The best mobile applications for learning foreign languages. Language learning apps

I have always been fascinated by people who speak several foreign languages. By the way, I never dreamed of becoming a polyglot. However, when traveling to countries where English is not the native language of the majority of residents, the "foreigner" factor comes into play.

You will most likely be perceived primarily as a tourist who came to gawk at their country and only visits strictly certain places of interest in a particular city.

The “foreigner” factor assumes that you will perceive information only in your native language/English, without absolutely understanding what is going on around you. The likelihood of getting into stupid situations, being deceived and limiting information also increases by an order of magnitude.

But if you know the language of the country where you are going, the attitude towards you will become noticeably warmer: you will understand more and better, you will be able to communicate about anything and, most importantly, you will learn how and how the people of this country live.

For me, the main point of learning a language is not translating “mom washed the frame,” not passing exams, not cramming tests, but communication.

Motivation

So, I decided to study Italian. Italian, IMHO, is a very beautiful and melodious language: the merging of prepositions with articles alone is worth it. But Italian also has difficulties in learning, first of all, conjunctions, articles, and verbs. However, any other language has its difficulties.

My experience of learning Italian began about 3-4 years ago. Although this course was informal, that is, the emphasis was not on academic learning, but rather not on informal communication, I failed. First of all, I was embarrassed to speak. Secondly, I misunderstood the rules. Thirdly, on initial stage I spent too much time studying grammar. But one plus still remained - I learned the alphabet, learned to read and learned how the endings of verbs of three conjugations change.

Benny Lewis
An Irish polyglot who travels the world and learns new languages. He sees his mission as showing people that languages ​​can be learned quickly and effectively.

A little time passed, and I was again inspired by the idea of ​​learning Italian. I bought some kind of textbook, and it lasted me exactly five days, after which I threw it on the far shelf, where it collects dust to this day. I was frustrated by the endless boring exercises and rules, so it's no wonder that Italian became a pipe dream for me.

This summer, I was wandering around the Amazon website and came across a book by an Irish polyglot, “Fluent in three months,” where he shared his technique. Having become acquainted with his story, in which he tells how he learned eleven languages, I learned for myself main idea- a method in which there is no place for speaking practice from the first day of training is, by default, complete bullshit and a waste of time.

I received another signal of fate when I read the book “The Language Exit Point or How to Quit a Foreign Language.” I confidently recommend this small but very useful book to those who have suffered through the courses and are still embarrassed to speak a foreign language.

Elena Shipilova
Creator of distance courses foreign languages Speak As Soon As Possible and speakasap.com, whose mission is to make people multi-speakers.

What motivated me? The idea that on a trip to Italy I will be able to talk without problems with the staff of a hotel, restaurant, cafe. That I can read and understand what they write about. And that if I succeed with Italian, in the future I will be able to take a swing at French, since they are similar. It is difficult to maintain motivation, but it is possible. After about 10-12 days of realizing and following your goal, a sincere interest in the language appears.

Benny Lewis claims that a foreign language can be learned in 90 days, which is exactly the period available to Americans coming to Europe as a guest. My goal was more modest - to understand the principles Italian language, learn to speak and explain yourself in 90 days.

My experiment began on June 6th. Did I succeed? Yes, no doubt. During these 90 days, I learned a lot of things that I would not have been given in expensive courses. And most importantly - I can talk!

General rules and guidelines before starting to learn a language - what I understood during these 90 days

You won't know the language 100%

Yes Yes exactly. That’s why you give up studying it, because under your vague formulation “I want to know... the language” anything is hidden: grammar, reading, fluency in phraseological units... Surely you vaguely understand what it means to “know a language perfectly” , but are aimed at the result C1/C2, which in the European Framework of Reference for Languages ​​means “advanced level”.

But you will never know a language perfectly, because the language changes and you have too little time. If you want to master a language immediately, completely and completely, you will spend a lot of effort, but you will get scanty benefits. It is much more important to master the basics of grammar and learn many words that will definitely be useful to you in communication and reading.

