Fluenz is a digital language learning platform developed by Fluenz Inc., a U.S. entrepreneurial company. The interactive content can be downloadable or accessed online on computers and mobile devices. The product range consists of programs to learn Spanish as spoken in Latin America, Spanish as spoken in Spain, French, Italian, Mandarin, German, and Portuguese.
History
Fluenz was founded by Cornell graduate Sonia Gil and a group of recent college graduates from Harvard, Oxford and MIT. Fluenz was founded upon the realization that the digital teaching of languages could be significantly improved by adding tutor led explanations, by teaching relevant content that would lead to immediate communication, and by trying to use technology to create a more immersive learning process. The company released Fluenz Mandarin for desk and laptops on the 31st of January 2007. In July of that same year the company launched Fluenz Mandarin Mobile, which contained the entire Mandarin program for Windows Mobile telephones. This was one of the first comprehensive mobile learning programs anywhere. Programs for the learning of Spanish followed in September 2007, for the learning of French in May 2008, for the learning of Italian in June 2008, for the learning of Spanish from Spain in April 2012, for the learning of German in April 2012, and for the learning of Portuguese in October 2013. The Fluenz Commons24, a community of Fluenz users, was launched in 2011, and an online platform of digital Flashcards optimized for iPads, Fluenz Flashcards, came out in beta in March 2011 and in 1.0 version in December 2013.
Free Language Learning Programs Video
Founder's Activities
In 2010 Fluenz founder Sonia Gil started vlogging about her travels around the world and the magic of language learning. She went on to win a Webby Award as Web personality of the year in 2012, signing on to star in an online series on Scripps Network's Ulive.com, and doing web projects on traveling for Hyatt, American Airlines, and Michelob Ultra. Her Google+ account reached more than 600,000 followers in 2012.
Learning system
The Fluenz team states that existing language learning systems can be substantially improved, and that a new approach to education and technology will transform the digital learning experience. The explanations are delivered by melding over 150 video tutorials featuring tutors with extensive practice drills and dialogue, a feature that sets Fluenz apart from its competitors. Fluenz' system also focuses first on useful vocabulary, claiming "you'll be able to order coffee on day one" further differentiating it from competitors such as Rosetta Stone who rely on immersion type learning and therefore stick to boy, woman type images and words@.
Their approach to learning is structured through an immersive user interface that blends a "one on one tutor" on video (over 150 videos per level of fluenz) with extensive workouts and a recording tool that allows the user to hear their own pronunciation and compare to that of a native learner's. Fluenz believes that explanations matter and have constructed the whole experience around leveraging what is already known to speed up the learning. Fluenz claims that the overall look and feel reflects the team's commitment to bringing good design and beautiful graphics to the virtual learning environment.
Language courses
Each Fluenz program is available to users for installation on computers via DVDs as well as full access to an online platform in addition to supplementary tools such as practice CDs, downloadable podcasts, and digital Flashcards optimized for iPads and other tablets.
Core principles
The Fluenz language learning system and how it works:
- Real Explanations. It is thought that at the beginning, people need to learn in English, and to relate basic Spanish grammar and syntax to that of English, rather than trying to understand Spanish grammar with Spanish logic. This system states that each language should be taught differently, according to the own logic and structure of the language as much as the learner's language itself.
- Useful on day one. The emphasis here is on getting learners to start learning those few words and structures that will allow them to communicate the most in the least amount of time, taking into consideration which words are easier to remember for English speakers, which expressions make the most logical sense to them, and which are most useful -"cell phone" instead of "horse", and "bathroom" first than "elephant". Fluenz assures on their website "You'll be able to order coffee on day one".
- Every step of the way. Fluenz provides a virtual tutor to provide the user with tips, tricks, and motivation that will make the difference all throughout the program. .
- No games, just real learning. Fluenz only provides real workouts that provide real practice that ties in to the step by step explanations.
The Fluenz Approach
One of the most distinctive ideas behind the Fluenz program is the notion that it is easier to learn a second or third language by leveraging what the learner already knows. In practical terms, this means learning a language by understanding its connections with English and emphasizing logic, long-term memory and internalization in the learning process.
This is in marked contrast to the best-known commercial theory of language learning, "immersion", championed by companies such as Berlitz and Rosetta Stone. By teaching exclusively in the language being learned, "immersion" seeks to bring the learner back to the experiences of childhood through the systematic pairing of images and words.
This approach takes advantage of similarities between the grammar, syntax and even vocabulary of English and other languages. Since teens and adults have already learned a grammatical system, the one embedded in their first language, Fluenz seeks to "leverage" a lifetime of work when someone is trying to learn a similar system. Researcher Victor Dias de Oliveira, from Iowa State University, stated:
The arguments in favor of Leverage are that children's brains up until the age of 13 are very different from those of adults, which is why they absorb languages almost randomly. It appears that this difference determines why after a certain point it is so difficult to learn languages with the accent and grace of a native speaker.
But it also seems that adults can learn the grammar and syntax of a language faster than children. Because teens and adults already know a whole grammatical system, and have the gift of long term memory, they can make connections that enhance the learning experience. Fluenz seeks to "leverage" that knowledge.
Another argument is that it seems easier for people who speak more than one language to learn a third and a fourth one. This speaks to specific language-learning skills that take advantage of acquired knowledge to accelerate language acquisition. If this is the case bringing teens and adults back to childhood, in effect making them forget what they know, in order to learn a language does not seem logical.
Academic Reviews
The Fluenz software has been reviewed in the journal of the Computer Assisted Language Instruction Consortium. According to the reviewer, "The activities and design decisions present in the Fluenz Mandarin 1+2 software show the high level of attention its developers have placed on creating a language learning software that is not only visually attractive and makes good use of technological features, but one "that is also pedagogically sound (...) Therefore, Fluenz's leverage learning approach, in which the structure of the target language (Mandarin, in this case) is directly contrasted to that of the English language makes pedagogical and theoretical sense". The review concludes that "The Fluenz program includes what some researchers believe to be the three elements important for balanced goal development in L2 tasks: fluency, accuracy and complexity".
Fluenz.org
On 2008, Fluenz launched the campaign 'Language is a human right', linked to their non-profit organization Fluenz.org, developing and releasing what they called El Book. El Book is a free primer mainly aimed to Spanish-speaking immigrants with absolutely no prior knowledge of the language on the bare rudiments of English, and without the economic means to take a proper course. Their press release states:
Fluenz Mobile
Fluenz has released multiple mobile platforms including Fluenz Flashcards in 2011 and Fluenz Online as part of their cross-platform learning suite coined Fluenz Anywhere. Fluenz Flashcards and Fluenz Online are both browser-based digital learning tools that complement the Fluenz learning method and allow on-the-go learning. The latest addition to Fluenz Anywhere will be released in 2014 in the form of Fluenz iPhone accompanied by a fully revamped release of Fluenz Online and the Flashcards. Fluenz iPhone is described as: "The entire Fluenz program on your iPhone. Ideal to continue your sessions while on the go" and features the entire collection of videos, workouts and dialogues. Fluenz iPhone contains a "Learn Offline" feature which allows users to download up to 3 levels at once onto their device to allow use during long airplane flights and other scenarios where internet connectivity is not possible.
Since 2007, Fluenz made available their mobile companion to the PC software for their Mandarin course, called Fluenz mobile. In the beginning, it was only available for Windows Mobile 5.0 and above, which was not deemed a very popular call. This version was later discontinued as Windows Mobile became a less popular platform, but Fluenz is said to be working on the release of new mobile apps.
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