5 Apps Useful When Learning Languages

So you've signed up for the course and now regularly go to classes. Maybe you use our language laboratory. And you not only follow the computer program, but also go to some of the offered workshops. And yet, you still feel your progress is not fast enough. Why? You ask yourself desperately looking for other ways to improve. Well, learning languages is not easy. You need time and patience. And you need to practice regularly. There is no way around it. Twice a week classes are the most typical model offered by the academies, but if you can dedicate a moment each day, it would be much much better. Sometimes just five minutes can make a difference.

Of course, no one expects you to go to your classes every single day. That's why I will try to summarize here 5 useful and easy apps you can use daily to stay in touch with any language that you are learning.

1. Duolingo - free

It's an app that you can use on all your devices: smartphone, tablet, computer – it doesn't matter, it works on all of them. Easy to follow, it offers you 21 languages to choose from on the menu panel. For each menu language, there is a different number of language courses offered and it's constantly growing. At the moment English speakers (English menu panel) can learn 27 languages.

To see that you are progressing, it is done to remind you of a game: you earn points and level up for completing the activities. All of them are short, so it's very practical. You're waiting in a line? Just take out your phone and play a game or two, learn vocabulary and grammar structures, revise. Personally, I would recommend it for lower levels or as a revision tool. It includes level testing, so you don't have to start from the very beginning.

2. Busuu – basic free, premium $

The basic version has different levels that start with vocabulary and follow, depending on the topic with dialogs, memorize (repeating vocabulary), writing tasks, videos and regular exercises. Audios for vocabulary and dialogs are included.

The premium version includes also tests and possibility to download the materials in pdf.

The good side of basuu is that it's not only a web with ready materials, kind of an online course, but the whole platform where you can interact with other users, chat and exchange writings. I believe it to be useful up to upper intermediate level. It also includes travelling and a business course.

3. Babbel – free

Very similar to Duolingo, available both on the Android and on the web. Why on the 3^rd place then? I have an impression the levels are slightly lower than what they should be, but it's just my personal impression. Who knows, maybe you'll enjoy it more than Duolingo? You should try it on your own!

3. Memrise – free

Probably the most complex when it comes to the quantity of offered languages: 188, includes other topics like arts, literature, maths and many others! It may be a bit overwhelming, when choosing the course, and the menu and web are not as clear as the other programs, but the offer is impressive! Creates the possibility to join online groups and use all the learned material in practice.

5. Reverso - free

An online spelling and grammar checker (only English!). Something that not only students might be interested in. We always write in a hurry, often miss something, sometimes change the idea mid-phrase. That tool will hep you to detect your mistakes. Some of them might make you blush...

The text shouldn't have more than 600 characters, but if it does just divide and introduce it in parts. That easy!

Have you used any of the apps described above? Or maybe you have a better one in mind? Please comment!

Computer Disaster

Computers. It seems that we can't live without them anymore. We use them for work and for entertainment. To send business and private emails. To watch films and listen to the music. To research, to call friends and family, to store information, files, documents, photos. To do shopping. One device and sometimes all our live is in there. Translated into dots and bars, send somewhere into virtual world. Some of us are aware of the risks. Some not so much.

Over a week ago, my own computer was attacked by a malicious malware. I always considered myself careful. I have a really goodanti viruss (not very expensive but not cheap either). I regularly update it. I had a copy of all the data. As some years ago one of my external disks crashed, I've decided to store all in the cloud. I rarely download anything from the internet, never from the unknown sources. And yet... I've lost it all. CryptoLocker is the name of my Nemesis. It suddenly attacked one Friday morning when I was preparing one of my classes. The anti virus was on, I was working with the Word file. I haven't downloaded anything, was connected to the internet, but wasn't using it. The computer weirdly slowed down. I supposed it was an updated and didn't pay much attention. I went for a tea and when I was back with my steaming cup, that's what I saw in the middle of the screen, replacing my usual wallpaper:

There was no way to remove it and effectively all my files were encrypted. I turned off the internet connection: I have some minimal instincts of survival in the computer jungle. I tried file by file and all was blocked. Desperation started sneaking into my up to that moment easy and happy morning. The class was not prepared and it was starting in 40 minutes. I had to leave. No time to prepare, no way to use the computer or one of the files I had there for the emergency situation. Almost all my books were stored on the drive C. I was ready to cry. Or to kill someone. But who? In the last moment I grabbed one of not many physical teaching books (don't get me wrong I love books, have a huge library at home, but that's all fiction, not very useful in an English class with children), made some copies, grabbed a word game that could help a bit and run out. How I survived classes and focused on what I was doing instead of obsessing on my disastrous experience, I don't know. At night, back at home, I googled CryptoLocker. From my phone, duh! And what I found was more than discouraging. Of course I run the scan of the whole system. It found lots of things. Among them one, that Google confirmed as CryptoLocker. My computer didn't allow me to restore the previous version of the system (don't ask me why, that's beyond my understanding of the whole situation). Some of the files, allowed restoring the previous version but that was less than 10%. But I had the copy, right. In the cloud. What could go wrong with that? I naively went to OneDrive, recommended by Windows (please, don't ask me why I don't use Linux, unless you have time to visit me, install it, explain the differences and stand all kind of stupid questions I would ask for sure!). I went there with all the security, sure to quickly restore what was lost just to find out that it was all encrypted too. Yes, my safe cloud security version was lost too. I've never imagined (stupid me!) that the virus could recognise the cloud as just another disk. But it did. And it was all gone. Eaten by the cruel gods of the internet. Destroyed by some teenage hacker who just wanted some money for the new Yeezys (I'm so uncool, that I'm not even sure if that's how they're called or if that's the newest cool thing now). And that's the end of the story. You get this because my nice post about learning techniques, about different on-line resources and different free webs was lost. Hopefully, that might be educational too. Hopefully, if you don't have a copy on a disk/cloud whatever that is not connected to the internet you will work on it straight away. But in case you have a problem with CryptoLocker, here is the most helpful video and text I have found:
http://www.idigitaltimes.com/cryptolocker-virus-removal-how-decrypt-or-restore-encrypted-files-and-remove-334250 Also, my geeky friends informed me that the scan of the computer was not enough, as the anti virus failed at first. The virus, they said, is most probably still there. So I'm going now to format the disk. That will finish it off for sure.