I like to learn at least a little language before I travel. Programs seem to come and go - especially the free ones. BBC used to have a free online course. I have a set of Pimsleur French CD's (which are becoming obsolete because cars don't have CD players anymore).
I've signed up for Babble to learn some Swedish and Danish before my next trip (https://share.babbel.com/x/8t5Ips)
Are there other language apps or online courses you find useful?
Duolingo is pretty good considering that it is free.
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I use a combination of Duolingo and the Audible version of Pimsleur. Duolingo is useful for vocabulary and grammar, but Pimsleur is better for speaking and for getting over what I call the "deer in the headlights" reaction when someone speaks to me in a foreign language.
I have been using Duolingo for years. A few observations:
Duo has become more gamified over the years. It's all about trying to increase engagement, sometimes at the expense of depth and understanding. Their rationale is that pushing for a deep understanding of the language is moot if they can't motivate you to open the app every day.
There is a lot of variation in the quality of the courses. Some courses, like French or Spanish, are very comprehensive; others, not so much.
Duo is still a good app, though. I have an almost seven year streak going. It served me well when I was learning Italian and Turkish (and not so well when I tried to learn Arabic). It's also great when you want to brush up on a language that you are already familiar with.
When I started learning Italian, I found some podcasts that were helpful.
I was going to try Babbel, but last time I checked it was roughly $10/month per language. That gets expensive if one is interested in multiple languages.
Most of the online courses, paid or free, are generally good as modern phrasebooks. They have their place, but also their limitations.
For actually learning a language— grammar, vocabulary, syntax—there's really no replacement for real teachers. Italki is a decent platform for matching students/teachers.
Duolingo was part of my pandemic morning routine for a few months. It held my interest. Its not really travel-focused conversational, however, which is what I would have preferred.
There are two ways to learn a language - one is to become familiar with general phrases used in traveling, and one is to really get to know the language so that you can talk with a native speaker somewhat fuently. To do the second, you really need intensive courses either online or in person and lots and lots of practice.
But it sounds like what you are looking for is to become conversant with some phrases and language for the purpose of travel. Duolingo is fine, but I would suggest listening to podcasts. There are some really good podcasts out there and one of the best ones (IMO) is Coffee Break Languages. They have podcasts in about 7 or 8 languages, including Swedish. They are about 15-20 minutes long and try to get you conversant with phrases that travelers would run into, but in more detail than most phrasebooks and language CDs go into. I used it when I first started learning German and liked it a lot - eventually I grew out of it, but I do recommend it for what you are looking for. And it is free. https://coffeebreaklanguages.com/coffeebreakswedish/
I like Busuu because it doesn't just teach phrases.
By the way, FYI, the Swedes and the Danes will probably speak English as well as you do. Those are two places I don't worry about learning the local language. In fact, that includes all of the Scandinavian countries as well as Finland and Iceland.
In Norway, kindergardeners are first introduced to English and they take it all the way through high school.
For Spanish, I really enjoyed the online course Destinos, which was designed as a first-year high school or college-level,course.
https://www.learner.org/series/destinos-an-introduction-to-spanish/
The language is taught by way of a telenovella (soap opera) which is fun and interesting to watch. I looked forward to my time with “Raquel” in each episode, as she travels from Mexico to Spain to Argentina to Puerto Rico in search of a lost heir.
There is also a course in French, named “French in Action”, about a Parisian family.
Lois, I just peeked at Destinos, and I can't wait to try it! I have some Spanish from a college course or two decades ago, and need a refresher. This looks like a fun way to review. Thank you!
Jane, I hope you like it. I got so “hooked” on following Raquel and her adventures that I often watched 2 episodes, or 3, in one session. I have actually watched the whole series twice, once before a 1997 trip to Spain and the Canary Islands, then again for review before our 2017 trip to Patagonia.
And in between the two, around 2001, signed up for a free class in Spanish for the employees at the courthouse where I was working. At the first class I learned that each session would consist of watching a 30-minute episode of Destinos, followed by @5 minutes of discussion and correction of homework from the Destinos written materials (workbook and textbook). Since this was shortly after I had watched the complete series on my own, and completed the exercises from the workbook which I purchased (apparently no longer in print), I decided I had better use of my precious lunch hour. But I found it interesting and a pretty good endorsement of the course itself that the instructor chose this.
