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I recommend downloading Discord to join an English Language Learning server.
The voice chat rooms allow you to speak with real people to improve your listening comprehension. The text chat rooms will improve your reading and writing.
There are many native speakers there that enjoy helping, myself included. It’s not “gamelike”, but nothing is better than talking to real people - I’m sure you’ll find value in it.
This. The two times I've noticed my spoken english getting better were when I worked at a call centre and when I spent hours and hours on my clan's Discord back during New World's release. Plus, it allowed me to really see what weaknesses I could address by just asking people I was hanging out with how they would pronounce a word. I've recently started to have the same thing going with Battlebit, but I haven't found a group to game with.
If OP's SO is at all interested in history, Overly Sarcastic Productions has a discord channel and people there are beyond nice. If Gaming is an interest, there's tons of niche content creators with their own discord to just chat in.
Well now I'm intrigued by what your native language could be.
I thought I shouldn't doxx myself so much, but whatever. Our native language is Bulgarian.
@alokir@lemmy.world (is that how I tag people?)
I got a notification so I guess tagging works.
I wouldn't call Bulgarian obscure, I expected a minority language like Mansi or Breton.
You're right. When you put it like that, calling it obscure sounds like an exaggeration. Though it's probably one of the least spoken Slavic languages.
I was surprised Duolingo doesn't have it supported, so I just checked. Apparently I can learn Klingon and High Valerian, but not Bulgarian 🤷
Maybe look for peer to peer type setups. Iirc Babel has one. Basically you’re just chatting with someone else. Iirc they also have a live class thing, which might be good too.
Personally I’m using Duolingo for Spanish, along with watching movies/shows in Spanish (still at kid level so cartoons mostly) and a site (who’s name is escaping me right now) that has a ton of videos that range from very simple to much more complex.
I agree with the first point completely. The apps are usually good for practicing vocabulary, but languages are dynamic, and change based on what was previously said. Talking to someone, anyone, is going to get you up and going a lot faster. Granted, finding someone willing to spend hours talking to you when your just learning can be hard. Look for apps that try to hook learners up.
I’m not sure where you are, but try to find an English community. If your in an English speaking country that is basically any community. If your not then look around for where the English expats hang out. When I was in Cameroon we had an “american club” that everyone was a part of. Having a common interest helps a lot in motivating everyone to talk together.
In a pinch you can force yourself to watch English television, possibly with subtitles. This helps your comprehension but lacks the back and forth of actually talking.
I fully agree with you about having real conversations with real people. The thing is, you need some confidence before being able to speak the language, especially to native speakers. And for some people that comes with a bit of practice by themselves. Thats what I find apps like Duolingo help with.
I fully understand how scary it is to try to talk to someone in a language your just learning. I’m shy and hate talking period! But it is one of those things where you have to allow yourself to make a fool of yourself.
Trust me, most people are very happy you are trying to learn there language and will be exited by anything you can produce. If you do find someone who is rude or offended by it, give them up as a bad job and shake it off. And never be embarrassed to say “I don’t understand”. We assume the people who know the answers are the smart ones, but the people who admit they still need to learn are in fact the geniuses.
Besides, unless your using Google translate, then your English comprehension is plenty good enough. It is time to face your fears and make a fool of yourself. The rewards are worth it!
Thank you for the kind wodrs. Sadly I'm not looking for an app for myself but for my girlfriend.
I got my BA in the UK years ago, and I've made a fool of myself plenty of times, both culturally and linguistically. And you're absolutely right, it really is the only way to properly learn a language.
pirate movies and watch them. This is the fastest way to learn a language.
That's what we've been trying so far, but unfortunately it does not work for her.
Also, music. Paying attention to the lyrics helps with learning new words, though ig metaphors, similes, etc., would be tricky, if not an even better learning experience.
Can I ask what your native language is?
Play video games in English. Watch English-speaking YouTubers. Interact with people online using English. As long as she enjoys the content, proficiency in the language will follow.
You see, one of the goals is to be able to enjoy media in English together. The problem is that she quickly gives up after encountering too many unfamilliar words or constructs.
Thats why I'm looking for an app to help her get a bit more confident.
There needs to be a desire to learn first. If anything, I believe it's easiest to start with watching content creators that play the same games she does; I learned a lot of my English from playing video games and watching Minecraft YouTubers (I highly recommend EthosLab) back in the day.
Kindle kindle kindle! I also commented elsewhere but the kindle offers one super key thing: the ability to look up a word’s definition super fast and easy.
You just long press on a word with your finger, and the definition pops up. If it’s a term like “Monrovia” you’ll get the wikipedia article instead. Definitions and wiki articles pop up in a little window just smaller than a post-it note and when you tap anywhere else it goes away.
Instead of describing it, I just uploaded a quick video of how it works.
I read in spanish with a spanish dictionary and it’s great. I can actually proceed in literature that would be too slow with a physical dictionary.
Also there’s always flash cards. She can probably find some kind of app work english-her language flash cards and just start learning vocab.
https://youtube.com/shorts/3d4F-E4Cm00
edit: pardon my nasty nails I’ve been moving today
Anki is a flashcard app that can help with memorizing vocabulary.
Watch media in English with your local language as subtitles. Or the opposite.
I've found that ChatGPT4 is an excellent tutor and can create a good learning plan based on your specific level, almost any subject (including English).
Often you can explain stuff in your native language to it, if you don't know the English word for it. 🙂
Find some teachers of the language on YouTube. Watch short videos daily. Since they are teaching the language it will be basic and you can use subtitles and speed to make it easier and hear and read at the same time.
Do this for a while until it is too easy then move on to world news in the target language again on YouTube and or on a site in English. As it is world news the events should be familiar.
Then move on to movies with subtitles .
The most important thing is daily contact with the language. Listening is the most important part as you need to understand first before you can begin to respond. It helps you structure the language and learn how to construct it.
if you can pay the Rosetta Stone is the best. None of these free apps come close to it in my opinion.
honestly, any app that is in english and keeps her engaged. There are penpal apps, where you write people letters. or maybe something like microblogging or lemmy.
Has your SO tried books? Ebooks or audiobooks could be helpful. They could try reading a book they are already familiar with in english, that way they wouldn't have to put too much effort into getting acquainted with characters and plots, and focus into pronounciation, grammar and slang.
Talking about apps I would recommend MosaLingua (digiSchool), it helps me for English and Spanish.
It's mainly design to learn vocabulary (spaced repetition), the app is free, only class/courses may required a subscription.
Answering your initial question you can select the "native" language you want, but I'm afraid you won't find your mother tongue.
Ginger Writer can analyze and improve written text in English.
Busuu is neat. It has a feature to submit answers to the community so native speakers can correct speaking/writing and give tips.
Just took the test for myself and it looks very promising. Thanks!
The best way to improve her English is for her to read tons of English literature.
Get her a Kindle Paperwhite (about $120) and encourage her to read fiction. It has to be enjoyable.
With the Kindle, she can look up the dictionary definition and pronunciation of any word she encounters and does not know.