Not that I have to, but that I want to
My previous post introduces Common European Framework of Reference for Languages(CEFR), the de facto standard of measuring one’s Spanish language proficiency level. Now that a learner knows roughly their level of proficiency, they may want to know if a specific Spanish text is about the right level for them. Materials that are too easy or …
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Since early childhood, we are conditioned to grade ourselves of our proficiency in a skill. It is no different in learning a new language. When we are first learning Spanish, measuring proficiency may be the furthest thing from our minds. If you are a Duolingo user, after finishing say all level 1 Spanish lessons, the …
Duolingo is my top Spanish learning app (see earlier post). There are other good apps such as Babbel, Busuu, Pimsleur, Rosetta Stone. Personal anecdotes aside, is there any scientific evidence supporting the effectiveness of such online language learning apps? A recent Michigan State University study reports that all participants who ‘completed the requirements improved in …
It is fitting that this blog’s first post is about Duolingo, the app that ‘has organically become the most popular way to learn languages online’, and on which ‘more Americans are learning a language than in the US public school system’. On a personal level, it was my first Spanish learning tool, one that I …
Continue reading “Duolingo: the constantly improving language learning app”