As you know, we have recently moved off grid in order to live a more simple lifestyle although we have managed to complicate things a little in that we also moved to a foreign country. Yes, we have the great weather and live quite close to the beach but wow...having to deal with the complexities of life in both an unfamiliar bureaucratic system and in a foreign language has been hard.

Of course, we have had the odd funny moments. For ages, we went around telling everyone from the supermarket checkout girl to the bank manager that we were “caliente”. In fact, this does mean hot but more in terms of how sexy you think someone is rather than the air temperature, which is what we meant. And then there was the time that I tried to give the water man directions to my house and instead of telling him the house was high up, I ended up saying that it was open which isn’t quite the same thing and could have caused some confusion.

So, I obviously needed to improve my language skills and, since we live so far away from the town, an online course seemed the best option. Having used Babbel for a while but for some reason not really gelling with it, I have come across Memrise.

Now, it’s not that other language learning apps don’t do any of the following but these are the reasons that I like Memrise:

Accessibility

I can use Memrise on both my smartphone and my computer which I find very helpful. I really prefer to use the app on the computer but if we are out for the day and I am waiting around with time on my hands, what better use of it than to learn Spanish.

Learning Style

The app focuses on learning key words and phrases from the start rather than rote learning. It is more like a child would start to learn language rather than lists of vocabulary to learn or verbs to conjugate. The fact that I have key phrases from the very start means that I have quickly gained confidence with the language, meaning I talk more with the locals and thus become more proficient.

Additionally, the app uses a mixture of listening, reading and writing to really help the words stick in your head. The listening is via native speakers as well which greatly helps with the accent.

Reminders

Now, some people might find this a bit childish but I quite like it. If you don’t access the app each day, it sends you a text reminding you to “report to training”. For me, this does prompt me to log back in and keep learning.

Sociability

With memrise, you have the option to follow other people and chat with them. I haven’t actually done this yet but perhaps I should in the name of research!
I do also like the fact that there is a leaderboard. I am quite competitive so, again, this really helps me to keep working on my course as I try and get further up!

I really think that Memrise is the best language app that I have come across but I would be very happy to hear of any other apps or ways of learning a new language that other people use.