Mastering a language is no easy task but learning key phrases and brushing up on a language you already know (or kind of know) can go a long way in a foreign country. Personally, I like learning on Rosetta Stone but it is expensive. Duolingo is 100% free and is a great alternative way to learn a language.
How does it work?
- They test your language level in the language of your choice
- They provide you with sentences to translate
- You translate the given sentence
- You have then helped to translate the web for non-native speakers of that language
The goal of Duolingo is to translate the entire web. This sounds like an enormous task but as the video points out if 1 million people helped translate web pages they could translate the entire English web to Spanish in 80 hours.
Will it Actually Help You Master a Language?
Perhaps not, but if you took a language in high school or college and want to brush up it will definitely help with your vocabulary. The only true way to master a language is to immerse yourself in it. Duolingo will help you pick up some new phrases, remember past ones, and hopefully make your trip a little easier with some practice. The best part is you are potentially helping someone read a web page they were never able to before.
For more info watch this video from Duolingo:
