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Joining LingQ: Your questions answered

Page history last edited by Helen Burgess 14 years, 4 months ago

 

 

    1. Qu: Do I have to pay to join LingQ?
    2. Qu: How much money does it cost?
    3. Qu: Do I need a credit card? What if I haven't got one?
    4. Qu: Can I cancel my subscription at any time? What happens if I can't pay it for a couple of months?
    5. Qu: What kind of people succeed with LingQ?
    6. Qu: Can I use this site if I don't speak English?
    7. Qu: Can complete beginners learn at LingQ?
    8. Qu: Can intermediate and advanced students learn at LingQ?
    9. Qu: What if I am a professional language teacher, linguist, interpreter or translator?
    10. Qu: What if I want to concentrate on specialist, business or technical language?
    11. Qu: Will I have to commit to a regular study schedule?
    12. Qu: Will I have to spend all my study time at a computer?
    13. Qu: Can I learn more than one language at once?
    14. Qu: Does it cost more to learn more than one language?
    15. Qu: Do I have to sign up for a course?
    16. Qu: Can LingQ help me to pass a language test or get a promotion?
    17. Qu: Can I use LingQ to learn Klingon?
    18. Qu: Do I have to give out personal information? Who will see it?
    19. Qu: What about system and software requirements?
    20. Qu: Who are the tutors?
    21. Qu: Do I have to work with a tutor?
    22. Qu: Can I be a tutor?
    23. Qu: What if I want to work with a tutor but don't want to pay any money?
    24. Qu: What sort of lessons can I study?
    25. Qu: Who chooses the lessons that go into the LingQ library?
    26. Qu: Can my children become members of LingQ?
    27. Qu: Does LingQ have any religious or political bias?
    28. Qu: Will I be bombarded with advertising from third parties?
    29. Qu: Are you going to try and sell me a time-share in Vancouver?
    30. Qu: Is LingQ a conspiracy by reptilian aliens to take over the planet Earth?


 

This is a list of FAQs that people ask before they decide to join LingQ or upgrade to a paying account.

 

Qu: Do I have to pay to join LingQ?

Ans: You can, as many people do, sign up initially for a free account. Give the system a try and see what it does.  Have a chat with other students on the forum.

 

You can remain as a free member indefinitely, although you will be restricted in the number of LingQs you can create.  When you are ready to talk to a tutor or have your work corrected, then you will need to buy some points (see https://www.lingq.com/accounts/account/). At this point it makes sense to upgrade to a Basic paying account, which gives you more features and which makes working with a tutor cheaper.

 

 

Qu: How much money does it cost?

Ans: You don't have to pay anything if you sign up for a free account. If you sign up for a paying account the costs and terms and conditions are set out here: https://www.lingq.com/accounts/account/. 

 

Qu: Do I need a credit card? What if I haven't got one?

You do not need a credit card, bank debit card or a paypal account are good payment methods too. See https://www.lingq.com/accounts/account/.

 

Qu: What if my bank charges me for foreign currency transactions? 

Ans: You can pay with a Paypal account. Paypal handles foreign currency transactions without fuss and with modest conversion fees.

 

Qu: Can I cancel my subscription at any time? What happens if I can't pay it for a couple of months?

You can cancel or downgrade your account at any time. You can downgrade for a couple of months if you are busy, going on holiday or because you have a lot of points to your credit and want to downgrade your account until you have spent them. See https://www.lingq.com/accounts/account/

 

Qu: What kind of people succeed with LingQ?

We have a wide variety of successful language learners here, from academics and teachers, professionals, business people, students at all levels and stay-at-home carers looking for a new challenge. Some are already bilingual, others have never learned a second language or have had no practice since high school. What our students have in common more than anything else is a genuine interest in learning languages.

 

Read some of our testimonials at http://www.lingq.com/testimonials/

 

Qu: Can I use this site if I don't speak English?

