On Thursday the 5th of the November, Myngle took part in the Accenture Innovation Seminar, where the most innovative leaders from the Media, Communications and High Tech industry active in the Netherlands, were recognized and awarded!

As Myngle was last year’s winner of the main Innovation Award 2008, it was great to be back and meet again with the wonderful people of Accenture. So many interesting concepts and ideas, it was an inspiring day! The 5 finalists made a short  presentation that had to convey the essence of the company and its innovative nature. In the end, the ‘Blue Tulip’ award for ‘best innovative concept’ in the media and communication industry was handed to Layar!

Layar is a free application on your mobile phone which shows what is around you by displaying real time digital information on top of reality through the camera of your mobile phone.

Have a look at their 3 minute pitch and it will become clear how this augmented reality could change how we see a city like Amsterdam !

The other concept we found really inspiring was: Intivation Sunboost they enable 1.6 billion power challenged people worldwide to use a phone without electricity in an environment friendly way.

Our warmest congratulations to Layar and to all the winners of the other categories!

Marina

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I would like to invite you all to participate to the Virtual Round Table conference.

It is a 2-day live online conference which takes place on 12-13 November (Thu/Fri) 2009. It is all about “language learning with technology” and it is a completely green conference since no-one has to travel to attend.

To know more about it, here is a ‘presto presentation‘ done by Heike Philp.

For a complete program see the following link. There will be more than 20 sessions and 5 panel discussions, all taking place in virtual classrooms and Second Life. The Opening Panel  discussion “The best way to predict the future is to invent it“ will take place Thursday 12 November 2009, 1pm GMT.
It will feature panelists who have done exactly that, they have invented the future of language learning. Stefan Booy of Myngle will be participating to share Myngle’s experience so far.

How to participate?
Please sign up for free on the Virtual Round Table Conference site
http://virtual-round-table.ning.com.

Contact information
Please contact Holly Longstroth or Heike Philp at LANCELOT School GmbH, holly.longstroth [at] lancelotschool.com and heike.philp [at] lancelotschool.com.

Are you blogging or tweeting?
Please us the tag vrt09 or the hashtag #vrt09 for the conference.

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The Hall of Fame for October is here.  Congratulations to the teachers who made it on top!

By now you should be familiar with our Hall of Fame. Here we honor the top 3 Myngle teachers based on the number of lessons they gave, the packages they sold and their month to month growth.

Keep it up all and keep myngling!

Panos

October Hall of Fame

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We have an update on our social project! You may know that Myngle is sponsoring Thea as a project coordinator for Foundation Los Ninos. Thea will leave for Guatemala to help children out of poverty and illiteracy and as she is not speaking Spanish yet, Myngle is sponsoring her Spanish lessons!

A few days ago Thea visited our office again to update us on her progress and meet the whole Myngle team! It was really an honor to meet such an inspiring and devoted teacher. Here is a picture of Thea with the Myngle team in our little garden.

Thea also has a message to share with all the mynglers!

“I am counting the weeks. Still about 3 weeks to go and then I will leave for Guatemala. First I will go for three months. I will go for a few weeks to the basic school in Alotenango and assist there in the classroom. Ana-Maria (the initiator of Los Niños) will afterwards take me to a few other  projects in the midlands. After those three months I will go back in the summer of 2010 for a longer time.

Now I’m preparing myself for the trip, which will start at the 27th of November. Since 8 weeks ago I have Spanish lessons. What a wonder of the world Skype is! My teacher,is next to me. She has a lot of patience and I learn a lot from her. Now I have to learn to make simple sentences and communicate in Spanish.
Also I found a room in Antigua. I will stay there in a home of an American woman who is also working in a child-project in Guatemala. So with all this steps Los Niños is coming nearer!
From now on I will try to write regular a weblog, so that you can read something about my preparation, my experiences in Guatemala and the development of the project. On www.stichtinglosninos.nl you can read more about the Foundation.
Thank you all for your support.”
Thea

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I am sure you noticed our new exciting option “Learn Now“!

It’s a new feature that enables you to simply book lessons any time you arrive on Myngle! On the Home Page and on your MyMyngle page there is a new “Learn Now” section showing all the teachers available at each moment for a private lesson!

The teachers available have a special “Learn now” icon on their profile (right beneath their picture) as well as on the “Teachers” and “Courses” listing pages. “Learn now” is also included in the advance search options.

Why don’t you try a Free Trial or even book a lesson directly. It’s never been easier! Date and time are already pre-selected for you so you only have to choose your course and lesson and you are ready to go!

Happy myngling time!

Panos

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Hello,

It is this time of the month again! The Hall of Fame for September is here.

Here are the top 3 teachers based on the number of lessons they gave, the packages they sold and their month to month growth (regarding single lessons).  And again nice to see new faces on the board.

Our warmest congratulations to all! Keep myngling!

September Hall of Fame

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Based on a previous post on teacher’s day, I got interested to see how and when teacher’s day is celebrated around the world. The results were really diverse but the meaning behind the day stays the same. It’s a perfect opportunity for all of us to pay tribute to our teachers! Here are some of the most interesting Teacher’s Days around the world:

Turkey: It is celebrated on 24th of November. Kemal Ataturk dedicated the day to teachers and their profession which is considered something incomparable and sacred

Chile: Initially the date chosen was December 10, as in that day on 1945 poet Gabriela Mistral received the Nobel Prize. However in 1977 the date was changed to October 16 because of the foundation of the “Teacher’s College of Chile”

Iran: It’s celebrated on May 2, in memory of the assassination of Iranian professor Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari. On that day students offer flowers to their teachers to honor the sacred profession.

