{"id":2974,"date":"2017-01-19T23:40:54","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T23:40:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rsoftsolution.com\/blog\/tandem-is-a-messaging-app-where-language-learners-chat.html"},"modified":"2017-01-19T23:40:54","modified_gmt":"2017-01-19T23:40:54","slug":"tandem-is-a-messaging-app-where-language-learners-chat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rbsitsoftwaresolution.in\/blog\/tandem-is-a-messaging-app-where-language-learners-chat.html","title":{"rendered":"Tandem is a messaging app where language learners chat"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

Shortly after downloading the Tandem app I\u2019m trying to explain the finer points of using the English auxiliary verb \u2018will\u2019 in a messaging chat\u00a0with\u00a0Juan, 35, from the Dominican Republic.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve already explained\u00a0that\u00a0the proliferation of Spanish\u00a0past tenses aren\u2019t easy for a native English speaker to grapple with. \u201cA mi, mi pasar la mismo en Ingles<\/em>,\u201d he replies moments later, via audio message \u2014 before going on to confess his troubles with the pesky auxiliary.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Tandem<\/a>: an app-based community\u00a0where strangers from all over the world chat with\u00a0each other, but absolutely not for dating purposes \u2014 even if it can feel a little Tinder-ish as you scroll through a bunch of age-badged photo profiles trying to decide who to strike up\u00a0a conversation with, and how to start said chit-chat from nada.<\/p>\n

The point of the platform is to connect and match strangers so they can\u00a0practice whatever language\/s they each want to learn, with the app showing\u00a0native speakers learners of their\u00a0own language \u2014 so you can both help and be helped.<\/p>\n

Users are encouraged to put\u00a0a few words\u00a0on their profile about their interests, what language or aspect of language they want to learn, and what they want to speak about (or who they\u00a0want to speak to). Uploading a selfie is also a requirement.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s about it \u2014 it\u2019s basically\u00a0a messaging app\u00a0where you\u2019re encouraged to connect with fellow language learners to\u00a0practice through the digital spectrum\u00a0of chat.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s language learners are of course hugely spoilt for choice when it comes to apps and services offering to take the strain out of mastering a foreign tongue. But Berlin-based Tandem reckons\u00a0it\u2019s found a relatively less well-ploughed niche\u00a0by focusing on building a platform to enable peer-to-peer practice for free. The app supports text messaging, audio and video chatting.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s officially launching on Android now, though it\u2019s been soft launched there since September, and on iOS since February 2015. Work on Tandem originally started in fall 2014.<\/p>\n

Active users are\u00a01.2 million at this point (off of 1.5M downloads), and\u00a0co-founder\u00a0Arnd Aschentrup says the platform currently\u00a0supports\u00a0<\/span>148 languages, including 11 sign languages \u2014 and a few less conventional (tongue-in-cheek) tongues, such as Emoji, Dothraki and Klingon.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuolingo<\/a>, Memrise<\/a>, Babbel<\/a>, Busuu<\/a> etc are a great starting point for beginners to build vocabulary and make first steps. But it is impossible learn a new language properly without speaking it. Tandem is the only app where you can reach fluency for free,\u201d Aschentrup argues, noting that the idea for Tandem is based on the eponymous language learning buddy method<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe designed the app to make it as easy as possible to start a conversation and improve \u2014 from linking people on their shared interests and language goals to providing ice breaker games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are 11,026 different language pairs supported by Tandem (such as Norwegian for Swedish),\u201d he adds. \u201cInterestingly, the long tail of smaller language combos makes up over 50 per cent of our usage.\u201d<\/p>\n

After spending a little time chatting with other Spanish speaker\/English learner users on the app I\u2019m inclined to agree Tandem\u00a0is onto something. It certainly feels like a pretty charming language practice community, with lots of polite and enthusiastic comments left on people\u2019s profiles as user reviews.<\/p>\n

Notably, though, profiles are moderated\u00a0before a person\u00a0is\u00a0given\u00a0access to the community and the ability\u00a0to start messaging others (the app bills\u00a0itself as \u201ca members-only community for language learners\u201d).<\/p>\n

And there are clear warnings during the onboarding process about\u00a0the consequences of any misbehavior. These rules boil down to: be respectful, no flirting and no spamming \u2014 or expect to get\u00a0banned. (You also can\u2019t send audio or video messages to anyone before you\u2019ve first exchanged some text chats.)<\/p>\n

