I love to teach different languages to my kids. I used to speak Japanese and Korean and a bit of Russian and Chinese. I told them how cool it is to learn a new language and how helpful it is for our business. Most of our customers are foreigner and most of them are either Japanese, Korean and Chinese. It is really an advantage if you could communicate in their language because some cannot really speak English well. I found an app that could teach my kids different languages.
Since it was so easy – and free – I thought I’d share the app, and website, with you! The program is called Duolingo. It is used by many schools and even some governments for language learning. It’s 100% free (forever free, they ensure), and I can tell you from our experience, it produces great results!
WHICH LANGUAGES ARE AVAILABLE?
Here are some of the languages available to native English speakers who want to learn another language:
- Spanish
- French
- German
- Italian
- Japanese
- Korean
- Chinese
- Russian
- Hebrew
- Portuguese
Many other languages are available, including Hawaiian, Welsh, Hindi, Irish and Polish.
HOW IT WORKS
You’ll choose a language to learn. Duolingo then asks you to “Choose Your Path” — you’ll choose either Basics 1 or you’ll take a Placement Test.
You’ll then create a daily goal of how much time you can give the program: 5 minutes or more.
Each day, you’ll receive a reminder (unless you opt out), asking you to come by to meet your daily goal.
Your daily lessons consist of auditory and written learning. Sometimes, you’ll speak the language you’re learning; and sometimes you’ll speak in English what you’re reading in the other language. Sometimes, you’ll type in responses.
TO BEGIN LEARNING WITH THESE FREE FOREIGN LANGUAGE COURSES
Visit Duolingo! Or look in the app store, if you’d prefer (you can choose both!).
