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onigiriforears · 1 year

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Recommendation: Apps for Japanese Learning

Over the years, I've downloaded and tested many apps. Though my favorite app was discontinued (I miss you, mindsnacks Japanese), there are still others that I don't think I'll be removing from my phone any time soon. In light of duolingo's horrible update causing a large migration and search for other apps, I thought I'd share some of my favorites. Also, some of these apps have websites or discords for you to interact with other users or to ask support questions.

For those who cannot use/don't like the graphics, the written out version is below the break.

Lingo Legend

RPG-based language learning game that I was a beta tester for. It also offers Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, German, Italian, and Portuguese. Uses spaced repetition.

Offers beginners, intermediate, and advanced levels.

User can jump between lessons and difficulty levels.

Available on ios and android

Manabi Reader

Caters to all JLPT levels and offers reading options on an array of topics (including news, games, reddit). Can hilight words and look up in-app. User can also paste a link within the app to read.

Companion app available (Manabi Flashcards).

Available on ios

TODAI: EASY Japanese News

Aggregates news from various sources.

Offers practice JLPT exams in-app.

Offers grammar resources and in-app dictionary that can generate flashcards from words saved in notes.

Offers audio listening, as well as videos with transcriptions.

Available on ios and android. Also has a website.

Shirabe Jisho

Offline dictionary app.

User can favorite words, make lists, take notes, make flashcards, etc.

User can search for words in kana, romaji, drawing, or through radical (or radical building).

Available on ios

Renshuu

Think quizlet, but solely for Japanese. You can create your own lists, use others, play shiritori, earn prizes and interact on forums.

You can study grammar, kanji, vocab, flashcards, learn and submit mnemonics. You can also friend people.

Available on ios and android. Also has a website (of which I am an avid user).

Connect with me: Ko-fi Shop & Tips | Discord | Studygram | Ask Box

↳ psst! my ko-fi shop has learning resources on it. try to check back for new things bc im always working on something to add in there

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foreignfawn · 4 months

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Question for Language Learners

Imagine you had access to the most perfect language learning program for your target language. What would it look like? What would it have? What would you need?

#language learning #langblr #language apps #language #languages

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cinnamon-sticks-and-coffee-cups · 2 years

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bon matin! c’est tôt pour moi, hmm? today I’ll be sharing some online resources for learning french ranging from vocab lists to full on courses! i hope you find these useful - the internet really is precious when learning languages! <3

⁎⁺˳✧༚ frenchtoday.com

this website threatens to put me out of business and I couldn’t be more delighted! vocab lists galore, free lessons, tips to work on your pronunciation, articles on french culture and even stories and poetry. i haven’t looked at everything available on there, but from what I’ve seen, it’s pretty useful!

⁎⁺˳✧༚ frenchpod101.com

this is a free course you can take, with options for absolute beginners and those already a little familiar with the language. it looks to be good for conversational french and is an easy, no nonsense starting point for beginners, who i know from experience are often easily overwhelmed.

⁎⁺˳✧༚ coffee break french

this is one I’m not quite as familiar with but has come to me highly recommended. it’s a podcast that covers the basics as well as providing dialogues and example role plays. give it a try and let me know how you find it!

⁎⁺˳✧༚ innerfrench (chaîne de YouTube)

this is a really interesting channel! you get to learn french through a variety of different topical discussions and he speaks slowly enough for you to get most of what he’s saying even if you’re a relative beginner, which can make you feel super smart :)

bien, c’est tout! i hope these recs are alright, and I hope we meet again soon~ a bientôt!

#cinnamon’s french posts #français #french #frenchblr #langblr #french vocab #language learning #vocabulaire français #language apps #language learning resources

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h0neytalk · 3 months

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Mango v. LingQ v. Anki

I’ve been using the above apps for a while now and I couldn’t find a ton of somewhat easy to understand comparisons/explanations of how to use these various cult favorites. I figured I would make one if anyone is wondering where to start or making a departure from Duolingo.

