Exills is a project by Xerox ( Xerox Research Centre Europe, XRCE ) to learn foreign language on the web through a virtual world (via the Blaxxun Vrml plugin).

This article on Web3D-fr (in french) presents the project.
The advantages are :
– To put the user into typical situations (professional, country specific..)
– Visual explanation of movement verbs, which are often hard to explain because very specific for each language
– Meeting of other foreign users that can help you learn
– More fun than textbooks or classes.

Robots inside the VW are used to evaluate/correct the user. The user is also forced to use the foreign language, since a language detector filters other languages.
The user also has access to a contextual translator. Users can share relevant links they found on the web.

It looks like a very interesting project and I hope there will be more like that. Don’t we say that immersion is the best way to learn a language? 😉