Saying Goodbye to Lang-8 (Plus Alternatives)
The Death of Language Learning Platform
We gather today to mourn the departure of a dearly beloved platform that, for many of us, was our favorite way of having our written language skills evaluated. We made many friends from all over the world and helped them improve their own languages just as they helped us.
*Insert sigh here*
A Little Bit About What Made Lang-8 So Great
I discovered Lang-8 way back when Koichi from Tofugu used to make YouTube videos and recommended it. It was perfect for my introverted self because I could practice all I wanted, make all the mistakes I did, and ‘talk’ to people without having to take time for a Skype call. I’m a painfully antisocial language learner, so Lang-8 was perfect for me.
The platform was simple: you write a journal entry (or whatever you wanted) in your target language(s) and native speakers would read and correct your writing. In return, you would correct other people’s English or whatever your native language is. Everybody would improve their writing skills and stay motivated to keep learning.
If there was a downside, it was the fact that some people just shouldn’t be correcting other people’s writing because they don’t write very well themselves. Still, it was easy to catch when someone’s correction was a little off and progress.
It lives on through its good-for-little child, HiNative. Unfortunately, I don’t recommend anyone use it and can’t figure out why the creators of Lang-8 abandoned its more popular platform for it.
Alternatives
Since Lang-8 is gone, there have been a number of sites popping up to replace it. Here are the best ones for anyone still interested in practicing your languages this way:
Lang Correct — Entirely free
Journaly — Like Lang-8, it has a free and premium version.
Nyan-8 — Entirely free
Hopefully, my fellow language enthusiasts will find a home on one of these sites.