As adults, we have it really hard when it comes to learning a language. Our mouths don’t know how to make the sounds and our minds don’t remember the words. Children don’t have that problem. Their brains are sponges to all of the information – it takes them half the time to learn a language.
By the time your child gets to high school or college when they first seriously start learning a language, they are already doomed. Their brains are just like ours (even though it doesn’t seem like it) at that age.
The best thing you can do for your child is to start forming those connections now. Even if your child doesn’t become fluent, just having access to hearing and seeing the language is enough to give a leg up on the competition.
Speaking of that competition, learning a language now can help your child for the rest of his or her life. Jobs will be easier to get, colleges will be impressed, and they are even more likely to travel the world.
But how can your child start forming those connections? By doing something that already happens on a daily basis, playing on the phone:
HelloTalk
If your child is a little outgoing, HelloTalk is a great way to get your child speaking and interacting with the language on the very first day you download it. This one doesn’t use book learning or lesson plans or flashcards to drill the language, instead it uses the power of speech and technology to create a beautiful learning experience that you won’t find anywhere else.
Your child will be connected to someone who natively speaks the language and will be able to hold conversations with them so that his or her speech improves. It is also the most natural way to learn new vocabulary!
As they teamed with video chat company Agora.io, HelloTalk realized that they had a unique chance to connect people from all over the world. This means that the audio and visual connections will be high quality so that everything is seamless. Even better, in ensures that your child will have access to over 100 languages.
You’ll also get access to transliteration skills, grammar correction, and speech to text capabilities all in real time – so your child never stops improving. This one is great for the whole family to do together, and you’ll learn a lot about culture too.
Cost: Free
Busuu
Busuu started out as a small app that really blossomed when over 60 million native speakers got involved to help teach people of any age a language. Your child will be able to dig into the language almost immediately, learning necessary grammar skills, communications skills, and vocabulary words.
One reason that this app is so popular with children is that the pace is adjustable. While the default might be for adults, children can slow up or go more quickly through the different levels.
If your child is stuck about which language to learn, Busuu can help with a list of 150 topics and 3,000 words in many languages that people need to know. It can help give the flavor of what each language is about before selecting one to study.
Cost: Free
Duolingo
Duolingo is an older app than the rest on the list, but all of these newer apps really pushed it to be better. It takes the language and breaks it down into easily digested chunks that are great for children with short attention spans.
Your child will get exposed to the language one step at a time, learning something, testing it, and then building on that knowledge with something new. Everything is adjustable here as well so that your child can move quickly or slow down along the way.
The reason this one is so popular amongst parents is because it was one that really does feel like a game. They are able to level up and play review games.
The only downside is that Duolingo doesn’t really have a focus on speaking or listening. If you want your child to have even more advantage, you might want to combine it with an app that goes into more speaking and communication skills.
Cost: Free
Lingvist
Lingvist is an app that promises a lot: learn a language in just 200 hours. While that does seem incredibly fast, Lingvist really does push you to learn quickly and efficiently. It does this by combining everything into lessons that you might see in school – vocabulary with a side of grammar and even a little culture thrown into the mix.
Like with some of the other apps on the list, you are able to change up the speed so that your child can learn at his or her own pace. The key here is that your child is building up on what is already known so that it isn’t a “test it and forget it” situation like they might have in school.
As of right now, the app is only available in French and English, but they promise that they will add more languages soon.
Cost: Free
Brainscape
Flashcards have been a cornerstone of learning for decades and they don’t really show any signs of fading out. We all used them and people will continue to use them for years. The key is that you should be smart about using them. Too many people will create them and then not have the desire or energy to actually study with them.
Brainscape takes the prep time out of learning a language and throws the flashcards right at you. Through an algorithm that determines the best way to show you the cards, you’ll get access to the language right away. You’ll see cards that you don’t know frequently until you do know them and once you know them, you’ll be able to repeat them so that it all sticks.
Since flashcards aren’t always the most fun, you might want to combine this with another one of the apps on the list.
Cost: Free
Where to Get it: iTunes
Memrise
Those memory skills that we talked about in the opening? Memrise takes advantage of them pretty quickly. Your child will be able to learn any of over 100 languages pretty quickly through the gamelike feel of this app. Once your child gets into the flow of the game, it will be difficult to get them to walk away from it, which is what makes it so great for learning.
Memrise promises to teach children up to 44 new words per hour, which is absolutely insane. It doesn’t have to be that way because you can choose the speed, but it is great to know they can get up to that many words.
Cost: Free; $59/year for pro
If you want to give your child everything in life, then you have to start them off early. It is dog eat dog out there and many countries are rushing a head of us. While you don’t have to drill vocabulary words into your child’s head every night before going to sleep, doing something simple is a great approach to get sustained success.
Why haven’t you downloaded one of these apps yet?
