discipline to learn with this method. You needed to keep track of your flashcards, keep a diary what to repeat when etc. In the app age everything change. All this work is done by the software or app and you just need to repeat the lessons you get delivered.

To get an idea of how memorization works the “traditional” way, watch one of my favorite people in language education, Alexander Arguelles.

The interesting part for teachers about SpacedEd now is that you can sell your courses easily via a subscription model similar to a paid podcast. Through the partnership with Myngle you will be able to offer your courses on the Myngle platform to your own students or even to students who don’t take live lessons with you.

Although not a partner of Myngle, smart.fm did a great video about the theory behind their system which I would like to share with you.

Language Bridge

Language Bridge is a patented learning method invented by Arkady Zilberman. Other than classic methods like the way you learn in school or with Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Livemocha etc Language Bridge wants its students to learn a language subconciously and without active memorization or grammar drills.

This way Language Bridge claims that its students learn the language in a quarter of the usual time and that it teaches students to speak English without turning them into linguists.

I know, this sounds like a pretty radical approach to most language teachers (including myself) but nevertheless I think the method is valid. Arkady Zilberman taught hundreds of Russian immigrants in the US back in the 90ies with this method and it apparently worked. And if you think about it, it is basically the same way like a child acquires the language skills. For me, it is not the way I would learn a new language as I am interested in how a language works and hence the grammar is an essential part for me. But thinking of people who need to speak a new language fast and up to a decent level and don’t have the interest / need to cope with grammar and all the “behind the scenes” of a language this could be an interesting method to try.

Through the partnership with Myngle interested teachers will be able to attend free webinars about the product with Arkady Zilberman and students can purchase the Language Bridge software in the Myngle shop at a 20% discount.

Related Links:

  1. SpacedED
  2. Language Bridge
  3. smart.fm
  4. Spaced Repitition
  5. Hermann Ebbinghaus
  6. Alexander Arguelles on YouTube

 

Related Posts
Related Posts Slider

If you enjoyed this post, subscribe to the free EDUKWEST Newsletter and get updates via email.

With the subscription to the EDUKWEST Newsletter you will get
  • early access to upcoming interviews
  • news updates and reports
  • job listings in education 2.0
  • other exclusive perks

Your Email Address:

We respect your privacy and hate spam as much as you do. EDUKWEST will never sell, reveal or trade your email address.

  • Pingback: Kirsten Winkler

  • Pingback: adamring

  • chinamike

    Wow, there are quite a lot of questions surrounding these two moves. In terms of SpaceEd, I am wondering how teachers on Myngle will benefit from using this system? Will it just be a matter of price or will teachers using this system receive more visibility. Maybe someone from Myngle would like to comment on this, as I know they do read your blog.

    The benefits of spaced repetition are huge but a system like this needs to be employed almost religiously by both teacher and student. Will anyone at Myngle be responsible for this “religious training” or is this another example of an initiative that will fall flat and be forgotten after 4 weeks?

    Second, the great thing about Arkady's method is that it is targeted at unconscious learning. This is neither new or revolutionary. Krashen's approach is and was the same. Starting 30 years ago he argued that tacit acquisition was superior to conscious learning. TPRS is an example of a well-known system that believes in the superiority of unconscious learning.

    From a pure marketing point of view however I would say that most people in school (ages 6-18) learn English to pass tests. For these people (unfortunately) accuracy is far more important than fluency. I think this is why most learning systems are skewed towards conscious learning (but that is slowly changing).

    Because of this most teachers are also skewed towards teaching in an explicit fashion. I wonder how Myngle teachers, the bulk of whom grew up teaching students in a explicit fashion are going to react to this system? Of greater importance is whether Myngle starts promoting a teaching/learning style that is at odds with how most (maybe all) of their teachers teach. Will teachers on Myngle be able to trumpet the fact that they are use this “unconscious method” and ignite a debate on Myngle itself about the relative efficacy of each?

    While Myngle is slowly moving towards becoming a school I wonder if they understand what can happen to a school that supports two radically different contrasting approaches to learning?

    Indeed there is yet one more concern I would have from a teacher’s perspective. Is Arkady's system one that is designed to supplement instruction or substitute for the teacher? My impression from his site is that it is the second rather than the first. If so, this could raise problems when teachers use his system. Maybe Arkady would like to comment on this.

    Finally, please do not construe these comments as being critical of Arkady's approach. I am a strong advocate of unconscious learning. I just question if Myngle, the school, can become receptive to his approach. Certainly Myngle the marketplace could have; but wasn’t that just a mirage?

    Myngle was only a marketplace for a very short time (unfortunately). And now it has problems becoming a true school. Has Myngle taught us that it is impossible to be the first, and that becoming a hybrid of the two is an impossible Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde balancing act?

