Activity 6: Evaluating websites

• Name of website: Busuu

• Website address: www.busuu.com

• Who created the materials?

Busuu is a community that helps people learn a huge range of different languages. There are two ways of learning using this website: On the one hand learners can ask native speakers of those languages for help on the other hand students can also use the content units the website provides.

• Appropriate student level /age group

When you register on this website, it shows an option that allow users to select the languages they already speak and the ones that want to learn, including their starting level, so the web is suitable for every language stage. They also offer whole courses organized in four levels: A1, A2, B1, B2. In terms of age, I think that this website is simple enough to be used by both kids and adults.

• Presentation

Busuu offers loads of multimedia resources such as videos and audio files desgined to be used along with their lesson plans. Also, the website includes a very peculiar system to track the learners' learning evolution: Every user has in its profile a personal "Garden of languages" that shows the languages that user already knows and the ones that he's learning in the shape of trees. The more units they complete and the more active they are in the community, the more their trees will grow. Their gardens could be attacked by bugs, which are the representation of the mistakes they make when revising previosuly studied lessons, and these could make their trees die so they have to study carefully. Also If they help other users learn the language they already know (their first language) through an chat application called "busuu-talk" they also get a prize that will show up in their "Garden of languages".

• Content

Every lesson is divided in several practical subsections: vocabulary, dialogue, writing, busuu talk and revision. They also offer printable materials and the posibility to create podcasts or record your voice. If for example a learner wants to practice his English vocabulary he will be presented with a list of different photos which carry a describing sentence (both in his native and target language), an example sentence and the possibility of hearing both of them as an audio file. As I said, there is a revision subcategory which is basically a test to prove yourself what you've learned.

This website also offers, for those learners that have an iphone, the possibility of downloading their official app directly to their mobile phone and practice wherever they want.

Would you recommend this site? Give three reasons to support your answer.

I would definetely recommend this website to everyone which is interested in learning a language on their own for this three reasons: It is a really simple and user-friendly website, their lesson plan and activities are amazingly well built and there are thousands of people already registered so the contact with native speakers is unavoidable. All I can find are possitive comments about this website.