Learning a language requires constant practise, repetition, and focus, but with tons of free apps to choose from, it has never been easier to stay on top of your language skills in and outside of the classroom. Instead of spending your morning commute mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, why not brush up on your English skills on your mobile device? Here’s a look at #TheFastFive FREE mobile apps to compliment your studies at ILSC.
1) Duolingo
When it comes to learning languages, Duolingo is at the top of the list! In fact, Duolingo is the most popular language app in the world. The app helps you practise your English through fun games such as filling in the blanks and matching names to pictures, making the process of learning fun and engaging.
Duolingo is designed for quick use, with a focused approach to distill lessons down to their bare essentials. Duolingo also offers lessons for multiple languages, allowing you to expand your language learning to communicate with new friends from around the world!
2) Speaking Pal
Another popular app to compliment your studies is Speaking Pal. Unlike Duolingo, Speaking Pal uses voice recognition technology to assess your pronunciation. With voice recognition technology, Speaking Pal will give you instant feedback on every word and sentence you say. This highly interactive app also simulates a phone call with a native speaker of English, which helps you improve your pronunciation. The free version of Speaking Pal offers 16 levels, with more levels available for the paid version; however, 16 levels is enough to make a difference in your speaking and pronunciation skills!
3) HelloTalk
The application is a cool new language learning app that connects you directly with native speakers so that you can have real-life conversations with English speakers directly from your smartphone!
HelloTalk offers translation options, voice chat, text chat, camera options, as well as the opportunity to have your grammatical mistakes corrected. You can also correct someone else’s response by highlighting your conversation partner’s reply, make the corrections and help them improve their sentences.
4) English Grammar Ultimate
If you want to improve your grammar on the go, then this is a must try application! This app covers almost all the major components of English grammar such as tenses, direct and indirect, prepositions, and conjunctions. The English Grammar Ultimate sharpens your language skills by giving you examples of the most common grammatical mistakes in conversations and sentences and how to correct them. Although grammar isn’t always exciting, the application is loaded with articles and quizzes to make the grammar improvement process fun and effective.
5). Memrise
Memrise is your destination to improve your vocabulary, using creative, funny ways to help you remember what words mean. And if something makes you laugh, it’s more likely you’ll be able to remember!! Another unique thing about Memrise is that the courses are designed by their users. This way, you can see how other English learners learnt the same words you’re learning.
There are over thirteen pages of courses available on Memrise, from courses like “English Irregular Verbs” to more difficult ones like “A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens. Many English learners find new words to be one of the most difficult things about the language. With Memrise, you have a fun and easy way to remember words that seem foreign to you.
All these amazing and free apps are a great way to compliment your studies. Choose one and start improving your English after class, while traveling, and over the winter break!
