There is a perception that learning a new language is complex and time consuming.
Users can also compete with friends, earn points, have stripes and earn virtual currency to spend on bonus items. It is one of the greatest motivators to maintain the interest of the students.
If a user meets his daily goal, five days in a row, he has a five-day streak. And if they lose a day, their streak is reduced to zero. It is a simple concept, but very significant for many.
Interaction
While it is very popular, Duolingo does not involve the kind of interaction or immersion that can be crucial to achieve language skills.
There are a variety of popular paid language learning tools (see panel) such as Rosetta Stone and Babbel that offer similar game-style approaches to learning and access to individual tutors. However, they have a cost.
Asking someone if they would like to be fluent in another language is the same as asking if they would like to be fit and healthy. The answer is always yes.
But class schedules with fixed schedules can be a great barrier since most people's schedules change on a day-to-day basis.
So, the first benefit of learning online is that it can happen anytime, anywhere, as long as you have a smartphone or device.
You can decide when you want to learn so you don't miss prepaid classes because you have something to do or you just aren't in the mood.
Bee Bilingual Online is currently aimed at young professionals and ambitious students, many of whom missed a good introduction to languages during their school years, a very critical situation in Spanish-speaking countries.
Incentive to learn
There is a perception that learning a new language is complex and time consuming.
Because students tend to think that it is more difficult to do well in foreign languages than other subjects, many of them drop out of language altogether at age 14.
But there have been initiatives to improve this, namely the idea of introducing languages to children at younger ages to make it easier to assimilate and continue.
While online learning is growing, there are different views on the effectiveness it has as a medium. Could they really be a credible replacement for classroom learning?
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