Similar software for language learning mobile apps language learning app module

• CAN8
• Benefits:
• • focus on repetition, speaking. Student hears a lot and says a lot in the language, and it helps familiarize them with the feeling of saying the words out loud, minimizing stage fright when they actually talk to live speakers.
• • used by students working with a teacher, who monitors their progress and can give them more useful feedback than an automated program would be capable of.
• Pitfalls:
• • confusing and outdated interface--unintuitive for students to navigate.
• • no automated method of uploading--each sound and text file must be entered individually by hand. While that does provide a good chance for double-checking work, it slows down the process enough to be detrimental overall.
• • limited picture/video capabilities--visuals must be 320 pixels by 140, even with a full computer screen available.
• • exists only for Windows systems
• • requires additional hardware (headset with mic)
• • not customizable to the student--each student is presented with the same material in the same way, regardless of proficiency.

• Busuu app
• Benefits:
• • cute interface, easy for students to grasp
• • provides a specific "my mistakes" section to easily review material the student found difficult
• • with online version, provides "my corrections" section to examine and learn from other students' mistakes
• • when the student does well, they earn an in-game pseudo-currency (berries)
• • can synch account across devices, continue using it on different systems
• • good tests/exercises--multiple ways for student to test skills (in a written platform)
• • • comprehension questions for dialogues (which are always well advanced beyond student's familiarity)
• • • drag-and-drop sentence creation (given scrambled words, must create grammatical sentence)
• • • drag-and-drop L2 words/phrases to their L1 translation
• • • multiple choice vocabulary questions
• • • etc.
• Pitfalls:
• • offline version is quite limited--"my corrections" and other features become unavailable
• • too reading/writing-focused--though the student hears the language, they never need to speak it

• memrise
• Benefits:
• • nice metaphor and game (learning a new concept = planting a seed; reviewing it = watering it)
• • sends reminders to user to "take care of their garden" (aka review material)
• • multiple exercise types
• Pitfalls:
• • no speaking component
• • offline functionality is very limited

• pimsleur
• Benefits:
• • requires that student speak (and listen) early on
• • repetition is encoded into the program
• • right-to-left repetition of word by syllable--great for showcasing endings, especially in an ending-heavy language like Mi'gmaq.
• Pitfalls:
• • doesn't focus on teaching writing systems--it's possible, but not easily-accessible
• • no gamification

* [listen and speak](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ninespikes.android.lsteacher) * Benefits: * * requires that student speak (and listen) early on * * extremely naturalistic mode of learning (repetition of phrases you might not actually understand) * * student picks topics they want to learn about * * analyses recording of student's voice and grades it * Pitfalls: * * requires that the resources (audio and textual) exist for a vast variety of topics--Mi'gmaq simply doesn't have that, and it would require building from the bottom up * * naturalistic approach can seem intimidating at first