Report from the SpeaQ With Me office

Hi I’m Dilber.

I'm studying Computational Linguistics at Saarland University and as a part of my studies I did an internship for SpeaQ With Me. I found out about the internship because one of the founders, Patrick, also studied in the same faculty, and a friend from class told me that they were looking for interns.

The idea of language exchange really interests me because I speak several foreign languages and want to improve them and learn more. I thought that the internship would be a good chance for me to see how language exchanges could work online, so I applied for the position.

Here I was with Kerstin, finding students to do the alpha test with.

During the interview, the team gave me an overview of the project and their aims and worked with me to figure out where I could contribute. When I was accepted for the position the team had prepared a list of tasks for me to get started on, so I knew from the very beginning that they were organized and wanted me to be an active member of the team.

The concept for language exchange on the SpeaQ With Me platform captivated me and I could immediately see the potential. From my own experience, I knew that practicing a language by talking to a native speaker is an effective way to learn. But getting help from the platform by matching you with the right conversation partners AND especially giving you some "extra tools" that help you have a conversation is a very good idea.

How to SpeaQ With Me – Text Chat

We are happy to present you with a few more tips on how to use SpeaQ With Me, the language learning platform.

In an earlier blog post, we talked about how the user profile works and took a glimpse at the people page where you can find native speakers to chat with. So today we are going to talk a little bit more about how text communication works with other users on the platform.

The first communication you will probably have with another user is the text chat. We wanted to make this chat as convenient as possible for you, which is why we have a handy chat interface next to the profile of every person you meet. That way when you find a person's profile interesting you can immediately start writing them. We hope this tool makes it easier to overcome hesitation and be the first to send a message. And of course once you have established contact with a few text messages, you can also switch to a video conversation by clicking the camera button in the top right corner of the interface.  

Bits & Pretzels – SpeaQ With Me at the Founders Festival in Munich

We are back in the office!

After some days spend networking, pitching our project, getting up really early, listening to inspiring personalities and drinking beer, we are sitting at our desks again, trying to process all these impressions.

But let’s start at the beginning: We started planning to go to Munich for the startup fair Bits & Pretzels at the end of July. Bought the tickets, designed and ordered Flyer and a Roll-up for our booth, applied for the pitch and planned our schedule of speeches and classes.

Last Saturday we went to Munich early in the morning so we would have some time to see Munich before we had to get up real early on Sunday morning. The doors to the ICM (International Congress Center Munich) opened at 8 a.m. for the exhibitors. Before the visitors started pouring in at 9 a.m., we had to prepare our stand which also meant setting up the computers with a local version of  the SpeaQ With Me platform.

What would a language learning platform be without user profiles?

You already read a little bit about how the SpeaQ With Me platform is developing. In this blog post we are going to show you the next part of our language learning platform.

But let’s start slowly. On www.speaqwith.me we are currently building a social network that is designed to help people practice languages. That’s why our slogan is “social language learning for everyone”. The idea is that everyone can register on the platform to find international chat partners to practice foreign languages with.

To do so, every user needs a profile first, and that’s what we are going to show you today.

Like in every social network, the registration process contains some questions about the new user. Name, nationality and a profile picture are standard. On SpeaQ With Me the user also enters which languages he/she speaks and at what level. There will also be a section where you can describe yourself and choose from a selection of interests.

Julian the Intern

Hi SpeaQ community,

I am Julian, the first intern at SpeaQ With Me. As a part of my studies I had to do an internship (I’m studying English and French and aiming to become a teacher in the future). I wanted to complete the internship in my hometown of Saarbrücken, where SpeaQ With Me is located.

Here I am with Patrick, at the BBQ of the "Starterzentrum"
Fun Fact: "Der Schwenker schwenkt den Schwenker auf dem Schwenker"
is an actual sentence in the local Saarbrücker dialect. It means the
the grill master grills a special kind of meat on this swinging grill. 

When looking for the internship, I came across a job posting website run by the local university. SpeaQ With Me’s ad on the site was the most interesting to me because I believe that you can’t learn a language without speaking it, either.

So I decided to contact the team. They presented the concept of SpeaQ With Me to me. I was very intrigued by the aims of the company. In the end I was told that I should expect a decision about two weeks later on whether or not I would get a spot as an intern. So a bit later I received a mail which said they wanted me to work with them, and I could start on September 1st.

Work, work, work

What have we been doing for the last few weeks?

We promised to keep you updated on our work progress, so here is the first post about the development of the platform!

As you have already seen on www.speaqwith.me and our Facebook page, we are building up a new design for our landing page, social media channels, and later, for the app itself. The first thing that emerged in this design process was - of course - the logo. The SpeaQ-“Q” and its color gradient represent for us the fun, friendly and diverse range of conversations that you will have when you speaq to people on the app. You can see it now being integrated into all of the channels where we are present online. Of course this colorful logo on its nice dark blue background isn’t just for social media, and these elements will also play an important role in the app design.

Off to Munich!

Maybe you’ve already heard on Twitter that we went to Munich two weeks ago.  We were invited to go there for a team building seminar as part of the eXist startup program. This program is pretty cool, it is directed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy and the European Social Fund and is designed to help young startups get their ideas off the ground. As part of the project, we receive financial support and also lots of help and coaching on how to navigate the world of business as a new startup. So this team building seminar was our first official event with eXist and designed to help us get to know each other better and identify our team’s competencies.