Best apps for learning Languages when you travel
If learning to lingo with the Locals is one thing you really struggle with then this is just for you!
We bet traveling the world years ago when no one spoke English was deemed as pretty exotic and exciting, sadly, nowadays we seem to have become a bit lazy but don’t be that person just shouting it louder, download one of these super helpful to apps to your phone and get in on the conversation!
Google Translate
So it might not be teaching you directly but it is certainly one of the most handy to turn to. If you see words you don’t understand but want to learn it as simple as pointing the camera at the text and getting a translation.
Not sure whats on the menu, type it in. Need to get a sentence out to a local that you really don’t know. Let it speak it out for you. Literally, the best thing since sliced bread!
Duolingo
It is no surprise that this won the ‘Apple iPhone App of the Year’.
Why so good? The fact it is more like a course in the palm of your hand than a list of jumbled words. It uses repetition and reviewing to make sure you have grasped it and mixes audio learning with visuals prompts.
You aren’t going to become fluent here but you will have more than enough to get by. They also have a fairly wide range of languages to choose from.
Babbel
Another winner of Apples Apps and offering courses in a whole multitude of languages Babbel is pretty simple to get started with. There is however an auto-renew subscription for the language courses which, if you want to really study the language is great but just for grabbing the basics for a quick weekend getaway it might not be worth the investment.
A great bonus is the cross over from phone to web, so you can start and finish the modules on either. It is well structured and the lessons are pretty thorough however given the monthly cost once you have picked up the basics from another app it might be better investing that money in Skype lessons with a local.
HiNative
HiNative is very different from your usual Read, Listen and Learn approach however you will love the interactive aspect of it as you are conversing with native language speakers a lot of the time.
The bonus of this app is if you struggle at pronunciation. For asking how to say certain things you can record your voice to get feedback as to if what you are saying sounds like the real deal. Hello no more embarrassing moments in shops of talking complete gibberish, you can keep your blushing behind the phone screen.
Another aspect we love is that you can interact with natives about their culture or in fact anything to get direct answers before you arrive.
It does have a subscription fee for premium access and the downside of it is that only those who have paid for it can listen to your voice recordings, so, you are reliant that someone has.
Busuu
Busuu only offers nine languages which are mainly European based and again, it does charge a subscription past the basics. It includes your typical features as well as the native interaction element of HiNative.
Another great method? Watching English films in your hotel downtime and learning from the subtitles. Trust us, this usually leads into comical soaps and knowing all the words to a foreign catchy jingle advert with no idea what they are talking about. Can you get anymore cultured than that?
