Contributing writer for the Livemocha Blog and Diary of a Language Learner participant Siôn Owen is a Brazilian Portuguese language learner on a mission to help people bridge the gap between everyday English and his target language. Here’s his story about how he got his idea to help people off the ground.

in his words, Siôn Owen

Have you ever found yourself daydreaming, when suddenly you’re hit with a flash of inspiration that brings you a fresh idea for what could be a fun new project? Have you then spent the next few days working excitedly to get the idea off the ground? Well, I recently had a similar experience, except those few days quickly turned into a few months since…  read more

Kjera is off on her grand South American adventure. For her second Diary of a language Learner installment, she tells us about how she’s getting along with her intermediate Spanish in a Spanish-speaking country, and shares some tips and resources that are helping her, even while she’s away from home.

by Kjera Nunez Rigotti

Well, Chile is a beautiful country, and I feel so lucky to be here.  People say that the best way to learn a language is to visit a country that speaks the desired language.  I definitely think this is true as far as learning to actually speak the language.  I always wondered how well one must know the language to be able to get by in a foreign country. …  read more

Learning a new language in a classroom has its challenges and distractions: the buzzing of the neon lights above, uncomfortable desks, the foam that collects in the corner of the teacher’s mouth. Learning a language outside of the classroom isn’t so easy either. Here, Siôn Owen, one of our Diary of a language Learner and regular blog contributors, has made a study of those things that stand in the way of his lessons.

by Siôn Owen

Since I take my language lessons with a private tutor, we don’t have the luxury of a quiet, nurturing classroom environment in which to have our lessons. Also, library hours tend to be set around the limiting schedules of toddlers and senior citizens, and we already got…  read more

The moment when you overcome the fear of speaking your target language can come when you least expect it. Here, Dalia, a Livemocha user from Egypt, a Diary of a Language Learner contributor, and would-be tour guide, tells her story about how her fear fell away when she decided to help some lucky tourists.

My name is Dalia. I’m a 23-year-old Egyptian and I love to learn foreign languages both written and spoken. Arabic is my native language, but I also speak English and Russian.

About My English

I first studied English in school just like anybody else, but it wasn’t enough for me. I used to watch American movies with subtitles every night, but I wouldn’t just sit and read; I would listen…  read more

In April we sent out an All-Call asking for people in the Livemocha community to become regular contributors to our Diary of a Language Learner series. When I got this email I was thrilled:

“I am very interested in writing for your monthly language blog.  I am a current Spanish student, hoping to one day be a Spanish teacher.  I will be landing in Chile in two weeks, and will be traveling around Chile (and probably Argentina, Peru, or Ecuador) the whole summer (winter there).  I plan to see many museums, walk around town, mingle with many locals, practice my Spanish, and write about my experiences.”

We were immediately interested in hearing more about Kjera’s upcoming South American adventures and we hope…  read more

Meet Asia – the second of a growing lineup of Diary contributors.

by Asia Bird

I’ve taken Spanish 101 no less than 4 times. I practiced, I got straight A’s but I couldn’t speak a lick of Spanish. Why was learning a new language so hard then, and why is it so much different now?

Like many people, I started learning Spanish in high school.  I didn’t really have a good reason for learning another language, other than fulfilling graduation requirements.  It was fun to learn how to count in Spanish, and we watched a lot of movies with subtitles, but other than that I didn’t learn much.
What was your breakthrough moment?
It wasn’t until I took a trip to Peru and stepped…  read more

First up in our Diary of a Language Learner series – Siôn Owen. 

Hi Livemocha! My name’s Siôn and I’m from Chicago. For those of you wondering, that’s pronounced like “Shawn,” not like Scion the car brand. My name is actually of Welsh origin, and yes, I thank my parents daily for the inevitable explanation I must give every time I meet someone new. On the bright side, its uniqueness might make my Livemocha blog entries easier to find, if you’re ever bored enough to want to read one of them twice.

I’ve been living in Chicago for about 6 years now, working in marketing and product management for technology companies. Besides Chicago I’ve also had short stints in California and…  read more