I found it interesting what Steve mentioned somewhere, which is that by far the most activity at lingq is in the “beginner” section. Now does that mean that most people give up and never graduate to a higher level, or does it mean that they move on to authentic content outside lingq? I don’t know, but I think the fundamental problem (for all online language systems) is that despite all the new technology that the learner has at his disposal now, he still needs to do the heavy lifting himself. Language learning is hard and not too many have the enthusiam it takes to do that. Some people love to collect stamps, some to play music, some to learn languages, I guess a lot of that is in our genes.
@Mark. Look at the daily trend graph. You are dropping For the already passed 1/2 month of Feb, your site has dropped in Traffic.
@milanmaras - Yeah, that is a bit strange. I don’t know why that would be but can only assume some of the people using the site with the Alexa add on have not been visiting in the last week. However, I can assure you that our traffic to the site is not down. That is why Alexa is not a very reliable source of information.
“by far the most activity at lingq is in the “beginner” section”.
Some people set their level to beginner 1 when they join, and don’t raise it until nagged into raising it by other members. Almost everyone who signs up for discussions with me is at least at intermediate 2, but you couldn’t tell it from their profile pages.
Helen, I was referring to the usage numbers in our libraries. Beginner content is far more popular than more advanced content, in all languages.
Ah, well in my case I definitely import my own material once I get to a good intermediate 1. At that point I try and chew my way through my favourite novels and audiobooks. As far as I’m concerned, a major strength of LingQ is that it is a brilliant tool for getting you into authentic language of your choice years before conventional teaching methods.
"So something has happened to LingQ in the last month. It’s traffic has dropped dramatically. "
Hmm… Several weeks ago I switched from Firefox with the Alexa add-on to Google Chrome without the Alexa add-on 
You laugh Rasana but it takes that little to have a significant effect on Alexa rankings! My impression is that it really only takes a few people to affect the ranking and consequently, if you stop using it, it probably negatively affects us! 
The good news is that whatever the Alexa rank shows has essentially very little to do with our actual traffic…
I’ve persuaded my friends to use LingQ system. Most of them don’t like to use the system because of traditional dogmatic believe that studying English at English school will make a better result. No matter how hard I’ve tried to convince them, they still insist to go to school. So, I let them try as I have tried before. I guess about a year of their attempted in English school, they will be back to me. At that time, I’ll try to persuade them again.
I’ve persuaded my friends to use LingQ system. Most of them don’t like to use the system because of traditional dogmatic believe that studying English at English school will make a better result. No matter how hard I’ve tried to convince them, they still insist to go to school. So, I let them try as I have tried before. I guess about a year of their attempted in English school, they will be back to me. At that time, I’ll try to persuade them again.
Chatchai,
I have had the same experience… (as well, I think, the majority of other LingQers). The second myth, my friends strongly believe in, is ‘if I had lived in UK/US/Canada for 6 months, I would speak English fluently’. My answer is always “No! You would not!” (because you are so lazy, that can’t download a couple of podcasts in English here in Russia, why you think that you would do it in Canada?)
You are quite right Rasana, only a minority of immigrants have the motivation and determination to really work on improving their English. The same as true when I lived in Japan where only a small minority of foreigners put the effort into learning Japanese.
I should add that my greatest effort at learning Japanese was during the first 6 to 12 months, and most of that effort went into listening and reading.
Steve,
and the most tricky thing is: they have understood that drilling grammar does not help them to learn language, but they conclusion is “I have to speak with natives to improve”. They do not realise that the only thing they can discuss is their name and background (and ‘London is the capital of GB’, of course).
I had this discussion with my coworkers last Friday. When I said that it does not matter where you live, if you want to learn a language, they replied: ‘No! It really matters! Look, Ivan has lived in Canada for 5 years and his daughter speaks English like a native’. ‘How old she was when they moved to Canada?’ — ‘2 years old’. I just did not know what to say back, because it is so strange — ahem, let’s name this ‘strange’ — to compare a toddler who is on the stage of exploring the whole world, and an adult. I don’t think that I would like foreigners speak with me like I am a toddler. I would like to have more meaningful discussions
I have students who really believe that if they are not doing grammar drills FROM A TEXTBOOK regularly then they aren’t going to improve. Even having regular lessons with me, a native speaker, they can’t believe that “merely” talking with me can help their English. Even when I point out the grammar constructions they are using, that I am guiding them into using, as we speak, doesn’t convince them. “If it doesn’t feel like (old, Soviet-style) school then I can’t be learning” seems to be their motto.
I also speak to students who believe, in their heart of hearts, that they can’t possibly get good at English without living and studying in an English-speaking country. Advanced level students, professional English-speakers even. Saying “But you are already very good at English, and you’ve got that way without leaving your country, so maybe where you live isn’t really important in language learning?” doesn’t seem to convince them.
Learning Japanese from scratch on LIngQ has done more to convince me about the value of the Input method than everything I have read about it. That’s human nature for you.
And another thing…
Language students who take language exams every year to convince themselves that they’re making progress. In my opinion this is wasteful of resources and has a negative impact on language learning. If you want to prove to yourself that you have make progress, you can:
a) ask a tutor or experienced student who has worked with you for some time
b) do a mock language exam with the help of a language teacher
c) record a video of yourself speaking, put it on You-Tube and ask for feedback, write a piece on your blog and ask for feedback
d) look at your LingQ stats. If they are going up then I do not believe it is possible that you are making no progress.
The only thing that a language exam is good for is obtaining proof of your APPROXIMATE language skills, sufficient to convince ignorant people. Knowledgable people don’t need such proof.
And yes, Steve, you’ve been telling me this for years, I’ve just come round to believing it now 
Re: wild claims for LingQ: how about:
Proven to make you more attractive to Canadian grandfathers!
Nearly half our members achieve above-average results!
A cardio-vascular workout for your tongue!
Completely free of GMOs!
All our consonants are ethically sourced!
Steve, you wrote:
“You are quite right Rasana, only a MINORITY of immigrants have the motivation and determination to really work on improving their English.”
You have been telling this for years; Helene might come farther round to beleiving it
In my opinion, and in my experience, it is a far fetched generalization. Especially with regard to the lack of motivation. The immigrants of the employable depend on that; who else, in terms of the statistical majority, can be more motivated? The language fans?
You could have said that only a minority of the (adult) immigrants really succeed in improving their English. You could have said that only a minority of the immigrants know how to really improve in the language. That only a minority of the Canadian immigrants, under the circumstances, would choose to learn English or French at LingQ, rather than sit a course sponsored by the government. I may agree with that.
But do you really believe that the parents of, say, Sergey Brin (though it’s an extreme example of course) or my Chinese-looking doctor, were, statistically, less motivated to improve their English than an average non-native English speaker?
you motivated me to write this in English
The immigrants of the employable depend => The immigrants of the employable age depend…
Ilya, I am just stating my observation. It takes a lot of dedication and commitment. The fact that they should be motivated, does not mean that they are. Most spend more time reading watching TV and socializing in their own language.
Several people who talk to me are already living in English-speaking countries, but grumble that they don’t get enough opportunity to practice their English. They live alone or with other immigrants, work in offices where English isn’t spoken very well, and don’t get out much.
Native people are willing to talk with immigrate people who cannot speak English well? Do immigrate people have any chance to make friends even they have language barrier? Might it be a reason that immigrate people feel more comfortable to live with other immigrant people. No offence. I’m just curios.