Therefore, at the very beginning, discard such motivation as “to know perfectly.” Let your goal be “actively use the language”

Need to set a deadline

Parkinson's First Law states: “Work fills all the time allotted to it.” Accordingly, if you have a blurred time frame for when you should begin to express yourself more or less tolerably, you will most likely never use it. Instead, you will continue to study new and new textbooks and techniques.

So make just two decisions about timing:

1. I will use the language for 90 days, and then it will become easier and genuine interest will appear.
2. I will speak the language from the first day of training.

Your goal is to get the point across

The use of language is, first of all, communication. It doesn’t matter what it is: personal or virtual. If you are learning a language to only translate or read and never communicate, you can continue to learn the language using traditional methods.

As Benny Lewis points out in his book, you should be speaking your target language from day one. Here you can give in to panic and stop studying anything at all: “I can’t do anything at all and I don’t know anything!”

You're right. You Bye you don't know anything. But let's understand why speaking is more important than the ability to read, translate and write fluently. You probably know people who have studied a language for several years at school or university or in courses, but when they meet a native speaker they are speechless. No wonder. After all, speaking a foreign language in our educational systems they hardly teach.

It is through conversation that most communication occurs - conveying your thought, opinion or question to the interlocutor. It is through conversation that you feel the language, and it is through conversation that the instant use of language occurs, which is not taught in textbooks. Therefore, strive to talk as much as possible from the first day of study.

Be a child

Dear mothers, please remember how you taught your child to speak? Do you remember? I give Bonk's textbook a check that you didn't shove Rosenthal's reference book or Ozhegov's dictionary under his nose so that he could learn to speak.

How does a child learn language? He just uses familiar words. He has no idea about cases, genders, compound or complex sentences, participles, verbs or tenses. So how can he speak Russian at three years old, but by the age of four or five his questions are making his head spin? 25 frame? Ilona Davydova?

Right! He's just talking. He speaks, ignoring the mistakes. Adults correct him, and he remembers what is correct. He speaks every day. He asks the meaning of the words. Thanks to the absence of fear, complexes and embarrassment (“What if that little guy from the third floor laughs at me for saying “palakhod” incorrectly?), the child begins to use language. The sooner he begins to read, at least syllable by syllable, his vocabulary will inevitably be enriched. Then - conversation plus reading, and now the child already speaks the language quite well. But when our hero has already grown up, teachers intervene in the matter and turn him into a “literate person” (although, judging by how many spelling and punctuation errors you see on social networks, there is a suspicion that this did not help everyone).

So, you must put aside all fears and embarrassment when speaking in the target language. If the process of reading and writing is more inward, then communication inevitably leads to contact with another person. So you shouldn't be shy. Two more rules follow from this principle.

You talk like shit

The first corollary of the principle “Be a child” is that you should speak without any embarrassment and as bad as possible at the beginning. Don't worry, it won't be perfect the first time. Most likely, at first your speech will consist of groaning, grunting, simple words and lots and lots of errors! But this is great!!! After all, it is thanks to mistakes that a child, and other people, learn.

Your success and progress in colloquial speech is directly proportional to the number of errors. The more you do at first, the easier it will be later. First you will remember how this word is said, how it is used at that time, and then each time the learning curve will tend to increase. Your memory will simply get angry at these mistakes and, in the end, it will remember how to speak correctly.

Fuck the rules (only at the beginning)

While talking, you will frantically remember this or that rule that needs to be applied in the conversation. But at the beginning of training this should not worry you. Rules are necessary, but only after you have already “conversed,” that is, after 5-6 speaking lessons, you will be able to learn the simplest grammatical rules.

At first, you can always learn the simplest words, pronouns and constructions, such as: “I”, “you”, “he”, “how are you”, “hello”, “good”, “I’m working”, “my name is”, “what’s your name”, “how old”, “I’m studying”, “I like” and feel free to use them. Then, when you become confident that speaking is not scary, you will be able to immerse yourself in fascinating world simple grammar (at first only simple present, past and future tenses).

There is always time

“I don’t have time” is the coolest excuse. But there is always time. I learned the language in the evening, “stealing” 30 minutes from social networks and then, when returning from work on the bus. When you study remotely with a native speaker and pay him at the same time, you willy-nilly find time for this.

