Category Archives: CultureAlley

Learn Spanish while browsing your Facebook Feed!

At CultureAlley, we are working hard to make language learning the most effortless, and delightful experience for you!

So we thought, what if we could let you learn a new language while you do what you love the most – like browsing Facebook or playing games! Sounds crazy?

Presenting a whole New Culturealley for you: now you can learn Spanish while you browse your own Facebook feed and play games!

Screen Shot 2014-04-07 at 2.18.49 PM

What happens at the Alley? 

1. Learn Spanish while browsing Facebook : Now you can learn Spanish from your Facebook wall. While you browse Facebook we progressively replace  words from your feeds into Spanish.
Amazing, Isn’t it? :)

 feed big

2. Yummy Quests : You can play mini quizzes on words learnt right on your feed. Earn jelly beans for discovering new word

3. Unlock audio-visual lessons: As you finish fun filled Facebook challenges, you unlock interactive lessons to build your basics

lesson big (2)

4. Play games, have fun : Our fun games – Taco and Sangria will make you remember everything you learn while you have fun!

taco big (2)

What are you waiting for?
Fill up that jelly jar and master Spanish while doing what you Love!
monster footer big

 

What are you waiting for? GET STARTED NOW

Learn Spanish while browsing your Facebook Feed: Visit new.culturealley.com for unlimited fun and learning!

 

A brand new CultureAlley

Sorry for being away for a bit. We’ve been working hard (dark circles and all that!) to make CultureAlley more awesome for you :)

We’ve added a lot of new features off late: many more free lessons, new interactive games, 16 new audio dictionaries, Q&A Forums, and Live Chat! We also launched an iPad App for Spanish and one for Mandarin Chinese with offline lessons.

You’ve loved all of these, and now we bring you all the things you love, on a brand new interface.

Announcing a brand new CultureAlley!

Say hello to a sleeker-faster-simpler CultureAlley

Sleeker Home Page: Lots of white space, minimalistic design
Faster Load Time: Even lesser waiting time to access your favorite lessons
Simpler Navigation: Find the topics you want to study, right at the homepage

Your dashboard

Your personalized dashboard will feature the next suggested lesson for you, a list of all the other lessons you can take, your profile, and a personalized word list.

CultureAlley dashboard DashboardGetting into the lesson experience:

1) CultureAlley will remember the lesson you last left off on, and show you the same the next time you come in

2) All the lesson topics are organized at the bottom

3) The lesson will open up in a beautiful full screen mode. Your games will work within the lesson experience. No clutter. Woohoo!

New Lesson ExperienceGames within the lesson We welcome your suggestions, comments, and feedback on the new look :) Meanwhile, we’ll continue to make your experience at CultureAlley even better!

See you at the Alley!

Bookmark

Start where you left off: Smart bookmarking now on CultureAlley

A lot of our learners requested that, whenever they login, CultureAlley should remember where they last left off, and let them start from there.

We did some magic and made it happen! Now, whenever you login to CultureAlley, you can ask it to take you back to the lesson you watched when you were last logged-in.

Login window  Smart bookmarking

CultureAlley’s smart bookmarks will remember where you left off and take you back to that lesson when you log-in next.

Smart bookmarking

See you at the Alley!

 

 

 

Printable Lesson Notes CultureAlley

Printable notes of lessons now available on CultureAlley Spanish and Mandarin

You asked for it, and we have it!

A lot of our learners asked us if they could print or download the notes of the online lessons at CultureAlley. Printable notes can be helpful in revising what you have learned through the audio-visual lessons, even when you may not be connected to the internet.

CultureAlley now gives you an option to print the notes for each lesson.

Below your lesson window, you will now be able to see an option called ‘Printable version’

Printable notes CultureAlleyWhen you click on this option, a new tab will open up with the printable version of your whole lesson.

Print version of CultureAlley lessons

Just click on File->Print

Print CultureAlley notes - Step 1Next choose your printer and let the setting be as it is with the margin as ‘default’

Print CultureAlley notes - Step 2
That’s it! Run to your printer – your notes are ready! :)

We will also allow downloading the lesson notes as a PDF very soon! Keep watching this space!

See you at the Alley!

Learn Spanish for free with audio-visual lessons and games: CultureAlley Spanish
Learn Mandarin Chinese for free with audio-visual lessons and games: CultureAlley Mandarin

CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad – What do the lessons cover?

