Have fun listening to a new language

La pregunta que nuestros alumnos nos hacen todo el tiempo es: "¿Cómo aprendo REALMENTE un idioma? ¿Cómo puedo adquirir fluidez?".

Y siempre nos gusta compartir esta sencilla regla: "Lo que entra, es lo que sale".

In other words, in order to be able to produce language, first you have to develop strong receptive language skills. We can formulate this idea in different ways, like Stephen Krashen did with his theory of “comprehensible input.” Less technically, it means we should be asking our students to read and listen in the target language — a lot.

Your brain is magical. It can take other peoples’ words that you hear, and then mix them up, reorganize them, turn them into your own thoughts and words. Your brain is like a transmuter of language. But, just like an alchemist, your brain can’t do any magic if you don’t supply it with the right ingredients. Comprehensible input creates comprehensible output. If you starve your brain, or if you fill it up with nonsense, you’re not going to be happy with the result.

Lo que entra es lo que sale.

For learners, it’s often the case that our reading is better than our listening, especially for people who learn through classes or apps. So we really need more listening practice. And that’s where Roxxem comes in.

Instead of just flashcards, Roxxem focuses on teaching meaningful chunks of language in context — with real music. Train your ear, and voice, on the real phrases and expressions being used in the world’s most popular songs. Hear language at the real speed that people speak.

That’s how to really improve your listening skills. And you’ll have fun while doing it :)

¿Por qué aprender una nueva lengua? Porque queremos utilizarla. Para hablar con gente de otro país. Para leer buena literatura. Para escuchar buena música.

That’s what learning language is all about. But sometimes — too often — that gets lost. We’ve seen way too many students bored out of their minds doing grammar worksheets. We don’t think this is the best way to learn. But even more importantly, we don’t think it’s what truly matters.

Ultimately, we believe that language isn’t an end in itself, but a means to a much more fundamental end. Language is a key. We can spend years forging that key, but it’s wasted if we don’t use it to open the gate of the treasure house. The treasures are culture and community.

Son las canciones que cantamos y las historias que nos enseñan.

We think this is huge. Learning should be fun; not only does fun motivate, it also makes learning more effective.

Music is inherently compelling. Instead of doing rote exercises in a textbook, sing along to “Despacito”, “Papaoutai”, or “小苹果”. That’s already awesome.

But with Roxxem, you don’t just listen to music. You are immersed in it; you interact with it. That’s because Roxxem is designed from the ground up to be a game.

Cada canción y lección de Roxxem es en realidad un juego de estilo arcade. Gana la canción recordando la letra... o piérdela diciendo las cosas equivocadas. Utiliza potenciadores en los momentos cruciales para conseguir una victoria o salvarte de la derrota. Domina la canción para conseguir una puntuación alta y compite con otros jugadores en la tabla de clasificación.

Con el tiempo, queremos que Roxxem sea un juego de rol en el que tu personaje emprenda un viaje de aprendizaje musical. Sube de nivel al mismo tiempo que escuchas música. Personaliza tu personaje para que se parezca a tu estrella del pop favorita; consigue poderes y objetos relacionados con el lenguaje.

We think that’s going to be so fun.