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Author name: Tanya

Tanya writes and edits her way around the world, trying to pick up new languages along the way. When not exploring new places or getting tongue-tied over pronunciation drills, she spends her time dancing and reading.

Speak Malayalam 360 Mini Review: Overpromises, Underdelivers

Speak Malayalam 360

Rating 1.7
★
★
★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

The Speak Malayalam 360 app promises “a natural language learning pattern that helps to speak and write the Malayalam language easily.” What it delivers is a list of words and phrases for you to memorize, with some poorly thought out tests. It’s a shame, because it is well designed and has lots of potential. When you open the app, you’re presented with 12 different options, from “talk” to “practice” to “share.” Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear that very few of these labels are accurate. Most of them give way to a short word or phrase list, and not all of them have audio recordings (not even Conjunct consonants I–IV or Vowel Diacritics). What’s more, it’s not entirely clear why some of these words were chosen or grouped together. We were left wondering: Why are three variations of “Are you sleeping?” mixed with asking directions? And for that matter, why does “Numbers I” start from 11? The Skill Test section is a good addition, but unfortunately it doesn’t test you on the different sections. You need to memorize everything in the app before trying this out. The Write section is also a nice idea, but it’s underdeveloped. It allows you to draw Malayalam symbols, and then it will tell you what it thinks you’ve drawn, how to pronounce it, and a word that begins with it. Bear in mind that this is no indication that you’ve drawn it well: even if you just scribble on the screen, the app will interpret it as a symbol. And there is no way to see or trace symbols before you draw them.

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Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks: Textbook Mini Review

Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks

Rating 3.0
★★★★★
Price:

$10, or around $6 for a second-hand one via Amazon

Summary

Looking for a Malayalam textbook? Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks: With Daily Worksheets & Answer Key is the best out of a bad bunch. The authors, Lissy J Kunnathu and John D Kunnathu, have also written Speak Malayalam In 10 Weeks for after you’ve finished Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks and Malayalam Alphabet: Practice Workbook. You can do the workbook alongside the first textbook. Learn Basic Malayalam In Six Weeks contains 42 lessons, which in theory is one per day. The authors recommend studying each one for 30 minutes. Realistically speaking, you’re likely to spend more than six weeks on this, due to days off and time spent reviewing prior material. The book is structured into four parts: sounds, words, phrases, and sentences. Depending on your learning style, you may find this slightly demotivating. Despite the strong focus on grammar, it’s not until lesson 33 that you finally learn “The Basic Sentence Structure.” That said, this book is popular among learners and for good reason: it’s hard to find decent Malayalam learning resources, and this textbook is a clear, structured, and easy-to-understand text for beginners. We would pair it with Mango Languages or Ling for a more engaging and interactive introduction to studying the language. 

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Malayalam Mission Mini Review: Lessons for Children

Malayalam Mission

Rating 3.0
★★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Malayalam Mission is an online course designed for children aged 9–16, although it will accept children aged 6+. It teaches reading, writing, and listening, and there’s an accompanying app (Google Play, App Store). The website is entirely in Malayalam, which can make registering for the course tricky. Go to this webpage, click the green button, and fill out the form. The course tells the story of a girl of Indian heritage visiting her grandparents in Kerala. She doesn’t have Malayalam as a native language, which allows students to learn alongside her as she navigates life in Kerala. The lessons have been designed by volunteer teachers. We haven’t been able to try out the course, as it requires you to be a child. However, we have used the app, which contains the textbooks as well as some supplementary reading and listening activities. We were impressed by the amount of free Malayalam material available and the child-friendly design and activities. That said, we would recommend studying it with the help of a parent or teacher, especially if you or your child is a complete beginner. Bear in mind that it assumes existing knowledge of the Malayalam script, and does not use any English.

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Kannada Baruthe Mini Review: A Very Basic Word List App

Kannada Baruthe

Rating 2.2
★★
★
★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Kannada Baruthe contains 13 thematic word and phrase lists, going from colors and fruits to talking to a maid or personal driver. It has some very specific and useful phrases, such as “I have a bag,” “give me a paper bag,” and “sorry, I do not have change.” Finding trustworthy and relevant word lists can be challenging, so we can see how Kannada Baruthe would be a useful app. Yet you’ll have to exit the app to drill the vocabulary. There are no quizzes, games, or flash card systems built into it. What’s more, while each word comes with an audio recording, they aren’t written in the Kannada script. We feel that there are better options out there for learning Kannada, such as Kannada Kalike (reviewed here), KannadaGottilla (reviewed here), Learn Kannada from bhasha.io (reviewed here), or even uTalk (reviewed here). Alternatively, if you do decide to use Kannada Baruthe, we recommend adding the word lists to Anki or a similar flashcard app so you can drill and memorize them.

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Vores Fællessprog Mini Review: Danish Grammar Breakdown

Vores Fællessprog

Rating 3.8
★★★
★
★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Looking for something that will help you understand Danish grammar? Try Vores Fællessprog, which will break down word order, verbs, conjunctions and more in 11 different languages. You can also drill your understanding by pressing some of the buttons at the bottom of each screen. While they’re not overly intuitive, they’ll load up quizzes in a pop-up window. Our biggest gripe with Vores Fællessprog is also our favorite thing about it: it’s simple and easy to understand. The explanations are clear. Unfortunately, this is partly because it’s quite superficial. If you find you need something more in-depth, try Basby instead.