Standard langblr disclaimer: I am ultimately just a person on the internet, I’m not an expert in language learning or a world renowned polyglot. I’m not even an expert in any of these apps/programs. These are all just thoughts and opinions I have about the value of each app to myself as an average consumer trying to learn a language and intended to help other people decide where to spend their time.

Anki

Anki is an open source spaced repetition flashcard program. It has an incredibly loyal fan base of med students and people who just want to learn things. This is also the one I have the least experience with so I recommend diving into forums and other blogs who go in depth on all the ways you can use this program. The web version is completely free and there is an official paid mobile app. There are also unofficial paid apps, this is the source of great drama and discourse and I’m not touching that here. Spaced repetition essentially means that the program will present you with cards at intervals designed to maximize your retention. When you flip over a card, you have four options that boil down to: fail, hard, good, easy. This is how the program determines what to show you and when.

Key Features:

The main draw is obviously the spaced repetition system. It’s much easier and more effective than sorting manually.

Because it’s open source, there is a way to customize the settings and cards to do basically whatever you want. There are also tons of premade decks to import and either use as-is or use as a base.

The online web version is completely free.

You can add really any media type to the cards. You can add sound clips of pronunciations, images, even drawings and diagrams.

Having the four options is particularly useful for the nuances of learning a language. For example, for general vocabulary decks I’ll assign one “point” to general meaning, tense/part of speech, and pronunciation. Getting the general meaning but not the other two means I select “hard” when I flip the card.

Best uses:

Vocab or learning a new alphabet. Specifically for drilling any of those “slippery” words. I don’t know if this happens to anyone else, but there are some vocab words that just refuse to stick with me. I’ve found the Anki SRS does help pin them down.

Potential downsides:

While there are decks to import, there could always be errors that you won’t catch just seeing single vocab words with no context.

The available customization is labor intensive.

The UI for the official app and web version isn’t super slick and intuitive.

Even the best flashcards are ultimately just flashcards and have limits to their usefulness.

Mango

Mango is similar to Babbel or other programs that focus on speaking (and doing so quickly). I much prefer Mango to Babbel or any other similar app and find that it does what it says it will. Languages are split into units. Each unit has chapters and each chapter has lessons. A lesson will start with an optional pre quiz and a brief recording of a conversation that you will be able to follow by the end of the lesson. Each lesson concludes with a listening and reading quiz. It also utilizes spaced repetition and gives you daily flashcards to review.

You learn based on phrases rather than individual words. A long sentence will be presented in its entirety. The lesson will then go through each word individually before combining them into phrases and, finally, the full sentence from the start. Then you will learn vocabulary needed for variations. The activities are fairly standard for a language app: speaking, listening, multiple choice. You can also turn off the interactive feature and have the lesson run as a “speak and repeat” style podcast. It tracks the hours you’ve spent learning a language and there is an activity log, but no in depth stats.

Key features:

It is focused on speaking immediately.

Has a ton of languages and several dialects for those languages.

Focuses on phrases and patterns that are most useful if traveling or having brief, friendly interactions.

Presents information in a digestible way and isn’t overwhelming.

Includes culture and grammar notes.

$12.99 a month but most public libraries and schools give you free access. You can also set up a household account for multiple people and split the cost with friends/family.

The first lesson of any language is free, and some rare and indigenous languages are completely free to access.

Audio is native speakers. When you record yourself, your vocal wave pattern appears that you can compare with the native speaker.

Best uses:

If you are traveling soon and want to navigate basic, friendly interactions, this will get you there quick. Within 1-3 months easily, depending on the language and how often you practice.

I also recommend this as a starting place when you are totally new to a language or to learning a language in general. The structure is excellent for getting a feel for things.

This is also great if you studied a language previously and need to refresh your memory or get back into it.

Potential downsides:

The “record yourself” feature is fairly buggy and often freezes up. It can also be annoying to try and match the timing of the native speaker, but you don’t have to record audio to progress past those lesson points so it isn’t too much of an inconvenience.

