The Dark Side of Language Apps

There are so many language learning apps to choose from but are they as helpful as they seem?

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[daysandwords]

7:29 "Ahem, I eeerrctually learned a language with Duolingo and it tooootally worked..."

[jasonjames]

I fell into the trap of if it feels fun and easy it doesn't work. So after a year or grammar exercises, flashcards and intensive reading I had achieved pretty much nothing. As soon as I just started watching TV, listening to podcasts and extensive reading for gist I quickly made progress. The lesson I took from it was it's impossible to actually learn a language (for me anyway) and like all skills acquisition it happens in the background without noticing.

[prof.san_]

As a veteran instructor of Spanish and ESL, you provide some excellent and sound advice 💯. I'm going to share this video with my students. Thank you!

[philipdavis]

I think its pretty clear that with so many apps and other courses, it is more important for them to give the perception of learning a language - this is what keeps people subscribed. And often, by the time you realise one isn't working... well, you've wasted a lot of time and money. The same can be said for the traditional class based industry. In my struggles to acquire Japanese, I've found that it is necessary to 'grind' a little in order to get to the point where I can enjoy input (still struggling to get there) - whereas in an 'easier' language like French its possible to just dive in as soon as you find something interesting. But so few courses are interested in helping you do this - its all about marketing and pushing specific techniques, few of which really work as advertised.

[jean-louismorgenthaler]

When comparing learning a second language to learning one's mother tongue, shouldn't we take in account that toddlers and kids spend thousands of hours listening and practicing, reading on their mothers' lips, dreaming and breathing their tongue 24/7. How could one expect to get the same result with a few hours practice each week at best? Even with the help of grammar rules and pronunciation exercises, doesn't it seem a bit foolish to pretend we will soon speak a second language "like a native"?

[jeffreybarker]

*sigh* Matt…we’ve been over this. My family and our breakfast time used to be sacred before you came around! 😆

Booting up this video now! As always, I’m excited to see what wisdom you’ve brought us today! The title alone has me super interested.

[wildfp]

At least 10yrs ago, that push by Rosetta stones but glad I never did purchase it.
Its about me and only me. I listen to simple pods with target subs and a English translation to help. I focus on this for sometime then stop and hit nouns and vocab. I can but I don't do both on the same lesson, its a bit much and its better to breakdown language learning to aid the brain from exhaustion.

Totally agree. The only value I see in Duolingo is getting familiar with a different writing system. For example, russian and arabic for me were a lot easier after the first lessons where the lettes are being slowly introduced. I will use it again, for sure . Of course, real practice comes when you speak with natives, which I'm lucky to have around me.

[AWriterWandering]

Honestly, social media is a distraction regardless of what I do. My solution was to configure my firewall to block most of it. I’ve been able to focus a lot more on the learning material now.

[emmcdermott]

Thanks Matt, I always enjoy your content!

[AhmedTelleserDehyer]

Hhhhh, whatever, I usually translate.multiple languages by using translation machine like Google Translate or Immersive Translate 😂

[tuyuti]

Why does Spanish ChatGTP have such a funny accent?