Hey everybody!

Its official. We have a winner of our special prize.

The lucky winner is Katalin Kánya from Hungary. She is learning French on Myngle with our Teacher delphinecrume, because she loves the language and plans to move to France and find a job there.

Katalin will use the KLM tickets to visit a friend in Nice. She is very happy and excited about the trip and we can’t wait to see some nice pics and hear about her experience!

Here is a picture of Katalin

We are convinced Katalin will master her French with Myngle. We wish her all the best.

Happy myngling.

Aenn

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We are proud to announce our new partnership with Randstad.

Randstad and Myngle have joined forces.

The Randstad-Myngle offer is in line with Randstad’s ambition to be a leader in shaping the world of work.

Language proficiency is extremely important in today’s global workplace, and understanding and communicating with people in different countries is essential to people’s professional development. The benefits of language training through Myngle are therefore essential for Randstad.

About Randstad:

Randstad specializes in solutions in the field of flexible work and human resources services. Their services range from regular temporary staffing and permanent placement to inhouse, professionals, search & selection, and HR Solutions. Since acquiring Vedior in 2008, the Randstad Group is the second largest HR services provider in the world with top three positions in Argentina, Belgium & Luxembourg, Canada, Chile, France, Germany, Greece, India, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the UK, as well as major positions in Australia and the United States.

We hope this is the beginning of a long and fruitful partnership.

Aenn

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Hello Mynglers!

I am glad to announce that very soon Myngle will reach the mile stone of 100.000 registered users.

To celebrate this, we have a special prize for the person that is the actual 100.000th to register.

Who ever that is, will win 2 airplane tickets from our partner KLM to a destination of the language that he/she is learning.

Join the leading multi-language online school in Europe and let’s grow together.

Aenn

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Hi everyone.

The following is a re-make of a blog post by Heike Philp.  In the blog she posted the responses from a lively discussion in  Kirsten Winkler’s ETCon conference of 2009.  The initial list contained 17 reasons, then in the comments, 3 more reasons were added.  The reason for re-posting this topic is that, in the routine of things, the opportunity for improvement and engagement that can be achieved wit the technology at hand are often forgotten.  Often it’s just a matter of training, in learning how to best use a certain virtual classroom.  Other times, it’s a matter of style and goals to be achieved.  I hope that together we can continue to enhance the overall quality of the live language training offered though the web.

Here is the list.  Tell us what do you think…

1) Annotations help visualization
Images are great teaching aids and annotating them in real-time on a whiteboard can really drive the learning experience. (Comment by Harman of WizIQ)

2) More control
For better or for worse, in a virtual classroom the teacher has more control over what students look at and sees how they interact with their peers, the chat and with the learning material.
(Stephen Jones)

3) Professionalism
Using Skype seems to mix business with personal use, hence using a virtual classroom lifts the professional image.
(AmericanTeacher)

4) Greater availability
Some countries ban Skype (i.e. UAE), some learners prefer MSN or Yahoo and many companies do not allow Skype for security reasons.
(Giselle Santos, AmericanTeacher, Heike Philp)

5) Conferences
Conference like the ETCon would not have been possible on Skype.
(unknown)

6) Plan B as in ‘back-up’
Internet communication technology is fragile and it is advised to always have two of everything. So, it is good to use MSN AND Skype or Skype AND Virtual Classroom. If one fails, one can use the other.
(Heike Philp)

7) Skype is like using a hammer
‘If all you can use is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.’ Many like Skype because they don’t know about virtual classrooms or do not know how to use it.
(MissShonah)

8′) Course structure
Slides communicate to the learners a course structure whereas Skype lessons may end up to be mere conversation lessons.
(Elisa Delaini of Myngle)

9) Multi-Modality
Speaking and listening, reading and writing and all of it all at once, this engages all of the learners’ senses. For example: some take notes of what others are discussing in a dialogue, this dialogue may be prompted by visuals or text which maybe annotated by others, and so on.
(Heike Philp)

10) Full contact rich media environment and it is sociable too
(Kevin of DimDim)

11) Teachers are leaders
If we do not master the technology, how will our students? Many of our learners use webconferencing on a regular basis and they are glad to learn this technology with us.
(Heike Philp)

12) Personal and professional development
Virtual classroom provide a challenge to grow professionally. We are advancing from one-to-one Skype lessons to group tuition in a virtual classroom. After virtual classroom, there will be virtual worlds, after virtual worlds ….
(Heike Philp)