It isn’t meant for total fluency. As stated, the lessons (at least that I have done) are focused on speaking while traveling and making small talk. Some of the early lessons teach you to say “sorry, I don’t speak [x]”. Which is very useful if going abroad soon, but less so if you would rather just be able to speak that language.

The regimented nature can make it feel slow/too easy if you are also using other methods.

The review flashcards only have a binary “yes/no” option which feels annoying for longer phrases or after using Anki-style cards.

With any course like this, you aren’t going to have much choice in the vocab you learn or prioritizing topics.

LingQ

I am honestly surprised I don’t see more about this. I think they have been making a bunch of updates recently so maybe the version I’m using is miles above previous ones, but it is shockingly powerful. It’s also the hardest to explain (which may be why I don’t see much written about it and why this is going to be a long section.) LingQ (pronounced “link”) operates on a hybrid comprehensible/massive input model. While Anki prioritizes memorization and Mango priorities speaking, LingQ focuses on comprehension and listening. LingQ is comprised of courses which are made up of lessons. There are pre-built courses made by LingQ but the real goal is to make your own (more on that later).

Each lesson within a course has an audio recording and a written transcript. Words you haven’t seen before are highlighted blue (when you start, that’s every word). You click the word to see the definition and assign it one of 5 statuses: ignore, new, recognized, familiar, learned, or known. “Ignore” is used for things like names or borrowed words, they won’t be counted in your stats. “Known” is for words you knew before seeing them. You likely won’t have any of these if you’re starting a new language with no prior experience. Levels 1-3 highlight the word yellow and it becomes a LingQ. You can create a LingQq using as many words as you want. You can manually change the status of a word when you see it. You can also do various review activities similar to Mango, and if you get a word right twice in a row it will automatically bump up a level. You can always adjust it back down if needed. LingQ is very focused on the value of listening to a language. You can add lessons to playlists and listen to them like a podcast.

My personal favorite part of LingQ is the ability to import lessons. Especially YouTube videos. The site has a browser extension that will import any content in your target language into a lesson as an embedded item. You can then read/listen to/watch that content right in the app and get “credit” for it. LingQ’s statistics are some of the coolest/most motivating I’ve seen. You get coins for completing tasks but those are really just to see a number get bigger. It also tracks the words you’ve read, how many words you know, the hours listened, and speaking/writing if you utilize their tutor marketplace or writing forum.

The free trial is very limited but it’s enough to poke around and get a feel for things before signing up, not necessarily to learn anything substantial. The monthly membership is $12.95 and there’s a $199 lifetime option as well. I definitely recommend spending some time playing around at the free level and then upping to monthly if you like it.

Key features:

The ability to import lessons. It will also create a simplified version of shorter content. This is an AI generated summary of whatever you’ve imported. I use this for videos where natural speaking cadence can make it hard to parse things sometimes. It’s easier/more productive if I know generally what’s going on.

The creation of LingQs. I just think it’s a really cool and useful way to approach comprehensible input. You can visually see the yellow fading as you understand more and more of a lesson.

You can export LingQs to Anki (theoretically). I’ve never done this myself and I’ve seen some forum posts saying it doesn’t work super well all the time but it is a built in feature.

In-depth stats tracking and the ability to consume all the content easily in app. The stats would be annoying if it wasn’t literally easier to watch a video via LingQ than on YouTube.

Community features. There are community challenges (like Duolingo) but also a forum to submit writing that will be corrected by native speakers and a marketplace of tutors to easily sign up for speaking lessons. The forum is free and volunteer based, but scrolling through I didn’t see anyone who didn’t have at least one reply. The tutors are paid at an hourly rate and you can also pay by the word to have them correct written work.

Super flexible. There really isn’t any one right way to use this app so you can structure it however you like and set your own goals/metrics.

Playlists and focus on listening. It really does help to constantly be immersed in what a language sounds like, and being able to read and listen to the same thing has been so nice.

