In this trying time of self-isolation and boredom, it’s easy for students to lose track of their goals. Luckily, we live in a digital world. For those students with newfound time on their hands, there is an incredible array of online courses where they can learn just about anything - from coding to Latin, to graphic design, to playing the bagpipe! In the next series of blogs, we will bring together a list of top online platforms that students should consider in a variety of fields of interest starting with this one - online language programs. This is a great time to brush up on a language that your student is already learning at school (especially getting some practice speaking with a native speaker over skype!). It is also a great time to pick up a new language that your teen has thought about but did not have the time to pursue.
Below are some websites that collectively offer comprehensive instructions and lessons to master a language. Active dedication and commitment to these programs can help students develop valuable skills from the comfort of their own home. Although this article will focus on online language learning, the supplementary use of textbooks, workbooks or TV shows may further enhance your teen’s quality of learning. To eventually achieve true fluency, they will likely need to go beyond online resources. That being said, online learning is a great fundamental starting point and will prove to be extremely effective.
Duolingo
Perhaps one of the more popular language websites, Duolingo offers free, interactive and bite sized lessons in 35 different languages. Each lesson is personalized, allows each user to learn at one’s own pace, and the short 5-10 minute lessons allow for incremental breaks. Learners progressively unlock new content as they master topics. Languages range from popular ones like French, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, to even fictional languages such as High Valyrian (although this may not be the most useful). You can see a full list here. Duolingo is available as an iOS and Android app, allowing your child to learn on the go.
Cost: Free (Ad-free is $9.99 a month)
Pro: Easy to Use, Many Language Options
Con: Cannot access certain language topics until the previous topics are unlocked
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is an award winning language program that requires a paid subscription, and is available as an app and online. It offers instruction in 25 languages, listed here. One unique aspect of Rosetta Stone is that it helps people improve accent-specific pronunciations through an advanced speech-recognition engine. This is especially useful for those that would like to enhance their speaking skills or are trying to speak a language that English speakers often find difficult to pronounce, such as Mandarin or Korean. Rosetta Stone is recommended for beginning language learners, as its software drills you until you have the vocabulary down. They offer five “levels” of teaching per language that can be purchased collectively or individually as your teen gains proficiency. You can sign up for a free three-day trial before committing to the payments on their official website.
Cost: $179 for first “level” of language, all five levels cost $479
Pro: Effective for beginning language learners
Con: Very repetitive (may be redundant for quick learners), high cost
Babbel
Due to the recent coronavirus epidemic, Babbel has temporarily made its app free. Similar to Rosetta Stone, these online language courses usually require a paid subscription, although Babbel is a cheaper alternative at only $10 a month. Your first lesson is a free trial. Babbel only offers instruction in 14 languages, which are listed here. It focuses on interactive dialogue and is overall a better fit for more seasoned language learners, as it doesn’t drill the learner to the extent Rosetta Stone does and moves on from topics a bit quicker. Like Duolingo, it offers bite sized lessons ranging from 10-15 minutes as well, useful for those on a tight schedule. It is available as both an app and website.
Cost: $10/month
Pro: Effective for conversational skills practice, low cost
Con: Teaching is relatively quick, lessons are more difficult to absorb/memorize
Memrise
Memrise is a free and unique website that uses the spaced repetition of flashcards to increase the rate of learning. Spaced repetition has proven to be psychologically effective in increasing the rate of memorization, making Memrise a very efficient resource. The use of flashcards allow for an increased vocabulary, but that means Memrise is not the most effective when it comes to teaching you how to construct sentences. Therefore, this resource is most useful to those that have a solid understanding of sentence structure (whether it is through past experience or using some of the other websites listed here) and know how to grammatically use the words they learn. Memrise offers decks in 16 languages, listed here.
Cost: Free (additional resources cost $8.99/month or a one time payment of $129.99)
Pro: Effective for improving vocabulary
Con: Does not focus on sentence structure/conversation skills
HelloTalk
HelloTalk is a free app that acts as a social network and connects you to native language speakers from various countries. It has talk, video, and text features, allowing you to learn a language and its culture through natural conversation from people that speak it first-hand. Hellotalk can introduce you to speakers all around the world, collectively speaking more than 150 different languages. Popular ones, from Arabic to French, are sure to be found. This app is most useful for learners that need help with native pronunciations and conversational fluency or would simply like to learn more about the culture, slang and context of a language. You can download this app through iOS or Android.
Cost: Free (ad-free with additional features at $6.99/month or with a one time payment of $175)
Pro: Effective for conversational skills practice, large range of languages
Con: Informal learning -- most native speakers are not trained in teaching the language
American Sign Language (ASL)
Native proficiency in American Sign Language has been scientifically linked to an improvement in cognition, and has the added benefit of being a physical language allowing for visual communication. It is not taught in any of the other resources mentioned so far. While a quick Youtube search may prove most useful, additional free resources include Start ASL and Gallaudet. The National Association of the Deaf has several websites and apps listed as well. Learning basic phrases and the alphabet in ASL may even count as a unique and useful skill to list on a resume.
Cost: Free
Pros: Physical and unique language
Cons: Not as widely used compared to other spoken languages
Online Tutors: Face to Face
While all these resources are effective, they require motivation and discipline to self-study. For those that struggle with this, online tutors may be the way to go. Not only will they instill a sense of responsibility in a learner, but they make the prospect of studying less tiring and something to look forward to. Tutors are more likely to catch onto pronunciation errors and offer personalized lesson plans to help students achieve their language goals. However, there is a cost, making them a viable option only for those that can afford it. Popular online tutor websites include Verbal Planet, italki, and livelingua. Group lessons are a cheaper alternative and can lead you to find fellow language learners to practice with. Websites like lingoda and Take Lessons offer them in various languages.
Cost: Approximately $20 - $40 for a 45 Minute Private Lesson , As low at $10 for a 60 Minute Group Lesson
Pros: Best for people that struggle to self-study, Tutors give more detailed feedback
Cons: Cost, Requires more time management
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