If you lot follow sure social media threads, therefore apps seem to endure where it's at inwards linguistic communication learning at the moment. I withdraw maintain to acknowledge I was a rather belatedly adopter when it came to smartphones together with tablets, but over the past times twelvemonth or ii I've quietly been converted. I wouldn't tell I'm an app aficionado, but they're piece of cake creeping into my everyday life together with I tin sure enough consider the appeal. But for linguistic communication learning ... really? I've been sceptical close the benefits.
When I get-go heard folks talking close Duolingo (by far the most pop linguistic communication learning app out there), it seemed it was clearly a gimmick which people would before long consider through. Everyone talked close the bizarre sentences it asked you lot to interpret together with ELT colleagues largely dismissed it out of hand. But it's continuing to grow (with tens of millions of users worldwide) together with recently, I've come upward across a release of identify unit of measurement together with friends who are using it together with seem to endure fans. So I decided to banking concern check it out for myself.
What follows isn't intended to endure a definitive review - I honestly haven't decided what I think of it yet. Instead, it’s merely my initial thoughts together with reactions equally a user...
Spanish together with Me
I chose Castilian equally a linguistic communication to learn, partly because I'm at more-or-less beginner level, therefore come upward into the experience without besides much baggage together with also because it's a linguistic communication I'd similar to know.
- I did 1 term of Castilian at even classes (once a week) close fifteen years ago. So I do withdraw maintain roughly basic passive knowledge, but I've forgotten the details together with sure enough couldn't make anything beyond strange words together with phrases.
- I speak French (and bits of other European languages) which withdraw maintain similarities to Spanish.
- I've also done corpus inquiry into errors past times Spanish-speaking learners of English, therefore I know quite a chip close what Castilian does differently from English linguistic communication that leads to mutual transfer errors; such equally adjectives that handle amongst nouns. I took the Duolingo placement examination together with failed ... or at to the lowest degree I think I did, because the wording of the message that came upward was a chip odd! So it started me off amongst the basics.
- I've also done corpus inquiry into errors past times Spanish-speaking learners of English, therefore I know quite a chip close what Castilian does differently from English linguistic communication that leads to mutual transfer errors; such equally adjectives that handle amongst nouns. I took the Duolingo placement examination together with failed ... or at to the lowest degree I think I did, because the wording of the message that came upward was a chip odd! So it started me off amongst the basics.
Duolingo - the get-go 10 days
So I signed upward for 10 minutes a solar daytime together with currently I'm on 10-day streak, I've reached degree iv together with I'm 6% fluent inwards Spanish ... apparently! It's all quite exciting together with yes, I admit, I'm quite hooked! I'm by together with large non a gamey type of someone - I've never played calculator games - but somehow I'm really enjoying the slightly frivolous, gamey appear of the app. I loathe going to linguistic communication classes (sorry, but I do!) because I know it’s going to involve lots of dull memorization together with I know all the things I'm going to endure rubbish at together with acquire frustrated by. But somehow this feels different. It's merely a chip of fun, it's free, low-stakes, no one's judging me together with if I do acquire something wrong, it’s no large deal. That's really appealing.
So apart from beingness fun, what withdraw maintain I noticed close how I've interacted amongst the app?
Well, I estimate the most obvious matter is that I'm whizzing through together with non thinking close it besides much. It wasn't a witting decision, but I notice that I'm non spending besides much fourth dimension lingering over each item. I'm non analysing endings or noting downwards nouns according to gender. Something close the quiz-like format makes me skip through the questions equally rapidly equally I can. With my linguistic communication background, I can't assist but endure aware of sure linguistic features (more close that below), but I'm non focusing on particular words or forms equally they pop upward on screen. I'm rather letting it all launder over me together with seeing how much merely sticks. Which feels oddly liberating!
