Can I learn German in 6 months through an app?

We can now access almost anything via our phones and tablets thanks to technological advancements. The millions of applications available for these devices not only allow us to enjoy our leisure time to the fullest but also allow us to access knowledge tools, including language learning, whenever and wherever we want. Aside from traditional classroom learning, there are many other ways to learn a language nowadays: online or tutored language courses, travel immersion learning, self-studying by reading a lot of books, articles, blogs, magazines, etc, listening to a lot of podcasts, audiobooks, playlists, news, music, etc, speaking – to yourself in front of a mirror or with conversation partners, reading aloud to your pet or a plant, using shadowing technique after watching a movie or video, writing – practising or, perhaps, the most modern method: using a mobile phone app that facilitates easy and accessible to everyone- language learning. 

Language learning apps are becoming increasingly popular, and they are said to be changing the way people learn. Foreign language learning has grown in popularity as a result of the internet, technology, and the introduction of online applications. Many language learning apps for smartphones and tablets have been developed in recent years, and among the many available online today, Babbel language learning app and Duolingo have gained millions of trusting users from around the world. The WHENEVER, WHEREVER, and WHATEVER you want approach resonates strongly with many people; however, the outcome may be different if this approach inadvertently misleads learners to consistently postpone learning due to the ‘ANYTIME ANYWHERE ANYTHING’ belief lurking in the back of their minds!

Before we discuss whether or not German can be learned through apps, or how much German can be learned in 6 months through apps, I’d like to share a few advantages and disadvantages to help you consider how much learning you can expect from an app before making a decision:

With the introduction of apps, location and time have become obsolete.

Mobile apps are available to anyone with a smartphone, tablet, or computer – you do not need to find a language school. The ability to study a language whenever and wherever you want is the most significant advantage of online language learning courses on applications. Some apps, such as 50LANGUAGES, Google Translate, Memrise, Duolingo, Busuu, Travelflips, and others, do not even require your device to be connected to the internet. Berlitz, for example.

Freedom from time constraints and strict commitment.

Apps such as Babbel, Memrise, Duolingo, and Multibhashi do not require you to devote a specific time of day to learning, nor do they require a long-term commitment, as would a language school. You can use the app whenever you want, and it will assist you in learning by rote while entertaining you with the most difficult words to remember.

You should study at your own pace and rhythm.

One frequently mentioned advantage of language applications is that they allow students to time their learning and progress at their own pace. There is no rush to complete tasks. The memrise app, for example, allows you to linger on a word for as long as you want until you are confident that you have learned it.

They are entirely free!

The majority of applications are free or offer a portion of their application for free. The introduction of free language learning apps has undeniably revolutionised the learning of a wide range of languages, including some of the most difficult to learn!

They are amusing and engaging.

With wacky sentences, humorous situations, and extremely user-friendly interfaces, apps use a lot of visuals and entertaining methods to help students remember vocabulary. In fact, these apps cause learners to become addicted to language learning. Some of the examples in Duolingo German are truly amusing! Even the most difficult language becomes the easiest to learn with such apps. Some also include speaking exercises, which are more beneficial than learning the language on your own.

Along the lines of private education

Apps provide a non-threatening environment in which errors are only known to the user, and they can help to alleviate the performance anxiety that many students feel when asked to speak a foreign language. As a result, students are turning to apps like these, where they can make mistakes in a safe environment.

Additional practise aids for teachers

Instead of feeling threatened, language teachers could free up valuable class time for more language interaction if they encouraged students to use the apps for repetitive grammar work..

It’s very easy to get sidetracked.

Many of the productivity tools, social media blockers, and other suggestions readily available with influencers can be conveniently regarded as a promotion gimmick, as they appear magnificent but never work! The problem with using mobile resources is that it is all too easy to go to Facebook, check your email, start chatting with your friends or your mother, and completely forget what you were doing.

When compared to the Browser version, the Mobile version eliminates a significant amount of the challenge that is important for language learning.

Let me explain this further with another example that will reinforce the fact that mobile apps are much more scaled-down versions, even with a premium subscription! While it is true that language learning apps must be lightweight, comprehensive, and designed to work with small screens and keyboards with extremely close keys, reducing content should be strictly prohibited. Memrise, for example, offers a limited number of correct options, and this limitation makes the answers much more obvious when taking the “fill in the blank” quiz.; versus its browser version, which tests your knowledge with multiple choices and makes intuitive answers impossible.

Language learning apps are easier to use than web or software-based counterparts.

Furthermore, there is almost no repercussion for making a mistake or mispronouncing a word. It may appear to be negative reinforcement, but isn’t the whole point of learning to encourage the learner to take the time to record the error so that it can be avoided in the future? At the very least, the learner could be encouraged and coaxed by the app’s various means and methods to find the answer for himself rather than being handed it on a silver platter or being allowed to gloss over it! The best penalty in the mobile app is to add the word to a list of “difficult words” for the learner, which they will in any case skip, treating it as a ‘visit later type of topic’, which never happens! Aside from that, all of the phrases you learn are shorter, and the app appears to be guiding you through the process. It’s all very concise, timed, and boxed training! Given that German is quite different in English and slightly more difficult, how can we expect these apps to teach German required for certification?

