Gwijo
Why you may never need to pay for another language course…
Anyone with an iPhone can download FREE language courses and start practising in just a few minutes using Gwijo, a completely new concept in language learning.
Courses are created by other users on any from around the world – anyone with an iPhone who can speak more than one language can create a short course in a matter of minutes and then share it with the rest of the world at the tap of a button.
No more boring language courses
Traditional language courses (including language apps), tend to play it safe. If you’d like to know how to Deal with corrupt Argentinian Police Officers (in Spanish), or Survive the Favelas (in Portuguese) then take a look at Gwijo. To date we have courses that can help you in argue with your Japanese Lover, complain about your house in German, or you could even talk your way through a haircut with a Serbian barber (with a bit of practise of course).
Listening to real users speak will also help you get up to adapt to real life situations, dialects and help you practise the “listening” side of learning with a more realistic tool set. There’s nothing more frustrating than learning to speak a language you can’t understand on the ground!
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How does Gwijo work?
After selecting the languages you speak and want to learn (either in you profile, or under filters) you can start downloading courses straight away. For the time being, our cloud service is free which means in future you’ll be able to find and practise your courses on a number of devices. Downloads are stored on your device so you can take them anywhere.
3 learning options
Each courses can be practiced in 3 different ways — Phrasebook, Flashcards and Quizcards – The Phrasebook (pictured left) is a useful ready reference and is also designed for use “on the go” making it perfect for travellers.
The Flashcards mode allows users to learn phrases in a more traditional way, while the Quizcards view lets each user practice and self-score their pronunciation of the cards in each course. We have more learning games on the way.
Do I need an account to use Gwijo?
To download courses, not really, but we won’t back up content unless you have one. You do need a account to create and share content though.
How does Gwijo work for teachers?
Anyone that can speak any 2 languages can potentially create a short language course. We have a set number of languages available at the moment, because we need to be able to moderate them and make sure each course is of a reasonable quality, is non-offensive and and is useful before we publish any material.
We are after interesting and unique courses and ideas in all types of languages. This is a completely new idea, and we are hoping that educators and language enthusiasts around the world will be able to see the value in sharing their language via Gwijo – we aren’t offering payment, fame or glory – just a way to share what you know… and you can promote your website / Twitter profile if you’d like to.
Looking for Editors!
We are looking for editors / volunteers who will take over and manage particular language categories… We have Spanish, French, English, Japanese, Indonesia and Portuguese covered – if you speak any other languages we really need your help. You’d be responsible for reviewing new courses as they arrive, doing small edits and then publishing the courses.
NOTE: If you’d like to create a course, or become the editor, in a language that doesn’t show up, please let us know and we’ll try and include it as soon as possible. We are especially Interested in unique dialects and endangered languages.
Creating a course
Is simple. Create an account (accept our TOS), and include a profile picture (required to upload a course). Tap Create. Give your course a name and description and select the target languages. Select a category and level for your course and then start creating flashcards. Enter each phrase, it’s translation and then record your phrase in the target language (do this in a quiet space – not on the bus, under an overpass or while you are eating).
Once you have 8 or more cards you can upload your course – this works best with an Internet connection. It will then be moderated by our editors and we’ll send you a notification when it’s been published.
Managing your keyboards and special symbols
If you haven’t used the iPhone’s built in international keyboards, then now is definitely the time to try it out. You can easily add an international keyboard to your iPhone’s so you can switch between English and Japanese (for example) at any time.
From the home screen, go to “Settings,” then “General,” then scroll down to see “Keyboard” and select this option. You can then select “International Keyboards” and scroll through the list to add the languages you need. Now, when you are creating a course you have the keyboards at your disposal. Simply hit the globe icon next to the space bar, you can switch between languages at the press of a button.
If you don’t really need to add an international keyboard, but will occasionally need to use special symbols, then there’s also a quick way to do it. Tap and hold the relevant letter and the special symbols associated with that letter will appear on the screen.
This is a language learning app, so why is it all in English?
Because it’s the 1st version and we have about 200 strings to translate for each localization, along with meta data. It’s a largish sort of task, and we’ve sidelined it for a future version. If you’d like to donate your translation skills, please get in touch.
When can we start using it?
Gwijo has been approved, and is set to be released in the app store (for iPhone only at this stage), October 2nd.
Learn. Teach. Connect.
User created courses are just the start – we have many more exciting features in production, including Gwijo Connect (under wraps). An Android, iPad and desktop app are also on the way. We would love to hear your feature requests, feedback and ideas, so get in touch – you can follow us on Twitter @Gwijo.
