Summary

MeGlobe is a web-based instant messenger client with realtime translation into 14+ languages. This Jabber-powered tool lets folks chat interlingually. Users are encouraged to help improve the translation engine's algorithm by suggesting better translations when things fall short.

Languages currently available with MeGlobe.com IM/translation client are: Arabic, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish.

In addition to Jabber, MeGlobe leverages other Free Software projects to build their foundation: Drupal (main site), MediaWiki (help wiki), phpBB (forum). Somehow they managed to get all these working together with one account in Drupal! Nice :)

From Website

MeWho?

MeGlobe™ was built to diminish language barriers from online communication. Our free web client lets you type in your own language, but sends a translated version, in real time, specific to the native tongue of whomever you are chatting with. With MeGlobe™ there is no such thing as 'lost in translation.'

Signing up is quick, easy and FREE. Just click on "Signup," give us some basic info and you're ready to start chatting with people all over the world. No downloads are required, you don't need to install anything and you can use MeGlobe™ from any computer with a browser and Internet connection.

We live in a highly connected global village. Isn't it time we take language out of the equation so we can talk to our neighbors?

Community Powered

We don't throw the word beta around because it's "cool." The fact is, machine translation just isn't ready for primetime. Human-2-human (H2H) interaction, ie chatting with a native buddy from Uzbekistan about last night's rerun of Baywatch just isn't feasible…yet.

Every time you send a message on MeGlobe's™ network you have the opportunity to make our translations better. When you notice that a translation on MeGlobe™ is a little off, let us know by "editing" the translation. Your buddy will immediately see the corrected translation and at the same time you are contributing to our knowledge base.

These contributions are used to teach MeGlobe™ to become a better translator. Every correction from the community brings us closer to our goal of erasing the borders of language.

Creating a universal translator has huge potential, but requires lots of work. By no means has it been perfected, but with your help we're getting better every day.

Put simply, MeGlobe is an instant messaging web application on steroids. While traditional IM tools like Gchat or AIM let you connect with friends, MeGlobe lets you chat online with people even if they don’t speak your language.

MeGlobe is powered by Jabber software, often referred to as "the Linux of instant messaging."

If you ever notice a translation is wrong, you can edit it by clicking the square in the chat box. Your correction will help our algorithm learn the correct translation, so you won’t have to make that edit again.

Visit MeGlobe.com

Summary

Anki is a cool little app for learning vocabulary words and phrases. It uses spaced repetition to help increase learning speed and memorization by repeating more often the terms you don't know and gradually decreasing those that you do.

The app is free and is available for Debian GNU/Linux, Windows, Mac OS X and as source code here. The software can be used to learn any language - just create the flashcards and it takes care of the spaced repetition for you.

Also available here is an online version of the software that works right through your web browser and stores your vocabulary on the Anki server. Great for people learning in Internet cafés!

From Website

Anki is a program designed to help you remember facts (such as words and phrases in a foreign language) as easily, quickly and efficiently as possible. To do this, it tracks how well you remember each fact, and uses that information to optimally schedule review times. With a minimal amount of effort, you can greatly increase the amount of material you remember, making study more productive, and more fun.

Anki is based on a theory called spaced repetition. In simple terms, it means that each time you review some material, you should wait longer than last time before reviewing it again. This maximizes the time spent studying difficult material and minimizes the time spent reviewing things you already know. The concept is simple, but the vast majority of memory trainers and flashcard programs out there either avoid the concept all together, or implement inflexible and suboptimal methods that were originally designed for pen and paper.

While Anki can be used for studying anything, it also ships with special features designed to make studying Japanese and English easier: integrated dictionary lookups, missing kanji reports, and more. Sample decks are also provided for Russian.

Anki's scheduling algorithm is based on the proven SM2 SuperMemo algorithm. It improves upon the basic SM2 algorithm by adding features like priorities and a revision queue sorted in order of priority.

Visit Anki Free Spaced Repetition Flash Card Software

Summary

FrenchPod represents the beginning of a new era for all the folks on the Praxis Language team. Things are cooking in Shanghai!

The success of ChinesePod and SpanishPod, Praxis's podcast-driven, socially enhanced, user backed language-learning phenomenon is maturing elegantly.

Be sure to check out the free resources available to visitors. You can sign up for an account today to start making real progress.

Word on the street is that ArabicPod, GermanPod, ItalianPod and JapanesePod will follow...

