Duolingo – Want to Learn On A Casual Basis?
With a bright and easy to use interface, Duolingo lets you naturally progress in your own time. You start with simple phrases and gradually move to more complex things. There’s help every step of the way as Duolingo points out mistakes and praises your efforts.
With more than 25 million users, Duolingo addresses reading, writing and pronunciation by challenging you with a fun range of activities. Occasional emails are sent to encourage you and it’s amazing how quickly you can pick up the basics without even realising it. Thankfully if you forget anything, it’s easy to revisit any lessons and work at your weaknesses.
Memrise – Do Visual Prompts Help?
It starts off slowly – to learn Russian, for instance, you’re guided through the Cyrillic alphabet – but that’s by no means a bad thing. There’s something quaint and inviting about its simplistic visual aids, as if a friend is showing you tips to remember each lesson, and a follow-up email from the Memrise team ensures there’s a support network behind you.
On Android and iOS, Memrise’s friendly aesthetics encourage you to ‘grow your mind.’ Best of all, you can download each course to practise offline, so no matter where you are, you can freshen up on what you’ve learnt.
The only downside is that the interface doesn’t flip with the screen!
(How to) Pronounce – Struggling With Pronunciation?
You say tom-ay-to, I say tom-ar-to. Instead of calling the whole thing off, (How to) Pronounce can settle the score quickly and simply. All you have to do is select the language and type in either a word or sentence.
Its limitations are obvious: it doesn’t teach you phrases, but instead acts as a great supplement for other apps. If you struggle to get the right emphasis, or can’t quite get the hang of skipping that silent ‘h’, (How to) Pronounce can slow things down for you. Some fun can be had when, for example, you type an English sentence and it’s read back to you in a French accent!
The array of languages initially available is quite limited, but a wider range is achievable by going into Setting > General > Speak Selection > Voices. Once you download the voice using Enhanced Quality, restart the app and that language will be added to the list.
Though made solely for iOS devices, similar apps, like pronunciation tool Listen & Speak, are available for Android.
Busuu – Want To Lend A Helping Hand?
Boasting over 35 million users worldwide, the best thing about Busuu is its interactivity. By entering its ‘writing’ capacity, you can stay in touch with the service’s community and really help out by correcting others’ mistakes.
The core of eleven languages – including German, Portuguese, Polish and Japanese – is covered for free using flashcards and facile tests; it’s simple to switch between your native language and the one you’re trying to learn. However, it’s a freemium service for iOS and Android, so if you want to find out about relative pronouns, geography or even flirting, you’ll have to part with some money.
HelloTalk Language Exchange – Want To Meet New People?
Learning a foreign language meets social networking.
There’s a huge list of languages to choose from, and you can refine your list of possible tutors by age and country. The really useful thing about HelloTalk is that you can favourite any conversation and add it to your NotePad for future reference.
Naturally, you need an Internet connection and new users are likely to be intimidated when taking that first big step, but HelloTalk breaks down the barriers between countries – and that’s what learning another language is all about.
Fin
Bilingualism improves your memory and perception and also allows you a greater command of your native tongue. It can help your business expand and make you new friends. Put simply, it’s a great way to better yourself. With so many easy-to-use free apps out there, there’s no reason not to dabble in Spanish or Gaelic or even Mongolian.
Let us know what other language you’re learning in the comments section below. I’m sure there’s a gag about the French word ‘comment‘ too, but I’ll leave you to that –pourquoi pas?