Which Languages Are Easiest On Duolingo?
I use Duolingo to learn languages, especially vocabulary, and it has been very good for Spanish and Italian and German. It is simple to use and you can see your progress clearly.
The Korean was a disaster. I never learned a single word, could not understand the sounds or remember the symbols and soon gave up. Chinese also was going nowhere.
Facebook Polyglots
On Facebook I joined a polyglots page. Useful for:
1 Finding other speakers and pairing up to swap languages.
2 Passing time and finding oddments of information about languages.
3 Asking a question about something which puzzles you.
4 General advice on which systems you can use to learn particular languages.
My recent diversion into the Polyglots webpage sent me back to find music using languages. I looked up the you tube version of the song which starts: 'Wilkommen, Bienvenue, welcome'. (German, French, English.) I found it was sung by Joel Grey, not Liza Minelli who sings the next song. Both songs have phrases in three languages.
The next thread on the polyglots webpage which caught my attention was a discussion about using Flashcards to learn and practise languages.
I have added several flashcard sets to my list of resources.
How About Anki?
I did not get on with Anki.
I downloaded it. I got a page of columns of comparisons between different websites which I could not understand, no summary. I was not sure whether I was so supposed to agree that Anki was best or click on my choice from the most popular rival website.
Then I had to choose a language. I chose German. Then I was sent back to the download page again.
I suppose I will go back to it in a day or two when I have more time. I allow an hour or so a day on languages, and an hour or so on each of my main tasks, including writing this blog, writing books, etc.
List of language learning methods on computer and mobile phone are:
GENERAL MULTI-LANGUAGE LEARNING WEBSITES
Duolingo
Memrise
Pleco
Lingodeer
Linedirect (dictionary to help with hearing how words are pronounced)
Anki
FLASHCARDS WEBSITES
Ankdroid (Anki on Android, which is everything except Apple Ipads and iphones)
Cram.com
Rolandos
Tinycards (By duolingo.)
Tinycards
You can create your own card sets and share them. Several sets are recaps of words from Duolingo languages sessions, such as foods, or the future tense. Like the other aps, in addition to learning languages, you can also create cards for any school subject or cultural interest you want to learn, such as capitals of the world, any school or college homework such as science, or fun things such as paintings by a particular painter, or books by a famous author.
The systems give you a card shape and a flip the card button. You write your question on one side and the answer on the other. You can usually add a picture. So you could add a French flag or picture of the Eiffel Tower, or a glass of milk, or a beer or water, wine, tea or coffee.
I am going back to duolingo.com because it has Esperanto, the easy to learn made up language which is taught in Hungary. Esperanto speakers have an annual conference. They also have a directory of members who you can stay with for a weekend or a couple of days to practise your Esperanto language.
Countries where you can learn languages as a tourist
Belgium
Signs in French and Dutch.
Canada
The capital's government officials must speak both English and French. Montreal is fiercely French-speaking, whilst Toronto retaliates by promoting English.
Singapore
Singapore has four official languages, English, Chinese (Mandarin), Malay and Tamil.
Switzerland
Four languages, French, German and Italian and Romansch, with different cities featuring different languages.
USA
Lots of Spanish signs.
The language courses available include English for speakers of other languages. so you could pair up with a Spaniard learning English on Duolingo, whilst you were learning the Spanish.
I have various 'followers' on Duolingo. So far we have not made contact, but if you want to link with the creators of the courses, native speakers of a langauge, other polyglots. or somebody learning the same language, you can find somebody on the same course, or doing similar courses for other languages.
If you want to practise your languages with people, you will find lots of language groups in Meetup.
In England an Esperanto group meets in Reading.
(UPDATE. 2020 As a result of Covid19 I have seen ads for the Reading group meeting online so it is accessible worldwide if you are available to meet at a time which overlaps the UK timezone.)
Toastmasters International has several clubs in English and other languages
London, England has a bilingual English and French Toastmasters club with every meeting in both languages.
Singapore has a Francophone club speaking Only French, several Mandarin clubs and Tamil clubs.
Useful Websites
https://www.facebook.com/groups/polygotcommunity
Wilkommen triple language German, French, English song from the film (movie) Cabaret on YouTube
ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBlB8RAJEEc
duolingo.com
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duolingo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anki_(software)
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Trainer in the English language for colleges and businesses. Please share links to your favourite posts.