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Lexin Billedtema Mini Review: Not Bad, But Pair It With Anki

Lexin Billedtema

Rating 3.0
★★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

Lexin Billedtema describes itself as a picture-based dictionary, but that’s not strictly true: there’s no way to look up words, for example. Despite that, Lexin Billedtema is a genuinely useful tool for Danish language learners looking to learn new vocabulary. Our favorite thing about it is how many languages you can use it in: you have the standard ones like English and Spanish, and then you have the ones like Somalian, Arabic, and Yiddish. Once you’ve selected your language from the Danish-language page (just scroll down until you get to the table of languages), you’ll be presented with a list of themes. Choose one and you’ll be presented with labeled illustrations. You can choose whether the labels are in Danish or your own language and listen to audio recordings of the new vocabulary. The vocabulary is impressively detailed, with words such as “parting” (hairstyle), wisdom tooth, and even dorsal fin. As a result, this probably isn’t the best tool for absolute beginners. Disappointingly, there’s no inbuilt way to practice output or drill the new language, so you’re best off making your own flash cards. We suggest using Anki. Alternatively, if you’d prefer something more engaging, skip Lexin Billedtema altogether and use an app like Drops instead.

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The Danish Study Mini Review: Most Useful for Drilling Verbs

The Danish Study

Rating 3.0
★★★★★
Price:

Free trial, then roughly $6/month or $35/year

Summary

The Danish Study is a well-designed website that makes practicing verb conjugations, basic vocabulary, and numbers a little bit more engaging. While it’s a well-thought-out tool, we’re not convinced the vocabulary and numbers features are worth paying for – not when you can download and use something like Drops for free. The verb conjugations tool, on the other hand, is pretty useful. You can drill them separately or in phrases, as well as testing your memory of their conjugation, spelling, and meaning.

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Speakdanish Mini Review: Dull But Good for Pronunciation

Speakdanish

Rating 3.2
★★★
★
★★
Price:

$158 for a year’s access ($110 for low-income learners)

Summary

Speakdanish is a pronunciation- and communication-focused course where grammar takes a back seat – although the grammar explanations are still clear and pretty thorough.  Each of the 20 classes begins with a dialogue, along with the stern reminder “Remember everything you learn. You will be tested on it later.” The conversation is then translated phrase by phrase. In many cases, additional grammar or contextual explanations are given, such as “Professions don’t get an article (a teacher)” or “Many names of British towns are derived from by (town).” It’s worth mentioning, though, that the explanation’s usefulness can be slightly limited at times: while you might understand that you don’t put an article in front of “teacher,” you still won’t know how to say “teacher” or what the Danish articles are. You’re then introduced to additional materials, which may include grammar breakdowns and word lists. In the first lesson, for example, there’s a word list, additional phrase list, and a pronunciation guide for the hard, soft and silent d. Finally, you get to the tests, in which you either type what you hear or translate sentences into Danish. Our initial impression is that Speakdanish is thorough and excellent for pronunciation and listening, yet it could be hard work. The tests take us back to school exams, the material is extensive and can seem overwhelming, and you’re left to drill lots of information on your own. We recommend going slowly and pairing it with plenty of other learning materials.

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Sundhedsdansk Mini Review: Danish Course on Health & Illness

Sundhedsdansk

Rating 1.5
★
★
★★★★
Price:

Free

Summary

There are some things so important, and with so much material, that they almost deserve their very own language course. Take, for example, going to the doctor’s or understanding your child’s illness. That’s where the online, introductory course Sundhedsdansk comes in. While we think this is a fantastic idea, there are some issues with the course. Since it only uses Danish, it can be challenging to work out exactly what the new language means. Pictures and videos help you out, but even so, we frequently had to turn to Google Translate. Moreover, we were unconvinced by the choice of – at times astonishingly simple or tangential – vocabulary. For example, in the lesson on “infections,” we wonder if vocabulary such as “door handle,” “hug,” and “pencil” could have been replaced with words like “bronchitis,” “antibiotics,” and “wet cough.” We also felt that the course would have benefited from vocabulary on additional topics, such as “broken bone,” “lump,” and “take the pills twice a day.” In fact, this course at times seems more concerned with teaching immigrants basic hygiene than how to communicate with a medical professional. While there are some useful phrases, expect to still feel quite confused when you visit the doctor’s – especially if they give you instructions about medicine, self-care, or medical procedures.

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101 Script Writing App Mini Review: Good for Indian Languages

101 Script Writing App

Rating 2.2
★★
★
★★★
Price:

Freemium; one-off payment of $1.30 for full access

Summary

Kannada 101, Tamil 101, Telugu 101, Marathi 101, Bengali 101: these are just some of the apps from developer Uma Loganathan. You can also download Arabic 101, Vietnamese 101, and even English 101 and German 101. If you’re learning these languages, though, we’d take a look at Write Me instead. We feel that the Write Me app is generally a more well-designed option, especially since it also tests you on your ability to match the right character to an audio recording. However, the Write Me app barely has any Indian languages, and that’s where the 101 series shines. You’ll be able to trace the characters; switch between easy, normal, and freestyle modes; and receive a score out of 100. The stroke order and direction are clearly explained. Whenever you make a mistake, you receive instant feedback: the music stops and the “ink” stops flowing. This allows you to self-correct immediately, rather than practicing it wrong. The series has its flaws: like with most apps, you won’t learn how to join up characters. However, we think it’s a useful tool for beginners.

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