Many studies have shown that learning a second language can boost cognitive function, even in old age! And with technology being easily accessible to most of us, learning a language has never been easier.
Applications like Duolingo strive to become your personal smartphone-based tutor by providing students with interactive lessons and tests. However, these sort of apps are missing an important ingredient – interaction with real, live native speakers.
It’s important to be able to practice by verbally applying what you have learned or you risk forgetting it all. Well a new app for Android called Verbling aims to take care of this problem.
“For 5 years, we’ve been hard at work, changing the way digital language learning has traditionally been done. The last few years of app technology has transformed language learning and made it more accessible than ever, but its foundational model is broken. Almost nobody actually learns a foreign language without a strong emphasis on human speaking practice.”
Jake Jolis, CEO of Verbling
Verbling was previously available as a web based application, but now owners of Android (and iOS) smartphones will be able to install the app on their phones and get lessons on the go. What makes Verbling special is that it connects the learner with a qualified language (native) teacher. The Android app can deliver live lessons in up to 38 languages including Spanish, French or Japanese.
Getting started with Verbling is quite easy: all you need to do is decide which language you want to start learning and then start browsing available teacher profiles and introductory videos so you can select the best teacher for you. Students can purchase as many lessons with a particular teacher as they want. Schedules can be arranged based on the availability of the students.
While engaged in a lesson, students can see their teachers face to face, but unlike standard video calling apps like Skype, Verbling’s video conferences features a workspace section where teachers can easily share documents, flashcards and other educative material.
Learning a new language can turn into a tedious and frustrating affair, but luckily startups like Verbling are leveraging advances in mobile technology to make the process much more enjoyable. Are you ready to start learning a new language today?