For all its faults, I had the most success with Duolingo. I got started learning German with it. Within a few weeks, you can create basic sentences and ask questions, read signs, and learn some basic vocab - food, transportation, furniture, colors, travel.
I need structured, linear learning - start with the basics and progress to more difficult concepts that build upon each other. I can't just jump in and start listening to or participating in conversation. I am too hung up on getting my verb tenses and adjective endings wrong.
I supplemented Duolingo with a lot of Easy German on YouTube (I recommend any of the Easy Languagues) and some other specific German learning sites plus some classes at my local Goethe Institut and one on one Zoom sessions with a teacher. I have tried Ouino, Mango language, Rocket Languages; none of them worked for me. I used Memrise when I was learning a lot of vocabulary. I too recommend the Coffee Break language series. Even when I wasn't actively studying German, I still listened to all the podcasts.
I studied off and on for a few years, got really serious during 2020, and reached B2. Life got in the way and German has fallen by the wayside, but the basics were drilled into me enough that when I went to Berlin in April, the German speaking part of my brain slowly came back to life.
I use Duolingo, but am disappointed that the forums have closed. It was sometimes good to be able to see discussions on why a phrase works in the way it does- particularly where they are irregular in terms of normal grammar user.
I also use a program called Notes - 5 minutes a day of random vocabulary on a theme.
@Lola - I used to use Destinos when I taught Spanish back in the mid-90s. I thought it was good for teaching vocabulary since it showed the item and the word as she was speaking it.
I have never tried Swedish or Danish, but as to other languages, I think it depends on which language you are trying. Many Spanish language online courses are American and therefore spoken with a Central American dialect which sounds different to spoken Spanish in Spain. Likewise many American produced Portuguese courses are Brazilian Portuguese.
I use Comme use Francaise for French which is excellent. I have tried Duolingo Spanish, but it’s difficult to keep enthused about their approach.
"There are two ways to learn a language...." I go for the second way plus studying it too.
Don't forget your local library's list of online resources. Most have several language products. I like Mango. And Transparent Languages is very good with the largest choice of languages. TL offers 3 dialects of Spanish and everything from Albanian to Zulu.
Frank, you are quite correct about the Scandinavians and English. Decades ago my Norwegian father graduated not only fluent in English but also with very good French and German. I wish I had tried harder learning other languages when I was in school.
I found Pimsleur to be a good way to learn basic Italian, and I've also used that for French. I learned enough that I was able to order meals, buy rail tickets or whatever, but no way I could carry on a conversation. On one occasion, I encountered a small restaurant in Switzerland and the older owner did not speak any English. I was able to order in French and he complimented me on my language skills. I was able to understand his compliment, which was especially nice.
As a previous reply mentioned, you'll probably find that many people in European countries will be able to speak some English, especially if they're working in the tourist industry. However, it's always prudent to know a few of the usual greetings in the local languages.
You may be able to transfer the French lessons from the CD's onto your computer. It's been awhile since I've looked into that, so I can't remember how it's done?
Forgot about Duolingo. I've used it quite a bit in the past for French. It seems like I waded through lesson after lesson but never really improved - other than to know what words meant when I saw them (which isn't a bad thing).
French is difficult for me because the pronunciation is so much different than English, German or Spanish/Italian. It seems the more I work on French, the more I screw up other languages.
Swedish is a little easier because I recognize similar (not identical) words from German. I haven't started Danish yet; I'm hoping it's very similar to Swedish.
When I was in Italy, I had many moments where I wondered if a particular word was Spanish or Italian. Eventually I realized they're so similar (Senorita, Senorina) that if I was wrong, it was still understandable. Perfect is the enemy of good, right?
I like that Babel started off asking me what I was looking for. I was able to choose conversational. I'm only about 14 lessons in so it's much too early to tell how successful I'll be when I arrive in Sweden.
I haven't started Danish yet; I'm hoping it's very similar to Swedish.
Especially in the written form they are very similar. The difference between written Danish and written Swedish are only slightly larger than the difference between British English and American English. Learn more: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onduQjgAj8Y
You may find these videos interesting......
They seem to be well researched, but native speakers of those languages would be better able to comment on that. I quite enjoyed his videos on Italian and French.