Actually decently helpful emails and not just spam.

Best for:

Hardcore language learners. The app/site provides some guidance on how to get started and the basic idea, but you’ll need to play around with it and spend some time reading forum posts or the emails they send to find what works for you.

Getting to higher levels of fluency after maxing out other apps/self study methods.

People looking to spend a lot of time on language learning because they enjoy it. This isn’t snarky, but there’s a difference between wanting or needing to learn Spanish to communicate at work or on vacation and just really enjoying learning languages. This is an app for language nerds.

Potential downsides:

Very overwhelming. They technically say you can jump right in with 0 knowledge of a language and be good to go, but I think it would be hard to make a lot of progress unless you’ve learned other languages before. If you’re looking to learn a new language for the first time, I recommend starting with Mango to get your bearings.

Doesn’t teach new alphabets. This isn’t a huge issue for Mango since it’s speaking focused, but I wouldn’t jump into Arabic or Russian on LingQ without spending some time learning the alphabet with other methods.

User generated definitions. This is a double edged sword. The definitions being linked to sites like Globse can lead to wrong definitions, but because you’re seeing things in context it’s easier to catch. And looking into what a phrase means is a great way to learn if you are really into languages.

The import feature isn’t 100% perfect when it comes to videos. It will only create a transcript when the video has captions enabled or a transcript provided, otherwise it just shows up as an audio file. It will also sometimes randomly just not be able to import a video which can be annoying, but in the grand scheme of things these are very minor annoyances.

Time commitment. The method doesn’t require a ton of actively sitting down and reviewing vocab or reading new words, but it does assume that you’ll swap out listening to music or podcasts while going about your day with listening to content in your target language. This is all well and good unless you really enjoy listening to specific content while doing tasks or need help not getting distracted. It’s going to be a lot of incomprehensible noise for a while before you can parse it. This might not be a downside as much as something to keep in mind when considering how effective it’s going to be for you.

Not as active of a community. Maybe it’s just for my particular languages, but there definitely aren’t a ton of people actively doing things like challenges. This really doesn’t matter much to me but it could be a bummer if you’re looking for that.

tl;dr just tell me how to learn things

If you need to learn a new alphabet, start with that. Otherwise, Mango to get your bearings, Anki to add to your vocab as you get bored with Mango, and LingQ to realistically get “fluent”. Then start writing and speaking either using tutors or people you know or local language groups.

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dynastiesanddaimyo · 6 days

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As someone who is still new to learning Japanese I have downloaded various resources to help. I will be making posts about each of the apps shown within the screenshot. Stay Tuned 😊

#japanese studyblr #learning japanese #learn japanese #japanese langblr #japanese language #language apps

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wiggispa0fartface · 6 months

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ever heard of Busuu?

i love it for my German course!

the lessons are short but in-depth

they explain grammar rules and have lessons just for pronunciation and grammar

they teach different dialect from the region (idk how to word it, but they teach you the same words from different countries that speak the same language, in my case they taught me the different way to say Hi in German depending on location)

The focus on authenticity and truly helping you become fluent

There is a community setting where you can correct people and give feedback who are learning your language and they can give you the same (for example I can correct a German speaker on an exercise they did in English and a German speaker can correct me on an exercise i did in german)

And all of it free!! Yes there is pesky ads and such but you get so much out of this app! I recommend it =D ✧,

#language learning #langblr #language #learning german #german #language study #language apps

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heartless-aro · 1 year

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I’ve been using the Drops language learning app to work on my French vocab a bit and look!

They included aromantic in the lgbtq+ vocab set! They even have our flag and a little arrow!

They also include asexual, pansexual, genderfluid, intersex, non-binary, and iel (gender neutral French pronoun, usually used for non-binary people), which you don’t see often in foreign language study apps either! Just wanted to mention this because I thought it was really cool to see us included

#aro #aromantic #lgbtq #language apps #sorry for sounding like an ad but this is so cool!

