January 25, 2012
One thing I’ve seen among over-eager language learners is the tendency to pay for multiple software and online services when first embarking on a language learning journey. If you’re the same way, you may want to hold on to your credit card a little and begin rethinking this strategy.
No, I’m not going to knock you for your zest to learn. Instead, I’ll point you towards the unnecessarily messy start you’re getting yourself into. Say, you bought two language software, a membership to a web-based program and two books. Do you realistically believe you can cover them all and still have time to practice?
Instead of trying to consume everything, we actually suggest focusing on one (at most two) of your materials. Why? Because they can end up confusing you. Since these are separate programs, they like come with different lesson structures and learning plans, so it’s possible that one will just end up messing with what you’re learning from the other.
Additionally, most language learning software tend to progress by what it assumes is your advancement using their learning program. If, since you’re using three or four materials, you’re actually learning differently, you might up either getting bored or confused the next time you jump from one to another.
If you go this route, you’ll likely end up getting overloaded by vocabulary, since different programs tend to introduce different things. While nothing’s wrong with a larger stock of words, it could be the last thing you need, especially since language learning requires more than memorizing vocabulary.
October 1, 2011
Should you trust website reviews when it comes to language software? My personal opinion is, yes, you should. But only to a certain degree.
Not all information you will find on the internet is accurate. Literally anyone can put up a website at minimal cost, not to mention practically anyone can register to post reviews on Amazon. Chances are, some reviews you find will be honest and real, while others will fall either as marketing fodder, affiliates trying to make a buck, jokers with nothing better than do, or severely misinformed individuals.
If you really want to know if a language software is what you want, your best shot is to field test it. That’s why we appreciate language programs that offer trial and “freemium” versions — being able to work with the software will give you a better idea than any amount of reviews would.
To save you time when choosing which software to field-test, you can use the reviews as guide by filtering them with these three questions:
- Is the website trustworthy? If it isn’t (or it’s unclear), you might want to look for reviews somewhere else.
- Does the review sound fair? We all have a good sense of when a review is legit — it sounds objective, professional and fair. Fake ones tend to show their true colors by being too focused on one side of the scale or being so poorly written you’re wondering whether some dude put it together while in a drunken stupor.
- Can you find information that backs it up? Look at multiple reviews and see whether they say the same thing. If they line up, there’s a good chance the reviews are legit. If they don’t, then something shady is likely going on.
August 31, 2011
“Spaced-repetition” may sound like a daunting name for a system of learning. It’s implementations are a lot less scary, though. In fact, you’ve probably used one of the most popular spaced-repetition tools many times in the past: the good, old flash card.
For rote memorization, there are few tools that offer better convenience/effectiveness ratio than a simple flashcard. Whether in physical or software forms, you can rely on it to commit many elements of language to memory.
The basic modus operandi for using flashcards to learn a language is:
- One side of the flash card has a question (e.g. an English phrase), the other side has the answer (e.g. the French equivalent).
- You read the question side.
- You recall the answer from memory.
- You check the answer side to verify if your recollection is correct.
If you can manage it, we highly recommend going with software-based flashcards for a variety of reasons:
- They’re more convenient. Unlike physical cards, you can’t lose question and answer pairs you’ve made once. Unless you wipe them off the database, they’ll simply sit there for future use.
- They offer a better scoring system. Some flashcard software I’ve seen can rate your guesses from a range of 1 to 5, with “1″ being totally off-mark and “5″ being perfectly on-point. Your recollection can be almost perfect (“4″) or barely missed (“2″), after all.
- They can track your progress. A software program can easily monitor how well you’re memorizing specific flash cards. That allows you to invest more time working with the phrases you’re struggling with.
August 26, 2011
The idea of learning a language using software can seem overwhelming. You’ll be going it alone, after all, with no one to ask for help. Because of this lack of other people to exchange ideas with, plenty of modern language software are designed to be interactive.
Different software titles have different ways of injecting interactivity into their process. That’s why it’s important to survey the field a little before committing to a specific title. What works for one of your friends may not work the same way for you, after all. If you want to get an overview of what to expect, here are some ways modern language software are integrating interactive elements:
Interactive practice. Traditional lessons involve sitting through lectures. Practice-based software, on the other hand, put practice sessions as the single core priority. You learn a phrase, then the software drills you on it multiple times; then you move on to a new related one and so on. This approach actually recreates the feeling of interacting with a speaker, which makes it effective for a lot of people.
Engagement-based. In this approach, the software engages multiple senses using a variety of media to teach the language, such as live video, animation, sound and more. I’m, personally, not that big on it (I find the amount of things going on confusing), but a lot of people I know have found it very effective.
Games and modular approaches. While these types of language software can cause linear thinkers to zone out, non-linear types tend to gravitate to it. With clever games and unorthodox teaching styles, it can be a fun experience if you’re the type to appreciate those.
August 5, 2011
Everybody has expectations when they first use a language software. It’s only natural. Make sure you keep your expectations in line with what learning software can actually, though. Otherwise, you can end up disappointed or, worse, unmotivated to pursue learning any further.
- Expect to work. You won’t magically learn the language just because you’re using the best learning software money can buy — you’ll have to work to develop your abilities, just like when learning martial arts or calculus or some other new skill.
- Expect to practice. Sitting through hours of lessons will help you absorb the knowledge. Fluency, however, comes with practice, so you’ll have to use the language if you want to really internalize the skill.
- Expect to reap what you sow. The more effort you put in, the more skills you’ll acquire. While the amount of time you devote to learning will matter, so do other things like planning, using tools (e.g. journals and flashcards) and sustained practice.
- Expect gradual improvement. No matter what anyone promises, you’re not going to gain fluency in 10 hours of lessons. Stay realistic — expect gradual improvement and you won’t be disappointed. As long as you’re better now than you were yesterday, you’re doing fine.
July 27, 2011
Got a new language learning software? If you haven’t touched it yet, here are some things you should expect, so you don’t end up bumbling blindly through your lessons.
Plenty of interactive instruction. One of the strengths of many modern language software is their interactive nature — something you just can’t get from books and audio instruction. Of course, interactive also means you can’t just sleep through a lesson. But that’s a good thing.
Some lessons just won’t stick. Even if you paid attention, some of the lessons will probably be difficult for you to understand. Don’t get frustrated. The good thing about software-based learning is that you can always re-do lessons until it sticks.
There’ll be plenty of exercises and practice instructions. Don’t ignore them. Language mastery, for the most part, requires plenty of practice. Skipping them to get to the next lesson isn’t going to do you any good.
Always check the extra features. Many language software title come with value-added features on top of the lessons and exercises. Make sure you explore them — you might end up finding some of them valuable. Some useful extras I’ve seen include memberships to exclusive online language communities, journaling tools and flashcard creators.
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