Supported Languages @LangoLAB

Hi everyone!

LangoLAB is happy to announce that we now support 43 languages at sign-up, and those same 43 languages for video captions. This means that our English video library is now accessible to far more people than before! Google Translate will be supplying the initial translations, as always, so please help us and your fellow learners by editing them!

Also, just a reminder: our video request feature is up and running, so if you see a video in the foreign language you're learning that you'd like to see up on the site, just request it and we'll get it captioned for you. Use or build your own playlists to get maximum exposure to thematically linked videos!

If you like these two features, or if you'd like to see something else up on LangoLAB, we're all ears. Please let us know by e-mailing us at feedback at langolab dot com.

-the LangoLAB team

New Features Coming Out on langoLAB

Hi, everyone! We're almost in our second month here at TechStars and are working like madmen to make langoLAB into something that will give you as much exposure to native speakers as possible on a webpage.

A lot of people who have sounded off lately have mentioned that they learned to speak a foreign language by immersing themselves in it by any means necessary. They listened to music, caught the news, watched movies... and interacted with people who speak that language on a daily basis as often as they could.

Now you'll be able to communicate with other users who speak the language you're studying on langolab.com. Here are some ways you can connect:

• Participate in the video request. Here's how it works: you're a native speaker of English studying German. You contact us with a video that you'd like captioned. We caption it for you. Soon we hope to have a video exchange where users are able to caption videos for each other!
  
• Make a playlist. You'll be able to link videos by subject, or grammar, or any other criteria you can think of. Help other people learn the language your learning with the videos that helped you most!

In other news, we've also organized our existing videos by difficulty level. Just look on the right side of the page at the beginner, basic, intermediate, and advanced links and choose your level. Beginners are just starting out learning a foreign language. Basic assumes that you can say hello, goodbye, please and thank you. Intermediate is when you can maintain a short conversation and get around, and advanced is near-fluency in a foreign language.

As always, if you have any feedback about the site, or would like to see something else we haven't thought of, send us an e-mail at cofounders at langolab dot com.

langoLAB Feedback

Hello there, users. (Waving awkwardly)

It has recently been impressed upon us how important it is to take into account what you want. At TechStars, we have constant sessions with members of the start-up elite. These people have been where we are now and managed to make something that truly recognized and addressed the plight of their consumer. Our mentor session today further cemented the understanding in our heads that we're really developing a site for you. We at langoLAB have stopped developing a vacuum and are actively looking for beta testers to tell us what they DON'T like.

Interested in sounding off? E-mail us at feedback at langolab dot com or hit the big orange button on the site! Plzkthx! Next post is about NEW ground-breaking features coming up!

Culturally Significant Individuals

I felt that, in light of recent events, I should pay some sort of tribute to someone so culturally significant that all other news has been moved to the second page as a result of his death. So Michael Jackson is now up on langoLAB for your English-learning pleasure.

I can’t claim to have been a fanatic of Michael Jackson’s music, but I do recognize the impact that he had on the American music scene. Unlike many pop stars today, Michael actually had the voice to back up the pop. One video that sticks out in my mind from my childhood is “Remember the Time“. So exotic and beautiful, totally visually engaging, with the Somalian supermodel, Iman, as Nefertiti and Eddie Murphy as Ramses (a bit of a historical mix-up, but hey, I’m just being nitpicky here). I remember being transfixed – it was unlike anything I’d ever seen on television before. He was groundbreaking – the one who took music out of the studio, off of the radio, and put it into mainstream entertainment. Kudos to him. What’s your favorite Michael Jackson song? What about video?

Meaningful Interaction for Fluency

You know how they say that it takes a village to raise a child? I agree, but I'll extend and warp the metaphor a little further - it takes a village to raise a child (or an adult) to speak. To speak grammatically, knowledgeably... eloquently. One of our main foci at langoLAB is to harness the foreign language-speaking community and to give them a place to interact, so that each user's experience directly benefits other users. My own passion for this stems from personal experience - from feeling isolated in a teacher-centric atmosphere in high school and college. We would sit, facing front, listening to overly complicated grammatical explanations. One person would ask a question, the teacher would answer him and we'd move on to the next task at hand. Or we'd stare down at our books, while someone read a sentence out loud and we'd repeat. Sometimes we wrote tests, sometimes we conjugated verbs, but we lacked the most valuable thing for fluency in a language: interaction with native speakers.