India: Teacher’s Day is September 5, the birthday of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India.  On the day, senior students teach their juniors in appreciation of their teachers.

South Korea: May 15. It started by a group of red-cross youth team members who visited their sick ex-teachers. Ex-students visit their former teachers and offer them carnation flowers as a symbol of respect and many schools use the day to have an outing for the teachers.

And lets not forget the World Teacher’s Day held annually on October 5th since 1994.

So how about you? Do you have a special way to celebrate Teacher’s Day in your country and when is the celebration held?

Panos

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Much of the current $83 billion USD spent today in language training is heavily fragmented and offered in a variety of forms.  Within these arenas there are several methods and concepts that are presented as viable and promising ways to learn a language; however there is no clear accepted method to learn a second language; however Rosetta Stone is considered as one the most popular methods in acquiring a language today. ( Time.com ; Top 10 reviews )As a result there are several companies and individuals offering various solutions in order to learn a second language, from schools, private teachers, software, and online aids.

The e-learning market encompasses all types of learning from MBA degrees to courses in Web Design. Although the language acquisition market maybe significantly large at $83 billion USD, the current language training spending within the e-learning market is still marginal. 

Globally the e-learning market is approximated to be $50 billion USD, and is on pace to exceed $69 billion USD by 2015, and currently represents the fastest growing segment in the global education market which is valued at $2.3 trillion USD.  The largest e-learning market is in the US with over 60% market share, versus Europe only having 15%.( Karlkapp Blogpost; Clomedia ; Hezel.com ).
Although India currently has an internet penetration rate of 4%, and its e-learning market is valued at $27 million USD, it is positioning itself for extreme and rapid growth, forecasts suggest a market of up to ten times its current value resulting in a market size of $280 million USD by 2012 ( Karlkapp Blogpost )

Within the e-learning market, the current language training leaders include Rosetta Stone, which has forecasted revenues of $248 million USD for 2009, TellMeMore by Auralog which earned $31 million USD in 2008 ( Washington Bizjournals.com; Toplanguagejobs.co.uk) These two players account for approximately over 16% of the market, while the rest of the market is flooded with various alternative solutions.

Marina

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Last Friday Myngle took part in the European Day of Languages Conference in Brussels!

The European Day of Languages was declared by the Council of Europe in 2001 to celebrate linguistic and cultural diversity. We were very excited to be invited to the heart of Europe for the conference. We were among the company of some of the most important and forward thinking educators.

It was a long and exciting day. The keynote presentations started early in the morning and immediately it was apparent that the conference would be a success. Overall it was estimated that more than 300 visitors participated. The majority were teachers from all levels of education but there were also schools and organizations!

The presentations and workshops varied including topics like: effective ways to teach new languages to small children, innovative ways of language exchange, monitoring progress in education and the use of Web2.0 in language learning!

In the afternoon Myngle’s time had come to present and spread the word on the infinite possibilities and opportunities offered by online language learning. We presented to teachers the way Myngle works and explained the benefits of online learning for teachers and students alike.

And we are happy to say we made a connection with everyone! It was clear from personal conversations and face-to-face talks that the teachers were genuinely excited about Myngle and online learning. It was felt that the time is now to embrace Web2.0 and new technologies and break the barriers of traditional education.

And we are proud that we were there to spread the word. In that conference hall, it was clear to everyone that change had happened. People are ready to embrace something new and exciting!

Spread the word.

Spread Myngle!

Panos

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Presently, there are varied reports on the actual size of the language learning market, however according to a recent article found in Time Magazine, the language learning market is currently valued at $83 Billion USD.  Currently 90% of this spending is spent outside of the U.S.; the U.S. market is estimated to be worth to be $5 billion USD ( Time.com )

Currently English is the dominate language, in second language acquisition market.  The current spending estimated within the global market for English as a second language, and various training products and services is worth $50 billion USD ( FP Foreign Policy )

The importance of fluency in English is becoming increasingly more important for international trade.  Vietnam has recently committed to a $1 billion USD spending program to help reach second language proficiency by 2010.  The program has also made provisions for Russian, Mandarin and French because of strong economic relationships between Russia, China, and France. ( ABC.net.au )

Spending from international students also contributes significantly to a country’s economy.  For example, in New Zealand, the number of students learning English has continued to rise over the last 3 years to their current annual spending of $142 million USD towards tuitions and related fees. ( Scoop Education ) Similarly, Canada is also experiencing significant spending from international students, which currently amounts up to $745 million CDN, which makes up nearly half of Canada’s $1.5 billion CDN language training industry. ( Languages Canada )

In 2006, President George W. Bush enacted The National Security Language Initiative, which set a budget of $114 million USD for expanding foreign language education in the United States, which had 3 key goals ( NSLI )

1.    Increase the number of Americans mastering critical need languages (Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hindi, and Farsi )
2.    Increase the number of advanced-level speakers of foreign languages, with an emphasis on critical need languages
3.    Increase the number of teachers of critical need languages and provide resources for them.

So, to all teachers: the world is waiting for you to share your knowledge and help students in all the Countries to start and master foreign languages.

Marina

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