\u201cOur aim is to create a friendly, unintimidating space where learners feel comfortable to make mistakes,\u201d says Aschentrup, noting that 80 per cent of users are aged between 17 and 35, and 60 per cent are female. \u201cWe have members from 160 different countries and strive to be as diverse as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

And while it\u2019s inevitably not that<\/em> easy to strike up conversations with strangers online in a language you\u2019re not a master of, everyone else is also learning\u00a0something here so there\u2019s no evident\u00a0shortage of\u00a0goodwill.<\/p>\n

But while enthusiasm is\u00a0great, speaking practice is but one component of language learning. And not \u2014 in itself \u2014 a shortcut to laying down a solid foundation of grammatical understanding. Basically you need both speaking practice and grammatical\u00a0study to become fluent in another language. And my Tandem profile suggestion that I\u2019m looking to \u2018practice Spanish past tenses\u2019 does not lead to an instant deluge of free grammar lesson offers.<\/p>\n

Which is where Tandem\u2019s business model comes in: it\u2019s aiming\u00a0to upsell its community of p2p learners\u00a0to paid lessons with\u00a0bona fide tutors \u2014 at which point it takes a cut (currently 20 per cent) of the revenue generated. And I could certainly see myself giving its paid tutors a go.<\/p>\n

Aschentrup says Tandem has around 150 vetted tutors offering paid lessons on the platform at this point. So it\u2019s pretty early days\u00a0on that front, although he claims\u00a0they have relied completely on \u201cword of mouth and organic applications\u201d to recruit tutors so far.<\/p>\n

But given how many sizable online tutoring platforms are already out there they do face a lot of competition. So what\u2019s the team\u2019s strategy for attracting and retaining quality tutors? Aschentrup says they are aiming to make the experience as mobile and frictionless as possible for language teachers. Tutors are also (now) free to set their own prices.<\/p>\n

\u201cTandem is the only product that allows language teachers to run their business entirely from their smartphone or tablet, in one single app (find students, manage calendar \/ bookings, have a full communication suite for language learning, get paid instantly for each booking),\u201d he claims, adding that their approach\u00a0\u201cessentially removes all the annoying aspects from the language teaching job and replaces them with a pleasant, fun and consistent mobile experience\u201d.<\/p>\n

For now,\u00a0the team\u2019s\u00a0focus is on\u00a0growing\u00a0the size of the\u00a0p2p community, including by adding new features to provide more of a structured learning experience \u2014 and growing the size of the\u00a0community will ultimately be the best way to\u00a0grow Tandem\u2019s\u00a0tutor base.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next step for us is to provide a more structured language learning journey for our members. This will where we help them to go through the right exercises to improve quickly and keep track of their progress,\u201d he tells TechCrunch, adding: \u201cWe see increasing network effects as both the community and the teacher marketplace grows. Basically, the more members in the community, the more value there is for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

In terms of direct competition, he\u00a0names\u00a0Chinese language exchange app HelloTalk as one rival, though claims it has \u201cless emphasis on community\u201d; as well as name-checking two web-based marketplaces for language teachers, iTalki and Verbling.<\/p>\n

On the funding front, the team is also now disclosing that it raised a \u20ac600,000 seed round in 2015, from Angel investors including\u00a0Atlantic Labs<\/a> (Christophe Maire),\u00a0Hannover Beteiligungsfonds<\/a>, Marcus Englert<\/a> (Chairman Rocket Internet), Catagonia<\/a>,\u00a0Ludwig zu Salm<\/a>, Florian Langenscheidt,\u00a0<\/a> Heiko Hubertz<\/a>, Martin Sinner<\/a> and Zehden Enterprises.<\/p>\n

And a further \u20ac2M last year from\u00a0Faber Ventures<\/a>, RubyLight<\/a>, and with participation from existing investors Hannover Beteiligungsfonds, Atlantic Labs and Zehden.<\/p>\n

Tandem\u2019s top five markets at this point are the US, China, Brazil, Italy, and Mexico, according to Aschentrup, though he emphasizes that no one country makes up more than 10 per cent of its\u00a0users at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt remains a very global experience,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Article source: http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/~r\/techcrunch\/social\/~3\/VjnTnD6bceA\/<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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