In order to speak well, you need hours of interactions with people fluent in the language you're studying. You need to discuss a variety of topics, recognize different styles, emulate dialects, and otherwise immerse yourself in the language and culture. I haven't forgotten the disillusionment I felt while studying in school. A lot of the indignation is still there, at a system that let me down. At TechStars, we're trying to channel that energy into producing a product that really addresses the problem.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

According to Sir Ken Robinson, innovation extraordinaire, people are being educated out of their capacity for creativity. Human creativity spans a variety of disciplines and draws from a rich reservoir of interactions and experiences, a reality that is not being taken into account in world educational systems. We, starting from a very young age, all have a tremendous talent for thought outside the box. This innate gift is being stifled within the constraints of schools, whose unilateral approach produces students who can answer a factual question, but who aren’t necessarily intelligent. Traditional teaching methods are staid. Outdated. Ineffective. And they’re affecting our ability to produce critical thinkers who question. Who reason. And who strive to understand the greater meaning behind a concept, rather than simply regurgitating what they’ve been told. Education is supposed to take us into the future. What kind of future are we headed toward if everyone thinks exactly the same way? Check out his lecture here – it’s worth your time.

Now let's expand for a moment. Think back to the way you learned a foreign language. Was it approached creatively? Do you feel like you were challenged? How about entertained? I don't. Most people remember rote memorization, grammar drills and verb conjugations, reading long texts, writing exercises, and pointless partner activities that left both parties thinking "God, how lame". THAT I remember. A shame - today's administrators have a bevy of resources at their disposal. Technology is rapidly expanding into the educational sphere, making it possible to creatively engage learners through a variety of media. langoLAB takes this creativity into the foreign language learning space, giving you access to compelling, native speaker-generated videos with a set of interactive tools that lets you play with them. Check out this video in our French section - it left me in stitches. An exercise in creativity if I ever saw one, and great for beginning/intermediate learners.

Exciting New Features at Langolab!

At Langolab we are aggressively positioning ourselves for absolute learn-foreign-language-through-video supremacy. (Muahahaha!) We will not rest until we've come up with the best ideas, the most entertaining and effective content, and the most amazing features. Every week we want to come out with features of an increasingly awesome nature, and ultimately we want to totally blow you away. Here's what's new for this week.

New Dictionary

At langolab you can click on words in video captions (and any other text) to get definitions in your native language. We've partnered with bab.la for foreign word definitions.

You can vote for the best definition for the word you clicked on. The best definition ends up at the top with a special look to indicate it's the "correct" definition.

If you don't see the right definition, you can always add a new one to the dictionary. Your definition will help you and any other users.




Of course, you can still create sets of flash cards with the definitions. Watch the video, test yourself on the words, then go back and watch the video again. Rock!

Caption Translations

We came up with the most awesome caption translation system possible. It works by grabbing translations from Google Translate, and then letting users edit them into correctness. To try it out, watch a video and select a language for translation.


The machine translations are usually flawed (to say the least), so users are encouraged to edit them to make them more appropriate. Try it, it's fun and you're helping out a lot of people by doing it.

Cofounder / Entrepreneurial Hacker Needed

langoLAB wants YOU!

As previously alluded to in Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes, langoLAB has been inducted into a prominent seed capital program in Boston. Program affiliates, including (but not limited to) founders of dozens of successful businesses and venture capitalists, have given a tremendous vote of confidence in the success of our project. We're in an ideal environment to make fast progress and we're scaling a steep learning curve every day.

Unfortunately, our ideas are currently outweighing our developer power. We want to bring on a fourth cofounder - an entrepreneurial hacker with serious coding skills, who also has an interest in the nuts and bolts of the start-up world. Our fourth cofounder wouldn't be limited to just coding - s/he would take part in all aspects of growing our business (that's marketing, product development, etc.).

Here's what we need: an absolute maniac about writing great code. A person who is smart and creative, driven, and able to dream up cool things and bring them into existence. Someone who is ready to work for sweat equity and the role of founder in our company.

A lot of our code is in Java, compiled with GWT, and some is in Actionscript and Erlang. Java and JavaScript skills are necessary, GWT familiarity is highly preferred, and CSS is a plus. And we’re doing some really cool stuff in Erlang – so could you!

Entrepreneurial hackers, particularly compiler nerds and NLP enthusiasts, are encouraged to apply. You must be Boston-based (or prepared to relocate at your own expense). Please e-mail us at cofounders@langolab.com.

Foreign Humor

A businessman arriving in Boston for a convention found that his first evening was free, and he decided to go find a good seafood restaurant that served Scrod, a Massachussetts specialty. Getting into a taxi, he asked the cab driver, "Do you know where I can get Scrod around here?" "Sure," said the cabdriver. "I know a few places... but I can tell you it's not often I hear someone use the third-person pluperfect indicative anymore!"