13) Language teaching is by-an-large text-based
Language teaching requires a measure of text and the whiteboard is ideal for this.
Unfortunately most of the teaching material teachers have is in Word format. Word however uses the ‘old’ portrait format of books or pages in a folder. PowerPoint came about because of the typical shape of a computer screen. Why the Computer screens are in landscape format nobody knows but this happens to be the dominant format in a virtual classroom. This is the reason why we need slides. Many teachers have never used PowerPoint and now feel as if they have to redo all of their teaching material.
Did you know that you can convert a Word document into PowerPoint with a single click? Next time, in Word, look under the File menu and try ‘Send to MS PowerPoint’. It might look a little messy, but it is there.
(Heike Philp)

14) Virtual Classrooms will be with us a loooooong time
They already have been around for a long time (WebEx was founded in 1995) and they will be around for a long time to come. This is why it is worth investing time and effort into mastering them.
(Heike Philp)

15) A virtual classroom opens a world of learning
Just imagine virtual classrooms will become standard and from the comfort of your home you can now learn any course you wish. You as a teacher, what kind of course would you want to take? Would you perhaps take a Master program at a University? Would DELTA be your goal? Maybe a course in NLP, a programming language, a course at Harvard or a course in music or film production? Whatever your dream course looks like, the mere thought of these courses being conducted in a virtual classroom spells choice, right? Would we not also wish for this to be the case? Would we not wish for this University to be so ‘modern’ and offer their courses live online? Maybe this viewpoint helps us to understand the great potential of virtual classrooms for us and for our learners.
(Heike Philp)

16) Virtual classrooms are sociable
They can connect learners with learners and learners with experts across continents during rich learning conversations.

17) Virtual classrooms can enrich a local event
A simulcast can add richness to a local conference or a local classroom (in schools or universities).

18) Virtual classrooms allow for drop-ins
The virtual classroom provides a permalink and anybody who just wants to pop-in can do so. With Skype you always have to add people as a contact.

19) Virtual classrooms run multiple webcams
And multiple webcams create a proximity that is unmatched. Whilst we do not like to look into the mirror (see our own cam), do we not all love to see the others?

20) Record Option
Easier to record a lesson and have to show students what kind of teacher you are as well as the institutions looking to hire teachers with technology experience. Moreover, the video can be referenced later by students who did not catch everything within the lesson.  (Shelly Terrell)

Clearly, both Myngle’s technology and many of Myngle’s teachers can see from this list the potential for further improvements.

May this be extra motivation for all of us to do better and bring a level of professionalism and skill unmatched on the web.

Stefan

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Hello!

Today we had a special visitor in the Myngle headquarters in Amsterdam. Brian Garofalo,who has actually taken more than 100 lessons on Myngle( he is our most active Dutch learning student! ), dropped by to meet us and share his experiences. His name seems familiar to you? That is because we had a quote from him displayed on our homepage.

Brian is American and has studied Dutch on Myngle for almost two years. The results are really amazing and we could experience that as we sat down and talked to him in Dutch. He hardly had any accent and we could easily have a conversation with him in Dutch. He said he even dreams in Dutch sometimes and all of that without having anyone back at home to whom he can talk to in Dutch. So for him, Myngle has been the perfect solution and the only way to learn to speak Dutch the way he does now. He especially appreciates the benefits of the 1-on1 classes and the fact that it is an interactive approach allowing him to see his own progress.

Brian also said he felt that all teachers on Myngle were really dedicated. He keeps a close relationship to one of his Dutch teachers and has even visited the teacher’s home at one of his stays in the Netherlands.

Brian gave us a very meaningful compliment: “Myngle is a big part of my life and no matter what happens there will always be a place in my heart for Myngle.”

Next up, he will start learning Italian on Myngle.

We are so happy that we had the chance to meet one of our students in person. This really keeps us motivated and Brian’s success shows everyone that learning a language on Myngle works.

Thank you Brian!

Aenn

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Hi Mynglers!

We have some big news for you.You could almost call it a little revolution of Myngle; on our way to always be one step ahead. So whats new?

We have enhanced our course creation process to allow teachers to choose and customize their lessons as they wish!
Here is an overview of the changes:

1) Teachers can add asynchronous learning resources, to be used by the students before or after their classes. They can:

* Add podcasts, flashcards, youtube videos, games or newspapers to their courses
* Upload pdf, doc, ppt files to their courses
* Record Podcasts in the Myngle Library and add them to their courses.
*  Link and add any content already present in the Myngle Library or the Myngle Shop.

