export_ofoct.com

[00:00.40] We know it’s good to learn another language.

[00:03.59] It opens doors, makes you more employable, helps you make new friends, and it’s fun too.

[00:11.29] But to improve our linguistic skills, many of us have to endure hours of school lessons or evening classes, with our heads buried in textbooks.

[00:21.38] It’s no wonder then that technology appears to be providing a better and more accessible way of learning.

[00:28.56] There is certainly a huge demand for language learning, and having a smartphone means you can have a virtual teacher with you wherever you go.

[00:39.71] Many app developers are keen to cash in on the demand, and there are numerous learning apps available – including our own, free, BBC Learning English app! One of many popular apps, Duolingo, offers 91 courses in 30 languages and has more than 300 million users.

[00:58.30] Some educational apps offer languages not popular enough to be taught at evening classes, or at most universities.

[01:06.80] And others offer ‘invented’ language courses in Esperanto, Elvish and Star Trek's Klingon – lessons you might not find in a traditional classroom.

[01:17.96] Whatever you want to learn, apps allow you to go at your own pace and fit learning around other commitments.

[01:25.66] But they’re not perfect – you might not get your head round the grammar and will lack the peer support you could get in a classroom environment.

[01:35.49] So, does technology spell the end of traditional classrooms and teachers? Guy Baron, head of modern languages at Aberystwyth University, thinks not.

[01:46.38] He told the BBC that apps should be used alongside classroom methods, not to the exclusion of traditional teaching.

[01:55.15] And he adds: "The apps are very conversational... they're not designed for degrees, but they could be additional resources."

[02:05.51] Certainly technology is going to help in and outside the classroom.

[02:10.02] But attending a real lesson, facing a real teacher, probably forces you to be more committed.

[02:16.93] Motivation can be a problem when using an app.

[02:20.65] But if you have a genuine and practical reason to learn another language, you will no doubt stick with it.