Apps do provide a lot of vocabulary, but that’s about it!

The online language learning apps focus on vocabulary development and word learning through repetition, rather than grammar, phonetics, written text comprehension, and other topics. If you only use apps to learn a foreign language, this may be difficult to create. A student learning German through Duolingo, for example, has a large vocabulary but struggles to understand tricky texts that rely on cultural understanding or are more nuanced.

Engaging with a mobile app to learn a language once a week is a disaster.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) specifies the number of hours required for English speakers to achieve General Professional Proficiency at the third level across all four parameters of speaking, listening, reading, and writing. Keeping our focus on the German language today, the FSI mentions a need for rigorous 575-600 hours or 23-24 weeks, which equates to about 6-7 months to learn German professionally with all available resources and not just selectively with the mobile app providing at least 25 hours per week to study. However, it is impossible to spend 25 hours studying by interacting with the mobile app once a week. 

Not-so-positive feedback

On language learning apps, feedback is usually limited to whether or not the answer you provide is correct. While useful, this is not the type of feedback preferred by language teachers and researchers because it does not explain why the answer is correct or incorrect.

Inadequate or no speaking practice.

The main issue with mobile apps, with the exception of a few apps, is that they rarely provide any real speaking or practical listening experience. Those who have travelled or moved abroad understand that, at the end of the day, this is what matters and that deducing from the context that Duo is attempting to say “The boy loves the whipped cream and ponies” isn’t correct.

Apps cause a learner to become overconfident and reliant on them indefinitely.

Overuse of language learning apps will eventually make you confident in your ability to guess a word, spell it, and understand basic grammar, in addition to endowing the learners with an innate lazy quality to stop using other methods because mobile is so easy to access and use.

It’s very easy to get sidetracked.

All suggestions about productivity tools, social media blockers, and a long list of do’s and don’ts that social media influencers can hand over to a beginner are nothing more than a promotion gimmick. In all honesty, none of these are viable options. As a result, while studying on the app, a learner struggles to stay away from Facebook, emails, chatting, and messaging and ends up forgetting what they were doing.

It’s fine to take breaks, but if you’re glued to your phone for the majority of the day, it’s much easier to lose focus and end up on non-language apps, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media apps, diverting your attention elsewhere, or simply losing track of time.

Personalization is lacking.

Language learning apps are unable to tailor your learning plan to your specific needs because they adhere to a fixed methodology of language teaching. They also do not allow you to skip steps if you have already mastered a particular aspect of the language, or to slow down the process and focus more on something you have not completely mastered. In a language school, you are constantly interacting with an instructor who can easily help you build strengths.

Language learning apps cannot provide real-world experience.

The main disadvantage of language learning apps is that they do not prepare you for real-life situations. You do not communicate in the language with your teacher or classmates, which is essential for encouraging you to express yourself in the language you are learning. When confronted with real-life situations, students who learn from language learning apps are frequently reliant on MCQ-based learning and are unable to construct simple sentences.

Language learning apps are heavily reliant on your personal motivation and commitment.

Learning is best accomplished through a strict regimen and by maintaining a consistent learning rhythm; however, language learning apps do not force you into any such learning rhythm, which is a significant disadvantage that language learners are unaware of. Language school courses are designed to keep students on their toes, and the pace of the class usually carries even the most resistant learner along.

It is unquestionably more advantageous to have a teacher explain the nuances of the language to you.

A skilled teacher can help you clear your doubts, answer your questions, encourage you to use the language more frequently, and, most importantly, provide you with the essential cultural aspects of the language that are critical in language acquisition. According to an Atlantic Post article, few apps are advanced enough to replace teachers in two ways: the ability to hold a student’s attention and the ability to constantly tailor a lesson to the individual’s progress, difficulties, and interests.

Mobile apps are scaled-down versions of their web counterparts.

We’ll use one of the most obvious examples from Duolingo to demonstrate what we mean. Duolingo now has a “test out of a level” feature that places a learner in the appropriate level to begin learning from. It allows you to take a quick multiple-choice test and skip over the questions you already know. Unfortunately, this test is completely flawed because a learner can keep attempting to clear a level as if it were a game! In the best interests of the learners, companies that provide mobile language learning apps must ensure that a learner can only take this test once and that if he or she fails, they should restart their learning all over again.

The game of gamification is difficult.

Gamification is a fantastic way to learn, and language learning through games can be extremely beneficial. However, after a while (and this may be true of web versions as well but to a lesser extent), it becomes more about scoring points, using the process of elimination, and progressing to the next level than it does about learning and retaining the material. Memrise, for example, has improved their mobile version to give it a spaceship feel, where you progress through each level by moving from planet to planet. While this is fantastic, a learner is unaware when the game shifts from you vs. the learning to you vs. the machine! This is where the learning is severely hampered.

