191: Do you use apps for language learning?

Saud asks: "Do you use apps for language learning?"

Episode Summary: Because technology is always being promoted as making our lives more efficient, many people are tempted to look to apps to speed up the language learning process All my opinions about apps are formed in the light of the fact that I remember what language learning was like before the internet Nothing will ever be as effective as you, a good book, a pen and a paper The critical mistakes that apps make is to try to offer a new learning methodology The role of technology in language learning should be to help you consume learning material more efficiently The criteria for judging an app should be: "Does it help me do more efficiently something I was already doing?" Before the internet: Hard to access texts, audio on tapes was inefficient to listen to, everything has to be stored manually on paper, native speakers inaccessible After the internet: Texts are freely available, you can manipulate audio easily, you have data entry on your phone, native speakers readily available There's a big risk you have to mitigate against when you use apps: Attention and focus I use two apps: Flashcards Deluxe and Speater I also use dictionary apps and Skype Part of the reason I haven't used more apps is because I've been learning less common languages. However, if I want to pick up German, for example, I would go straight to a book, not an app Resources Mentioned In Today's Episode: LingQ Readlang Flashcards Deluxe Speater App

IWTYAL 051: Can technology help you learn a language? https://youtu.be/rM-N29vnYME

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