Wish someone would explain you the logic behind Spanish conversations? Wish you wouldn’t have to deal with 1000s of flashcards? Been learning Spanish but still feel you cannot talk to a native? Stop mugging up Spanish! Start conversing!

Say ¡Hola! to the simplest and the most logical way to learn Spanish.

The CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad is available for free download on the App Store

The audio-visual lessons are organized in three pit stops:

LEG 1: KICK-START WITH ESSENTIALS (Lessons 1-10)

The first leg of the voyage will get you rocking on the most essential conversations in Spanish. You will master Spanish greetings, and will be able to introduce yourself in Spanish, ask for introductions, communicate about the languages you speak, and about your understanding of the new language.Free audio visual Spanish lessons

Spanish Grammar tips
LEG 2: LETS MEET NEW PEOPLE! (Lessons 11-20)

As you build upon what you went through in Leg 1; Leg 2 gets more exciting! It helps you in mastering some difficult conversations. You will learn how to make new friends, meet new people, talk about family in Spanish, talk about pets, and more. This part also covers some must-learn topics like basic numbers in Spanish, articles, asking & telling time in Spanish, telling the date, taking about age and birthdays etc…

Downloadable lessonsLessons 11 to 20 Offline lessons
LEG 3: JET SET GO (Lessons 21-30)

Leg 3 gets you all set to have advanced conversations. Travel to Spanish speaking countries, ask for directions, communicate in emergency situations, describe people, discuss hobbies, and more! It also gives you a dose of some essential Spanish grammar to help you frame your own conversations! You will learn how to compare and grade things, and learn more about essential concepts like gender and singular-plural, to give you the confidence to rock Spanish like a native!Lessons 21 to 30 Lessons 21 to 30

So what are you waiting for? Kick-off your Spanish voyage, today!

The CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad is available for free download on the App Store.

See you at the Alley!

CultureAlley Spanish iPad App

The CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad is here!

Your favorite audio-visual lessons – now on the go, and downloadable for offline use!

Learn Spanish while relaxing in your bed, or while in a flight! Introducing the CultureAlley Spanish iPad App – with downloadable content which allows all the audio-visual lessons and quizzes to be available offline!

The CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad is available for free download on the App Store.

Over 250,000 learners have loved our audio-visual lessons across the globe! The same content is now available on the device you love – the iPad!

What does CultureAlley Spanish iPad App offer?

Just like our website, our app is also built to offer you the most comprehensive conversational content – explained logically. We don’t give you mindless flashcards or make you mug up words without understanding how to use them!

What we give you is this:

  1. 30 audio-visual lessons – Easy to understand, with conversations, essential phrases, grammar tips, & vocabulary. All lessons have full audio support with native narration and can be downloaded for offline viewingFree audio visual Spanish lessons
  2. Offline downloadable content – You can download all 30 lessons and later view them offline whenever and wherever you want!Downloadable lessons
  3. Logical structure – Each concept is simplified and explained in the most intuitive manner to avoid any forced memorizationLogical lessons
  4. Grammar essentials – Most important grammar topics and pronunciation tips explained with conversational examplesLesson navigation
  5. Interactive practice exercises – Helps you master your lessons and gives you immediate feedbackSpanish App - Interactive exercises

Here’s why our learners love us and what they say about us:

“CultureAlley is way beyond our time. It’s a very advanced tool that makes learning a new language very easy. It’s interactive, intuitive, precise, and very informative” – Donald Antonio, Philippines

“Spent a year trying to figure Spanish out. 4 years later I have decided to try again and came across CultureAlley. Wish this was available 4 years ago, I would’ve carried it on. Thank you these lessons are amazing!”

“I started CultureAlley series with my 13 year old daughter and we both love it! She is taking Spanish in 8th grade but she was totally confused – this series is helping her so much!” – Dmunoz, Venezuela

“Honestly, thank you so much! I was failing Spanish in school but you are really helping me. So thank you again!” – Seham Helmi

The CultureAlley Spanish App for the iPad is now available for download from the App Store for free.

 

See you at the Alley…now on the iPad! :)

Fullscreen Goodness – View Your Lessons in Full Screen at CultureAlley

Say hello to full screen lessons at CultureAlley!
Want no distractions while studying at CultureAlley? We hear you. And we have introduced a new full screen feature so all you see is your awesome lesson and nothing else!