LingQ operates in several languages: (see LingQ Language List).  If you set your native language as one of LingQ's interface languages then all the web pages and help files will display in your language. If you need help you can post a question in any of these languages, in the open forum for that language. E.g. you can ask a question in Russian in the Russian Open Forum, and either a Russian native or a Russian student will answer in Russian.

 

If your native language is not one of LingQ's interface languages, you will need to choose one of the LingQ operating languages as your "native" language. You can still ask a question  in the LingQ Open Forum in your native language, someone may be able to understand and answer you in your language, but we can't guarantee it.

 

Qu: Can complete beginners learn at LingQ?

Ans: There are many lessons suitable for complete beginners in all languages. When you are ready to work with a tutor, you may find it helpful to pick one who has another language in common with you. Most of our tutors speak more than one language.

 

Qu: Can intermediate and advanced students learn at LingQ?

Ans: We have lessons suitable for all levels of learners up to native proficiency. As all our tutors are native speakers and experienced language learners you will not outgrow their knowledge.

 

Qu: What if I am a professional language teacher, linguist, interpreter or translator?

Ans: Then you have the opportunity to meet and work with many colleagues from all around the world here at LingQ! You can browse members' profiles to find people in the same line of work, post a greeting message on their 'wall', and select them as your LingQ friends.

 

Qu: What if I want to concentrate on specialist, business or technical language?

Ans: You will probably want to create your own lessons from your own specialist materials (see How To Import Texts to LingQ). Our tutors come from many different walks of life. Browse through their personal profiles to find the one with the most relevant background to help you. Try looking through the students' profiles too. You may find someone who wants to  study with you.

 

 

Qu: Will I have to commit to a regular study schedule?

Ans: No. Unlike a traditional distance-based learning course, there are no deadlines to meet. If you study 2 hours a week you will learn slower than if you study 10 hours a week, but you will still learn. Or you can study 2 hours a week one month and 10 hours a week the next month.  LingQ will fit into your life schedule, not the other way round!

 

Qu: Will I have to spend all my study time at a computer?

Ans: Not if you don't want to. LingQ lets you study when you can, where you can. You can learn on the run (literally in Steve's case). If you have some gadgets (see LingQ to Go) then you can listen to mp3s in the car, learn vocabulary on the train and create LingQs in the bath.

 

Qu: Can I learn more than one language at once?

Ans: Yes and many of us do. Just click on the arrow next to the name of the language you are learning on the top header:

 

 

 

and change to another language.

See the following forum posts for more on simultaneous language learning: http://www.lingq.com/learn/fr/forum/46/4752/, http://www.lingq.com/learn/fr/forum/46/4763/

 

Qu: Does it cost more to learn more than one language?

Ans: No. It doesn't cost extra to save LingQs in a second or third language, or to work with a second, third, fourth or fifth tutor.

 

However, as taking part in more more conversations per month costs more points, many people upgrade to a Premium account to give them a monthly higher points allowance when they start learning their second or third (or fourth) language with LingQ.

 

Qu: Do I have to sign up for a course?

Ans: No. Some people enjoy the structure that a course offers. Some people like to work in a more unstructured way. Some tutors offer courses, others don't. It's a matter of personal preference.

 

Qu: Can LingQ help me to pass a language test or get a promotion?

Ans: Yes. Although we don't believe in "teaching to the test" or following a ridigly defined syllabus, we are confident that studying with LingQ will help you gain all the knowledge and skills you need to ace any language test or give a great presentation. With your tutors you can pratice conversational, interviewing, debating, or presentation skills. You can choose the topics you want to practice. You can concentrate on improving your business language, your technical writing skills, or your creative writing. You can even role play asking your boss for a raise, and although we can't guarantee that you'll get one,  you can at least be confident that you didn't ask for a raisin.

 

Qu: Can I use LingQ to learn Klingon?

Ans: You are very welcome to try and we will be very interested to know how you get on. You will need an online Klingon dictionary and materials to create lessons for your own studies. LingQ will record interyour statistics and help you track your progress. Feel free to ask questions on the forum in or about the Klingon language, although we cannot guarantee that anyone will understand or be able to give you an answer.

