Learning on the go with Duolingo

In the vast pool of smartphone applications, educational apps are often overlooked since majority of users stick to games, utility applications and what not. But once in a while an app comes along that keeps you glued to your device. Imagine if you could learn your preferred foreign language on your smartphone. Wishful thinking? Well think again because this is where Duolingo comes in.

A free language-learning application, Duolingo allows English-speaking users to take lessons in Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian. It also offers lessons in English for Dutch, Russian, Turkish and Hungarian speakers. What initially started as an online platform (www.duolingo.com), is now also available on iOS and Android devices.

I am game... for learning
Duolingo uses a combination of games and translation to make the whole learning process easy and 'addictive'. Users start from basics and slowly progress as they complete each level. You start each level with 'four hearts'. Answer a question incorrectly and you lose a heart. If you run out of hearts, you need to start that level all over again. The use of vocabulary and spoken practice is also immense.

How is it free?
Duolingo is free. It does not charge users for using the application. Duolingo.com describes the whole process: 'someone who needs a webpage translated uploads it to Duolingo. That document then gets presented to Duolingo students who can translate it in order to practice the language they are learning. When the document is fully translated, Duolingo returns it to the original content owner who, depending on the type of document they uploaded, pays for the translation.'

The user interface
Downloading the app shouldn't take much time. You can register using your email or Facebook id. You start from basics, and the learning module eventually breaks into phrases, adjectives, plurals, conjunctions, pronouns and so on. Duolingo also teaches translations of your daily bread things such as clothing, food, colours etc. Gaurrav Batra, a commercial pilot by profession, who started using Duolingo to practice Spanish on his iPhone recently, says the app is "different" from the other learning applications. "It gives you the chance to try something different. This is the perfect app for a layman - someone who has just started learning a language. It is a good way to hone your language skills without taking classes," adds Batra.

Prompts like a tutor, grades like a teacher
If you thought that learning a language through a device meant you could skip lessons, or take a lay-off, then you are in for a surprise. Duolingo not only prompts you when you are incorrect, it also sends you daily reminders on your email that clearly specify: 'Learning a language requires practice every day'.

Learn it and love it
Duolingo won't cost you a thing and yet be invaluable in terms of the dividends it will pay in the end. We are not saying that you will be able to write a thesis in your preferred language once you finish the whole module, but you will be equipped to at least speak and understand the language fluently. As the saying goes, practice makes perfect; speaking of which, I better get back to my daily French lessons. Au revoir! (So long!).