Language learning applications have grown in popularity with time globally — and have completely revolutionized learning the basics of any language. The applications provide you with a platform to learn grammar and work on it as much it requires. The best language learning apps will enable you to build vocabulary and sentence structure. There still is a debate on how efficient the medium of language learning can be.

However, there are tons of language learning apps that have hit the mainstream. Studies show that most of the users have been satisfied with the apps. Especially an app called Fluent Forever has received very good reviews. However, the research basis on people who have signed up for such apps, so the stats do not accurately show how useful the apps are.

Another study on the Busuu app considers who subscribers of the app are and which steps they follow. The research also reveals users’ take on app learning. The study aims to assess whether people could genuinely learn a language through an app. The app offers educational content for twelve different languages and has more than sixty million users. It has a lot of models. One of which is available for free, and the rest, paid versions. The study further reveals an equal half of men and women as subscribers between the ages of eighteen to twenty-five. The majority of the users stick to the novice level while the percentage of leftover users drops as the language proficiency enhances. The users majorly use the app owing to personal pursuits, foreign travel, or professional reasons. Some may want to shift to another country. People might need to learn a specific language if they plan to pursue foreign courses.

Is education more formal or informal?

As per the study, the frequency of app usage varies from male to female population. People mostly use it three to four times a week for an average of fifteen minutes. Women reportedly use it less frequently but for an extended period as compared to men. It was an exciting finding. This form of language learning counts as an informal learning experience as eighty percent of subscribers use the app as they get spare time. While the rest, twenty percent, use the app in scheduled sessions- implying a more organized way of app-based language learning.  For instance, for users learning Spanish frequent small sessions might be more beneficial than traditional Spanish tutoring based on longer sessions further apart. Similarly, revising your Italian verbs is best done little and often rather than all at once for most people.
Apps do help in effective language learning. Usually, the language learning apps offer limited feedback options like such apps only respond with right or wrong feedback. Although this is important, it is not the top choice of language instructors and research scientists. The app does not elaborate on why the answer is false- with no reference to grammatical explanations whatsoever. Even though Busuu comes with this limitation, it still is valued and used a lot. More than seventy-five people rate it as a ‘good’ or ‘very good’ app.

Additionally, subscribers expressed satisfaction with the app’s user experience- and more than ninety percent of users claim that the app either meets or surpasses their expectations. Eighty-five percent consider the app ‘very good. As per the study, eighty-two percent of people ‘agree’ or ‘strongly agree’ that the app has aided their language learning skills. The findings of this study indicate that language learning applications offer helpful services to learners. The impression of language learning applications as valuable demonstrates how much the apps have progressed briefly. As formal language education has transitioned toward a more interactive learning model, students resort to such apps that allow them to make errors and learn from them more comfortably and privately.

The non-competitive atmosphere, in which only the user is aware of faults, may help alleviate some of the performance anxiety that many beginners have when expected to speak a second language. Thus, linguistic teachers should not perceive applications as a threat. Instead, teachers should urge students to use them to complete tedious grammar tasks, freeing up valuable class time for more language interactions and practice.