2) Teachers can sell these resources or offer them for free.

3) Teachers can set these resources as public or private.

4) In the payment page, students have the option to buy lessons as well as “extra study resources”.

We hope everyone likes these changes and will take advantage of the great, new possibilities that come along with them…Keep on myngling!

Aenn

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Get ready for the 2nd Virtual Round Table conference on language learning with new technologies.

Myngle is among the sponsors of the event organized by our partner Lancelot School and Shelly Terrell.  The Virtual Round Table conference is a 2-day online conference  on 22-23 of April 2010, dedicated to language learning with technology. Four 90-minute panels, more than 10 workshops, more than 10 presentations and many more surprises are planned out.

Sign up and participate for free!

It’s a unique opportunity for teachers to connect and network with other teachers and meet some of the biggest names in the language industry! Read more about the conference and how to participate.
Last year’s first VIRTUAL ROUND TABLE conference saw a total of 27 sessions with 49 guest speakers and 450 members and received a ’silver’ EduBlog award as the “Best educational use of a virtual world”. This time the conference is set to become a greater success.

Come and join us for two days to discuss and exchange ideas on the future of education and how technology changes the way we learn.

Panos

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Hello everyone!

We have a new special offer !

Become fully immersed in the language you learn with daily classes:

Start now with up to 1 lesson of 30 minutes daily for 30 days. Buy before 15 May for 195€.

Learn on your own terms with a way tailored around you. Professional teachers will focus on your own needs and goals.

Real results delivered effectively and consistently. Every second you spend is worth it.

Constant guidance and motivation by your personal language coach.

Just follow these 3 simple steps:

• Select a teacher from our pre-selected list

• Click on “Book: Special offer!”

• On the booking page just select the language and click on “Pay Now”

Aenn

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We have greatly improved our demo video to give everyone even a better insight on how Myngle works. Check it out:

You can also watch the video on our homepage and even embed it to your own website or blog if you would like to promote Myngle and explain to your friends how Myngle works and of course if you are a teacher on Myngle you can use this video to show your students how easy and effective learning a language on Myngle is.

This is the embedding code of our demo video:

<object width=”640″ height=”385″><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/d55cKsQ3n0s&hl=en_US&fs=1&”></param><param name=”allowFullScreen” value=”true”></param><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”></param><embed src=”http://www.youtube.com/v/d55cKsQ3n0s&hl=en_US&fs=1&” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” allowscriptaccess=”always” allowfullscreen=”true” width=”640″ height=”385″></embed></object>

Aenn

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How much do you actually know about MYNGLE ?

Here are some interesting facts that you maybe didn’t know yet:

Did you know that……..

• Myngle currently offers 1,037 courses ?

• The top 5 courses on Myngle are: CERVANTES Spanish Basic with certified Diploma, French Basic- A1, Spanish Basic- A1, English Basic - A1 and Italian Basic- A1?

• courses are taught by 289 teachers?

• Myngle teachers come from 104 countries?

• you meet your teacher in your own virtual classroom?

• all you need is broadband connection?

• having a skype is usefull but not mandatory?

• because Myngle classroom has audio as well?

• Myngle has an office in the USA as well?

• Myngle won 4 international awards already?

• thousands of lessons take place on Myngle monthly?

• meaning that Myngle is one of the largest online schools in the world?

• Myngle teachers are carefully selected and trained?

• Myngle has an own affiliate program?

• You can also get your own banner from Myngle to put on your blog or website and link to your profile?

• Myngle also offers giftvouchers you can use to surprise someone?

• We have free study tools for you to use as you wish?

• We also have a shop with self study material?

• Myngle offers Aula Virtual Espanol in co-operation with Cervantes? 120 days of self study software for 56 euro only?

• Myngle has partnerships with big organisations such as KLM, NDTV, Aiesec and Lancelot?

• Myngle’s twitter account has over 900 followers?

• Myngle has its own fanpage on facebook?

• Myngle is a pioneer of online language learning through live lessons?

• The name Myngle comes from the English word to mingle which means to mix, to join with others?

• The Myngle logo also represents a teacher teaching two students?

• The myngle team currently includes 12 different nationalities?

• The Myngle headquarter is in Amsterdam?

• Myngle was founded on July 1 2007?

• Myngle now has almost 100.000 users?

Happy myngling to all of you!

Aenn

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