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mavkaworld · 5 months

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As much as I see flaw with doulingo, I see more flaws with the people using it.

There is no app out there that is free that will teach you a language without having you study, take notes, and accept responsiblity for your own learning.

Doing those mini lessons is not enough! No matter how long you take them. They are just giving you practice in said language. You still have to take notes and use the words they give you to create a vocab list that you repeat to yourself. Doulingo just gives you the verbal sound of it and the exercises thats it. Sometimes the damn alphabet. But thats it. You still have to study. You are not studying when doing doulingo, you are exercising the knowledge you were given.

"It literally doesn't teach you anything useful!"

Do you expect it to spoon feed you the information? Take the words and sentence structure it gives you and figure it out! It still has flaw in that area but you gotta remember that it is an app. Not an actual living teacher. It is giving you the basics in a fun and colourful way.

When you open up that app, that you chose, also whip out a pencil and paper and start writing down words and take full advantage of the function where you click on any word and it gives you a translation.

All this is applicable to every other language learning app out there. My favorite is lingQ and I still take notes on what it teaches me. Because thats how you actually learn. You have to train your brain, mouth, and eyes to adjust to your language of choice. A language learning app is a tool, not a teacher.

If you are incapable of taking on such a commitment then don't, it's a free world, just don't put all the blame on an app because it is not responsible for your education as much as you are.

Thank you for coming to my tedtalk.

#doulingo #langagues #learning languages #language learning #language apps #Apps are tools not teachers

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mbtriestolearnstuff · 6 months

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Anyone tried Tandem or some similar app? Do you recommend that or sth else? I'd like something free that could help me practice a target language and I don't really care abt lessons (I still have a Duolingo acc somewhere that I can use for the lessons). Thank you!

#langblr #language learning #language apps

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lookninjas · 3 months

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Hey sorry if I've asked this before-- what course are you using to study Latvian? My partner's family were refugees from there and he has tried to study it with a book but didn't get very far.

I'm using the Ling language app. It's something like 50 or 60 for the year subscription. It's not perfect (most voice recordings are AI, and there's a couple mistakes even I've caught), but overall I like it and it does seem mostly accurate. Also, most of the lessons seem to be practical things, like buying clothes in shops or giving directions, and I understand other apps can be more whimsical. I'd say for the price it's a good place to start and get a base vocabulary.

#latvian #language apps #if anyone has a better recommendation feel free to sound off

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marilearnsmandarin · 3 months

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Attention free DOT users!

The app is giving 3 days of free premium for spring festival!

Go favourite a bunch of articles to read later!

Yes, I want to read about the sleeping posture of giraffes, thank you.

(until now, articles favourited before premium was implemented are available for reading, I'm hoping it stays that way)

Also, they have recently lifted the limit on number of articles free users can read per day, as long as you max out the exercises on the last 2 articles on your "learning path" or whatever they call it.

#resources #tip #dot #apps #language apps #chinese language #reading #chinese langblr #mandarinblr #中文

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rigelmejo · 2 years

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I see posts all the time on languagelearning Reddit saying "I'm building a language learning app, what features would you like to see."

And while my niche interest means I'm always interested in specifically click-dictionary tools like LingQ, Idiom, Pleco, Redlang, Languagecrush... the reality is those apps already exist, and already are good enough for what they're used for. I even can set up a Reader app not intended for language learning, Moonreader Pro, to give me click definitions and read text aloud using text to speech. So more reader apps wouldn't really fill any missing need. Sure, a better designed reader app might have better dictionaries and some graded reading content with real person recorded audio, but it would just be offering some changes within an app niche which is already filled.

Then, I see a lot of app makers always go for making a beginner app. This niche is oversaturated to hell, and if you make an app here then it's unlikely to be successful if the language you make it for already has a course on Duolingo, Lingodeer, or Babbel. So while this may be a worthwhile endeavor if you want to make an app for a language with no other easy to find resources, it's not going to be anything special if you do it for languages already on the above 3 apps.

