To learn a foreign language today, it is no longer necessary to look for dedicated courses or attend individual classes – it is enough to download an app. The huge popularity of this way of learning can be seen by looking at the statistics: it is estimated that more than 16.2 million users downloaded the Duolingo app in January of this year alone.
However, Lina Abraitienė, a lecturer at Kauno kolegija Higher Education Institution (HEI) and a member of the Language Teachers’ Association of Lithuania, points out that although apps can be a great tool for learning a new foreign language, sometimes they alone may not be enough. According to her, to learn a foreign language, it is important to pay attention to your needs, possibilities and expectations, and those who want to achieve the best results are recommended to combine learning with the help of apps and with a teacher.
Which learning method has more advantages?
Perhaps one of the biggest advantages of apps is the ability to freely choose the place, time, and duration of classes. According to L. Abraitienė, this is especially appreciated by learners who lack time for regular lessons with teachers. She cites cost as another plus: most apps are reasonably cheap or free compared to the cost of one-on-one or group sessions.
Speaking about the advantages of foreign language lessons with a teacher, she notes that during such sessions, the learning plan can be customised to meet the learner’s needs and learning style, which can speed up the learning process.
‘Although the prices of teacher services are higher, it is more difficult to coordinate meeting times, especially when learning in a group, the choice between apps and a teacher depends on your learning goals, flexibility and needs. Many people combine these two methods as part of a comprehensive language learning process,’ shares L. Abraitienė.
Both to acquire the basics and to deepen the existing knowledge
According to L. Abraitienė, apps can be a useful tool both for acquiring the basics of a foreign language and for deepening existing knowledge.
‘Apps are often a great way to start learning a new language. They provide information in a clear and structured way, and with their help, you can learn keywords, language rules and sentence structure. If you already have a certain knowledge of a foreign language and want to improve it, apps can be useful as a tool for constant practice,’ says a member of the Language Teachers’ Association of Lithuania.
According to L. Abraitienė, apps can also be useful for learning a language in a specific field, such as business, law, medicine, etc., as they can highlight specialised courses or modules.
Apps worth trying
Today, those who want to learn a foreign language can choose from many different apps and find the one that best suits their needs. In addition to Duolingo, which is known to many, L. Abraitienė recommends trying other apps.
‘You can try Memrise, which is known for its vocabulary training feature, or Babbel, which specialises in certain languages and offers hands-on lessons. I would recommend trying HelloTalk, it’s a great communication tool. It allows learners of a new language to communicate with native speakers. Tandem Language Exchange is also worth mentioning. An app like Pimsleur specialises in teaching speaking and pronunciation. Busuu is a social language teaching platform where you can learn and practise the language with other users,’ the lecturer shares her recommendations.
How will we learn foreign languages in the future?
L. Abraitienė notes that the trends in language learning are constantly changing, especially due to technological development and global economic and cultural interaction. The increasing availability of the Internet, she said, gives people more access to virtual language learning resources.
‘This includes not only apps but also online lessons, language learning platforms and other electronic tools. Apps are easily accessible and allow learning anywhere and at any time, so they are becoming more and more popular,’ says L. Abraitienė.
In her opinion, looking at the trends in language learning, the future will likely see further technological advances, and more learning programmes that will help language learning be more efficient and flexible.
‘However, personal communication and communication practice with the teacher will remain an important element of language teaching,’ adds L. Abraitienė.
