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 Language Learning Forum : Language Programs, Books & Tapes |  | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5009 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes  Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 9 of 16 15 December 2014 at 11:39pm | IP Logged |
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Kanewai, was your trouble with pod101 caused by the Russian content or by the app design?
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| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 10 of 16 16 December 2014 at 1:51am | IP Logged |
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It was content, with a few design flaws.
I just looked into Arabic, and found similar issues with Russian. The format for the beginning module is: 1. Lesson audio. This is an English introduction that tells you how easy this will be. On the Russian site it was just music. 2. Dialog. Played three times: slow, slower, and in English. Then another promo - with some serious errors ("Arabic is a Semitic language, like Hebrew, Persian, and Turkish"). 3. Vocabulary. Word list in Arabic. The font is very small and it won't expand. I can't read it. 4. Line by line audio. More small font. 5. Expansion. More small font. 6. Language notes (pdf file). Not bad, but you can get better material for free on a dozen language sites. In theory it follows the same format of programs I like (Teach Yourself, Living Language, Assimil, FSI) - dialogue followed by explanation. And yet this one doesn't seem to be as thought out as the others, with clear explanations and a logical progression of ideas. Edited by kanewai on 17 December 2014 at 12:44am 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Rniks Newbie United States Joined 3704 days ago 36 posts - 47 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Romanian | Message 11 of 16 17 December 2014 at 1:39am | IP Logged |
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I've mentioned it before in a thread for Spanish resources but figured it would be nice to have it referenced here for
the future. Lingualia: It's an app for learning either Spanish (Peninsular) or English (I think British?) available for speakers of English, Spanish, and German. It requires internet access, can also be used from the web page, and there are both paid and free versions. It has four levels in each language that correspond to the CEFR levels A1-B2. Within each level there are 50 lessons each with a full dialogue, a vocabulary section, a grammar section, a phonetic section, and a checkpoint to quiz you. Besides that, there's more activities and practice available on the web page and an option in the app to review concepts outside of the lesson. It's a really thorough course, and I personally have found the dialogues to be great for picking up colloquial language and examples of more natural conversation than most courses. 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 12 of 16 17 December 2014 at 2:44am | IP Logged |
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Thanks, I just added Lingualia and Language Transfer.
And ... I've totally fallen down the rabbit hole with this one. I keep stumbling on more and more apps. I'm still looking into: Hello-Hello World (Spanish, French, Italian, German, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Russian, Indonesian, English) Mango Passport (Brazilian Portuguese, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese) Rocket Languages ( English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Hindi, and American Sign Language. Brazilian Portuguese) Tell Me More (Spanish, French, German, Italian, English, Dutch, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic) Yabla (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, English) PC Mag has some useful reviews for a lot of these in The Best Language-Learning Software. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| kanewai Triglot Senior Member United States justpaste.it/kanewai Joined 4889 days ago 1386 posts - 3054 votes Speaks: English*, French, Marshallese Studies: Italian, Spanish | Message 13 of 16 17 December 2014 at 2:58am | IP Logged |
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PC Mag reviews - just doing a quick and dirty cut & paste job here:
Rocket Languages has very good content at an attractive price Lingualia's free online program for learning Spanish (and English for Spanish speakers) includes a decent placement test to start you at the right level, and it has the kind of learning content you can sit with for 30 minutes or so at a time. You can't beat Duolingo. It is easily the best free language-learning app for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian (and it has English programs for speakers of Spanish, French, Italian, and Portuguese, too!) Yabla gives learners of other languages a neat way to practice listening to native speakers talk by watching videos, with excellent subtitles in two languages. But the site as a whole feels unfinished, especially in light of the subscription price. Fluenz guides new learners through a rigorous and thorough program, adding ample context in English to help the new language not only stick, but also make sense. It's only available in six languages, though. For an inexpensive and little-known program, Babbel exceeds expectations, delivering high quality courses for anyone who doesn't mind an online-only program. Transparent Language Online offers seemingly endless ways to study and practice a new language. It's a great option for self-directed learners, but slightly less appealing for those who like strict guidance in their studies. For the high price, Transparent Language Complete doesn't deliver a satisfying, 21st-century user experience. Still, if non-linear learning is your thing, and you don't mind a dated interface, Transparent Language Complete Edition gives you enough language-learning hoops to keep you jumping for months. Pimsleur Unlimited edition brings much needed interactive features to this well-known language-learning program, but it still needs to make a few more leaps to fully catch up to the digital era. The Living Language iPad app offers compact lessons in six languages: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese. It's a good companion to more comprehensive language study, but falls short of being a full learning program on its own. Living Language Platinum offers outstanding instruction in its e-tutoring, or Web-conferencing style classes. The live classes are excellent. But when it comes to the primary course