In the past I used Duolingo to study languages, but now I’m more privacy-conscious and looking for better options. And their recent data breach only solidified that intention.
I recently saw someone posted a comparison table for privacy policies of Duolingo and a number of competing products. Unfortunately I cannot find it now.
Can you give any suggestions? I’m not opposed to paid services, btw
I know this sounds crazy but i don’t think apps are the way to go at all.
I strongly recommend a combination of books and speaking to native speakers of your target language. Listening to target language media with subtitles helps too. Also essential is time delayed flash vocab cards.
The book sets you up with grammar and vocab while the media and speaking helps you with pronunciation.
I went from knowing no French to hitting A2 level French in two months by using the Nothing to B1 Assimil book, flash cards, speaking with native French speakers, media, and 3 hours of committed study Mon-Fri.
The point of apps is not to teach you a language. The point of the apps is to make money. There are better ways to learn that are time tested and battle proven.
I think it depends on the app. I’ve used apps/sites with my tutor (when I was learning during lockdown) to enhance the lesson. Gamification of certain aspects can help but it shouldn’t be your only means.
I do think apps are useful for maintaining some level of reading fluency after establishing a baseline competency. I took 4 years of French through high school and college, but that was years ago. I stopped working on it for a long time and lost like 90% of my vocab and conjugations, but apps are bringing most of it back. They haven’t helped at all for listening though, I’ve been relying on listening to TV/movies/podcasts in French to improve as I can’t afford tutoring with any native speakers.
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I know this sounds crazy but i don’t think apps are the way to go at all.
I strongly recommend a combination of books and speaking to native speakers of your target language. Listening to target language media with subtitles helps too. Also essential is time delayed flash vocab cards.
The book sets you up with grammar and vocab while the media and speaking helps you with pronunciation.
I went from knowing no French to hitting A2 level French in two months by using the Nothing to B1 Assimil book, flash cards, speaking with native French speakers, media, and 3 hours of committed study Mon-Fri.
The point of apps is not to teach you a language. The point of the apps is to make money. There are better ways to learn that are time tested and battle proven.
I think it depends on the app. I’ve used apps/sites with my tutor (when I was learning during lockdown) to enhance the lesson. Gamification of certain aspects can help but it shouldn’t be your only means.
I do think apps are useful for maintaining some level of reading fluency after establishing a baseline competency. I took 4 years of French through high school and college, but that was years ago. I stopped working on it for a long time and lost like 90% of my vocab and conjugations, but apps are bringing most of it back. They haven’t helped at all for listening though, I’ve been relying on listening to TV/movies/podcasts in French to improve as I can’t afford tutoring with any native speakers.