Use the time you spend in transport in queues. Less Facebook, games and idle pastime, and time, as if by magic, will appear.

Tools

In fact, any book will be useful after second week of speaking practice. You should choose a book that explains grammar as simply and clearly as possible. Everything else can be burned and forgotten. You study one lesson a day from the book, memorize the words. Write down what you don’t understand and ask your teacher.

This site has ready-made lessons that will allow you to get a small base in seven lessons. Language marathons are also regularly held there, which will allow you to learn and explore a lot in a month.

I studied grammar one lesson at a time, I tried so hard not to get hung up on difficult topics or complex grammatical structures. I took the basic principles, did the exercises, and asked my teacher what I didn’t understand.

Application for learning words. Gives reminders about a word with its translation. Available as an extension on Chrome. A nice bonus: if you are reading on your phone and see an unfamiliar word, you can highlight it and Biscuit will instantly translate it into English and save this card for studying it.

English-Italian dictionary (via in-app purchases). I liked the fact that all tense forms of the verb are indicated there.

Application for keeping a diary. Around the end of my mini-challenge, I started journaling in Italian to improve my writing skills.

Songs

Of course, the Italian stage is very well known to the older generation, primarily through Celentano and Toto Cutugno. Among the modern ones we can remember Bocelli, Ramazzotti and a couple more. But when you discover the world of Italian pop music, you simply listen to it.

But you need to listen with benefit. To do this, print out the words of your favorite song and try to translate it. Avoid the temptation to copy-paste an entire song into Google Translate at once. First, read the text carefully, then find familiar words and grammatical structures, and then start translating.

If this song is your favorite, then hum it, this way you will automatically remember the words and grammatical structures.

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To improve your level of a foreign language, you don’t need a lot of money or time, you just need to have a smartphone and a thirst for new knowledge.

website I have collected smartphone apps for you that will help make the process of learning a foreign language as effective and fun as possible.

Duolingo

LinguaLeo

This application is of a gaming nature. The points you earn allow you to move through the levels. There is an opportunity to study words and phrases, compile your own dictionary with voiceover, practice grammar, and develop communication skills with other users of the resource. Based on the initial test, recommendations are offered to help fill the knowledge gaps identified by the test.

Parrot Player

Allows you to divide any audio file previously downloaded to the iPhone into small sections for repeating them many times. Moreover, you can choose which of the passages to include in repetition and which not. Very useful for practicing dialogues. The interface is convenient and simple.

ListeningDrill

The program allows you to download videos from TED.com and view them with subtitles simultaneously in two languages. A dictionary is automatically compiled for each word, and you can specify which one online dictionary at the same time, use for translation, repeating the desired passage the required number of times, playback speed, and you can also add files yourself.

Learn English by Listening

An excellent audio course for beginners, it is available online in the form of audio files and separate scripts for them. The user is offered a story to listen to English language. The articles are divided into six difficulty levels, which range from very easy to very difficult. When your skills improve, you can choose the next level.

This is not one, but a whole group of applications for learning languages. You can find versions of Busuu for learning English, German, French, Japanese, Spanish and Turkish. There is a separate application that covers “English for the traveler.” All tasks in the application are divided into lessons of varying complexity. First, the user is shown words with illustrations, then asked to read the text and answer questions about it, then a short written task. At each stage, the program calculates points and does not allow you to cheat.

Mirai Japanese

Studying Japanese language by pronouncing phrases. The theoretical part is based on listening to phrases and words. Each phrase and word is accompanied by an explanation in English. All words are written in Latin and hieroglyphs. Built-in English-Japanese dictionary and 2 Japanese alphabets: Hiragana and Katakana. This application is also available for learning other languages.

Pleco Chinese Dictionary

Because the Chinese- these are complex hieroglyphs that are difficult to enter; the utility offers the option of translating from a photograph. All you need to do is film Chinese text on your phone camera and the program will do the translation. However, if you still want to enter hieroglyphs yourself, then the dictionary has everything for full handwritten data entry. In addition, the dictionary has an animation function that shows how to draw hieroglyphs correctly.