Warning flags
Having said all that, amongst my teacher’s chapeau on, I am aware of all kinds of alert flags popping up:
Odd language: I'm alone on the early on levels, but I'm already getting roughly strange sentences cropping up; The ducks consume a strawberry, You are my horse, etc. Hardly the variety of linguistic communication I'm probable to notice useful should I run into a Castilian speaker! But then, lots of immature learners’ materials purpose animals to convey the linguistic communication to life together with to arrive to a greater extent than fun together with memorable. And in that location is evidence that learners recall stuff improve when it's cognitively salient - inwards other words, when it strikes them equally strange or funny, rather than beingness bland together with unmemorable. I'll consider equally I behavior on how much that starts to grate. The strange chip of silliness is good, but I think in that location comes a indicate when you lot desire to endure learning linguistic communication that's really usable.
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| Where's the strawberry? |
Lack of explanation: There's no actual explanation of the linguistic communication points you're learning inside the app, it's all based on pictures together with translations. On the whole, that's fine for vocabulary (so far), but agency that the grammer is really much downwards to guesswork. Amongst the things which haven't been explicitly explained therefore far are:
- sex of nouns together with the accompanying implications for articles together with adjectives
- verb conjugations (it exposes you lot to the dissimilar verb forms together with 'tests' them, but doesn't explicate them or laid out whatever 'rules')
- the ii forms of 'you' - the purpose (or non-use) of land of study pronouns. I know from my previous classes that land of study pronouns aren't e'er needed inwards Spanish, because the shape of the verb conveys the data close the subject. The app started off e'er including land of study pronouns - belike because it made for simpler straight translations into English. But equally I move out through, I've noticed it's now dropping them. I don't know whether it's doing it inwards roughly principled way or whether it's merely trying to wean me off them.
- verb conjugations (it exposes you lot to the dissimilar verb forms together with 'tests' them, but doesn't explicate them or laid out whatever 'rules')
- the ii forms of 'you' - the purpose (or non-use) of land of study pronouns. I know from my previous classes that land of study pronouns aren't e'er needed inwards Spanish, because the shape of the verb conveys the data close the subject. The app started off e'er including land of study pronouns - belike because it made for simpler straight translations into English. But equally I move out through, I've noticed it's now dropping them. I don't know whether it's doing it inwards roughly principled way or whether it's merely trying to wean me off them.
All of this raises ii questions for me ... firstly, could this endure confusing together with frustrating for someone who didn't sympathise what was going on? Could it endure misleading, equally learners formulate their own, perchance incorrect, hypotheses, therefore subsequently realize they've got it wrong together with withdraw maintain to backtrack together with 'unlearn'? And secondly, I’m wondering how it’s going to grapple amongst to a greater extent than complex linguistic communication features equally I motility upward the levels.
Lack of production: The vast bulk of the exercises therefore far alone examination receptive knowledge. You're asked to interpret a word, phrase or sentence, either to or from Spanish, together with you're given options to pick out from. There's speaking practise where you lot purpose the microphone to tape your ain voice, but therefore far at least, this is merely hear together with repeat, therefore merely parroting what you lot hear. The alone to a greater extent than 'productive' exercises therefore far ask you to type inwards a give-and-take or phrase inwards Spanish. I'm definitely finding these the trickiest together with they're the alone ones where I'm making mistakes; largely errors amongst spelling or endings. I can't withal consider how it's going to acquire to a greater extent than productive, at to the lowest degree non inwards to a greater extent than than a really express sort of way.
But how much withdraw maintain I learnt?
Well, considering I've completed less than 2 hours of didactics inwards total, I experience similar I've really learnt quite a bit, specially inwards damage of vocabulary. Yesterday, I started going dorsum to the early on lessons - if you lot don't move out on 'topping up' your skills past times revisiting them, you're ratings for that science fade - together with I flora that words I recall hesitating over a chip initially, similar a shot seem really obvious. That's perhaps non surprising given that repeated exposure to together with engagement amongst words is known to endure a fundamental constituent inwards vocabulary learning. What's interesting is the amount of repetition you're prepared to withdraw equally a learner inwards this sort of format compared to what a instructor could acquire away amongst inwards a classroom setting.
I'm non going to depict whatever conclusions merely withal - although I already withdraw maintain a few brewing - because I desire to behavior on amongst equally opened upward a hear equally I tin together with consider how things develop. I'll written report dorsum ...
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