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Staying productive while spending time at home isn’t easy. At this point, who doesn’t have lockdown burnout? But it appears that we still have a ways to go before there’s any chance of going back to anything that resembles normal.
When the lockdowns began, people tried to stay positive and busy with activities like making sourdough bread and putting together intricate puzzles. But those activities are so last year. Here at Oola, we’d like to start a new pandemic trend in 2021—learning a new language.
We fully support Netflix binges and Super Smash Bros. marathons. However, there’s also a lot of fun to be had when learning a new language. Modern technology has made learning a new language easier than ever. And at the end of the lessons, games, and challenges, you have a new, valuable skill!
What is Babbel?
In recent years, several language apps have emerged in the Apple App and Google Play Stores. But the one that caught our attention was Babbel. Between the two app stores, the Babbel app has more than 700,000 reviews and an average rating of 4.6 out of 5.
Millions of people have learned a new language with Babbel, and they’ve found success because language learning experts actually built the app. Instead of sitting through long lessons like you would in a college class, Babbel rethinks that old-school education.
Babbel uses short, interactive lessons that will have you learning one of 14 available languages in just 15 minutes a day. The most popular languages to learn on Babbel are Spanish, French, German, and Italian. The easiest languages to learn for English speakers are Norwegian, Swedish, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Indonesian, Italian, French, and Swahili.
This app is designed for beginners, and it works. Fast. Seventy-three percent of surveyed Babble customers report that they’d be able to hold a short conversation in their new language within just five hours of using the app.
A study by researchers at the City University of New York and the University of South Carolina found that Babbel is so effective, 15 hours of learning Spanish on the app is equivalent to one college semester.
How Does Babbel Work?
The best way to learn a new language is with the Babbel app because more than 150 linguists build every course and tailor them to the user’s native language. Why? Because your native language affects how you learn a new one. For example, an English speaker learns French very differently than a Spanish speaker does.
The Babbel method takes this into consideration and focuses on four ways of communicating: reading, writing, listening, and speaking. The app uses “contextual content in small learning units that apply to everyday life.”
Users are introduced to new grammar and vocabulary in a real-world context. And, you can find lessons that touch on different topics like travel, work, everyday life, culture, and local cuisine.
The Babbel method will give you new language skills right away. And users can immerse themselves in a new language just like a native. Other apps will have you doing language drills with abstract sentences, vocabulary, or grammar rules. But with Babbel, you will learn a new language using real-life dialogue.
Learning through conversation teaches you to learn new vocabulary both actively and passively. Babble will guide your brain to “connect the dots” and passively learn new words and info based on the context of the dialogue.
How To Use Babbel
The first step when using Babbel is to choose one of the 14 languages the app offers. Then, you take a free placement test to find out where you should get started. Next, you can try a language lesson and the first one is always free.
The final step is to upgrade to a paid subscription so you can gain access to all of the courses for the language you selected. Once you have paid for your membership, it’s time to start selecting language lessons.
Babbel believes the key to learning a new language is to have fun. The fully interactive media lessons cover listening, reading, writing, and speaking. There’s also a speech recognition feature that will help you improve your pronunciation.
The quiz-styled lessons will show you new material via written words, pictures, and audio. Then, you will answer multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, and matching questions about the material to reinforce the information. Once you get past the beginner level lessons, the sentences and words you have learned will be part of the dialogue at the end of the course.
There’s also a review feature that allows you to revisit the material you’ve already learned. The app gives you the option of reviewing flashcards, fill-in-the-blank written exercises, and spoken response exercises.
Babbel allows you to set your own pace and learn at your own speed. The courses are organized by topic and theme, so you can learn what’s relevant to you. And, because the app is fully integrated with the web, your progress is saved in the cloud and synced across all of your devices. Learning a new language couldn’t be any easier.
What really sets Babbel apart from other language apps—and other methods of learning a new language—is the low membership price. There are four different membership options. At the time of this writing, the one-month option costs $13.95. To get a lower monthly price, you can buy multiple months at a time.
Currently, a three-month membership costs $9.95 per month and a six-month membership is $8.45 a month. The best value is a 12-month membership that costs just $6.95 per month. Despite the low price, you are guaranteed a top-quality (and ad-free) learning experience.
Oola’s Takeaway
Babbel provides a solid foundation of grammar and vocabulary for beginners learning a new language. The app’s low price is budget-friendly and the short lessons are easy to fit into any schedule. The app is user friendly and you can use it anytime, anywhere.
Will you be fluent in a new language after using Babbel for a few hours? No, of course not. However, you can easily find yourself at an intermediate level. And, you will have an excellent foundation if you choose to further your studies.
There’s really no reason not to try Babbel when you want to learn a new language. Every course comes with a 20-day money-back guarantee. If it doesn’t work for you, simply contact Babbel for a full refund. No hay razón para esperar. ¡Únase a nosotros para iniciar una nueva tendencia pandémica!