One of the most difficult things to understand in a foreign language is jokes. Often the problem doesn't lie in translation. It's not just the words and grammar involved. It's the other cultural nuances that go along with them that make them funny. Have you ever been told a joke by someone who tried to translate it word for word from their native language? Not so funny, right?

We at langoLAB totally understand. In the upcoming months, you should be seeing an influx of new comedy clips appearing on the site, which will give you ample opportunity to figure out "what're they laughing at, anyway?". Learn the words using one-click dictionary look-up, make them into flashcard sets, and read the notes that other users have left for you. Ask a question, read lesson pages. Soon we'll have phrase level support to help you understand phrasal verbs and much more. Stay tuned!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Change is in the air at langolab.com. In the last week, we've had a major change of pace, complete with a change of scenery, a change in energy, and a change in support. In the next few months, the site will begin to take shape in ways we could only have imagined before. We're so grateful for the opportunity.

Shane, our rock star graphic designer in residence, is busy with a newer version of the site that will knock your socks off. You can help us, though, by telling us how we can design our welcome page better. The current version of our welcome page lets you watch a recently uploaded video immediately from the front page. You can also go directly to your language's homepage by clicking on it in the dropdown menu.

Our question to you is, what would you like to see on our welcome page? Would you like to start watching videos right away, or would you like more instructions about how to use them and our tools? What kind of videos would you like to see?

Please e-mail us at feedback@langolab.com - you'll never find ears more open than ours.

Lost in Translation

I always supress a giggle when bellying up to a table in a foreign restaurant. Infamous for misspellings, horrible grammar, and overall comical translations, menus are great for a laugh.

In an effort to help out clueless American tourists, many restaurants abroad are offering an English version of their menu. But are you really getting what you ordered? See for yourself.


I think I'll brush up on my culinary Chinese, thank you.

What are some of the funniest menu items you've come across in your travels? Weirdest response wins an all-expense paid culinary tour of Thailand... just kidding.

User-generated versus professional content

As you all know, langolab.com aggregates a broad spectrum of foreign language content for your viewing pleasure. Up until a short while ago, the majority of it consisted mostly of popular songs and short skits uploaded from YouTube. Then, we began to see a surge in artists uploading their own original work, like imaj, Kirsten Lepore, and Pavel Kartaev. We like to believe that the shift from YouTube to user-generated video clips reflects a natural progression happening within our site. On a very fundamental level, users provide the base of our content and take an active role in foreign language teaching and learning through the question and answer and notes features. These videos are important because they show how native speakers use vocabulary and even play with it in their language. By watching these videos and using our tools, you are learning everything from correct pronunciation to word order to syntax. We think this approach is essential to language learning and want you to have as much exposure to it as possible.

We believe the next logical step in LangoLAB's evolution should include professionally-generated videos and full-length movies. How many of our users out there have ever watched ABC's "Lost" and thought, hey! I would learn Spanish a whole lot faster if I had something so compelling to watch. Our next major task is to get some professional content out on the site for you. As this is a monumental task, we ask for your continued support in posting your own videos to the site. We love your enthusiasm and are working hard to bring you EXACTLY what you need to immerse yourself and become fluent.

Employment and Foreign Language Fluency

According to a recent article on CBS MarketWatch, foreign language fluency is fast becoming a key factor to landing many U.S.-based jobs. Employers are exploring the global marketplace like never before, and, as a result, their employees are being put in direct contact with customers and colleagues overseas. But are they fluent enough? Fluency in a foreign language requires years of intensive study, ideally while being immersed in an environment where the language is spoken constantly.

These opportunities can be somewhat difficult to come by for the typical American. In many institutions, foreign language courses are slowly being phased out of the curriculum and not offered until very late in a student's academic career. The current two-year high school requirement is only enough for a student to superficially grasp grammar, if s/he is lucky. In the worst case scenario, the two-year college requirement only reviews what the student should have learned in high school. Study abroad might not be financially feasible.

Fluency in a foreign language is not just the ability to put words together in a sentence, but, more importantly, the ability to communicate ideas and concepts. It is an understanding of both language and culture. So how can we expect to compete in a global marketplace where foreign languages have been learned since childhood? I think we just need to be smarter.

We need more interaction with native speakers and foreign media. We have to learn how a foreign language is actually spoken, then emulate the accent that we hear. We should practice speaking as much as possible, with someone who speaks the language better than we do. Many of these components are already in place on our website - immerse yourself in texts and videos, ask questions and read notes. Meanwhile, we'll keep working on other ways to help you increase your fluency in the spoken language.

Travel List

Hey, LangoLABBers!

I keep a running tab of countries I would like to visit to learn more about their language and culture. Here's my updated list!

1. India
2. Argentina
3. Japan
4. Azerbaijan
5. Egypt

Now I'd like to hear from you. Where are you headed next? What draws you to the places you've listed?

