5 ways to learn languages without moving from your place.

By adesimonb -

Heysel, Brussels.
Summer is the perfect time to travel, at least that's what most people think. You enjoy from spare time to do anything you want: reading a book, watching almost unrestfully a tv serie you have been following for a long time, or just keep yourself in shape by doing  sports you like. However, there is always something missing, to stay motivated during your free time. Usually,  that may concern language learning, and unfortunately there are many people struggling when it comes to  learning a new language, .The good news are that you no longer need to travel to improve your skills. There are many resources available to schedule your own learning process as you can see here. A few years ago, most young people felt they had to travel to a foreign country during summer time so they could improve their level and get involved in a new culture. That eventually led to a waste of time: as it was more likely to meet people  from your country that meeting locals,  and a waste of money as the result of living abroad without earning enough money, 

Still, traveling is always a great chance to make new friends and broadening your perspectives but is not always necessary to learn languages. Here you will find some interesting apps or platfoms that might be useful for you in case you want to learn a new language while making new friends and everything without moving from home. 



I discovered the beta version of this app last year when i was in Belgium. This system contains a huge database of almost every single language you can imagine. As a result from that, if you are interested in learning swahili, (i am wondering who might be interested) you are matched to someone interested to learn your local language. At this point, you will see there is not a big difference compared to other apps ( duolingo, babbel..etc), i guess the main point, is you can immediately correct what the other person is saying so you can mutually improve grammar and writing skills.  Then you also have a video system working pretty well.



I'am pretty sure you all know Couchsurfing, but in case you don't it's a social network enabling people to host people from all over the World. The platform allow you either to "surf" on couches by staying as a guest at a host's home, host travelers, or join multilingual events. It's a great opportunity to meet really interesting people both as a guest or as a host as I experienced myself last year in Belgium.



Those are not exactly ways to meet new people but it can also be really suitable for people seeking to learn a new language on a rather academic approach. Those  free courses, ranging from nanodegrees to longer programmes. are based on multiple subjects depending on your area of interest and you get interaction with professors from the most prestigious universities worldwide. As a reward, you can get a certificate in case you follow the course as any other student would do. The videos you can see through the platform are made by the teachers themselves and you can moderate the speed and add subtitles in case you want to take notes on new words you want to learn. 

4) Ventoura: 

This brand new app is a revolutionary way to promote your city being a local guide on  a highly original way. You can also register as a traveller.  There, you won't find the typical made-up tours, where the guide seems to be repeating the same thing all day long without any particular interest, instead tours are done by locals interested in showing you " hidden spots" of their city. Of course, the price is set by the guide so you can choose which tour might suit you the best. 

5) Cult

Finally this ambitious platform aims at gathering people from all around the World. They have one correspondent in every single country reporting weekly on interesting news or curious facts about their country. At the end you get a whole perspective on what's happening outthere from a refreshing point of view. 

So hope you enjoy your summer and take a look on all those apps that will turn your summer into an international experience.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mi experiencia como becario ICEX

By adesimonb -
Image
Este mes de Marzo 2018 supone el fin a un proceso que empezó hace ya más de tres años, hacia finales de 2014, y que me ha llevado hasta el punto donde hoy me encuentro. Hablo de la beca ICEX , proceso que se compone de tres fases diferenciados. La primera consiste en un Máster en CECO al que se accede tras superar un largo proceso de selección. A continuación, vas un año destinado a una Oficina Comercial, en mi caso la de Casablanca. Por último, la última fase consiste en pasar un año en una empresa u organismo internacional ya sea en España o fuera. En este texto, me gustaría realizar un breve análisis de lo que ha sido este proceso y con ello espero hacer de guía para todos aquellos que se planteen realizar este Máster cuyo plazo de inscripción empezó esta semana . Si que me gustaría aclarar que para mi el Máster ICEX no fue algo nuevo ya que mi padre ya fue becario ICEX en su época, por lo que todo esto me era familiar en cierta medida. No obstante el proceso de la beca,
Read more

las Monarquías en el Mundo ( I )

By adesimonb -
Image
Monarquías del Mundo ( fuente:  CIA World Factbook )                       En plena época de crisis donde la única consigna es la de la austeridad, instituciones como la Monarquía asociadas en el imaginario colectivo a una vida de lujos y opulencia son cada vez más cuestionadas. Para muchos la institución monárquica no es compatible con el Mundo actual en el cual nadie debería ser privado de la oportunidad de convertirse en Jefe de Estado por sus propios  méritos  y no por el privilegio de pertenecer a una determinada Dinastía. Pese a todos estas opiniones, lo cierto es que la  Monarquía  como forma de Gobierno sigue presente en varios Estados en el Mundo, algunos de ellos considerados entre los más desarrollados del Mundo. (ej: Noruega, 1º en el ranking de Índice de desarrollo humano) Existen diversas tipos de Monarquía desde el extremo de Monarquías absolutas, muy minoritarias, encarnadas por ejemplo en el multimillonario Sultán de Brunei, Monarquía más tradicionales que
Read more

Europa o la traición de unos valores.

By adesimonb -
Image
Lo primero condenar firmemente los atentados cometidos en Abidjan (Costa de Marfíl) y Ankara (Turquía), aunque cueste creerlo a tenor de los medios, los atentados no solo ocurren en París. Además, me gustaría agradeceros el apoyo en el concurso 20 Blogs, del 8º puesto he pasado al 5º puesto lo que supone todo un éxito teniendo en cuenta el nivel de los rivales. Ahora solo queda esperar al 1 de Abril para conocer el veredicto definitivo del Jurado. Valoro la experiencia como algo muy positivo porque me ha motivado a la hora de introducir mejoras en el blog, tanto a nivel de plantilla y diseño como a nivel de comunicación con una página Facebook  que ya ha superado los 100 likes  en tan solo dos semanas. Por otro lado, deciros que me marcho a Senegal unos días en Semana Santa con un amigo, también becario ICEX, que viene desde Costa de Marfil por lo que espero informaros de esta experiencia a la vuelta dedicándole una entrada. 
Read more