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As easy as learning Chinese!

Author: Joanne Lawrence
by Joanne Lawrence
Posted: Jul 25, 2014

'Social Language’ is a popular new smart phone app that is catching the attention of Chinese language learners across the world. It’s an app that disproves the common belief that the Mandarin language is too difficult to learn - showing its users that it really can be fun and easy.

Gone are the days of slogging through 6 CD foreign study sets - full of bland phrases and flat automated sounding voices. These days mobile apps offer the perfect format for language learning - and ‘Social Language’ is an excellent example for how to make learning another language accessible and rewarding. With a smart interface, the app allows it’s Chinese and English speakers to share lessons, take quizzes and improve their level step-by-step with other REAL people. When you start, you’re given the freedom to pick and choose your Chinese tutors with a wide range of accents (be it Beijing, Taiwan or many other regions) and you can learn as quickly or slowly as you wish. Chinese speakers also have the benefit of learning from UK, Canadian and US speakers. There is a clear learning map with different subjects you can practice - and fun quizzes to review each section.

There are of course many benefits to learning foreign languages- and Mandarin Chinese is fast becoming the first choice second language for learners everywhere. Job opportunities, Chinese / English business and travel prospects can be greatly improved with a simple grasp of Chinese - and if you want to impress your English friends it’s also a great skill to have. Having tried this app for a couple of weeks now, I start to wonder why I used to waste my time with silly birdy and fruity games before. When I’ve got a spare moment, this app lets me kill time in a way that is actually USEFUL (and it really is quite satisfying to have a Mandarin speaker half way around world send me a recorded message saying "Wow! You did a good job!").

The system works using a simple language exchange. All you need to do is record some simple English lessons to earn reward tokens, which you can then use to learn Chinese lessons in exchange (you also get plenty of tokens when you log in and take quizzes). That’s it! Nothing gets too personal - if you have no interest in making foreign friends you don’t have to record messages of encouragement when learners take your lessons, a simple rating suffices. I’ve found I always have more tokens than I ever need and the only difficult part of recording my own lessons is trying not to put on a silly English accent.

Whether you want to be a fluent speaker or just need a few phrases for your trip to Shanghai, Social Language is a pretty good place to start. It’s available on ’iTunes’ and ’Google Play’ devices now and it’s free to use today. I’d recommend you try it!

About the Author

Language and tech lover, enjoying traveling and writing everything about the world.

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Author: Joanne Lawrence

Joanne Lawrence

Member since: Jul 19, 2014
Published articles: 1

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