App makers consider making flashcard SRS type apps. There is potential appeal to this if they can make something offering unique better resources. But for many languages, Anki or Memrise or Clozemaster is going to have courses already which cover 2,000 words to 20,000 words in sentence format, with audio. User made courses on anki and memrise cover a plethora of niche needs, clozemaster has made updates to show some grammar info and a radio mode where you can listen to sentences (which are features I like a lot). There's also already specialty apps for learning Kanji for Japanese and hanzi for chinese, if a user doesn't like anki or memrise for studying characters, and those specialty apps work fairly well. Skritter for hanzi, WaniKani for japanese.

Areas where there is room for more apps and a need for more apps:

Grammar guides. It's considered a "boring" part of language learning, and maybe that's why so few apps teach it. You can occasionally find a memrise or anki user made course addressing grammar, but aside from bunpro for Japanese I have not seen many apps purposely aim to teach most of the necessary grammar points for X level of ability in a given language. Lingodeer aims to teach some grammar, but like duolingo it teaches a pathetically small amount. So more apps which have goals of actually covering all grammar points in Beginner language use A1 A2 (HSK 1-4, etc), and ideally Intermediate language use B1 B2, would serve a need that other apps aren't covering much.

Parallel texts, graded readers, with audio, for Intermediate Learners (B1 level at least). Do you see a pattern? That most apps are catered to beginners only, unless it's a flashcard app? Yeah. Now again, in this area many tools can be used to serve this need. I can make most eReader apps do this if I put in a lot of my own work finding my own graded reader, my own audio or use text to speech, and finding a click dictionary. LingQ serves this need and I have heard has pre-made content that goes up from beginner to Intermediate, but also that content is not equally good quality for all languages. Just like how duolingo has good stories for some languages and not others. Apps fitting this niche like du Chinese work great for their specialized languages but not for others, so there is some need for more apps overall which cover this kind of content up into Intermediate language learning levels.

And finally, the most useful app a person could make? Well in my opinion, it would be an app somewhat like Duolingo or Lingodeer. But it would make sure to actually cover grammar points and words in A1, A2, B1 (and in a dream world also B2 content) and the other languages equivalents. Almost no apps have actual lessons made for B1 levels or above, and B1 is when learners start to be able to learn by simply reading, listening, speaking, writing IN the language. Most apps cover A1 content, maybe up to A2 if lucky, then dedicated learners have to come up with some way to bridge the gap from that beginner zone into Intermediate so they can start trying to read, watch shows, listen to audios, and having conversations about topics beyond tourist stuff/basic info. I would also personally love if such an app had a way to skip levels/test out of levels, so beginners could start the app and keep going while other learners could start wherever their last things learned had left them. I'd also personally love if the app had dense lessons, as in covered a lot of words/grammar points per lesson. I know this could be a negative to some people so it would be fine to not do that, but I know for me anki/memrise/clozemaster type apps cover so much content in a short amount of time compared to apps like Duolingo which cover so little information per minute. That demotivates me, that so little information is learned per time. And since currently such apps like duolingo only tend to go up to A2 beginner information maximum, it feels like it takes a year or more to cover beginner level material that could be covered so much faster. Meanwhile after that year or more, the app is finished and leaves you with no Intermediate level information so you are still going to need to self study some more to get to a point of comfortably being able to read or watch things. Duolingo and Lingodeer also tend to teach 2000 or less words in an entire course (some of duolingos best courses like Spanish may contain 3000 words). 2000 common words is the minimum to try breaking into B1 type activities, and duolingo lingodeer etc don't particularly teach the most common words... just 1000-3000 words generally. For a learner trying to speed through A1 and A2 material so they can get to Intermediate study, it's more efficient to get a Teach Yourself book with audio (usually has 2000 useful words and teaches some grammar) or a textbook for A1 and A2 that includes enough vocab, and work through the books. The books will take maybe 3-6 months each (or less if you do them faster), and by the end you'd have covered more information than duolingo in a typical years use, be prepared for an A2 type test, and be as close to B1 as you can be so when you start studying at the Intermediate level you have less gaps in knowledge (less lacking of some grammar points, less lack of vocabulary).

