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Change interface language 0:07 Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English . I'm Neil .
0:13 Apps like Duolingo , Babbel and Busuu all aim to help you learn a language ,
0:18 but do they really help ?
0:20 We'll be trying to answer that question
0:21 in today's episode of 6 Minute English ,
0:24 and as usual we'll be learning some useful new vocabulary too .
0:27 Yes , and don't forget to head to our website for a transcript of this episode
0:31 and a free worksheet to test what you've learnt .
0:34 It's all at bbclearningenglish.com .
0:37 OK . Neil , let's start with a quiz question .
0:40 Which of these is not a language you can learn using Duolingo ?
0:44 Is it : a ) Latin , b ) Klingon , or c ) Elvish ?
0:49 I'm going to say c ) Elvish .
0:52 Well , we'll find out at the end of the programme .
0:55 Now , people might be familiar with the app Duolingo .
0:58 And then there are other apps which say they can help
1:01 you learn a language quickly – Bussuu and Babbel , for example .
1:04 And listeners might be familiar with how they tend to work .
1:08 You get short lessons which test you on a repeated set of words .
1:12 Right . And many of these apps say they focus on teaching language
1:15 for situations and implicit learning ,
1:18 rather than directly teaching language rules such as grammar .
1:22 If something is implicit , it's suggested but not communicated directly .
1:26 Yes . So , if you think about how children learn to speak their first language ,
1:30 it's mostly implicit – they don't have lessons .
1:33 But can this work for adults ?
1:36 BBC Radio 4 programme Sliced Bread has been investigating the evidence
1:40 behind language learning apps .
1:42 Presenter Greg Foot spoke to language learning expert
1:44 Professor Elizabeth Wonnacott , or Liz , about implicit learning .
1:49 There is a very big difference between being a child
1:52 who gets constantly exposed to this world of language ,
1:56 compared with trying to learn a language a few hours a week .
1:59 There is quite a bit of evidence that some explicit teaching of ,
2:03 for example , grammar and vocabulary is helpful .
2:06 Got you . So , it would be helpful to try to mimic what children do ,
2:10 which is full immersion ,
2:11 but realistically you're not going to get to those levels .
2:15 Liz says that while children learn their first language implicitly
2:19 by being constantly surrounded by the language ,
2:22 adults are often learning for only a few hours a week .
2:25 Yes . So , for adults trying to learn a new language ,
2:28 research has shown that some explicit teaching is helpful .
2:32 Explicit is the opposite of implicit .
2:34 So , for example , explicit grammar teaching would be somebody explaining
2:38 a grammar rule to you .
2:39 Right . So , adults can't realistically achieve full immersion
2:43 in a language like children do .
2:45 Immersion means being completely surrounded by something .
2:48 OK . So , a mixture of the implicit teaching of the apps and
2:52 some explicit teaching – for example , learning grammar rules – is useful .
2:56 But Neil , there's limited research about
2:58 just how effective these apps can be at teaching you a language .
3:02 Indeed , Liz Wonnacott has seen one study she thinks could be interesting though ,
3:07 which compares two groups of Spanish speakers learning English –
3:10 one using an app and one attending classes – for a similar amount of time .
3:15 She explains more to BBC Radio 4 programme Sliced Bread .
3:19 The key finding was that in some of the tests , written grammar tests ,
3:23 the Duolingo learners actually improved a bit more ,
3:26 while actually in a test where they were looking
3:28 at listening the classroom learners appeared to improve more .
3:32 So , it's really promising ,
3:34 but of course it's one particular language , in one particular app ,
3:37 against one particular school .
3:39 Liz says the key finding
3:41 from the research is that the app users improved more on written tests ,
3:45 but the classroom learners improved more on listening tests .
3:49 A key finding is the most important conclusion of a piece of research .
3:53 Liz says the study is promising , which means it shows signs of being positive .
3:58 Yes . However , Liz points out the limits of the study .
4:01 It's only looking at one particular language , one particular app
4:05 and one particular language school .
4:07 The repetition of ' one particular ' here means specific or individual ,
4:11 and Liz would like to see research on more apps ,
4:13 more types of teaching and also more different languages .
4:17 Apps can help us learn some parts of a language , but
4:20 in this study they weren't as successful at improving listening skills ,
4:24 and so Liz concludes that combining learning in apps with some other ways
4:29 of studying is the best way to try to improve your language skills .
4:33 Probably moving forwards ,
4:35 some combination of human teaching and these platforms to give us
4:38 that repetition is probably going to be the right direction .
4:42 As teachers , we'd also suggest doing things that help you improve
4:45 different skills – speaking , listening , reading and writing .
4:49 So , listening to podcasts or trying to practise speaking with
4:52 a language exchange partner could be things to combine with learning in apps .
4:57 Find what works for you .
4:58 I think it's time to find out the answer to the quiz question , Neil .
5:02 I asked you which language you can't learn on Duolingo . . .
5:07 and you were right . It's c ) Elvish ,
5:09 but you can learn Latin and Klingon ,
5:11 the fictional language from the TV series Star Trek , on Duolingo .
5:15 And if you did want to improve your Elvish ,
5:17 we did find an app specifically for that .
5:20 Right . Let's recap the vocabulary we learned in this episode .
5:24 ' Implicit ' means suggested , but not communicated directly .
5:27 ' Explicit ' is the opposite of ' implicit ' .
5:30 It means something is communicated directly .
5:33 ' Immersion ' is the state of being fully surrounded by something .
5:36 The key finding of a research study is the most important conclusion
5:41 And the phrase ' one particular ' means specific or individual .
5:46 Once again , our six minutes are up .
5:48 Test what you've learned with the worksheet on our website .
5:51 And if you're interested to hear the full episode of Sliced Bread
5:54 about language - learning apps and the science behind them ,
5:57 there's a link in the notes below this episode .
6:00 Try listening on 0.5 speed
6:02 or in short sections if you find it too difficult to keep up .
