Busuu

Infobox Website
name = Busuu Online S.L.



caption =
url = [http://www.busuu.com/ www.busuu.com]
alexa =
commercial =
type = Social network service
language = English, Spanish, French, German, others
registration = Required (free)
owner = Busuu Online S.L.
author = Bernhard Niesner, Co-Founder & Adrian Hilti, Co-Founder [cite web|url=http://www.busuu.com/enc/about|title=About the founders|publisher=www.busuu.com|accessdate=2008-08-08|last=|first=]
launch date = 16 May 2008
current status = beta - active
revenue =
slogan = The language learning community

busuu is a free online social network service that serves as a community language learning platform, where users can help each other to improve their language skills. The website provides learning units for four different languages (English, Spanish, French, German) that can be added to the users' learning portfolio and keep track of their progress.

Name origin

Busuu is a language spoken in Cameroon. Based on an ethnological study conducted in the eighties, apparently only eight people are able to speak this language. The ISO 639-3 code for Busuu is bju. [cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=bju|title=Ethnologue report for language code Bju|publisher=www.ethnologue.com|accessdate=2008-08-08|last=|first=]

Concept

busuu is a Madrid based startup web 2.0 company for people interested in learning or improving their language skills. The site boasts a large online community of native speakers, taking a step further the traditional way of learning languages through multimedia software material or language exchange.

All members can correct other user's exercises or contact other speakers to ask for doubts or even start a videoconference.In addition to connecting to other users, there are learning units covering diverse topic areas, with phrases and vocabulary represented by images and sounds pronounced by professional voice artists speaking in their languages. Most of these activities can be used without necessarily participating in the “social network” aspect of the site.

busuu admits users that speak any languages, meaning that everyone in the community has the potential to learn any language as well. [cite web|url=http://www.downloadsquad.com/2008/09/11/busuu-makes-language-learning-almost-simple/#comments|title=busuu makes language learning almost simple|éditeur=www.downloadsquad.com|accessdate=2008-09-11|last=|first=]

busuu is considered one of the top 10 startups in June 2008. [cite web|url=http://www.killerstartups.com/top/this-month|title=This month - Top 10 KillerStartups|publisher=www.killerstartups.com|accessdate=2008-08-08|last=|first=]

Development

The busuu website is currently classified as a beta. All services are free. [cite web|url=http://bitelia.com/2008/09/05/busuu-aprender-idiomas-no-tiene-que-ser-aburrido/|title=Busuu - Aprender idiomas no tiene que ser aburrido
éditeur=www.bitelia.com|accessdate=2008-09-05|last=|first=]

The site is based on the Drupal framework, and has been praised for its clean, crisp, fun colorful graphics and fast-loading attributes. busuu.com also features an easy-to-use interface with an interactive dashboard that changes as your language skills improve (called the busuu Language Garden). [cite web|url=http://freelanguage.org/learn/busuu-com-social-language-exchange-partner-community-plus-multimedia-photo-audio-lesson-archives-and-video-chat-interface|title=Busuu Social Language Exchange Partner|publisher=freelanguage.org|accessdate=2008-08-08|last=|first=]

Learning units for four different languages are currently available, with interface support in these four languages (English, Spanish, French, German). New languages are planned to be added in the near future.

References

External links

* [http://www.busuu.com busuu.com official website]