Review of Educational Applications – App Store
Checking around the “competition” on the App store concerning foreign language applications, we discovered that there were so many out there already, something that would make our effort for something new a little bit more difficult!
For this review purposes we chose to evaluate applications made for learning Spanish, as in the App store, foreign languages apps are categorized based on the choice of language. It should be noted here that most of them exist in different versions according to the choice of language and that also that the results provided here are based on testing the free versions of the apps, so features appearing only on the paid version of the app are not considered. Feel free to check out the five that we found the most interesting ones, in your language of choice if available!
Hello – Hello Spanish:
This application unlike most ones uses a conversational based approach in learning a language by using animations to represent realistic dialogues and conversations. Thirty lessons are available but only the first one comes for free. The app gives the opportunity to develop several skills by providing the same lesson in many different formats. Users can watch the video plain, then with captions to see how everything is written. A translation is provided for the same video on the next stage and beyond that users can repeat what they hear, write it, complete dialogues by choosing the appropriate answer and build their vocabulary by revising words and phrases from the dialogues. Another advantage is the fact that it provides a selection from some native languages and people can see translations not only in English but in five other languages. It also allows users to make notes on every lesson. Finally the application is provided for learning 13 different languages, always through your mobile devices (iPhone/iPad). The website is only used for informative and promoting purposes.
Spanish Touch Trainer:
Spanish Touch Trainer is a mobile app that engages users in an immerse English to Spanish translation game that is a great way to learn, practice, or just help you refresh your Spanish language skills. It helps users become familiar with both the grammar and vocabulary through contextual associations and it provides an extra feature where users can listen to recordings of the sentences from a native Spanish speaker. It offers two modes: Beginner and Advanced. Limited exercise packs are offered for free so users have to pay for additional content. As far as the free version is concerned this application does not seem to focus on listening and speaking skills of the users at all. And concerning the functionality the transparent menu provided was not working well as the buck button although pressed most of the times did not respond well. As far as the whole structure of the app is concerned the fact that it provides instructions and many visual rewards and statistics give users a good understanding of what to do and how they are progressing. No actual desktop version provided here as well. The app is available for android devices as well.
Spanish – Speak and Learn Pro:
This application helps users learn the most used Spanish words and phrases through the voices of native speakers associated with memorable images. It seems ideal for anyone looking to quickly build Spanish skills regarding travel and business, or even refreshing existing ones, but it does not include a basic stuff learning category. The app also provides the ability to turn on/off written text and spoken words so people can customize their learning experience. Generally one could say that it utilizes mainly visual representations for representing words and phrases and it has a repeat feature always available. Like most of these apps it has only one unit available for free and one can get the whole content by buying the pro version. An unusual thing about it, is that the whole app seems to be designed for use in the horizontal screen position which sometimes makes it not so practical. No actual desktop version provided here as well. The app is available for iPhones and iPads.
Mirai Spanish:
Mirai Spanish is a unique app that can teach you Spanish using a highly effective tutor-based approach. Starting at beginner level, this app course contains many hours of full audio tutoring. The first 20 lessons are free to try, and further chapters are available via an in-app subscription to the course. Unlike most other Spanish language apps which just have lists of vocabulary or flashcards, this app actually teaches you the basics meaning: grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary and the usage of words, using an effective methodology. This whole approach can be fun and stimulating for users and the fact that a language is learned in a logical order starting from the alphabet gives a more complete perspective of the language. The tutor mode provided alternates between English and Spanish, where Spanish native speakers are repeating everything both in a Spanish accent and a Latin-American one. The lessons are divided in different sections focusing on different things and the whole approach is also goal-oriented with the users trying to complete all parts of each lesson. Although it is highly based on the tutor instructions it also provides a continuous visual representation, where everything being said is highlighted. The app is designed for iOS only and is available in more languages than just Spanish. The desktop version though seems to be not completely functional yet, as most parts of the website are currently under construction.
Learn Spanish by Mindsnacks:
Mindsnacks introduces a way to learn to speak and read Spanish by playing games. There are 9 different ones designed to build vocabulary and boost conversation skills and they are addressed to all different age groups. It should be mentioned though that the look and feel of the app initially makes it look like its target group is kids mainly. The first lesson comes for free and there are 50 in total that one can purchase. The lessons go beyond memorization and additionally the app allows users to learn at their own pace, by using an algorithm that personalizes the experience by repeating content with which one may be struggling. The existence of audio clips also aim to make pronunciation better. This app is also one based highly on the visual representation of the content and it provides a reward system with high scores and progress on certain types of the vocabulary along with a rising level experience. The feature that appears to be missing from this app is the one that would enhance users ability to speak by repeating things. As we can find out from the website the app is available in many different languages but can be used only through the mobile app designed for iOS devices.
The following table summarizes the most important features provided by the apps tested:
Overall, one could say that even though there is a tendency in all recent applications to change the way a language is learned from the tratidionary methods applied until now, users do not seem to have much control over the content learned and knowledge is something that does not come for free after all. The testing of these apps confirms that the use of multimedia like videos is not that much widespread in the field, something that confirms that our choice of using videos combined with the crowd-sourcing element are things that have not yet been experimented in the sector. Its success remains unknown, but the fact that our app will be designed for collaborative learning which comes for free certainly gives it an advantage over the others.