LingoDeer: A Five Star App for Learning Asian Languages

Hi everybody! It's been a while. Today, I wanted to introduce you to an app I recently discovered. I kept hearing about LingoDeer through the language-learning community grapevine (yes, that is a real thing), and all I heard was good things. I was excited to try it!

LingoDeer is an only an app at this point. But it's definitely one you want to have if you are learning Japanese, Korean, or Mandarin Chinese.

I got under a cozy blanket and spent at least twenty minutes working on this cool app. I might have actually spent more time as I lost track of it.

The app is very fun and game-like. When you get an answer correct, you hear a Ka-Ching! sound with is a positive sound, in my opinion.

The game will have you drag and drop characters onto the board to construct a sentence. It will also have you practice writing the characters. Every feature of the game was fun. There was no part I didn't like.

The voice was good and clear, too!

Ready for the best part? I found myself remembering the words that I had learned. Sometimes, I try out a course for Mandarin Chinese, and I forget the vocabulary immediately. (Mandarin is one of the tougher languages for me to learn.) But with LingoDeer that didn't happen! Now, I want to shout about it from the rooftops.

If you're leaning any of the three languages they offer,

GO. GET. LINGODEER. RIGHT. NOW.

(Can you tell I'm excited about this app? Lol)

Linguti

http://www.linguti.com

Linguti vs. Duolingo: A face off?

At first glance, it looks like Linguti might just be the new Duolingo. It has many similar features, including a streak, money to buy power ups, and a general gamified learning environment. I decided to review Linguti and find out what made it stand out! And whether it's competition has anything to worry about. 

Linguti offers a few languages that Duolingo doesn't. Korean and Japanese, for example. But I decided on French, because I struggled with it on Duolingo. (Mostly due to the robot voice.)

The course starts out with vocabulary. The first thing I noticed, and this is definitely a pro, was a human voice said the words. Not a robot voice! I think Duo is great, but that robot voice is horrible and will always be a con in my book.

After the vocabulary, you start learning simple sentences right away. This is similar to Duolingo, but you are treated to real pictures throughout the course, not just for vocabulary. This is a huge pro for visual learners. 

The listening tests and midterm reviews were also nice features. Unlike Duolingo, Linguti makes you take two tests, a midterm review and a review, before you can move on to the next part of learning. Definitely a pro!

Now for the downside, because there always seems to be one. Linguti didn't seem to have any community or forum discussion. So unlike Duolingo, you can't discuss grammar concepts with other learners. This might be a pro for solo learners who would be distracted by the community environment, but for me it was a definite downside. I did see a spot for notifications of friend requests but no actual place to find friends. 

Another con of Linguti is that they don't accept alternative correct answers. They do allow you to report bugs like this, though. While this definitely can hinder the learning experience, I think it is something the site will improve over time.

They are also very strict about accents. But for those who want to make sure that they are always spelling the words correctly, with accents in place, this is definitely a pro!

Overall, I did like the look and feel of the Linguti learning experience, and I will probably visit this site from time to time.

If your target language is Japanese, Korean, or (coming soon) Chinese, you'll definitely want to give Linguti a chance!

Pros: Completely free

Human voice

Many pictures 

Tests

Offers Japanese and Korean

Cons:

Strict about accepting answers

No discussion forum

Languages: French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish

Similar to: Duolingo, Mondly, Rosetta Stone

YY Nihongo

Yynihongo is a site where you can practice Japanese by immersing yourself.

Nihongo is the Japanese word for Japanese.

Click on the little flashcards and they bring up a picture.

You can click on different things in the picture to hear their name in Japanese. It also shows the name in English.

This site is good for people who have a basic knowledge of Japanese and can read some Japanese.

But even if you can't speak any Japanese you should check out the site if you are interested in learning the language.

I recommend combing this with LiveMocha Japanese lessons and Memrise.

Languages: Japanese

Easy Japanese

When Faith and I started attending Twincentric Academy we met another set of twins named Aiko Hope and Akiko Grace who have Japanese parents. They grew up here but speak Japanese at home with their parents. Meeting Hope and Grace inspired me to learn some Japanese, too.

This is one of the best sites I found!

Easy Japanese is a site created for people who want to learn Japanese anyway. It is very kid friendly, I think with it's cute interface. Anybody of any age should enjoy it.

On the front page they have a word of the day.

Today's word of the day is Watashi.

There are a bunch of fun games to learn your Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. All of the games are fun and easy.

In the first picture above is the Kana quiz where you can see how much Kana you can recognize. This is for people who have been studying the writing.

The second picture shows a memory game which is better for beginners who are stilling getting confused.

The third picture is a game where you click on a piece of Hiragana and it shows you how to write it.

The fourth picture is Kana invaders. You can use the game to practice your Kana recognition.

They have a new area called Lessons which teaches you Japanese in lessons. It is not a game. It just shows you the words but it is interesting and if you are very interested in Japanese I think you will enjoy spending time in this area.

Personally, I think the best thing about the site is the writing games and the games that show you how to write. So, go check it out.

Have fun.

Learn A Language

You can Learn A Language! There are eight to choose from.

Sign up and choose which course you are going to learn. For this example, I chose Italian.

An overview of what you will learn from the course.

Once I signed up I was introduced to Einstein. Or at least a 3D guy who looks an awful lot like Einstein. He gave me a tour of Learn A Language.

Einstein teaches you how to use the site.

Yep, that's right. Einstein gives you the grand tour of Learn A Language. There is a lot to do on this site as you can see in the picture above.

First you learn the your new words or phrases in the Learning Lounge.

3D Animals!

They show you the word in English and then in your target language. They even show you a picture of each of the words you learn. Olive loves this site because she loves learning the animals with their 3D moving pictures. It's her favourite!

After you learn the words you are going to have to prove you know them!

The first game is multiple choice to make it easy for you and help you learn the words a little better before you test them. It is called Memory Machine.

Once you have used the memory machine you should know most of the words well enough to  play a game that requires you to type in the words. This next game is called Soccer Game.

The idea is that you are playing soccer but the concept is the same as Hangman. It just has a prettier picture. You hit letters that you think are in the word. If they are in the word they appear in the "Letters Correct" area. If they are not correct, then you don't block the soccer ball and your team loses.

So, there you go. Choose a course, practice the words, play the games, and Learn A Language with Learn A Language.

Have fun.

Oh, but don't cut out of class early. Einstein hates that and won't give you any points for the lesson you quit!

Languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish