Learning a new language through apps and online

I have recently become impressed by language learning apps. I know, I know, long distance/online learning has been around for a while now, (I got my degree through Open University,) but some of the learning apps available these days are pretty amazing. Especially if you want to study a popular foreign language. I stress popular because when learning Thai, I found most online resources to still be pretty woeful. The best option I found for Thai was doing courses on Udemy but when it comes to Thai they mostly just cater for beginners. Although if you want advanced courses in other languages or other things – I do drawing courses and web development classes with them – Udemy is great. The Thai Drops app is pretty good for 5 minutes a day, although you can pay for longer. I am generally a big fan of Memrise but only popular languages like when I brushed up on my French and Latin, because I am a pretentious bastard. However, it is not so great non-popular lingo. Even my Thai is good enough to know that there are quite a few things wrong with the Thai version. To be fair, I think the Memrise people realised this as the Thai courses seem to have disappeared, so maybe all the rest are now good to go.

Recently, for reasons I don’t want to get into, I decided to learn Japanese. A ‘popular’ language. There are a lot of apps for Japanese and they are a lot of fun. Some of them. like the Drops Japan app teaches you the writing and you trace out the letters on the screen. I have only just started learning but it is pretty fun. I am easily entertained though. I can read Thai too and in both cases it massively helps learning how to read before takling the spoken language. Unlike with Thai, the Japanese version of Memrise is also really good. There are also Busuu, Duolingo and Rosetta Stone apps, and more, that I haven’t even downloaded yet but have heard good things about.

I guess my target for this post is the slightly older generation. I know it is easier to learn a language when you are a kid, but it is still very possible as an adult with the added bonus that it keeps your brain cells ticking over. Learning another language has a ton of proven mental benefits and is a lot of fun. Unlike in olden times (such as when I was at school), you are no longer just trying to memorise stuff from a book. Language apps are a lot of fun. Just try and pick one that is popular. I might return to this topic once I have had more time and experience with each of the apps. I travel a lot and trying, even butchering, someone else’s language always gets you a bit of kudos.

Until then my friends, sayonara!