Erik Larson set out to build the LangLadder jetpack project to make learning a foreign language more enjoyable by reducing two common obstacles.
1.) Eliminate the choice between free time and language learning by merging the two. According to a December 2009 research study, an average net user surfs the web 13 hours per week excluding email. That is almost 2 hours on the web per day reading news and blogs about sports, politics, gossip, entertainment, technology, etc. Many of these same stories are reprinted in almost every language on Earth.
2.)Secondly, to automate many of the incredibly boring repetitive chores involved in language learning. LangLadder provides a language translation tool (google translate), built in search suggestions in foreign and native languages, a bookmark tool, and a flashcard tool that keeps track of flashcard quiz performance. All this combined makes reading a foreign web page a lot less awful.
This is not meant to be a full scale language learning platform. It is simply meant to be an intelligent tool to assist intermediate/advanced students of languages by providing contextual vocabulary related to their particular area of interest.
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