material, other software provides a better way to learn. Hello-Hello World was one of the earliest to arrive on Apple's iPad. If you're hoping to learn a new language, it might not be all that you need, but it's fine for reviewing words and phrases. Mango Passport teaches solid content for travelers. The software is mature, with a polished interface and clear audio recordings, but because it lacks most of the interactive goodies found in other language programs, Mango measures as a modest product for its price. Rosetta Stone Version 4 TOTALe is a huge language software package that offers a wide variety of tools and experiences for learners, but the content is devoid of cultural explanations and context. Tell Me More provides a highly customizable language-learning experience that gives students a lot of tools, but not a lot of support. Intermediate- to advanced-level speakers might find it a valuable resource, but beginners will not. If you just need to quickly review a language you've learned previously without paying a penny, Livemocha can get you access a great community and decent material, but don't count on it for fluency. 3 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Cavesa Triglot Senior Member Czech Republic Joined 5009 days ago 3277 posts - 6779 votes Speaks: Czech*, FrenchC2, EnglishC1 Studies: Spanish, German, Italian | Message 14 of 16 17 December 2014 at 2:06pm | IP Logged |
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Yes, kanewai, it is a dark rabbit hole and it a time consuming one. Some good app tips
have been gathered on previous threads, I'll add links later, if noone else does, there was a separate iOS and Android one. The trouble is that there are many, many apps and vast majority is just the same: a second rate flashcard app with the same vocabulary pool. Those are obviously not hard to make so they look like a good milking cow. But there are some real jewels. As I am definitely planning to learn either Japanese or Mandarin in future (but I just don't have the time yet), I stumbled across these jewels: Scritter a mobile version of the website, basically an srs on writing characters. not cheap but obviously well made. and it is one of the things where the mobile app is easier to use than the computer one thanks to the touchscreen Kana Trace and similar Mirai Kana Chart similar and cheaper thing for kana practice. Perhaps less functions in some ways than Scritter but it covers the gap in Scritter (there is only Kanji or Hanzi, no Kana) And Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar is available as an app for free For Mandarin, there are pinyin charts with audio for free, for both there are various worlists for exams etc. Mandarin learners may like Pleco, dictionary with audio, srs and who knows what else. // I spent about two hours on each, Japanese and Mandarin, as a procrastination thing in past. I really want to have time for one of them. The apps and other such tools for their learners seem to be better made than for the "easy" languages. Latin: there are many good looking apps Speed Latin looks like a gamified srs with 1000 words Bible in Latin with audio, calles biblium+latin SPQR Latin Dictionary and reader looks good, but I haven't tried it as it is paid. But it looks good from the description (texts, dictionary, flashcards creator,grammar) And there was a similar app I tried in past but deleted and cannot find again. That's why I think threads like this one are very useful because the appstore is quite a mess and the content changes all the time. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Mohave Senior Member United States justpaste.it/Mohave1 Joined 4007 days ago 291 posts - 444 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French | Message 15 of 16 17 December 2014 at 6:54pm | IP Logged |
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Thanks for pulling this thread together Kanewai! Here's a few of my favorite iOS language learning apps:
French Reader. French Reader is a combination eBook reader and dictionary, and designed for those learning and studying French. Dictionaries include L2-L1 translation (many choices for L1), French dictionary, and google translate for words or phrases. The app reads many different file types including PDF, ePub, doc, etc., but files must be DRM free. I've used this extensively as my 1st gen Nook does not have the option of loading additional dictionaries. I wrote to the app developer requesting the ability to export words so that one could upload to Ankie, but no response to date. $2.99 Tune-In Radio - can stream radio stations from around the world. Can search by language, country, etc. Free Goodreader French Reader app does not properly format the public domain parallel books in an rtf format. I use Goodreader for these. The downside is Goodreader does not have as many options for dictionary support. $4.99 French Verbs HD LearnBots (also in other languages). I used this when I first started learning verb conjugations. It's handy to have, but is also missing some key verbs e.g. Devoir, connaître, etc. $2.99 Flashcards Deluxe Program. PeterMollenberg told me about this app. Has SRS capabilities, the developer seems very responsive, and is considerably cheaper than the Anki app for iOS. $3.99 Podclub. I stumbled across this app thanks to Jeffers. He mentioned an A2/B1 French podcast with full transcripts "L'Avis de Marie". When I googled the podcast, I found the Podclub app which contains podcasts/full transcripts for English, German, Spanish, French, Swiss German, Italian. The other languages have more selection. Free I also use Twitter, Feedly, and Podcasts apps extensively, although they are not specifically designed for language learning. Edited by Mohave on 17 December 2014 at 7:07pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| chokofingrz Pentaglot Senior Member England Joined 5189 days ago 241 posts - 430 votes Speaks: English*, French, Spanish, German, Italian Studies: Russian, Japanese, Catalan, Luxembourgish | Message 16 of 16 17 December 2014 at 7:11pm | IP Logged |
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My recent favourites:
Lingua.ly - it's a bit like Lingocracy but it keeps on fetching short articles which contain the words you're on the cusp of learning. Free. ListeningPractice.org - not an app, but a website. It will quiz you on audio from Tatoeba. Very good interface and actively developed. Works with most languages provided they have audio sentences available on Tatoeba. Free. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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