• So, as we can see from the aforementioned blog, the following features of the apps are crystal clear:
• Language learning apps are certainly entertaining, interactive, and engaging, and they can assist you in expanding your vocabulary and practising grammar.
• There is no evidence that an app can be completely effective, particularly when it comes to other skills such as writing and speaking.
• Mobile language learning apps are (for the most part) secondary resources that should be used alongside other resources such as language exchanges, classes, or more comprehensive programmes.
• Apps are best used as filler content. You use them when you’re commuting to work or waiting for the bus. During your lunch hour or while your significant other spends 20 minutes trying on different outfits.
• Language learning apps have yet to figure out how to personalise language learning for a learner, prepare him or her for real-life situations, and broaden the scope of language learning. You may still need to enrol in a traditional language school for these purposes until this becomes a reality.
• A mobile app for learning a new language can be a great way to practise and “help things sink in,” but if you are a complete beginner, you may be far more successful taking a language course or travelling abroad.
• Apps can be used in conjunction with online or in-person language courses, or if you simply want to refresh your knowledge, such as before embarking on a journey or if you have a lack of vocabulary in a specific topic.
• Many people use the app for personal reasons, such as vacation travel, career or personal goals, or a desire to study or live abroad.

• Apps struggle to get people past the B1 level of learning, which is when they start introducing more complex ideas, such as explaining their opinions, dreams, and ambitions, or handling complex tasks while travelling. Furthermore, Level B2 speakers are expected to be able to converse fluently with native speakers of a language as well as participate in complex technical discussions related to their field of expertise. These two levels make up the Independent stage. Apps that provide insufficient speaking practice are unable to achieve this for a learner.
• Apps are perceived as an informal form of learning, with two-thirds of people using them in their spare time, compared to one-third who used them as part of a well-planned, more formal learning.
• Female users accessed the apps less frequently but for longer periods of time than male users.
• Use an app if you must. However, having opportunities for speaking, writing, and interaction is also beneficial. Make sure you’re looking forward to not only learning grammar and vocabulary but also improving your oral communication skills.
• According to research, students who studied for at least six hours increased at least one sublevel by 69%, increasing to 75% for those who studied for at least 15 hours. However, students who spent more than 15 hours ended up quitting!
• Apps are best suited for students at the beginner to low-intermediate level.
• Yes, language learning can be done using apps and online systems. It is, however, in your best interests to keep your expectations of what you can accomplish in check.
• With the number of satisfied users growing by the day, apps expect to stay competitive for a long time!

Let’s now apply all of this knowledge to a German language learning app.

The Foreign Service Institute (FSI) provides an estimate of the time required to learn German as an English speaker. An English speaker would need only 750 hours or 30 weeks, or about 7.5-8.5 months, to achieve Speaking 3: General Professional Proficiency in Speaking (S3) and Reading 3: General Professional Proficiency in Reading (R3). This also helps us understand how much effort a German speaker must put forth in order to learn English. Learning English is actually not that difficult for German speakers.

As you can see, the FSI focuses on a learner achieving ‘General Professional Proficiency in Speaking, Writing, Listening, and Reading to Level 3’. From the foregoing, I hope it is clear that apps cannot teach you to speak or write German, even if they can greatly increase your vocabulary, and for some reason, even if they can help you in those two areas, they cannot lead you to a General Professional Proficiency, which is required. Apps can also provide limited learning with their free versions, and even after upgrading to the premium paid version, the mobile apps have less content and are of lower quality than their web counterparts. It is also worth noting that the FSI-specified number of hours is based on the assumption that the learner is learning German in a comprehensive manner rather than selectively through self-study or mobile apps.  

If a learner can devote at least 25 hours per week, he or she will be able to learn German in 7.5 to 8.5 months. German and English belong to the same Germanic language family and share the same Latin alphabet to write; as a result, German has the advantage of being similar to English while also being slightly different from English!

Now, to answer your question, the answer is a resounding Yes! You can learn a little bit of German through a mobile app!

Would you be familiar with the German words? Would you be able to recognise objects? Would you be able to form short sentences? If so, the answer is yes once more!

Apps assist you in gaining a large vocabulary, as a result of which you will be able to identify objects with their German names; however, memorization and recollection will be a constraint; additionally, you will not be able to make a meaningful sentence that is also grammatically correct. In short, your knowledge and grasp of the German language would be quite limited and insufficient to be referred to as ‘learned.’

And, in the end, this knowledge would only serve as a solid foundation for learning proper German from a well-established Institute, whether offline or online. However, learning German from a mobile app in three months, six months, or a year would be completely inadequate and a waste of time.

Multibhashi offers amazing online classes in the German language, you can enrol to receive expert guidance. Click Here to enrol.