Duolingo

In addition to restarting German classes, I've decided to refresh my French and Spanish by checking out the Duolingo app. The app apparently will teach you vocabulary and grammar through repetition, with each level broken up by theme once you pass the absolute basics (e.g. animals, food), and consists of exercises in reading, writing, listening and speaking. Except the speaking can't seem to pick up my whispered words so well - I'm mostly doing the exercises at night or in the u-bahn.

So does it work? Well, as someone who used to be quite fluent in french, I probably should have skipped the basics section but the repetitions are reminding me of some of the genders. On the other hand, given my very basic spanish, I think the app is quite useful in forcing me to remember how to conjugate verbs. I've also used it to see how difficult it would be for me to learn Portuguese - my conclusion is that I can read it quite easily :D :D :D

In summary, I think if you want to get started in the offered languages (so far it has English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and German), the Duolingo app is a pretty good (and free) way to start. At the very least, it will teach you how to say you drink beer or wine within the basic stages. Nós bebemos cerveja!