Duolingo App Review III – It works extremely well

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I have been using the Duolingo app for three weeks now and know how to say more in Spanish than I ever thought was possible. The best part is that I do not sound like a complete idiot and my pronunciation is not too shabby at all. It is as easy as creating an account and advancing step by step through the language skills system. You progress through the different levels from basic language to tense and verb phrases. It can all be done at your own pace which makes it even better.

The true testament to this apps success is how extremely fun it is and how learning eventually feels like you are playing a game. In essence you actually are playing a game. You get three hearts to start with on each level. Each time you answer a question incorrectly, you lose a heart. If you get the answer wrong four times then you need to repeat the level.

Duolingo is a highly motivational app as it allows you to earn points that can be spent on making your own character owl look really cool. You can even get your friends to join you on your quest for knowledge and end up making really great challenges to help you learn. Making the learning experience fun and interactive whether on your own or in a group.

It is designed to teach you from the basics in the beginning to the more advanced in the end. No being thrown in the deep end and forced to swim. The lessons start with basics like male/female and move on to food and phrases. Once the easy part is over you move on to sentence structure and more challenging tasks. What I personally enjoyed was that it not only asked you to translate from Spanish to English but from English to Spanish as well. This really helped me grasp the language as I was now forced to write in it, not just merely guess the words.

My favourite and hands down best attribute to this app is the daily reminders that I receive reminding me of the winning streak I am on and why I should continue with my awesome progress. There is just no beating cheap compliments and a good nudge to keep you motivated. It is either you feel this way or extreme amounts of guilt for having ignored the message.

Duolingo is an entirely free application that can be downloaded onto your smartphone or ipad. It is structured in the best way that I have seen a language course layout. I am a walking and Spanish talking testament to how good this app works. I now feel confident and am determine to follow my three week not one day missed streak of language success. This app will continue to grow into an even more popular sensation once it adds more languages. Duolingo is the best language platform out there and everyone should be using it.

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Panic Button App Review III – The accidental distress call

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I want to laugh so hard at the fact that I actually predicted what I am about to write about. In my first review I stated that I could see something going wrong with the Amnesty International Panic Button App. I stated that we have all made accidental pocket dials so it is only a matter of time until an accidental distress signal is sent. Low and behold that is how my poor parents were shocked this fine Monday morning.

I mentioned the problem I felt this app would face would be with the slide unlock function on the android phones of today. I decided to go to the Post Office this morning and put my phone into a pouch on my wallet. Upon arriving home I got a phone call from my mom ‘Are you in trouble?’. I respond ‘No why? Did you get a bad feeling?’. She informs me that her, my dad and boyfriend all received a distress signal.

I began to apologise profusely for the false alarm and proceed to let everyone know that I am in fact alive and okay. At no point had I opened my wallet or touched my phone so the concern I had in the beginning with the slide action happened to be true. Somehow the touch sensitive screen rubbed against my wallets fabric and opened the app and pushed buttons. As crazy as this sounds to have occurred so perfectly, it did.

There is no reason to believe it will not happen again. I was tempted to uninstall this app and told my parents this after apologising profusely for giving them such a massive fright. They made a very wise point and said that if it did anything it just proved that the app works. They were sent my location as well so they knew where I would have been. It even went as far as contacting my boyfriend on Viber as his text would not go through.

The advise that I would give however is that the app has to be opened with a passkey, just to prevent the touch screen from doing its own thing. It causes quite the scare when the panic button is activated by accident. By adding a simple pass key of even two numbers it could prevent this from happening.

Amnesty International’s App is still a brilliant idea and has been tested to work, even if it was not intentional. Luckily I had told my contacts that they were on the list so they were fully aware of what was going on. Well done to Amnesty International, this is a great way to notify the ones you love that you are in trouble. It is essential that this becomes a must on everyone’s phone and that they really consider the passkey option. This simple adjustment would make things run a lot smoother especially when our phones are so smart that they do their own thing.

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Duolingo App Review II – Fun Language Learning

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I have been so excited to give another report on Duolingo that I am tempted to recite my cheap Spanish phrases but I think have tortured my household enough. Never in my life have I ever enjoyed learning a new language so much. I decided to start with Spanish based on advice from friends. They say it is the easiest way to ease into other languages when you are done. So I click on start and begin my first lesson.

Not even two minutes and I have completed Basic 1 Lesson 1. Wow can it really be that easy? Yes it can. I think what makes this app so great for learning is that it is designed with such a clever way of teaching the language. You can get a question where there are four pictures and you have to select which is the boy in Spanish. There are chances for you to easily guess the translation or have to type it out which is a bit more challenging. It even includes sentence structure and a fun way to practise by repeating phrases into the microphone.

I can confidently say that you will be kept entertained for hours. Before you know it you have learnt Spanish, French, German, Italian or Portuguese. I am by no means a natural linguist and so it is not like I take easily to learning new languages. The unique concept to this course is that each course is broken up into sub categories that are easy to follow when done sequentially. You use the information used before to help understand the new information. Each category has about 3 levels that you need to complete.

Every time you get a question correct or incorrect you have a buzzer go off that sounds like it comes from a TV Game Show. You have three hearts to start off with and each time you get a question incorrect you lose a heart. There is a progress bar above it that shows how far you are through the level. The sad owl and its adorable face pop up if you do not advance. Once completing a category you have a small brain test at the end that you can do over again whenever you like. It compresses the information for you to test yourself and get some practice.

Besides it being extremely useful, entertaining, fun and at times frustrating this app is the Best! The feature I love the most is that each day I get a message that reminds me that I am on a winning streak and should continue. The guilt of ignoring this message is too much to stand so you end up doing a level or two. It is so much fun you cannot help but want to. If you are looking for a relaxed way to learn a new language that does not feel like a drag then this is the app that you need in your life.

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Line – The social app of the century

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This app has taken every idea we consider to be social interaction and crammed it all into one perfect app that does everything you could need. Its good reputation started in Asia and it has now gone viral and reached over 230 countries worldwide. To date there are over 470 million users taking advantage of this amazing FREE service. It offers so many features that this app will truly revolutionize the way that we socialize with one another.

It is so easy to set up as all you need to do is put in your phone number and sync it to your contacts. You are now open to a whole new way of sharing your life with others. It is putting apps such as Skype, Viber and Whatsapp to shame. Even stepping on the toes of Facebook and Dropbox a little. I do think their cute manga stickers were what hit the kids market in Asia for sure.

You have access to unlimited voice and video calls and messages anywhere in the world to anyone who uses Line. You are also able to send a variety of media from images and videos to voice notes. It also has an awesome snap movie feature that allows you to take quick videos with amazing effects and backing music to send to your loved ones.

How easy is it to add your friends you ask? So basic you simply have to open Line and shake your phones next to one another. What a clever and fun way to add and make friends. It also automatically links to your Facebook as well as your contact list on your phone.

You can have one on one chat, group chat or chats of up to 100 people. There are thousands of emoticons and cool stickers to add in when words cannot say enough. You also get a timeline much like Facebook that you can share with close family and friends. Line is truly taking the best features from each social networking app and compiling it into one awesome app that cannot be beat.

When you think it could not get better, it does. Line also offers you exclusive access to coupons for all your best social hangout spots. You can even follow your most loved artists, TV shows or celebrities and catch all the latest news and features.

The options with this app are endless and it deserves all the recognition it gets. It is refreshing to know that you can now do all that you need to on one app and can get rid of all the others. The quality of the video calls is great and the layout of the app is simple to use. Line is the social app of the century that will connect the world on one platform and provides us all the tools we need to stay connected.

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