Rosetta Course

An ideal assistant for those who want to learn a foreign language without mechanical memorization of lexical and grammatical structures. The methodology used in the Rosetta Course application allows you to learn a language without memorizing rules and completing tasks, but by forming an associative series in the user, training is conducted in a foreign language, which significantly increases the effectiveness of the course.

It’s probably no secret that live communication helps you quickly integrate into the language environment and make progress. Hi Jay! is a free app that allows users to search for nearby native speakers and make appointments to share cultural experiences. English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and even Chinese can now be learned over a cup of coffee in pleasant company. This practice helps to improve foreign speaking skills, learn the mentality of people from other countries and discover linguistic features, which are not written about in textbooks.

App Store and Google Play.

The application is the most popular among the Russian-speaking audience. Inside there are a variety of lessons that will help turn learning English into exciting game. Instead of the familiar cramming from school, they suggest learning new things with the help of videos and songs, and memorizing the material by completing tasks that are interesting in terms of mechanics. To prevent you from abandoning the process, an element of gamification has been introduced: for completing the exercises, you are given meatballs with which you need to feed the lion. You don't want the lion to go hungry, do you?

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

The app is a global celebrity: with the help of Duolingo, millions of users around the world learn foreign languages. Unlike the Russian predecessor on this list, you can learn four languages ​​here: English, Spanish, French and German. The application will teach you how to read, speak and listen, and suggest interesting tasks and will reward you with bonus points for correct answers. The creators claim that 34 hours of a Duolingo course is comparable to an entire semester of university study. Only free.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

An indispensable assistant for those who need to expand their vocabulary. The application's repertoire includes more than 200 languages, ready-made lists of words and phrases. Memrise is based on a scientific approach and uses the method of spaced repetition. The application will remind you at the right moment to prevent what you have learned from fading from memory. To make it easier to memorize words, voiceovers, videos and memes are used.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

Most of us tried this method at university: you take a card, write a word in English on one side, and the translation on the other. AnkiApp works on the same principle, only it also offers you to evaluate how difficult it was for you to remember the translation. The application takes into account your answers and, depending on this, adjusts the period after which it will show you this word again. You can use ready-made sets of cards (there are more than 80,000,000 of them in total) or add them yourself. The application has several dozen languages.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

A two-in-one application: learn languages ​​and get acquainted with ideas from around the world, shared by speakers at a famous conference. The topics of the presentations are very diverse - from psychology and finance to modern technologies and the desire to change this world for the better. The TED video library includes more than 2,000 talks, thematic playlists and subtitles in more than 100 languages ​​- perfect option for those who know the language at an intermediate level and need practice.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

The application offers to learn English from the lyrics of your favorite songs. The Genius database contains a large collection of song lyrics with comments - more than one and a half million in total. We turn on the clip, read the text, sing along and learn - everything is simple. Complex words and slang are explained in the comments. The same trick can be done with any song that plays on your phone (the application syncs with services like Spotify and Play Music).

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

A titanium application that allows you to learn 12 foreign languages ​​- one after another or simultaneously. In addition to the common ones, there are also specific ones, for example, Japanese, Arabic, Turkish and Chinese. Learning occurs with the help simple exercises, language courses(levels A1 - B2) and practice with native speakers. For each - 150 of the most important topics and 3,000 words.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

One of the Puzzle English applications that turns watching your favorite TV series into an educational process. Watching the video is accompanied by subtitles in two languages. To find out the meaning of a word, just click on it and add it to the dictionary to repeat later. The app's collection includes about 100 popular English-language TV series, and the paid version has about 300. Such viewing will teach you how to perceive live English speech with different accents and expand your vocabulary.

The application is available for download on Google Play

In this free app with daily lessons, you can choose from 33 languages, from the usual European groups to Hindi, Farsi, Vietnamese and Afrikaans. The creators of Mandli promise that the program is suitable for both beginners and those who want to improve their language skills. new level. Beginners are offered to start with basic dialogues with basic words, and experienced ones can immediately move to a higher level. The result of learning in the application will be at least 5,000 foreign words in your vocabulary and the ability to use them correctly in different situations.

