Babbel
babbel.comBabbel is a membership only language-learning platform based on lesson modules, vocabulary practice and social learning that involves speaking with friends and fellow language learners online. They offer a range of different languages, including Spanish, French, German and Russian, and cover a variety of topics, from business to travel.
Unlike Duolingo, Babbel lets you choose from a host of real-world themes that will be relevant for having a conversation with a native speaker, all created by language experts and people from the language of choice. You will learn vocabulary that is relevant to your life, meaning you don’t have to waste time and effort trying to remember words you will never use.
One of the aspects of Babbel that I found most helpful to me was that each lesson is bite-sized, at just 10-15 minutes long. This means that not only do you not have to worry about maintaining concentration for hours on end, you can fit learning a language into your day, whether you are on the train, on your lunch break or just before bed.
Babbel also offers a feature for recording your voice in order to improve your pronunciation, an aspect of learning a language that is often skipped over but that can be vital in helping people to understand you. However, although the functionality is fairly good, it lacks some degree of accuracy, meaning you do not have to be spot on for it to tell you that you’ve got it right. With some more development this might be improved, yet the only real way of getting it perfect will be by speaking with a native.
Babbel is a membership only language-learning platform based on lesson modules, vocabulary practice and social learning that involves speaking with friends and fellow language learners online. They offer a range of different languages, including Spanish, French, German and Russian, and cover a variety of topics, from business to travel.
Unlike Duolingo, Babbel lets you choose from a host of real-world themes that will be relevant for having a conversation with a native speaker, all created by language experts and people from the language of choice. You will learn vocabulary that is relevant to your life, meaning you don’t have to waste time and effort trying to remember words you will never use.
One of the aspects of Babbel that I found most helpful to me was that each lesson is bite-sized, at just 10-15 minutes long. This means that not only do you not have to worry about maintaining concentration for hours on end, you can fit learning a language into your day, whether you are on the train, on your lunch break or just before bed.
Babbel also offers a feature for recording your voice in order to improve your pronunciation, an aspect of learning a language that is often skipped over but that can be vital in helping people to understand you. However, although the functionality is fairly good, it lacks some degree of accuracy, meaning you do not have to be spot on for it to tell you that you’ve got it right. With some more development this might be improved, yet the only real way of getting it perfect will be by speaking with a native.
