Contestant's Case to Win

Lenguajero.com is an online language learning community for Spanish and English learners. Members can practice and share their knowledge of these two languages with other learners from around the world.

We provide our members with three effective learning tools. First, Lenguajero connects learners for online conversations (using an embedded voice, video, and text chat app.) so that they can practice speaking their new language with a native speaker.

Second, our interactive Writing Club helps users improve their writing skills; daily assignments are submitted to, and corrected by other Lenguajero members.

And finally, we offer a "smart" flashcard program that integrates with the other two core features. The program teaches members new words and phrases, and tracks their progress in order to tell them what to study and when to study it to ensure that they quickly memorize new material.

In addition to our focus on connecting Spanish and English speakers Lenguajero is very unique in for a different set of reasons - How, Where, and Why it was built.

Lenguajero was founded by two Seattle professionals, Natalie Gordon and August Flanagan (former Amazon.com and University of Washington employees). Ten months ago we embarked on a one year sabbatical, and followed our dreams of moving to Latin America and becoming fluent in Spanish.

Four months into our trip, and while living in Colombia, we came up with the idea for Lenguajero. We have been working on the website for 6 months while traveling Latin America, and immersing ourselves in the language and culture (Currently we are in Mexico, and have worked on the project from four different countries.) We have taken advantage of the era of cloud computing, building the website using the Google App Engine, and using websites like 99designs.com to outsource design work to other parts of the world.

Lenguajero has been developed with nothing more than two beaten-up laptops crammed in our well worn backpacks. Nonetheless, we have managed to create a website that is used by thousands of Spanish and English language learners. Everyday people from around the world connect on Lenguajero to help one another learn a language, share ideas, and make new friends. For these reasons we believe Lenguajero should be this year's winner of the Savviest in Social Media or Most Innovative category.

Thanks!

August and Natalie