official italki blog

Valentine’s Day has come and gone.  Chocolate was eaten, dances were danced, and  ”I love you” was said in many different languages.

Although we are sad Valentine’s Day is gone, we are, however, very excited to announce the three winners of our Valentine’s Day Notebook Contest.  All contest winners will be receiving 20 USD of italki language lesson credits (200 ITC).

There were many great entries, but here were the three that really surprised us for their originality.  Check them out below.

Read the rest of this entry

Hey language learners, make 2013 the year you learn a foreign language!
Don’t let this be another year of slow progress. No matter what level or language, we know you can make real progress at italki. In order to help you, we’re offering:

ITALKI’S JANUARY 2013 LANGUAGE CHALLENGE

in partnership with OPENLANGUAGE

Take 10 sessions with an italki teacher in January

and receive 3 months of free language lessons from OpenLanguage.

If you are serious about learning a language, this is a fantastic opportunity to get live one-on-one lessons AND access to great language learning podcasts, PDFs, and study tools. After taking the language challenge, you will definitely make progress towards becoming fluent in 2013!

How hard is this to do?

Last November, we ran our first italki Language Challenge. Almost 80 students pledged to take 8 lessons in 2 weeks, and more than 60 students completed the challenge. That’s roughly 80% of the students who pledged who received the prize. The bottom line is that it’s all up to you!

Did it help people learn a language?

Don’t take our word for it. Here is what one student, Grant Macandrew, says:

“I have been taking weekly lessons for over a year and had already planned a trip to a language school in China in December. I had been considering several lessons a week in order to prepare for the class and this [the italki November Language Challenge] motivated me to do just that. The pressure of being ready for class plus the extra hours I spent with tutors has increased my Mandarin learning and I feel more confident in being ready for the upcoming classes. I will consider 2 to 3 lessons per week in the future with italki.”

If you are serious about learning a language, go to the January 2013 Language Challenge page. Take the pledge and learn a language this year!

Sign up for the January 2013 Language Challenge!

More about OpenLanguage:

We are delighted to be working with Openlanguage to provide this amazing prize for italki students who complete the Language Challenge. OpenLanguage is designed for busy people, and allows students to learn a new language on their computer, tablet, smartphone, or even smart TV. OpenLanguage offers lessons in English, Spanish, French, Russian, Arabic and Italian.

Congratulations to Giane Rosa, Artika Werian and Leyla Bittieva who were the winners in our “I Love italki” Facebook Competition. Each won 20 usd worth of language lessons on italki!

If you didn’t win this time, don’t worry, because we will be launching new competitions on a regular basis on our Facebook page. If you haven’t joined the Official italki Facebook page yet, make sure to do so now!

Are you studying a language? Do you have friends who might be interested in italki?
We’re writing to tell you we have relaunched our referral program so you can earn (and learn) when you refer a friend.

How do I earn credits through the Referral Program?

You can earn 200 ITC (equal to 20 USD), when one of your friends signs up to italki and purchases over 400 ITC. Follow these basic steps to get the word out!

1. Simply go to the italki referral page (http://italki.com/referral), where you will receive a unique URL.
2. Share your unique URL with your friends by email, Facebook, Twitter or any other channel.
3. When someone clicks on the link you provided, and continues to purchase 400 ITC, you will receive 200 ITC in your student account….free!!!! It doesn’t matter if the user purchases ITC much later.
4. Send your link to as many of your friends as you like.
5. Terms and conditions apply, so please check the italki Referral page for more details.

By simply inviting your friends to the leading language learning platform on the web, you can earn ITC Credits to help YOU improve your foreign language skills! italki Credits that you receive through the referral program can be used to pay for Community Tutors or Professional Teachers. Refer your friends and start studying now!

For any questions about our the referral program, please email us at support@italki.com. We’ll be happy to help you out.

We have a new feature on italki called the Notebook. Now you can write short essays or a personal diary, and get corrections from other members of the italki community.

To help launch the Notebook, we’re holding a giveaway contest!

1. Giveaway Prizes:
The first 200 italki members who complete the participation requirements will receive a free SpeakENG Sampler!

2. What you have to do:
To qualify for the Giveaway, you have to submit at least four (4) qualifying notebook entries in the Learning English section. Each notebook entry must be at least 50 words in length, and it has to be for the purpose of improving your English. You can write about language learning, culture, history, sports, literature, music, business, etc. Obscene, inflammatory, or plagiarized Notebook entries are not acceptable and will be deleted.

3. Giveaway Dates:
The Giveaway will begin on April 22nd, 2010 0:01 GMT. The deadline for eligible notebook entries is May 22nd, 2010 23:59 GMT.

4. Selection of Winners:
At the conclusion of the Giveaway, italki will award 200 SpeakENG Samplers to the first 200 italki members who have met all of the requirements. italki has sole discretion in determining which notebook entries qualify. Winners will be announced within 1 week of the end of the Giveaway, and winners will receive their prizes within 3 days of this announcement.

Click here to write a notebook entry!

Good luck and best wishes from the italki team!

* italki reserves all rights related to this promotion.
* Prizes awarded cannot be converted into cash or ITC.