Easy as A, B, C

Ever wonder how some people seem to learn a new language effortlessly, while you struggle with all your might to learn basic vocabulary and pronounciation?

Maybe they know something that you don't.

A language can be learned anywhere and everywhere, at any time. The trick is to flip a little switch in your mind to be processing it at all times. In other words, surround yourself with language. Make it something that you can't put off and ignore.

One easy way to practice vocabulary in the language you're learning is to put post-it notes with vocabulary all over your house. This way, you'll be forced to associate the object with its name in the foreign language you're learning. When you see one, say it out loud. Don't forget to add accents and articles to help. As you get more advanced, you can start writing entire phrases.

Another way to help you learn a foreign language is to immerse yourself in media as much as possible. Watch t.v. or movie clips in the language, listen to music, the radio, and read everything you can get your hands on. LangoLAB is a valuable resource for this - just click, watch, click, learn.

A third great way to get to know how a language is actually used is to make friends with native speakers. Check your local university for language tables, where native speakers go to chat with people learning their language. They can shed light on things besides the grammar you're learning in the classroom and give you an insiders' view of culture.

Lastly, take every opportunity to speak the language. A typical problem with traditional foreign language instruction is that learners read and listen much more than they actually speak. So when you have the chance to talk to someone who knows the language you're learning, take full advantage! Talk their ears off!

These are just four ways to bring foreign language into your life. Please comment with your favorite way to learn a foreign language!

What's the Best Way to Get Fluent in a Foreign Language?

During my last semester of undergrad, I asked my very old, very wise professor the best way for me to get fluent in Russian. This man, a graduate of Moscow State University and a highly regarded Philologist, didn't skip a beat when he said, "You must read! You must sit with your book out in front of you, and, with a dictionary to the side, compare every word!"

I was incredulous. Surely this man, with decades of teaching experience, would know true fluency in a language comes from learning more than just grammar? So I persisted.

"But, I have Russian-speaking friends! Isn't this a better way to learn to speak the Russian that's being spoken in real life?" Three years of my four-year instruction were spent struggling through short stories written by Tolstoy and Chekhov, and I was unable to utter more than a few short phrases at a time. My listening comprehension was absurdly low. My speaking abilities were a joke.

"No, you must read."

It was after this meeting that I really understood. I understood that, to be fluent in a foreign language and to truly understand the culture, I needed contact with native speakers. I needed contact with foreign media. I wanted to watch movies, then discuss them with native speakers of Russian. I wanted to listen to music and understand the lyrics. At that time, there was no way for me to do all of this in one place.

Fast forward four years, and I work on a website that offers all of these things. Like I could only dream about before, langolab.com not only aggregates media, but provides tools (like one-click dictionary look-up and flashcard sets) to help understand what the words on the page mean.

So what's the best way to get fluent in a foreign language? We're working on it.

Technology News Examiner Interview

We were recently interviewed by the Examiner.com. Check it out!

New Dictionaries on langolab.com!

The LangoLAB team is thrilled to announce the addition of two new dictionaries to the site! Special thanks go out to Tony Alozano, who kindly gave us permission to use his amazing Granada University Spanish-English dictionary. We would also like to thank Janek Wagner for his great suggestion to use the GNU/FDL Anglicko-Český Slovník for native speakers of Czech using our site.

We are in the process of bringing new dictionaries to the site as fast as we can! Please bear with us while we evaluate, and, if you know a great dictionary in your language that you'd like to see featured on langolab.com, don't hesitate to contact us!

Attention Is Great

We've been featured on KillerStartups.com & MakeUseOf.com!

A HUGE thank you to all of you who have been supporting our site!

Update: New blogs!

Just wanted to let you know about some cool things that are underway at langolab.

We have two new blogs on the site. For our French students, we're featuring a blog by Gonzague Dambricourt, who writes about new technologies, photography, and communications in general. The second blog, by a German musician who goes by the name Chikatze, offers cool and clever commentary. Both have one-click dictionary lookup, flashcards, and notes, and the posts often have embedded audio and video clips, as well as pics that grab your attention and get you thinking “Hm, I wonder what s/he said about that?”

Enjoy! Check back frequently for updated news about the site.

Langolab is back

Like a phoenix from the ashes, langolab.com has been reborn. Please check out the new design at langolab.com. The site user interface, which was previously written entirely in actionscript, is now in html/css/javascript. Our awesome graphic designer and partner, Shane Ermitano, has done a great job. We are now aggressively pursuing FL-teaching advisors and mentors, as well as content providers (i.e. entertaining vloggers and bloggers) from the far international reaches of the internet.