Tools for Your Spanish Practice - Google Translate

You need different tools for different parts of your language adventure, like tools to help you learn vocabulary (flashcard and repetitive study programs on the web/iPhone), tools to help you practice conversations (like 3dlanguage), etc.

But one tool I've found to be really helpful is a basic translator - Google Translate. Yeah, yeah, I know, another Google tool - pretty soon there will be Google toilet paper and Google air! But this translator is really helpful if you need to look up a specific word, or if you are trying to read something and struggling with the translation.

Try it out - if you put in on your Google home page, it's pretty convenient.

New skills in a down market

I am a huge fan of Seth Godin. He always has something interesting to say and he inspires on a daily basis. He wrote a blog post recently about acquiring new skills in the down market.
Good advice.

New price

In the past we have sold our software through a third party. It worked pretty well, although it was quite expensive. In light of the current economic situation we've decided to open our own store and pass the savings on to the users. If someone stumbles upon us we need to convince them we are for real. That's one of the reasons we encourage people to take 3DL for a test drive.
So this is not a sale...this is the new price of 3DL! Enjoy!

Where's the store?

Just a quick note: our store has been closed for a few weeks now. We've decided to handle the transactions ourselves instead of going through Garage Games. We did it to save money and to better track who's downloading and who's buying. The upshot is going to be a lower price. Stay tuned!

2008 ACTFL Meeting Approaching...

ACTFL's 2008 Meeting in Orlando, FL on November 21-23, 2008, is just four months away.

We'll see you there!

Great New Content - Ordering (Spanish) and ESL Product

I try not to be all "Hair Club for Men" about this (you know, not just a customer, but the President - after all, Dave's the President), but whenever we have new content, I go gaga because I get to use it first.

To be clear, 3dlanguage cannot regrow hair - but it can do some amazing things for your language skills, by putting you in an engaging, immersive practice environment.

This new content "the team" has baked up is really great - it's all about ordering food.

There's also a product for learnifying English, but I doesn't need to practize English, so I don't use (ahem - actually I don't use it for fear of learning how poorly I actually speak my own language).

Seriously, there is an ESL version of the product now, and it brings the same great method for learning to folks who are interested in English.

If you are interested in getting a beta copy of either product, contact us.

Internship Opportunity

Have you ever dreamt of a job so special, it has its own virtual world? Ever imagined working with people who are cool with a capital K? More importantly, are you looking for an internship with a software company?

If so, you may be just the intern Coccinella Development is looking for! In addition to getting to do cool work with a startup, you may also enjoy scintillating conversation and exhilarating, once-in-a-lifetime experiences. Results may vary.

Contact us at info@3dlanguage.net if you're interested.

UK Language Teaching at All Time Low?

An interesting article from this time last year in the Register about the state of language instruction in the UK. Although it isn't recent information, it is a pretty good read.

An interesting quote from the article (regarding recent changes to programs) -

Laws laments: "They reduce foreign language study to a functional skill that teaches the sort of thing you find in a 'get by' phrase book. It is selling young people short and is unlikely to inspire anyone to see languages as anything other than mechanical and boring."