Livemocha Reaches 3 Million Members; Expands Courses to 22 Languages Through Crowd-Sourcing

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Livemocha, the world’s largest online language learning community, announced today that it has surpassed 3 million members in just 20 months of existence. Livemocha also unveiled free language courses in 12 additional languages, each translated and verified entirely by Livemocha members. With a thriving community from over 220 countries, Livemocha is also emerging as a powerful platform for leading language publishers around the world. Earlier this year, Livemocha and Pearson had announced an agreement to co-develop a new, direct-to-consumer, conversational English-language learning experience on Livemocha’s online platform.

“Livemocha has grown quickly by expanding the concept of social network technology to tap into a global market opportunity”

The 3 million member milestone solidifies Livemocha’s status as the world’s largest language learning community, as it continues to outpace the growth of traditional classroom and CD-based language courses. With ubiquitous connectivity becoming the norm worldwide, Livemocha appeals to language learners of every age and nationality as they bring more of their life online. Community-based instruction and crowd-sourced content publishing, the foundations of Livemocha, combine to form a social, personalized learning experience with the potential to disrupt the language learning industry.

Making Language Learning Accessible Worldwide through the Power of Crowd-sourcing

Livemocha’s community recently translated course content into 12 additional languages, now allowing members to take online courses in 22 total languages; many more languages are currently in progress. In just a few months, Livemocha members translated courses into Arabic, Greek, Dutch, Ukrainian, Turkish, Polish, Romanian, Estonian, and more. Qualified native speakers collectively spend hundreds of hours translating and verifying every word and phrase of the courses, then submit spoken audio for each. This elegant yet simple process allows Livemocha to publish courses in a limitless number of languages.

“The contributions of our enthusiastic community allow us to make language learning more accessible worldwide, thereby expanding the size of our community,” said Shirish Nadkarni, Founder and CEO of Livemocha. “The viral growth we’ve experienced is a testament to the effectiveness of our unique social learning experience. Livemocha members learn new languages more effectively by accessing lessons online and tapping into a large network of native speakers for real-time practice and helpful feedback.”

Livemocha By The Numbers:

• Community now numbers over 3,000,000 members from over 220 countries, speaking over 100 different languages.
• Livemocha added its most recent 1 million members in less than 5 months.
• Livemocha members completed over 2.2 million language learning activities in the month of May, which collectively equates to over 50 years of language learning activity.
• Livemocha members who submit a spoken or written language exercise receive an average of 3 reviews from native speakers, demonstrating that reciprocal, peer-based learning can work on a global scale.
• Livemocha has a global footprint, with paying customers in 76 countries.

Industry analysts have noted that Livemocha is one of the first examples of the disruptive technological innovations changing the educational landscape, and affecting how learning content is created and consumed on a global scale. “Livemocha has grown quickly by expanding the concept of social network technology to tap into a global market opportunity,” said Lisa Abrams, Director & Lead Analyst at Outsell (www.outsellinc.com), a research and advisory firm focusing on the education and information industries. “The company uses social networking as a technology platform and built its application for that vehicle. This new development combines technology with ease and familiarity from the consumer side to create a distance learning website, which also offers several potential new revenue streams.”

About Livemocha

Livemocha is a Seattle-based company that is redefining language learning by combining dynamic online courses in 22 languages with the world’s largest community of native language speakers. Since launching in September 2007, Livemocha has grown to over 3 million members in less than 20 months, a clear indication of the demand for an engaging, collaborative approach to language learning. There are currently over 375 million people wanting to learn a language worldwide, and the market is currently estimated to be $50 billion, fueled by rapid globalization, immigration and travel.

For more information about Livemocha, please visit http://www.livemocha.com.