 

To our knowledge we have no Klingon language students as yet, although there are people using LingQ to learn languages other than the ones currently offered on the  LingQ Language List. Steve for instance has tried learning Czech: find out more at http://www.lingq.com/learn/ru/forum/1/4796/.

 

Qu: Do I have to give out personal information? Who will see it?

Ans: There is a personal profile page, which gives you the opportunity to show people a photograph, some information about yourself, your real name, Skype name and your blog URL. You can choose to show this information only to friends, or only to your students and tutor, or to nobody at all. See http://www.lingq.com/accounts/settings/.

 

Qu: What about system and software requirements?

Ans: You really only need a compatible web browser. Firefox (a free download is available at http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/ )works very well, or Internet explorer (a free download is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/default.aspx).

 

If you want to take part in conversations with a tutor you will need to install Skype (a free download is available at http://www.Skype.com/download) and have a working headset or microphone and speakers.

 

If you decide to record and upload sound files to the LingQ library, Audacity (a free download is available at http://audacity.sourceforge.net/) is a useful program.

 

There are no particular platform requirements. Some of us use Windows, others Mac, and there are some Linux fans out there too.

 

Qu: Who are the tutors?

Ans: People like you. Active students who joined LingQ because they enjoy learning a foreign language, and enjoy talking to other people about language learning.

 

Qu: Do I have to work with a tutor?

Ans: Not if you don't want to. As you progress in your studies you will probably find it helpful to talk to a tutor at least occasionally, to get feedback on your progress. This can be daily, weekly, monthly or whenever you have a dull evening and fancy a chat. However, some people are happier working alone. It's up to you.

 

Qu: Can I be a tutor?

Ans: Yes, if you want to! You will earn points for the conversations you hold as a tutor, which will help you pay for conversations you have as a student. See the lazy person's guide to being a good tutor.

 

Qu: What if I want to work with a tutor but don't want to pay any money?

You can become a tutor and earn points or money. You can recommend friends to LingQ and earn points when they sign up to a paying account (see http://www.lingq.com/invite/). You can earn points for creating lessons for the library.

 

 

Qu: What sort of lessons can I study?

Ans: Anything you like. The LingQ library has a wide and growing selection of lessons in each of the LingQ sudy languages (see LingQ Language List). You can study as many of these as you like, in any order. Or you can create your own lessons from your own sources. See How To Import Texts to LingQ.

 

 

Qu: Who chooses the lessons that go into the LingQ library?

Ans: We all do. Any member can put in the library any material that they wish to study themselves, or wish to provide other members to help them study. It can be articles from the internet or from print sources, chapters from novels, short stories, or members' own writing: as long as it is legal and reproduced with permission.

 

 

Qu: Can my children become members of LingQ?

Ans: Several LingQ members are in high school and some are in elementary school. Young students can hold free or paying membership and cannot "run up a bill".

 

We aim to keep our forum discussions and wall comments family-friendly but suggest that parents supervise their children's on-line communication.

 

We welcome child-friendly materials in the LingQ library. As all the materials in the library are chosen and provided by the LingQ members themselves LingQ cannot be held responsible if any content is unsuitable for younger members. We would encourage parents to supervise their children's activities in LingQ.

 

 

Qu: Does LingQ have any religious or political bias?

Ans: No. LingQ is neutral. LingQ is a worldwide community with members all round the world. Our members, all belong to various religions or no religions, and have various polical views or no political views. ,

 

Qu: Will I be bombarded with advertising from third parties?

Ans: LingQ does not accept advertising from third parties. LingQ also does not sell products or services other than the tutor-based activities.

 

Qu: Are you going to try and sell me a time-share in Vancouver?

Ans: No. We're here to learn languages. Even the President of LingQ is here because he's learning languages. We don't do timeshares or anything else apart from helping each other to learn languages.

 

Qu: Is LingQ a conspiracy by reptilian aliens to take over the planet Earth?

Ans: We can neither confirm nor deny.

 

Happy LingQing!

 

 

 

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