5 Latest Ways to Use Your Smartphone to Learn a Language

We all have become addicted to our smartphones and commonly think of them as time wasters but you can gain a lot if you use your phone not just for socializing with your friends but install some learning apps. Practicing just 5 or 10 minutes a day, you can learn practically anything and even pick up a new language. There is a wide range of new apps, online portals, and YouTube channels that can make a process of learning a new language more efficient and enjoyable.

You can use your smartphone to strengthen your language skills. It goes without saying that you will be a more successful language learner if you use your mobile device as an additional tool to having regular lessons with an experienced tutor from an education platform such as at Preply. Here are some easy tips on how to use your smartphone to learn a foreign language in a short amount of time.

Change the language setting on your phone and on a few apps

Switch your smartphone to a new language and change the language of your social media accounts. Soon you will notice that you understand many words like ‘send’, ‘delete’, ‘cancel’, ‘like’, ‘message’ etc. You will learn a lot of new words and useful phrases without any effort just using your smartphone on a daily basis.

Install Duolingo

It’s one of the most popular apps for language learning for beginners. Wondering why? There are a number of reasons.

• Duolingo has a simple intuitive learning system that combines auditory and visual learning process to improve your language memory.
• It divides language learning into digestible chunks.
• It features easy progress tracking as you move through levels.
• The app uses fun games to regularly test your skills in reading, listening, writing, and speaking.
• All these great features are available for free.

You can learn a new language with Duolingo if you practice just a few minutes a day.

Watch YouTube videos

There are a lot of channels that offer language learning videos on YouTube. You can subscribe to some channels in your target language and learn fundamentals of it from the basic level to the advanced one. You can also watch music videos. In many cases, you can even find the lyrics in the notes below the videos. You can read along as you watch and listen or sing along if you like. Learning a new language this way is really enjoyable. You can find a lot of how-to tutorials on the subjects that you are interested in, for example, cooking, yoga, and chess. You should watch them to improve your listening skills and learn new vocabulary.

Install the WordReference app

It’s a free app of a very popular translation website. WordReference app gives you instant access to a lot of extensive bi-lingual and monolingual dictionaries so you can easily find there any word in your target language that you don’t know. You can also get a helpful advice on the foru which already contains more than 2 million questions and answers.

Communicate with native speakers

Texting in your new language with your native speaker friends is a great way to learn colloquial phrases and slang words that you would certainly miss while learning in the classroom or in an ordinary conversation. You can use chat and messaging apps to get in touch with new friends who speak the language you are learning.

HiNative is a platform where users can ask questions about any language and culture and get answers from native speakers. You can also help other people who are learning your native language. You can ask native speakers to check your writing and pronunciation or translate some words or sentences. The members of the community support one another by answering questions and providing quick personalized feedback on writings.

Another free tool that will connect you with native speakers of different languages is Hello Talk. You can find language partners and chat with them by texting, making voice and video calls. The platform supports 150+ languages and has more than 10 million members.

Of course, your ability to achieve fluency in your new language depends entirely on your motivation but your smartphone can certainly help. Follow these tips and get started today!