busuu.com is an online community for learning languages.

busuu.com on Telemadrid

November 13th, 2008 Posted in Language learning, Starting up a company | 1 Comment »

Yesterday we had an interview with the local Spanish TV channel Telemadrid which was then shown on the news.

They did a very nice report about our website and also interviewed one of our Spanish users while using our site.

Take a look at the video here:

It´s very rewarding to see different international media showing so much interest in our innovative project! Check out our press coverage here.

Now you can submit your written exercises to your busuu.com friends for correction!

October 24th, 2008 Posted in Language learning, What's new on busuu.com? | No Comments »
On the continuing quest to improve the busuu.com functionality, the busy busuu.com programmers have come up with a novel idea in the writing section of the learning units.
Now, having done your writing exercise, you have the possibility of sending your work to be corrected by a busuu.com friend!

Just click on the “Submit and notify Friends” button and you can choose up to three friends to send your post to.The post will be sent directly to the busuu.com inbox of your chosen friend.

This way, you can guarantee that your post will be corrected and best of all, by a friend!So now you have no excuses. Start writing!

busuu.com is officially accepted as project for the UNESCO´s International Year of Languages!

October 15th, 2008 Posted in Language learning | 1 Comment »

We are very proud to announce that busuu.com has been accepted as an official project of the UNESCO International Year of Languages.

UNESCO International Year of Languages As you may be aware, 2008 was proclaimed the International Year of Languages by the General Assembly of the United Nations who named UNESCO as the lead agency. The main aim of the International Year of Languages is to take action to promote multilingualism which is why busuu.com was accepted as an official partner!

Not alone that, as you will recently have seen on busuu.com, the initiative to promote endangered languages such as Silbo Gomero, which is also in keeping with UNESCO’s Programme on Safeguarding Endangered Languages as well as the UNESCO programme of Multilingualism in Cyberspace.

As part of this commitment for multilingualism, busuu.com plans to increase the languages available on the website within the near future because we also absolutely agree that “languages matter”!

New review types online

October 6th, 2008 Posted in Language learning, What's new on busuu.com? | No Comments »

busuu.com was launched 5 months ago and, as you may have noticed, is continuously being changed and altered so that you get the best service and improve your language skills in the best possible way.

busuu.com now has a new and improved review section. Our busy development team has been working like bees to produce this review section, which is designed to test you on four different language skills:

  • Reading comprehension skills: The first part is where you have to match a word which is read and heard to the correct picture.
  • Syntax comprehension: The second part consists of words which have to be re-ordered to make a meaningful sentence.
  • Listening skills: Thirdly, you only hear a word and have to click on the corresponding picture.
  • Writing skills: Finally, you hear a word or phrase and have to type it correctly.

The overall aim of the review section is to test your skills in a more holistic manner, i.e. a more comprehensive revision of the unit. The review section is based on the concept of active learning and is varied to ensure a more complete and engaging experience. The busuu.com team hopes that you progress in your learning and have an enjoyable experience in doing so.

We are looking forward to your comments and hope you like this new feature!

Silbo Gomero

September 25th, 2008 Posted in Language learning | No Comments »

As we here at busuu.com are committed to the preservation of minority languages, we have decided to include a new section on the almost extinct language of Silbo Gomero on our website! Silbo Gomero, however, is not any ordinary language. There are no words and there is no written form! Silbo Gomero is an almost extinct, whistled language from the island of la Gomera in the Spanish Canary Islands. It translates Spanish into whistled tunes but, as it is phonetic, it could be used for any other language. This amazing form of communication has existed for centuries and was used to communicate across the steep mountains and deep valleys of the island. While spoken words can only be heard up to a distance of 200 metres, the Silbo Gomero whistle can be heard up to a distance of 8 kilometres!

We have produced a short video which explains the history of this charming language. Click on the video below to have a look:

busuu.com is dedicated to the diversity of languages so we are helping Silbo Gomero in its fight against extinction. Why you don’t help Silbo too and try to learn some of this amazing form of communication by having a look at the Silbo Learning Unit here.

Once you have progressed with your Silbo skills, send us your own Silbo YouTube videos to team@busuu.com and we will put the best ones up on our website!

So start whistling and help busuu.com keep Silbo Gomero alive!

Bookmark and Share