Do you want to start learning
languages as a beginner,
but you don't know where to start?
In this video, I'll share five
tips on how to choose
a beginner language app,
as well as some recommendations.
If you're new here, hi, my name is Jamie.
I'm a language coach
and my specialty
is helping online
language learners stick to language
learning long term
in a way that keeps them motivated,
excited and successful.
If that sounds like you,
make sure to subscribe and hit the bell
to be notified when I post a new video
all about online language
learning every Wednesday.
My first tip for how to choose
a beginner language app
is to make sure the language app
is actually fit for beginners.
This can be tricky
because a lot of language apps
advertise themselves
as beginner friendly,
but they might not
actually be beginner friendly
because the thing is that
not every beginner language
learner has the same lack of knowledge
in a particular language.
For example,
if your native language
is really closely related
to the language that you're learning
or you're already familiar
with a related language
or the alphabet is
the same or the alphabet is different.
Those things can really drastically shift
how difficult a language is for you.
And so some beginner
language learning apps,
they will start from absolutely zero,
and some will start with
you assuming that
you know certain things.
It all just depends on the language
app that you're looking at.
For example,
LingoPie is a really fun, language
learning app that you can use
to watch TV shows and movies
in your target language,
and they advertise themselves
as being fine for beginners
as long as you slow it down.
But depending on your own needs
and your own skills,
it might be really,
really overwhelming for you.
So just because they say,
Oh yeah, we're great for
beginners, sure, use us
doesn't mean that
it's going to be beginner enough for you.
So instead of jumping
headfirst into an app
like LingoPie, expecting it
to just kind of like fix itself
and then being upset at yourself
that it's too difficult
for you and thinking that
maybe you just can't learn a language.
Think about if it's easy enough for you.
It sounds simple.
It sounds like common sense,
but it wasn't common sense to me
for a lot of years.
So suffice to say,
it isn't common sense
for a lot of language learners.
The second tip for
how to choose a beginner language
app is to think about
how fun you need it to be.
So a lot of us study languages in school,
and we had various experiences doing it.
But one thing that happens
to a lot of language
learners is that in school,
they had to learn
languages with a textbook
and with conjugation tables
and with grammar
and some really boring stuff.
Boring being a subjective,
you know, concept.
But a lot of us learned
to learn languages
with these textbooks,
with these workbooks, with this like
just book variety
kind of language learning
and then a lot of language
learners hate that.
But then they think that
that's the only way to learn a language.
And so they're just like
in this endless cycle.
If you need something
a little bit more
entertaining, engaging, fun.
There are tons of options out there
for you trying something
with pretty colors
and fun noises and something
with like a more modern interface
can make language
learning a lot more interesting.
And there are tons of
beginner language apps
that'll do just that.
Like if you want it to be really,
really fun and really, really easy.
Something like Mondly can be
really fun for you
and a really good start
to building your language learning.
Or if the fun sounds
and like daily streak
and things like that,
if that's too much
and you need something a little bit
more serious, but you like that
modern interface,
something like mango languages
could be a good option for you.
But pay attention to whether or not
you like something really
fun and glittery and bright
colors and lots of noises.
Or if you want something
a little simpler,
like a textbook and, you know,
go between those two concepts
because there are plenty of options
wherever you are on that spectrum.
The third thing to think about
when you're choosing
a beginner language
app is pacing: is the app
that you're using too fast,
too slow for you or just like Goldilocks?
Just right?
A lot of people don't think about
if different apps are
at a good speed for them,
so some might be too slow.
Some might be too fast
if you find yourself
getting really overwhelmed
and frustrated and feeling
like it's too difficult.
Find something that's a little bit
slower, like Rosetta
Stone is really, really, really slow.
For me personally,
but I know a lot of people
can benefit from that.
Or if the apps that you're trying
are too slow, try something
a little bit faster,
something that's
kind of throwing you
into more immersion-y tactics.
Things like FluentU,
which is like similar to LingoPie.
It's like a video based platform.
You basically go straight
into understanding
videos and conversations
from the get go as opposed to
piecing words together little by little.
There's nothing worse than either, an app
that's just too repetitive,
really boring and just
you lose your concentration
because you're so unengaged
or something that's too hard, too fast.
You're overwhelmed
and you just get frustrated.
It's really, really important.
To find that happy middle
for yourself, to understand
how quickly or how slowly
you need it to be.
And that speed will change
depending on your mood where you are
in your language learning,
the language itself
all sorts of different factors
, so make sure you're paying attention
to that kind of stuff.
Have you experienced
any of these problems
with beginner language apps?
Let me know in the comment section below.
The fourth tip on how to choose
a beginner language
app is to be aware of what kind of words
that you want to be learning.
Obviously, they're like
literally a million words in
any given language,
but you don't need most of them.
People don't tend to use most of them.
If you just want to have conversations,
you just need to have first,
like one or 2000
vocabulary words in any given language.
So it's easy enough to use
something like Memrise,
which has these lists
that are like made by Memrise themselves.
These words will be like the verbs
to be, to want, to go,
to think, house, dog, pronouns.
He, she, they whatever
kind of garden variety vocabulary.
And if you want something
with, like some categories
that's easy too,
you can use things like Lingvist for that
or you can use Mondly again,
it can be really overwhelming
to like, pick and choose
which words are important to you.
Make sure they're important to you.
I've definitely wasted
a lot of time trying to
force myself to learn words
that didn't actually matter to me.
There is no reason for me
to need the word
roller coaster in Spanish,
and yet I spent months
learning that word. Don't do that.
Choose an app that will teach you
the words that are important to you
if it's making you learn stuff
that you don't want to learn.
Don't use it.
And my last tip for
how to choose a beginner
language app is to make sure
that it's aligned with your goals.
It's aligned with what
you want to accomplish.
Is it a logical stepping stone
between where you are now
and where you want to be?
Is it teaching you
things that you actually want to use
in the language?
Is a teaching things
that are interesting to you
and you find a lot of value in?
Honestly, this is one
of the hardest parts
about learning languages,
which is why I have an entire month
dedicated to teaching my clients
this as part of my 90 day
coaching program,
30 of those days are focused on
what exactly it is
that you want to learn.
If you want to learn
more about how my program
can help you to understand
what it is that you want
to learn in the language
and how you want to learn it.
Click the link below
in the description to learn more.
If you like this video,
I recommend watching these videos next.
Otherwise, have a wonderful day and
I will see you next time.