Lately I've been trying to complement my german course with other learning tools such as web and smartphone apps. I've tried Duolingo and Memrise. They are both free!
I use Memrise mostly for personalized vocabulary lists that I create. Duolingo for general grammar and because its simply very addictive although it is somewhat limited on the amount of vocabulary that you can learn with it.
I was just wondering if anyone else is using any other learning apps. What works for you? Which do you find best?
Duo and Memrise are the best ones AFAIK. Memrise's official courses are great and definitely worth working through. The only annoying thing about them is that there's only one correct answer per question. I also like Memrise's flashcard databases shared by other users, especially the ones with native audio. Huge time saver.
There's also Anki for flashcards. And some free apps created by the Goethe Institute, including a fun game where you have to figure out what happened to your missing uncle by interviewing people, carrying out tasks. Not for beginners.
Not an app, but have you looked at Pimsleur? I only did about 10 lessons but damn if that stuff doesn't stick in your brain and roll reflexively off your tongue when you're in the appropriate situation (and with pretty on-point pronunciation, too). Tedious, though, and some of the sentences are annoying, but I'm gonna get back to them.
You might want to check out some Reddit subs about language learning. People there have tried everything.
Currently learning Spanish and I am using Duolingo which I quite like. It's easy and straightforward, best of all is that it keeps you in the flow. So when I am commuting in the train I refresh my skills or extend them :-)
My colleague uses in addition also Babbel, which as far as I could see has some more grammar exercises included.
BuyClub is running a special at the moment on LingQ if that might be of interest. They have a number of languages. Not sure how long the offer will last (the counter says 4 more days).
I've been doing Duolingo steadily for the past two or three years. In fact, I currently have a 508 day streak. I actually started using it earlier, but my streak got broken. Now, I've been only doing this about twice or three times a day---so I'm not fluent in French, and I'm sceptical of Duolingo's claims that I am 52% fluent in French. But...
But...even with a little bit of practice, I notice significant improvement. I now know by ear the difference between "un" and "une". Also, while I'm not perfect at it, I can hear the differences between "é" and "è". I'm also surprised to learn that even when I'm stumped and don't know a particular word, I can make a good educated guess as to the rest of the sentence and I'm usually right.
Duolingo by itself will not enable you to learn a foreign language (and if I were teleported to Lausane, I know I will quickly discover how much French I *don't* know), but I think it is a big help and I recommend it. (I haven't done this myself, but I think that if you participate in group activities where you write something in French or correct somebody else's French, you will get much more out of Duoling.)
P.S. For the heck of it, I tried German, and from the feel of the first lesson---it's a much tougher language to learn. Not impossible, but tougher. If I ever get back to it, I may ammend that statement, but my sympathies for anybody who will have to learn the difference between "der", "die", and "das" as well as essential non-obvious words like "entschuldigen" that don't exactly roll off the tongue.
I tried them both numerous times but didn't remember either, so I downloaded them again and paid for a year on each. In the name of science.
This is for the Android apps only and not the full-on website experience (where applicable).
Word on the street is that Babbel is better, but if I had to choose one, I'd go with Busuu. For me Babbel's app is frustrating. It's hard to explain. Things like not auto-advancing to the next question and so on. You can't skip around as much. You can't swipe past vocab you know but instead have to tap the button to play the audio, and then a button appears that you have to tap to get to the next word. Their keyboard makes me crazy. (With most apps you can use your phone's keyboard, which is fantastic if the app allows allow glide/swipe.)
Upgrading from trial to paid didn't seem to improve the experience on either app. It just unlocks more content. After I've used them a bit longer I'll be able to talk more about how well they teach.
Two of Duolingo's huge strengths are 1) multiple answers accepted for the translations and 2) you can see the q&a from other users and thereby learn about the nuances between the answers. I learned a TON of grammar from that, and there were often links in the comments as well. TBH, I don't think anyone can come near to Duo without offering something similar. And Duolingo is free.
(I've kicked Duo money and I've upgraded to premium on Memrise, so it's not really about the price. I wish I could find more awesome apps and I'd happily pay for them.)
Actually, I have a few more recommendations:
Beelinguapp - Short stories translated and narrated by native speakers. Content provided by volunteers. Mostly free.
Lingvist - Another flashcard app, but you learn the words in sentences/context. I appreciate that the sentences are sometimes more complex, so you get grammar exposure. Free.
Clozemaster - You're presented with sentences and you have to fill in the blank. It's supposed to be a 'What to do after finishing Duolingo' solution. Free.
I love Duolingo too, and I think that it does help with grammar, but in a way that, almost like you learn as a child, it kind of creeps up on you, if that makes sense.
Also, there is the option to discuss problems with other users, which is helpful.
Funny, I think Duolingo is completely overrated. In fact, I think it's a fairly awful educational tool, for many reasons. Based on just the app alone...
1. Basically no grammar hints or tips
2. The questions are so ridiculously easy to guess a lot of the time, which means you just go through an exercise of quickly stabbing at the screen without actually considering what you've entered, and thus it doesn't really sink in
3. No logical structure to the order in which you are introduced to aspects of the language. With German I was apparently 30% fluent before I was shown how to count to 10
4. Continually asking you to redo the basics. I can conjugate pretty much every tense now, but Duolingo still thinks I need to practice "Hallo" and "Woher kommst du?"
5. Completely stupid examples ALL THE TIME "The cow is eating an apple"... "My sister, my sister!".... "The dog runs into the wall" etc. etc. Just teach me useful, practical examples!
The most useful thing for me would be to practice listening, so I would love more of the questions where you have to listen in German and then write out what was said (or even better, write out a response). Unfortunately, these are in the minority.
I've been using Rosetta Stone Advanced. It's not as slick or "gamey" as the other versions, but has a lot more content and at much more advanced levels (if I ever make it that far...).
Am presently learning a foreign language for an upcopming trip using a combination of Nemo and Duolingo.
Nemo is good for the very basics. Duolingo is better at grammar and more complex sentences. It can also be frustrating though as the people who set it up appear not to have had English as a first language so you have to learn to type in bad English as it will flag down correct English as wrong.
But this is only on the more advanced levels mind you. I guess they haven't been beta tested as extensively as the basic ones. Up to about level 5 Duolingo is awesome.