Guest post: Enhance your language skills through your smartphone

Hello everyone! Today I have a guest post for you, one written by Tongue-Twisting Girl, a fellow blogger and language learner. She is an advocate for learning languages through smartphone apps, and has some recommendations for some good ones! Take it away, girl!


Mobile devices have their own share of benefits to human beings, which includes making learning an interactive and engaging process. Given mobile’s ability to access a myriad of resources online, smartphones have now become an acceptable educational trend that has transcended many different forms. In the United States alone, more and more college students are using their smartphone for learning purposes, spending an average of 3.3 hours daily for mobile learning on their handsets.

Thus, learning a new language on your smartphone has been made easier, so long as you are equipped with the right information about to best do it. How can you enhance your vocabulary and language skills through your mobile device?

Get the right apps
As the often-used adage goes: “there’s always an app for that.” When it comes to learning a new language or developing your skills, there’s usually an application for it. But, there are thousands of mobile apps out there that offer the same things. So, how can you distinguish an effective and suitable educational app for you? Here are some recommendations:

HiNative supports more than 120 languages. It helps you learn a new language from native speakers from across the world. Compared to a digital dictionary, the learning process here is more humanized by connecting you to the best sources (native speakers) who can answer your queries and correct your pronunciation.
MindSnacks is a fun and is a free way to learn a new language and enhance your vocabulary. It comes with interactive games that teach you essential vocabulary and conversational skills.
Babbel helps you to acquire new words and phrases for free. The application comes with a pronunciation evaluator to check if you are saying the words correctly. You can learn basic or advanced language skills easily through Babbel.

Check out other top language learning applications as provided by List.ly.

Watch more videos, read more books
A myriad of online resources are now available at your disposal, so make the most out of them. YouTube comes with various tutorial videos that you can watch while waiting for the bus or train to arrive. In fact, you may even want to consider watching foreign films with subtitles to acquire more words and phrases with the proper pronunciation. Apart from videos, eBooks and online newspapers are great tools to enhance your vocabulary. Read plenty of digital articles online and translate them via an app later on to help you understand words and acquire correct enunciation. Foreign music will also help you in enhancing your vocabulary (so long as you have the lyrics and a great translating app then you are good to go).

Voice command as your virtual teacher
Even without an application, today’s smartphones are able to assist you in learning a language. Apple has Siri, Android has Ok Google!, and Windows Phone has Cortana. These virtual assistants can also be your digital teacher in learning a new skill or language. In particular, O2 featured the iPhone 6s Plus, which runs iOS 9 with its smarter Siri. It also features more productivity functions for a more seamless e-learning experience. What’s new? Siri now comes with more a language selection (over 20 countries) and more a humanized voice that can help you in learning new words or phrases. It also works with more apps and can be accessed via the home page itself without pressing a button. If you ask Siri to read and translate a message, she can do it for you. Similarly, Google and Windows have worked closely with their virtual assistants to ensure it provides a more humanized voice, responses, and reactions.

With the possible arrival of augmented reality and virtual reality smartphones soon, it’s looking increasingly likely that more people will use their smartphones to enhance their skillset whether it’s learning a new language or improving on their presentational skills – the opportunities are boundless. How do you think your smartphone can help you develop your vocabulary? Stay tuned to this page for more language learning tips.

By Tongue-Twisting Girl
Photo Credit: clemens.loecker via Compfight cc

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