    • http://kirstenwinkler.com KirstenWinkler

      Yes, I asked myself the same questions. Knowing both products for a while now I'd say that SpacedEd fits better in the Myngle strategy than Language Bridge for the reasons you mention. Selling an extra course that accompanies the live lessons is actually a good thing but then it will be interesting to see how many teachers are actually developing courses.

      Arkady always said that Language Bridge is not a substitute for teachers. In fact he wants to convert as many teachers to his product / method as possible but as you said, maybe a good time for him to explain it here ;) .

      I think one of the major problems is that neither Myngle nor most of the competitors have an educator as founder or team member hence there might be a certain expertise in other fields but setting up a consistent educational framework is not on the map which then leads to what you mention in your comment.

  • Pingback: stivibi

  • http://www.language-bridge.com bridge2english

    Dear Kirsten and Chinamike,

    I appreciate your offer to write my comments on your blog in regard to the new partnership of Myngle with the Language Bridge (LB).

    In describing the LB method Kirsten writes: “And if you think about it, it is basically the same way like a child acquires the language skills.”

    Unfortunately, majority of adults can’t learn like children do because starting at the age of 17 they lose the ability to associate directly the words of the new language with the images and situations; most adults (probably 90%) use to this end their mother tongue. Subconscious cross-translation into their native tongue is the main mode of operation for adults while learning EFL and the main reason of inefficiency of the conventional methods of learning a foreign language.

    Language teachers, linguists and those who have a hobby of learning foreign languages do not encounter the problem of cross-translation and have hard time to understand what most of their students should overcome before they can acquire natural fluency in EFL.

    The Language Bridge Technology contains two major components: new methodology (no grammar, no memorization and no translation) and self-study software that incorporates latest technological solutions which allow it to be implemented in all 6 sections of the China Mike strategy Cube for Business Diversification in Language Learning:

    On-line Blended Off-line

    One-on-one Small group Large group
    Instruction Instruction Instruction

    Machine assisted Non-paid human Paid Human
    learning assistance assistance

    On August 28, 2010 at 10:00 am EDT I will demonstrate during my webinar to Myngle teachers how the LB could be implemented in all 6 sections; you are welcome to attend the webinar by clicking here: http://vyew.com/room#/40106362/Language_Bridge:…

    What is The Future…?

    1989: “The Future is multi-media”

    1999: “The Future is the WEB”

    2009: “The Future is smart mobile”

    We live in the era of technological eruption and we should permanently change to meet the requirements of our time. Why to change? – read at http://www.efl4xfaster.com.

    In his presentation The World's English Mania, Jay Walker explains why a billion people around the world are trying to learn English.

    Myngle EduTeam is doing a great job in searching the way to educate Myngle teachers and help them in changing their teaching habits so that they could satisfy this unprecedented demand by offering language learning method that is 4 times more efficient and 5 times cheaper. Implementation of blended learning will allow online schools and EFL teachers to gain financial benefits which conventional methods provide less and less.

    You may watch the recorded Webinar here where I demonstrate how this goal could be achieved along with increased income (http://www.language-bridge.com/LBWebinar080810.wmv).

    Dear Chinamike,
    As for Stephen Krashen, I’d rather say that he differentiates two processes in his theory: acquisition is similar to the subconscious process that children already undergo when they acquire their first language. By contrast, second language learning is the conscious process of learning, for example, grammar rules. It leads to a conscious knowledge of the learned system.

    Unfortunately, subconscious process used by children can’t be used by most adults, as I have explained above, due to subconscious cross-translation into their native tongue that is typical for 90% of adult population. In my opinion, the only way for adults to start using subconscious learning is to perform three actions at the same time: reading, listening and repeating after the speaker with a delay of one or two words. This is the main drill of the patented LB method. Simultaneous repetition was never used in linguistics and that is why it is very hard for teachers to grasp why this seemingly simple drill turns off cross-translation and an adult is turned into a language prodigy again as if he is a child.

    What concerns TPRS it was always a part of LB Technology without using this name. Otherwise how can you describe Drill 8 (that is used with every lesson of LB software):

    One-man-show.
    Complete the word blocks given below and act out the scenes, using your dominant senses (vision, hearing, taste, etc.) In acting out each scene, you may chose to be an actor, a singer, a dancer, a stage director, or an artist. First, use the word blocks from the current lesson to work through the scenes. Then you may use word blocks from other lessons.

    I thank you for a great question: “I wonder how Myngle teachers, the bulk of whom grew up teaching students in an explicit fashion are going to react to this system?”

    Remember that to start a chain reaction of transferring to the new technology we need only 5% of teachers. The rest will follow! It seems that the core of initiative group of best known Myngle teachers willing to modify their teaching experience according to the Language Bridge Technology is already active and they are coming to my free weekly webinars. You are welcome too.