Just click on the ‘Full Screen’ option on the right corner of your lesson window to enter into the full screen modeHow to enter into full screen
This is what you will be greeted with!

Lesson in full screen

Enjoy both lessons as well as the games ‘Spellathon’ and ‘Scatterathon’ in full screen. Switching between the lesson and the games is just a matter of one click!

Spanish Games in full screen

To switch back to your lesson index page – just press the ‘esc’ key or click on the arrow symbol on the upper left corner of the full screen mode!

Happy learning!

 

Forums

Ask a Question – Spanish & Mandarin Forums

Introducing Spanish and Mandarin community forums on CultureAlley! Post your doubts and questions and get answers from our expert coaches as well as from our community of 200,000 other students. We promise to answer questions within 24 hours!

Get answers to questions on:

  1. Learning methods and plans
  2. Grammar
  3. Pronunciation
  4. Translation
  5. Resource reference

The forums are moderated to maintain quality standards.
So ask away and you shall be answered!

Spanish Forum
Mandarin Forum

Live Chat!

Live Chat with Experts on CultureAlley

Wondering how to kick-off your language learning journey? Facing a technical issue? Need help with a phrase? Can’t get a grammar rule right?

We are here to help! Introducing ‘Live Chat with Experts’ at CultureAlley.

  1. Personalized learning plan recommendations -  Lost? Discuss your learning goals and starting level with our expert coaches to get personalized learning recommendations. They will guide you on:
    1. Where to start
    2. How to start
    3. Practice resources to refer
  2. Grammar and translation help - Throw your grammar and translation doubts at us and get immediate answers from our team. Get recommendations on lessons that can guide you further.
  3. Technical resolution - Facing issues with the website? Forgot your password? Can’t open a lesson? Our team will get you out of any technical pot-hole that you may have fallen into!
  4. Feedback – Most importantly, we would love to hear your feedback and suggestions. Tell us what you like, what more you’d want to see, and what is that you hate! If ever, you don’t see us around – leave an offline message and we will get back to you within 24 hours.

So stop by, we are chatting LIVE!

See you at the Alley!

 

Look who is blogging at the Alley!

It has been a few months since we launched CultureAlley’s beta and what a ride it has been! We have seen the highs and lows, but the one thing that has been constant is the love from our learners.

Yes, we read every single comment and every single email sent to us (and reply to most :) ) and we are overwhelmed with your support. While making the product and the interface better and more engaging for you is our top goal – we want to stay connected with you, share our story, and hear yours too. Over 200,000 people have studied at the Alley – Starting a blog is just a tiny step to connect with them and hopefully thousands more in the future!

For those of you who are new, CultureAlley was started with a clear aim – to make learning a new language simple – really, just that.
I have been a professional traveler, a backpacker, an exchange student; and I realize learning a new language can be difficult.

CultureAlley follows a simple rule while hand-crafting each lesson for you – we break down each concept into the most intuitive unit so you don’t have to ‘remember’ a phrase but understand how it is constructed. We want to enable our learners to have conversations – not become a phrasebook!

Here’s what our learners say and what keeps us going:

“Spent a year trying to figure Spanish out. 4 years later I have decided to try again and came across CultureAlley. Wish this was available 4 years ago, I would’ve carried it on. Thank you this is an amazing lesson!”

How do we do it?
We work with teachers, native speakers and students from across the world to develop our content. The content is highly conversational based on real situations one might need to use the new language in. It has just enough dose of grammar to get you going to frame your own sentences.

We realize vocabulary is important – but too much and you are lost in the world of flashcards! Our lessons cover just enough vocabulary to help you converse in real life contexts and become familiar with natives. Here’s a comment we received recently:

“My Mandarin vocabulary was so blank until I discovered your lessons! Now, instead of always replying with ‘Wo hen hao’ I can reply with so much more. You make it seem like I have a pretty good Mandarin vocabulary”

Once you master the concept and the context, we give you additional vocabulary separately as a reference and as per your learning needs.

The practice is action packed and understands where you err. It makes you re-do and revise just what you don’t get.

We are constantly working on adding many more innovative features to make language learning fun, engaging and an experience you’d want to go through again and again.

We’d love to hear from you on how CultureAlley can help you further! You can kick-off your cultural voyage here:
Learn Spanish for Free: www.CultureAlley.com/Spanish
Learn Mandarin for Free: www.CultureAlley.com/Mandarin

More to follow. Till then, See you at the Alley!