There are countless benefits to learning new languages. – knowing different cultures, communicating in a foreign country at ease, understanding marvelous music, movies, and art from other nations’ artists, global business handling, and last but not least – it’s fun.
Here are hand-picked websites and mobile applications to get you started:
Are you ready?
Bookmark this article as a resource you can refer to later in your journey to learn new languages and cultures. The resources below are timeless.
Ba Ba Dum – Friendly website where you can learn 1500 words in 13 languages on five games. It’s quite addictive and colorful.
Babbel – Community-driven platform to learn 14 different languages. They also have mobile and tablet apps.
Memrise – Offers thousands of courses created by community members. Courses are available in science or history too, in different languages. Their mobile app is amusing and a great way to learn with real-time exercises.
Busuu – A social network for learning new languages. If you are stuck somewhere, 40 million users will help you anytime. It has iPhone and Android apps too.
Duolingo – The most popular and free website to learn dozens of languages. Also available as smartphone apps.
“Learning a foreign language not only reveals how other societies think and feel, what they have experienced and value, and how they express themselves, it also provides a cultural mirror in which we can more clearly see our own society.”
Chancellor Edward Lee Gorsuch
Livemocha – A community of learners where people correct each other’s assignments and provide useful teachings through text and flashcards. Free online courses are available in 35 languages.
BBC Languages – A massive resource to learn more than 36 languages through video and audio courses made by BBC.
Verbling – Online classes and private tutoring to learn new languages.
Lingocracy – An easy way to build vocabulary while having fun.
Recommendation
Apart from learning, you should take some time to see the movie “Eat, Pray, Love” or if you’re a reader, consider reading its book, Elizabeth Gilbert.
The story about Liz Gilbert. After her difficult divorce, she travels to Italy (Eat and enjoy life), India (Pray – to find her spirituality), and Indonesia (Find balance and end up falling in love). Notice her experiences of getting acquainted with and inheriting new cultures and languages.
