5 tools for language learning for the lazy learner

5 tools for language learning for the lazy learner

Let's be honest: Most of us will never get through five full levels of Rosetta Stone. Which language learning tools can we use instead? Here are a few ideas

duolingo

Duolingo has long been one of my favorite tools for language learning. His clever functions make the learning process in a playful way and spur the students to return again and again. The learners receive a fixed number of life per level; Make three mistakes and you will be booted again.

alt = “Get all your answers correctly to keep your three life”> Get all your answers correctly to keep your three lives

Your progress is compared to your daily goals, whereby the color coding makes it very clear when you have missed it. There is a ranking so that you can play with a group of friends and fight for the top position, not to mention the fact that finished levels have to be "charged" regularly, otherwise they fade. If you have the slightest trace of competitiveness, this will work like a magic.

diigo and translate

first install the Google Translate plugin in your browser (I use and recommend Chrome). Then register with DIIGO, a tool with which you can provide websites with comments. Finally, install the DIIGO web plugin.

alt = “Mark text that is to be translated spontaneously and add notes”> Mark text that is to be translated spontaneously and add comments

Now find a relevant foreign language article that sounds interesting and start reading. If you don't understand a word or sentence, just mark it. You can now click on the translation button to find out what the word means and then use the Diigo Annotate button to add a note with the meaning.

You can use different colors for different things (I use green for familiar words that are used in new contexts, and yellow for new words). Diigo stores all comments in her library. In this way you can gradually comment on an entire article, fall back on it later and learn new words in the context - A lot easier than to learn in isolation!

quizlet

I searched for a decent learning card and vocabulary app everywhere before I finally found quizlet. With this app you can build or import your own vocabulary, test your knowledge based on index cards and play various games to refresh your memory. It is easy to switch on and off, which means that you can practice for 60 seconds in the food snake or for 60 minutes on your morning way to work.

alt = "Add simple index cards and practice your knowledge with different games"> Add simple index cards and practice your knowledge with different games

magazines for aircraft

Aircraft magazines are a surprisingly good resource when it comes to learning a new language. Very often they compare articles in two different languages. This means that you can try to read the Spanish version, and if you don't get ahead, you can simply take a look at the English version instead of having to look up words in the dictionary.

alt = “to follow a word that you do not know, just take a look at the next column”> To follow a word that you do not know, just take a look at the next column

Of course, the formulations differ from language to language, but if they are consciously used, this can be a very simple way to practice understanding.

films

alt = “Find good foreign language films to watch”>

The view of films in the language that you learn (with subtitles, if preferred) is one of the easiest ways to practice understanding. If you no longer find any suggestions, just take a look at the IMDB lists of the best French, German and Italian films or carry out a Google search for "IMDB: Highest Rated X-Language Feature Films", "X" is replaced by your language. .