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And to be fair, it does seem like Duolingo has improved in this area as of late.īut you still occasionally come across an awkward sentence or phrase that sort of turns your head. In addition, I also saw a lot of complaints from other users regarding incorrect translations with Duolingo, though I didn’t see this as much. With Duolingo, this seems to be a recurring complaint among consumers, and I noticed it as well. The second difference I noted between these programs is that Babbel is better with using natural sentences and phrases. So overall, I just really like that Babbel makes grammar instruction a priority, and I like how they integrate it into their lessons. They don’t hit you over the head with it, but do make sure to sneak it in. Rather, Babbel integrates grammar instruction into their lessons in a very subtle and efficient way.įor example, one grammar exercise might include just a quick one- to two-sentence explanation in English regarding adjectives vs adverbs followed by a fill-in-the-blank drill to reinforce what you just learned. We like Babbel’s subtle use of grammar lessons Honestly, I think that approach can sometimes do more harm than good, especially at early stages. However, the nice thing is that Babbel doesn’t hit you over the head with dense, boring grammatical assignments. I like that Babbel incorporates grammar content and exercises right into its lessons, whereas with Duolingo, it doesn’t seem to be as much of a priority. And I’ll just start by saying that my experience was largely very positive. Now that you have some context as to the nature of Babbel’s lessons, let’s get into our thoughts on Babbel, particularly as compared to Duolingo. It’s clear Babbel’s aim is to keep their program engaging and effective. In short, it’s just a very fast moving, blended approach to teaching with tons of variety in the drills and exercises they employ. The Babbel program incorporates a wide variety of drills and exercises The drills and practice exercises are similar for all Babbel language courses, including French and Italian. Then the lesson will quickly transition into a digital flashcards drill for a few minutes, before shifting gears again into a short grammatical or conjugation lesson.įrom there, you might be asked to type in words or phrases on your keyboard or complete a fill-in-the-blank exercise by following a mock conversation. This is largely because each lesson is made up of several quick-hit, interactive drills and exercises.įor the first couple minutes, you might be tasked with listening to new words or phrases and then repeating them. The Babbel core lessons take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete each, and generally speaking, go by super fast. This should help provide some context for our thoughts.
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Let’s start this comparison off with a quick rundown of how the Babbel program works. Claim Discount Overview of the Babbel Lessons
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