I guess I don’t have to tell you the benefits of knowing a foreign language. So this will be just a reminder. Firsty, you have a skill to communicate with people from other cultures, you can travel more easily and perhaps even more comfortably. You can work in a multicultural environment.
But attending classes to learn languages takes time and for many is simply boring. A recent alternative is mobile learning.
Thanks to the technology you can learn on the go, during your walk or when you are waiting in a queue.
There are many apps that you can use to practise, discover new words or compete with your friends. But what should you start with?
Below is my personal selection of 6 mobile apps you should definitely give a try.
Memrise
PRICE: FREE
There is also PREMIUM version with more features and statistics available, for example, you can repeat words more difficult to remember or have insights of what progress you make.
A very popular web and platform with mobile versions. You can learn languages and not only lanuguages using memory-enhancing techniques. There is a huge community of learners and teachers who create courses and learn together. Memrise originally was created for Chinese language learning, where memorable images to facilitate learning and remembering are very important.
For example, you can see below how to learn the word ‘woman’ in Chinese. This method uses memes – simple graphics based on associations.
The basic idea: you have words with images – the learning process begins – so you are planting words in your memory like a flower in the soil. After a while, the system algorithms offer you these words for a repetition – so now you WATER (repeat) the words you have already learnt.
What’s more, you can compete with your friends (mempals) – there is a leaderboard of daily, monthly and all time stats. Also you can learn in groups.
Now you can learn over 200 different languages including Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese or Mandarin Chinese.
Where can you find it?
Web: www.memrise.com
Anroid: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.memrise.android.memrisecompanion&hl=en
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/memrise-learn-languages-free/id635966718?mt=8
Duolingo
PRICE: FREE
On Duolingo you can practice all the skills: speaking, reading, listening and writing, so all aspects of learning. Most popular course English for Spanish speakers has 60M learners. As you can read on app info: “It’s effective. 34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to a semester of university-level education. “
What I liked in Duolingo? – new words are introduced with images without the text so you can learn purely from making graphical associations – word – image. You can also compete with your friends.
Currently, you can learn English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Russian, Ukrainian, Esperanto, Polish (hurrah!) and Turkish.
Where you can find it?
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duolingo&hl=en
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/az/app/duolingo-learn-languages-for/id570060128?mt=8
Play & Learn Languages
PRICE: FREE for basic learning packs, 9.99 euros for all packs
Play & Learn LANGUAGES is a free flash card app where you can learn new words with images. You will learn vocabulary, spelling and alphabet, test your skills with quiz and memory puzzle and pick up new words with the flash cards. You can also invite and play against your friends.
The basic app offers you 8 free packs including animals, food, vegetables, things, fruit, numbers, shapes and colors. But for more packs, you have to pay 9.99 euros.
Where you can find it?
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.playlearn.languages&hl=en
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/play-and-learn-languages/id888166362?mt=8
Rosetta Stone
Price: FREE for a basic language level, 199,99 euros for all levels
I could not mention Rosetta Stone, which is one of the oldest language app on the market.
The main idea: You learn purely using the language you want to learn. So for example, when you learn French, you will not see word equivalents in your native language.
Presented graphical aids will help you in understanding process. It’s as simple as it sounds. The research revealed that these methods are effective as they are based on a language immersion.
Where you can find it?
Web: http://www.rosettastone.eu
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.rosettastone.mobile.CoursePlayer&hl=en
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/rosetta-course/id435588892?mt=8
Babbel
PRICE: Monthly subscription $US12.95.
What is really interesting about this app, that it uses speech recognition technology. Yes you can speak to your microphone – so you can practice and test your pronunciation. You can learn 14 different languages, set your learning goals or use the Review Manager to keep new vocabulary in your long-term memory.
Where you can find it?
Web: https://www.babbel.com
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.babbel.mobile.android.en&hl=en
Iphone: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/learn-spanish-english-french/id829587759?mt=8
Busuu
PRICE: 9.99 euros monthly.
What is unique about this app? The 35 million native speakers community who are students and teachers at the same time. A student of a foreign language and a teacher of his mother tongue. You can chat with other students, record your videos, get feedback on your own exercises and make new friends.
You can save words and sentences for later, test your knowledge with quizzes or download lessons for offline use.
Where you can find it?
Web: https://www.busuu.com/enc/
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.busuu.android.enc
iPhone: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/busuu-learn-languages-for/id379968583?mt=8
And this is it. You can download and test them to can decide which works best for you. Maybe all of them? Memrise is definitely my favourite app. Mainly because of the huge database of courses and languages and a big community of learners.
Which app do you already use? What do you especially like about it?
Happy learning!