The application is available for download in the App Store

One of the most popular and mature (first appeared in 1992) software products that will provide users with several useful and amazing hours of learning any of the three dozen languages ​​that this application has in store. In order to intuitively remember words and grammar, you will have to go through exercises that combine text, image and sound. The further the student progresses, the more difficult the tasks will become. If you have a microphone, the program will compare your pronunciation with the correct one and give a score. By the way, grades are saved and displayed throughout all practical classes.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

The app has been named an Apple Editors' Choice two years in a row. Taking into account that in Everyday life Each native speaker uses 3,000 words on average; the authors suggest that users enrich their vocabulary with a dozen new words every day. Thus, in a month there will be 300 of them (February does not count), and in a year - 3,650! In this case, it is enough to devote only five minutes a day to training. There are six languages ​​to choose from: Spanish, Italian, English, French, German and Portuguese. If you like the application and want to receive an individual selection of new words every day, you can sign up for an auto-renewable subscription.

The application is available for download in the App Store and Google Play

Yes, this application offers to learn only one language, English. But due to the fact that here they did not waste money on different countries and adverbs, the course turned out to be quite rich and useful. It is based on the principles of the natural method, just like in real life. The authors suggest improving your speech understanding skills through a collection of films in English, exercises for training writing, speaking and listening. A personal teacher, a native English speaker, will support you in the learning process. But perhaps the main disadvantage of the application is that you can try the course for free only for seven days.

06.12.2017 00:17:00

In one of the articles we looked at applications for motorists.

Many people have difficulty with self-study foreign languages. Often we simply do not have enough concentration and perseverance to effectively master educational material. In this case, mobile programs for learning languages ​​are very helpful. In this review, we have collected the best applications that will allow you to easily master material of varying complexity: from the alphabet to grammar. The selection includes the best applications for learning languages: English, French, German and many others.

The main advantage of learning a language using a smartphone is that the programs make the process fast, visual and interactive, and involve you in learning. A little "drive" foreign words you can, for example, in the subway on the way to work or at any other time when you have an extra minute. And it doesn’t matter what level of knowledge you have or what program you use for studying - applications for studying English alphabet or an advanced service for learning vocabulary. Mobile programs will definitely be able to significantly expand your horizons.

LinguaLeo

Applications for learning English are the most popular among users. Perhaps the best of them is LinguaLeo. The program is especially suitable for children, since the developers tried to make the entire learning process as playful as possible with the help of the lion cub Leo.

However, the program can be recommended for adults as well. The application allows you to memorize words by adding them to your own dictionary and reminds you of your training schedule. It is possible to add your own phrases and words.

Eat a large number of texts on different topics with different vocabulary: from business to food. Fun tasks allow you to memorize a large number of new words, both when reading and listening. There are illustrations for each word.

Overall, Lingua Leo is a wonderful program, especially if your main goal is to expand your vocabulary English words.

Busuu

Bussu is a vast ecosystem for learning various languages. There is a study program here French, applications for studying German language, as well as Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Turkish, Arabic, Chinese and Polish, not to mention English. There is a second separate application for it, which covers a special vocabulary that is most useful when traveling.

Unlike many other language apps, Busuu has a great design that makes the learning experience much more enjoyable. The peculiarity of this application for learning languages ​​is that it not only teaches new words, but also helps with grammar. At the same time, the assessment system does not allow you to “hack” by calculating points for completing tasks and requiring that you master the current one before moving on to the next topic.

The program also has “social” functions. So, you can communicate directly with foreigners, check each other’s written assignments, and so on.

A very popular and well-developed application that allows you to learn almost all languages ​​of the world. The program includes a large number of original lessons and language games. Rarely when free apps for learning English they are so well made.

Interestingly, the program encourages the user to more actively master the material through “social” competition. Friends using the apps will be able to see how well you are doing at a task - this is a good incentive to try harder. There is an opportunity not only to measure points, but also to fight with friends in real linguistic duels. The application can even control your pronunciation, forcing you to pronounce sentences into the microphone of your smartphone.