From Website

FrenchPod is a language training service designed around your needs, rather than the traditional constraints of language schools and publishers. Technology solves these problems and can make the learning of a new language easier.

We take the best pedagogical approaches of the classroom, layer in the community features of the social web and tailor a customized learning pathway for each student.

Use FrenchPod as a replacement to classroom-study or to make better use of classroom time.

At the core of our service are four main study activities:

Listen

There are many ways to listen to FrenchPod lessons, making learning French as flexible and convenient as possible. If you like to study at your computer, you can listen to the lesson via the built-in Flash player on the site. Click the “Play” button, slip on your headphones or turn up your speakers, and learn.

To learn on the go, download the MP3 – either from the download links on the site or via your personalized RSS feed – and listen to it on any MP3-compatible software or device (in iTunes, on your iPod, etc.). You can even burn the MP3 to a CD and listen to it in a regular CD player.

Review

Once you’ve listened to each lesson, you need to review to ensure that the material is firmly cemented in your head. First, download the Lesson PDF, which contains the dialogue, a translation, and both key and supplementary vocabulary, and read along with the podcast. After that, come to FrenchPod.com and take advantage of the myriad of online review tools available. Pour over each line of the dialogue, looking up unfamiliar words and listening to line-by-line audio. Dig deeper into key vocabulary with expansion sentences, which put important words into varied context to get you a better idea of how they are used. Finally, complete the lesson exercises to ensure that you really know what you’ve learned.

Practice

Language is about communication, and once you’ve learned something new you need to practice using it in real communication. Guided and Executive users have individual teachers that provide critical insight into the language and opportunities to practice French with a native French speaker. In each practice session, you can expand and broaden your French in a friendly, stress-free way with a counselor that is familiar with you and your learning goals. Your counselor will help you identify and eliminate problem areas, and let you strengthen your French communication skills.

Reinforce

At the end of your learning cycle each day, you should come back and reinforce the material you’ve learned both from today’s lesson and previous lessons. Each period of reinforcement will create a stronger foundation upon which future learning will be built. Use the flashcards and concentration game to make sure that you remember the vocabulary you’ve learned from previous lessons. Review your vocabulary list, identify words you’re not sure about, and look them up in the FrenchPod dictionary. Skim through the Grammar Guide to identify structures with which you’re unfamiliar and find lessons that cover those points. Finally, take the Listening Test occasionally to see the improvement that your hard work has earned you.

Visit FrenchPod.com

Subscribe

Subscribe to FrenchPod's Free Lessons Podcast.
View FrenchPod Podcast Feed on Free Language.

Summary

The Firefox web browser from Mozilla is not only a great open source web browser. It's also a fabulous tool for language learners! It would take a long time to list and go through all of the cool things you can do with the addons (extensions of Firefox's core functionality) in the language section of Firefox Addons. Several articles have already been published a few of articles on the topic (see related articles below), one of which contains a link to Firefox addons for translation.

However, another, cooler, resource has just popped up on the radar and anyone dealing with learning languages online, translation, researching and/or reading content in foreign languages on the Web is encouraged to check out this amazing repository for Firefox addons for Language support. The link has been pre-defined for showing the addons that have been updated most recently, both experimental and stable. Here are a few more pre-defined links that will sort the addons by number of downloads, rating and name.

There is a lot of them, but it's definitely worth the time to sift through and find the ones that work for you.

Cheers to CodePublic.org for the link! Below is an example of an addon listing for a Chinese pop-up translator.

From Website

Add-ons extend Firefox, letting you personalize your browsing experience. Take a look around and make Firefox your own.

Related Articles

Quick Translation Firefox Extension to Translate Single Words in 17+ Languages
Foreign Language Translation Extensions, Tools, Plugins, Add-Ons for the Firefox Web Browser
FoxLingo Free Firefox Browser Extension Software for Translating Web Pages

Summary

The FreeLanguage.com.ua Online Translators page has 35+ resources listed for translating to and from many languages online - surprise - for free!

A list of these will be started here soon, but this is already a pretty comprehensive list of the freebie translators available online. Of course, some are better than others, but this site lists lots of them with brief descriptions that are helpful.

From Website

FreeLanguage.com.ua is a directory dedicated to language learning online. Browse free online language courses, language lessons, phonetic resources, language tutorials, language study centers, online dictionaries etc.

Visit the FreeLanguage.com.ua Online Translators Directory