There's so few apps that actually cover B1 level (or even some of A2 level). So many apps label some content "intermediate" that is A2 kind of content, not B1 kind of content (this happens especially with languages like Chinese and Japanese, I've seen apps labeled intermediate graded reader apps for chinese with stories that only contain 300 characters... when 1000 characters would be more realistic intermediate level). So many apps already make themselves in similar structure to duolingo, lingodeer, babbel. If any of those similar-apps actually covered the information those apps lacks? That new app would fill an unmet need and become the Go To app for the languages it covered. If the app made sure it covered all grammar AT beginner A1 A2 levels, covered grammar at B1, covered all words in the usual A1 A2 B1 type language tests (which to a degree overlaps with most common words but not entirely), then their app would be the best. It would be all people would need as a main study material to pass real fluency tests, to get to B level intermediate where some countries require for going to school or working in said country. It would cover enough material for people to transition to a formal class or book later if needed, to transition to immersion in the language and using the language directly at the end of app usage. Which is what learners need to get to, if they're going to learn a language enough to use it beyond a trip or surface level introduction.

But maybe that's why no such app exists. If an app did get you past A2, you'd know enough to start self studying while using the language somewhat comfortably, know enough to transition to Intermediate classes if you need any particular certification. But if you learn the language enough to use it, then you will go USE it instead of spending more time grinding on an app. Is that why apps only cover beginner material? So you can never learn enough to start learning on your own with some comfortability? But at the same time... plenty of people use anki and memrise well into 20,000 words/sentences, so there's Intermediate and advanced learners who would keep doing lessons on apps and reviews.

If the goal of your app is really to get people to LEARN the language, then eventually you need to offer Intermediate material and help learners get to that point. Duolingo was supposed to be made to fill a niche of schools failing to teach enough for people to use a language they study. Well it doesn't. It teaches some A1, sometimes some A2, but its never enough on its own to make someone able to use a language to enough of a degree to read/write/speak/listen to general things. It may help motivate people to start learning so later they find their own more in depth study materials and make their own progress into Intermediate. But at present it does not teach enough information to take people into the Intermediate range. (*with their most in depth courses with extra words like Spanish, French, that also have cognates for some other language speakers, it may help people get to A2 enough they're willing to attempt to try reading/listening/chatting with people enough to learn from those activities until they're B1, but duolingos content itself doesn't take people to Intermediate level).

#apps #rant #language apps #language learning #article #review #i read an article on duolingo today and it pushed me over the edge.#duolingo is not enough to learn a language enough to use it. its a failure on that front #i find it so annoying theres such a lack of material at a2-b1 level. which is the poiny #when people can start learning from USING the language #so if learners just were taught A2 fully and some B1? theyd learn enough info #to much easier transition into learning by using the language

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nfinitefreetime · 1 month

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FRIENDSHIP ENDED WITH BUSUU

… now Lingodeer is my best friend. (My life has just changed; while checking to make sure that I was using the right color to cross out the Busuu app, I discovered that new friend Salman in that famous picture is the guy on the left, not the guy on the right, and for some reason I can’t handle that.) But anyway. The last time I rattled on about Arabic apps on here I was already starting to sour…

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#arabic #busuu #duolingo #foreign language #geek #language apps #language learning #learning #lingodeer #teaching #writing

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languagexs · 6 months

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A Beginner's Guide to Learning Tagalog Language Fast and Easy

Tagalog, an Austronesian language spoken mainly in the Philippines, is steadily growing in popularity among English speakers looking to learn a second language. In this beginner’s guide, we’ll look at why Tagalog is relatively easy for English speakers to pick up, provide tips for learning it faster, and highlight some of its key features. We’ll also explore resources for accelerating your…