The section for learning French here is no worse developed than the English version. It should be noted that the version of the program for operating system Google has a very thoughtful design, so it can be safely included in the list of “Best apps for learning English for Android.” The program can be downloaded for free. All content in it is also available without payment.

If fun language learning apps with talking lion cubs and owls aren't your thing, download Byki. This is a strict and concise program in which nothing will distract you from your main goal.

Training in the application is carried out using special language cards, which the user is asked to repeat over and over again. It turns out a little annoying, but very effective.

For many, Byki is the ideal app for learning English words. However, if you wish, you can learn other languages, even such extravagant ones as, for example, Bashkir, Belarusian or, for example, Bengali. For a polyglot, the program will be a real discovery, but a teenager may get bored.

If vocabulary desired language You have already learned it, but you have problems with grammar, download the Babbel application. It is great for memorizing and learning different things. grammar rules. Each of them is given the simplest possible explanations, allowing you to quickly grasp the principle. The program also contains a huge number of exercises. different levels difficulties.

There are a huge number of task options: from entering the necessary function words to listening and creating sentences. The service supports a huge number of different languages, each of which has a separate application.

Friends, we recently discussed in our article . Now it’s time for applications, many people ask me: “What applications can help me learn a language?”, which is why I decided to make a small selection of the most interesting applications. If you use other apps and they work, please share with us and we will add them to our list. We have already examined some applications, so we will simply leave a link to the article in which you can get acquainted with their description, and here we will simply add links to these applications.

We consider:

• AnkiDroid Flashcards
• Brainscape
• FluentU
• Memrise
• Quizlet
• Guadalingo
• Duolingo
• DLE
• Lingvo
• Multitran
• Quizit
• HelloTalk
• PCRadio
• RTVE.ES
• MiTele

AnkiDroid Flashcards

Probably many have already heard about this application, it is really good and gives results, correctly composed cards can help people with different types memory (visual, kinesthetic, auditory). This application allows you to create your own cards and decks and add audio files and images to them.

One of the useful/harmful features is the ability to download word decks compiled by other users. “Why harmful?” - you ask, everything is simple: because you can learn a word incorrectly if the author of the deck entered it incorrectly, and relearning, as you know, is always more difficult. My advice: make your own decks, if you study in a group or with a teacher, or have Spanish-speaking friends, ask them for help.

You can synchronize your decks with your account on the website:

Brainscape

Another app for improving your vocabulary. Previously called Flashcardlet, but the developers have decided not to update this application anymore and are inviting users to switch to Brainscape with synchronization of all cards created in the application Flashcardlet. The application has in-app purchases, and it is in English, you can create your own decks of cards, or you can use already created ones (for some need to pay).

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FluentU

This app is only available for iOS. To begin with, you are asked to select your level of language proficiency, then you can select a video, after watching it, you can perform exercises aimed at memorizing words. It is also possible to work with cards, but not everyone has it free access, the application offers buy paid account through the website.

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Memrise

Another app for memorizing words by type AnkiDroid, after the last update the ability to create your own word lists was added to the page "Courses". Now, to create a list of words, you need to click on the button "Create course" or “Create a course.” More detailed help in English can be found.

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Quizlet

An interesting application for creating flashcards, there is a paid subscription for teachers, with which they can monitor the progress of students. Works on the principle Anki, you can add images and audio (see examples of screenshots in the gallery).

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Guadalingo

Duolingo

Duolingo Spanish is available to those who speak English, German, French and Portuguese, and a Russian version was recently released. We would like to warn you in advance that there are errors and strange phrases, but Duolingo is the most budget option.

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DLE

• Article from the old version
• Article on new version dictionary

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Lingvo

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Multitran

• Website: MULTITRAN

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Quizit

Quizit app on Spanish and is suitable for those with language level A2 and above. You can choose: Spain, Latin America or the whole world. You can also choose one of the blocks: geography, history, art and literature, science, sports, entertainment, etc. Your task is to answer all questions correctly; if you answer incorrectly, the application will show the correct answer, although you can disable this function. Definitely, useful application for general development and to improve your speed of response to questions in Spanish.