Following a thread on Ned.com this morning introduced me to a fantastic organization called Speak Shop. They connect Spanish language tutors from Guatemala with students all over the world via videoconferencing. What a phenomenal win-win for the tutors and the students, and a fantastic example of Internet-facilitated microenterprise and microphilanthropy: the tutors improve their livelihood and the students “do good” and receive quality language instruction at the same time.
From Clay Cooper, the co-founder and CEO of Speak Shop:
We created Speak Shop to help languge instructors work their way out of poverty. We currently have instructors in Antigua, Guatemala teaching Spanish online via videoconferencing. They use our online marketplace to establish their own microenterprise by setting their own hours and rates. The tutors currently charge $8 per hour which is 2-3 times more than what tutors typically earn when they teach in person. The instructors have taught over 5,000 lessons online since we started! We also plan to expand to other countries and languages.
If you are still interested, this two minute video does a much better job of describing us:
1 Comment
February 3, 2009 at 9:21 am
This model is the future of learning Spanish AND helping the world. What a great way to build into the Guatemalan economy. Another website that accomplishes the same thing is NuLengua.com. They also utilize tutors in Guatemala to provide Spanish lessons throughout the world.