Summary
Babbel is one of the most popular online language-learning platform in Europe for Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Indonesian, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and English.
This is no surprise to us here at Free Language – we see that the website has a user-friendliness and effectiveness that could appeal to anyone who wants to start or dig deeper into a language. Though the language courses at Babbel are based on tried-and-true print materials and are written and designed by language education experts, they in fact take full advantage of advanced technology and use the internet and mobile devices to teach in a way that accelerates your progress.
For example, Babbel has developed a state-of-the-art pronunciation trainer with speech recognition that encourages you to talk out loud (taking away any need to feel shy around other speakers!). It incorporates an algorithm that analyzes how close your pronunciation is to that of a native speaker, and you can keep repeating it until you’ve made yourself understandable. This feature, unique in the online language-learning world, is available online on the Babbel website and on Babbel’s new and improved free app for iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch, also available via the website.
Another feature that distinguishes Babbel from other online language software is the Review Manager. It keeps track of your individual progress and detects where your difficulties lie. So, according to what kind of errors you’ve made (or successes you’ve had) in the past, it will prompt you to review certain items at optimized intervals so you’ll commit vocabulary to long-term memory. The Review Manager keeps track of your personal vocabulary – that is, everything you’ve studied so far – and makes it accessible online at Babbel.com and also on-the-go synchronized with the app.
The website and the app are also synched with Babbel Refresh, a downloadable program that reminds you to practice words and phrases from your personalized vocabulary – even when you’re offline.
Basically the whole system is synchronized between all the platforms and tailored to your individual progress. It’s hard to imagine a more personalized language learning experience outside of a one-on-one tutor. The main difference of course is the price. While Babbel is not free, it offers a subscription fee for an ever-growing cache of courses that is extremely affordable. They also often offer a free trial and benefits if you invite friends. You should definitely take a look, we highly recommend it!
Pronunciation Trainer with Speech Recognition for iPhone and iPod Touch
- Foreign language pronunciation training online
- Real-time technology based on the new Adobe Flash Player 10.1
- Free, integrated Babbel iPhone apps also include Speech recognition
The browser-based speech analysis gives learners an instant evaluation, letting them know how close their pronunciation is to that of a native speaker. Included in all Babbel courses online and in the Babbel Mobile App, the feature is available for learners of German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Swedish and English
More on Babbel and Speech Recognition.
Give Babbel a try now!
Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Turkish, Indonesian, Danish, Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish and English