VoxSwap.com, the social network for language learners, adds a video service and integrates Skype so users can see and hear as they chat and learn

VoxSwap the innovative social network for people learning and practising languages has added a video service and integrated Skype so budding linguists can now hear and see as well as type text.

It means users (who sign up for free!) can now watch education and entertainment videos in a wide selection of languages so they can see and hear the words and phrases they are seeking to learn and pronounce properly. VoxSwap users can add videos to the service at the press of a button to help one another learn and practise each other’s languages.

Also VoxSwap users can now hear and see one another when they are chatting. Until now, chatting had been limited to text but with the integration of Skype users can talk to one another, and even video conference, for free.

Co-founder Sean Hargrave believes this is a major step forward for the site.

“Our users have responded really well to being able to chat to one another through text but now we’re taking it a step further with video,” he commented.

“The video section is great for listening to and watching native speakers pass on language tips and Skype is phenomenal. It really helps to be able to hear the other person and, if both parties agree, see one another in a video conference. With the latest upgrades to the site we’ve added sight and sound to the written word, it’s a very exciting time for the development of language exchange on the Internet.”

Sean set up the site with his wife, Nicole, at the start of 2008 to give social networking a purpose. Rather than compile lists of friends and have virtual snowball fights, VoxSwap allows people to talk in multiple languages so users can help one another progress - hence the site’s motto of ‘make friends, learn a language’.

The new features of video and Skype will sit alongside a virtual keyboard, which offers characters and accents users may not have on their keyboards, as well as a built-in Google Translator for understanding phrases and words.

Included with the upgraded to the site are new features to improve the internal email system and allow people to take more control over their contact with one another. These additions include the ability to delete emails and comments people no longer want on their profile or mail box, as well as the ability to block a user.