This is the best time to study a second language. Nearly half of the population of America’s five largest cities speaks a language other than English, according to the 2017 Census. Nearly 67 million Americans now speak a foreign language at home, making up one-fourth of all public school children. Aside from making new friends and being able to hear what your neighbors have to say, learning new words can be good for your mind as well.
American Council on Foreign Languages says that learning a new language has various advantages. Higher standardized exam scores, better scientific hypotheses, greater memory, and better critical thinking are all associated with it. An advantage we could all use these days is learning a new language, which has been demonstrated to improve one’s attitude toward individuals from diverse cultures.
In only a few minutes, you may begin learning a new language thanks to these smartphone apps. Some feature lessons ranging from beginner to near-fluency, in a variety of delivery techniques to fit your learning style. In little time at all, you’ll be navigating a foreign land in a new language.
PIMSLEUR
Unlike many other language courses, Pimsleur is mostly audio-based. You listen to a 30-minute audio track every day (actually, you can do it as frequently as you want, but daily is the recommended pace). Throughout the course, you’ll take on the personas of a tourist seeking directions, a restaurant patron ordering beer, a store patron bargaining over a price, and a worker planning lunch with a coworker.
It begins with your imaginary conversation partner speaking the target language, you responding, and then a native speaker provides the proper answer, which you repeat several times. Each time the (English-speaking) narrator begins speaking, he or she will throw in a few new words and phrases for you to learn.
Mondly
To begin learning a new language while keeping speaking your own, Mondly claims to be faster and more natural than competing apps for people who are not native English speakers. Having a kid’s version means that everyone in the family may participate in learning a new language together.
DUOLINGO
In a pleasant and colorful interface, Duolingo teaches basic grammar and vocabulary in bite-sized courses that take me around two minutes on average. In each lesson, you’ll read, write, and say a few words; you’ll also practice writing and speaking them.
Once one of my go-to learning tools, Duolingo recently decided to charge for its review feature, making the free version far less effective. When you first started using the program, you could undertake a new lesson every day, as well as go back and review classes you had previously completed.
To my understanding, this is not possible with the current version – once you complete a course, it is permanently locked. To access the review exercises, you’ll need to pay for a subscription to the “Practice Hub” page. The free Duolingo course is now more of a chance to dip your toes into a new language every day than a thorough study.
Mango
Mango is a powerful language learning program that may be used by corporations, schools, libraries, and even governments. You can learn at your own pace because the program adapts as you do. It’s also possible to pause a session and resume it at a later time, which is a useful feature not all applications offer. Check with your local library to see if they offer it for free.
ZOOM CLASSES
If you’re a novice, it’s possible to study a new language online with Zoom lessons. In my opinion, there is a lot more value in the practice sessions than in the lectures. Many students of a foreign language will tell you that interacting with native speakers is a crucial component of learning the language. However, for a novice, this might be a terrifying prospect: you may be frightened to engage in a discussion with a native speaker for fear of making embarrassing blunders and looking foolish.
