By Edmar Neves

Not so long ago, to learn a new language you had to leave home twice a week, go to language school and spend hours studying basic things like the “to be” verb in English or “saludos” in Spanish.

Nowadays, children, teenagers, and many adults learn or supplement their foreign language skills at home and in many cases without even realizing it, by doing activities through interactive games using smartphone’s apps. Naming the magic that makes language learning more practical and fun? Gamification.

Because of technological innovations, language learning applications are a great ally for those who want to practice, complement their knowledge or even learn another language from scratch.

“Even with the return of presence, online classes and the use of new technologies have intensified during the pandemic and continue to have space in this ‘returning to normality’ period,” explains Analigia Martins, Duolingo’s marketing director in Brazil.

For the marketing director, people have experienced this teaching interaction and realized that it can be very practical and efficient, both as a way to complement the content learned in a more advanced and “traditional” course as a way to learn more about the subject, as to walk on one’s own path in this journey of knowledge.

“Another very important feature of apps like Duolingo is the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to teach languages, ensuring that the user has contact with specific lessons that are at the ideal level so that the person does not find the activity too difficult and give up right away, or that it is not too easy,” says Analigia.

In addition, the use of game elements in the learning environment, a technique known as “gamification”, helps to involve and engage users in the activities, enhancing the absorption of knowledge and advancement in the tasks.

“Games and gamified platforms also work as social networks in which users interact with each other exchanging information, knowledge and socializing with people around the world,” says Analigia.

Supporting diverse audiences

Those who think that these applications are only used by young people are wrong. In the Duolingo’s case, the average age of Brazilian users is 30 years old, slightly higher than in other countries.

English teacher Larissa Fajardo, who has a degree in Languages from UFSCar, has been working for 6 years with elementary school children in several educational institutions and with university students in the English without Borders project. She explains that even though the audience of language apps users is younger, people of all ages can easily use them.

“Since these apps are structured by level, the user can start at a basic level that has greater a Portuguese language support ,” explains Larissa.

“Perhaps what could be a barrier is the fact that some people does not have any degree of familiarity with digital technologies to be able to use the application and access the activities,” she adds.

The applications are very intuitive, which helps a lot in the interaction and development of the activities. “You click on a word, and you can hear how it is pronounced, see how it translates, and that is the way to consolidate the content understanding,” says Larissa.

The use of apps in the classroom

The possibilities offered by language learning apps are so diverse and efficient that many schools and private teachers ends up adopting them in their classes, either in classroom activities or in complementary homework.

“I usually offer this alternative to my students, and they really like it because Duolingo, for example, is in game format and this attracts kids who want to advance to the next level,” says Larissa about her experience. “And even if the schools where I work don’t use this application. I always encourage the students to download it and ask them in class what they have learned to encourage those who haven’t downloaded it to study using the method,” she says.

The teacher comments that in one of the schools where she works there is a game application exclusive to the institution, and one of the lessons asks the children to play at home using the application.

This English games dialogues with the content worked in the classroom. Something interesting is that the game is part of the assignment, but it is blocked after a while of use, so the children don’t stay a long time in front of the smartphone,” Larissa says.

During class, there are times when students do tasks using a teaching application, something that mobilizes the whole class and ensures more fun with learning by breaking the classroom’s activities routine.

Are Apps for learning languages worth it?

The answer to this question varies according to each person’s profile. That is why it is important to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of using an application of this type.

Among the advantages are the opportunity to start foreign language studies from scratch and at little or no cost: “I think this is wonderful, because it increases people’s access to this content, providing more opportunity for them to learn a new language,” says Larissa.

Another advantage of using such an application is the possibilities to complement the lesson learned in a more “traditional” course. For example, because it stimulates the users’ interest in giving them the chance to expand the knowledge they have been acquiring.

Now, many of these applications do not allow much interaction with teachers and other users, which is a disadvantage. Especially when the intention is to train conversation in another language, and something that may impair the development of this type of competence.

An app to call your own

Currently, there is a wide variety of language learning apps in Brazil that bring content about foreign languages, with learning methodologies and various technological resources to suit any user profile.

Duolingo is one of the main language learning apps used by Brazilians. There are more than 30 languages to be studied, including endangered languages and fictional ones, such as High Valyrian from Game of Thrones and Klingon from Star Trek. The app relies heavily on “gamification” to encourage the user to have a frequency of study and features translation, listening and speaking activities.

Babbel, on the other hand, uses everyday situations to get the user to study more than 14 languages, including Dutch, Russian, Polish, Swedish, Norwegian, Turkish, and others. There is even a course that teaches Portuguese for foreigners! The activities make use of repetition, and it is worth mentioning the reviews of the subjects already studied, which allow the user to keep the content always fresh in memory.

Speaking of memorization, this is the main pedagogical resource used by Memrise, which has courses for 11 different languages. In addition, there is content for foreign language proficiency tests such as TOEFL and IELTS, focused on the English language.

One last recommendation is TripLingo. Focused on users who intend to travel, the application presents translations and ready-made phrases for those who are traveling to a country where the language is unknown to the user, making communication easier. In addition, TripLingo also offers language courses with recorded audio, flash cards to help memorize the content and a quiz with simple questions for those who want to study in short periods of time.

These are just a few examples of applications available in our market. Each of us has a different way of dealing with content and a different pace of studying, so it is worth researching and testing multiple applications to find out which one best fits your profile.

But the most important thing is that with so many varieties and different methodologies, learning a new language is no longer a stressful and monotonous task. But something dynamic and, why not say it, even fun thanks to the resource of gamification of the activities offered.