To Busuu or Not to Busuu… That is the Question.

Busuu is a fast growing online language learning community with over a million users as of early October 2010. The site is named after a Cameroon language of the same name, which according to their website, is now spoken by only 8 living people!

All in all, the site is very similar (in a good way) to LiveMocha (read my review of LiveMocha here). Both use a “freemium” model, offering both free and premium services, which is great for new users who want to get their language learning feet wet before committing to a monthly credit card charge. Both are social networks, relying upon and benefiting from crowd sourcing to correct user writing samples, provide conversation practice, etc. There are, however, many subtle differences between the two sites; some good, some bad…

The Good

1) Excellent User Interface.

I love Busuu’s Language Garden visual shown on your personalized landing page (you’ll see it once you have registered). It’s attractive, intuitive and a pleasant departure from other sites that just show a boring table or list.

Busuu also uses high-quality stock photography that does a good job of creating a clear visual context. Rosetta Stone and LiveMocha also use a similar approach, but I find that they often use unclear pictures, leaving the learner a little confused about what concept, idea, or vocabulary item they are trying to impart. From what I have seen, this doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem on Busuu.

One of my favorite little features is the blinking icon effect showing which section of the lesson is next (the system will keep track of which sections you have already completed and then show you what to do next.)

2) Conversational beginner materials.

From the very first lesson, you will be hearing and reading natural (albeit simple) phrases like “How’s it going?”, “Where are you from?”, and “I’m sorry, I didn’t know she was your sister!” Okay, I made up the last one…

This is in contrast to LiveMocha, which starts off with a number of simple, declarative sentences to demonstrate certain simple adjectives, pronouns, etc. (e.g. He is tall. She is short. The man is fat. The girl is thin.) The idea of course is to get you used to how the language works and introduce basic vocabulary within a sentence. The problem is that most beginning language learners want to learn some useful phrases as well so they can actually say something once they arrive in the foreign country. You are fat probably won’t get you very far at a bar…

3) Great iPhone / iPod touch app.

The Busuu apps are extremely well designed, and as far as I can tell, include nearly all the content available on the website. As is often the case, I actually prefer using the app version over the website equivalent as it is more tactile and their are fewer visual distractions (less screen real-estate forces the designers to only include what is absolutely necessary.) And best of all, the apps are free!

The Bad

1) Annoying AdSense advertisements.

I completely understand the need to monetize the website, but random, third-party banners are not the answer. I, like many people in my generation, instinctively tune such ads out and will NEVER click them no matter how many times they flash in my face. I think Busuu would be better off placing more ads for their premium offerings as LiveMocha does.

2) Annoying comprehension questions.

Some comprehension questions ask information about specific people mentioned in the dialogue. I would much prefer exercises that reinforced the vocabulary and grammatical structures, not specific biographical information about characters. Better yet, they could present a number of dialogues using different characters and content information, but based around the same phrases and structures. Called “narrow listening”, this approach would help improve intake and retention, while also reducing the monotony involved in listening to the same piece of audio again and again.

3) A few too many bad apples…

On multiple occasions, users who agreed to “correct” my writing samples would simply copy what I wrote and paste it in the comments with no changes or comments whatsoever. I assume they did this in an effort to quickly earn “Busuu Berries”, points that can be exchanged for otherwise pay-only services on the site. Busuu needs to figure out a better way to patrol feedback. My suggestion is that they only assign points after the author of the writing sample has thumbed up the feedback.

My Verdict

If you are looking for a good free language learning solution online and are not learning a less common language (at the time of writing, Busuu only offers materials for a handful of major languages), then I definitely suggest checking out Busuu. Now if they only offered the Busuu language itself… It would be great to become the 9th speaker!

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