With over 5 million registered users spread across 200 countries, LiveMocha is the world’s largest language learning community. And with sufficient venture capital and corporate partners behind them, the Seattle-based start-up firm has the resources to keep expanding their service...

In this interview with Clint Schmidt, LiveMocha's Vice President of Marketing and Product, he shares what he thinks makes LiveMocha unique and he introduces some exciting new products coming down the pipe. He also responds to some of my grilling questions about the role of grammar in language learning.

Stever Robbins (a.k.a. The Get-it-done Guy), author of The Get-it-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More, has featured my language learning tips in the June 7, 2010 episode of his popular productivity podcast. As Stever points out in the episode's introduction, "I have enough trouble with my own language. Tips on foreign language?!? Don't make me laugh! Fortunately, John Fotheringham of LanguageMastery.com came bounding to the rescue and sent in all the following tips on how to learn a language quickly." Thank you, Stever!

OK. Everyone knows that quote by Woody Allen or whoever about showing up. You know, 70% of winning is showing up. Well, Woody Allen, that daughter-dating scoundrel, lied to you. The truth is 70% of winning is showing up is a bunch of bull!

"Effectiveness is doing the things that get you closer to your goals. Efficiency is performing a given task (whether important or not) in the most economical manner possible. Being efficient without regard to effectiveness is the default mode of the universe."

In his own words, Dr. Orlando Kelm is "a lucky guy" professionally. Not only does he get to spend his time with two languages (Spanish and Portuguese), but he also the Associate Director of Business Language Education for the UT CIBER (Center for International Business Education and Research, a part of the McCombs School of Business. In our interview, Dr. Kelm shares what he believes to be the 6 most important factors in effective language learning.

In recent years, grammar mavens and traditional language educators have been up in arms against a perceived attack on "the righteous study of grammar". Their basic contention is (as recently stated on a a pro-grammar blog), "Anything students need to know has to be taught, not caught." These defensive claims always perplex me considering that nearly all language classes (whether at high schools, universities or private language schools) still spend the vast majority of class hours teaching and testing grammar rules. If anything, we have been too accepting of grammar-based instruction, and need to do a better job of showing people the truth (hence the creation of this site.)

With $210,000,000 in sales last year, Rosetta Stone is far and away the best selling language learning product on the market today. But Rosetta Stone’s sales figures say more about the company’s marketing budget than the quality of their products. A quick look around the web...

Language schools can be a wonderful place to learn more about your target language, meet fellow learners (who can become both study partners or even lifelong friends), and get your linguistic and cultural feet wet before (or even while) immersing yourself in a new culture and foreign tongue. However, language schools can also be a major impediment to the very goal you go there to achieve: learning a foreign language as quickly and efficiently as possible. This may come as a shock to those who have been conditioned to believe that classrooms are the only place, or at least the best place, to learn a language. Read on to see the top ten disadvantages of formal, classroom-based language learning.