Five out of five stars.
If you’ve always wanted to learn a new language but never had the time or money, Duolingo is the app for you.
Duolingo is similar to popular language learning program Rosetta Stone, except it’s completely free. Users can learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and English through the free app available for iPhone and Android.
Once the user selects a language, she goes through a series of lessons, starting with basics such as greetings, common phrases, colors and food.
Each lesson includes a variety of activities that tests the user’s comprehension and retention. Some activities involve translating sentences or phrases in text; others involve typing or repeating a spoken phrase. For each mistake or error the user makes, they lose a heart. Once they lose three hearts, they essentially fail the lesson and must redo it to advance.
As the user clears each level, more and more words are added to the vocabulary lesson. Once a user completes a level, a full meter appears below the icon. If the user begins repeatedly missing words in a certain category or level, that meter will go down, indicating the user has weak words in that category. Users can then return to those levels, see their weak words and redo the level to refill their meter.
The downside to the app is that users cannot go back to completed levels that have full meters. But, each lesson includes words and phrases from previous lessons, which helps the user retain that knowledge.
For those just looking to become more fluent in a language, there’s also the option to test out of levels.
Overall, the app is very comprehensive and legit. The variety of exercises allows users to practice writing, speaking and listening to the new language. And with short, untimed lessons, users can learn at their own speed. Plus, it’s free. So, why not give it a shot?
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(c)2013 the Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, N.D.)