Throughout highschool, I've been taking Chinese as a second language. Anyone else who is learning, or has learned another language can share the pain in what it takes to re-teach your brain to work in another language. It takes time and a lot of practice to get down this week’s vocabulary, or this sentence structure before a test. I'm unable to pick up my Textbook and effectively study with the little time I have. Luckily I've found some useful tools that I use to help me learn another language.
Though often looked at as an evil resource by teachers, Google Translate is a useful tool to aid your learning. Whenever I come across a word or phrase I don’t know or recognize, I’ll pull up Google Translate and figure it out. Some teachers express some hostility towards Google Translate, and the have an adequate reason to do so. But that doesn’t mean that it’s still not a resource, but it shouldn’t just be used to do your assignment for you, but to aid you.
Quizlet is a website that allows teacher to create a classroom and have online flashcards for students to study from. I’ve found it very helpful while learning Chinese. Instead of making flashcards while many foreign language teachers make their students do, students can spend more time studying words and terms. Quizlet also offers other study techniques instead of just digital flashcards, that try to reinforce what you know, and single off exactly what you’re not confident on. They created an app that allows you to take quizlet with you on the go. There are also some fun little games that you can play with your terms and definitions.
There are many other good english to other languages apps for you devices. For example I use Pleco, which is an amazing english to chinese translator. It is specifically designed to provide some of the best english to chinese translations out there. I’m able to open the app and draw in the character I don’t know. It offers me sentences that includes the character, and words formed with that character. It’s a great app for anyone learning chinese that I highly recommend.
It’s not just foreign languages that technology can help teach. There are some great apps made by SoloLearn that offer a chance to learn a programing language. They offer Java, Html, SQL, Python, CSS, and PHP. Each app offers a similar experience, but with different content. I’ve been trying out their HTML version to see how it is. It teaches you different tags, and then tests you on it after each session. It has you answer questions by physically typing it in, drag and drop, and multiple choice.
The great thing about all these resources, is their all free. This is great content out there to aid your learning, and many for tools that I haven’t even listed. Though some teachers are hesitant in talking about these kinds of tools, students should understand that these technological tools are not meant to complete your homework for you, but to aid in your learning.
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