Duolingo? Babbel? A traditional class?
There are so many options available today; how do you decide what’s best for you?
Whether you’re planning a foreign vacation or planning a move to another country, you will need to learn a new language.
The question is how much do you need to learn and what’s the best learning method?
What do I really need to know?
If you’re going on a 1-2 week trip to one (or a few) countries, don’t make yourself crazy! You don’t need to be fluent; you just need to be polite!
There are wonderful free resources available on YouTube to learn basic travel phrases including:
- Niceties (hello, good-bye, thank you, etc.)
- Numbers
- Restaurant and hotel terminology
- Asking directions
You can also search for “language cheat sheets” on the internet to print out to carry with you for study and travel.
No, you won’t be fluent or understand everything, but by learning a few basic words and phrases, you will immediately ingratiate yourself with whomever you are talking with! This goes a long way with locals in foreign countries.
Prefer A Class?
If you feel you do better in a classroom environment (either virtual or in-person), then look for a language school that has a class specifically designed for travelers. These types of classes are generally limited to once a week for 4 to 6 weeks, again to provide you with the basics to feel comfortable on your trip.
Want to learn more?
When I first retired and moved to Italy, I planned to enroll in immersion training. This is an intensive technique where you spend approximately four hours a day, five days a week in class (not including homework!).
Immersion training at a private school in Italy can be quite expensive. Remember, you are not going to learn a language in a month; you are in it for the long haul, typically 1-2 years.
I then looked into what the Italian government offers to newly relocated stranieri (foreigners). Their program, Centro Provinciale per l’Istruzione degli Adulti (CPIA), offers very low-cost classes for all learning levels.
Unfortunately, class sizes are quite large and the quality of the classes can vary tremendously.
Plus, I decided I did not want to spend four hours a day, five days a week in school – I just retired and wanted to have fun!
What’s the alternative?
When I retired, I joined Instagram so I could begin chronicling my new life. I also started following several language teachers who post bite-sized lessons daily.
My favorite is a teacher named Margharita @italianmatters who also offers affordable on-line class to learn Italian – and it was only once a week!
Would I learn Italian as quickly as I would in immersion – no – but this fit in much better with my new lifestyle.
I loved the format: you receive your lessons at the beginning of the week. You log into the learning portal and go through the various exercises and online quizzes.
One of the exercises is an actual recording of you speaking Italian, which you upload to the portal to be graded and critiqued by Margherita.
The class meets once a week online to review the materials. After the lesson review, the class is broken into virtual groups to practice Italian conversation.
What did I learn?
I learned that language study is hard. You have to be incredibly disciplined to study every day.
Verb conjugation is tricky. There’s a pattern to regular verbs, but irregular verbs require memorization through repetition.
I did, however, gain some excellent foundational knowledge which made me feel more confident in my abilities.
Now what?
As much as I learned in the online beginner class, I did not feel confident enough in the materials to move on to the intermediate level.
While taking the beginner class, I also started using the free version of the very popular Duolingo app. Duolingo makes learning a language fun; it has “gamified” learning.
I decided to stick with Duolingo but also signed up for Babbel for comparative purposes.
Duolingo vs. Babbel
Babbel provides far more structure than Duolingo, presenting the lessons in logical modules.
For someone serious about learning a language, who has no prior knowledge of the language, Babbel is absolutely the way to go.
Personally, I have decided to stay with Duolingo because I do have prior knowledge of Italian and I am supplementing my studies with other materials, such as Italian learning podcasts.
The Bottom Line
No matter what language you’re trying to learn or how deep you want to go, there are many options available out there.
The key is truly understanding your needs + your level of commitment. I dedicate 30 minutes per day to Italian. And there’s an extra added benefit to language study: it helps keep your brain sharp!
In bocca al lupo! (Good luck)!
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This information helps clarify purpose and time investment. I’m definitely in the rudimentary phrases role, wanting to be polite and convey and receive basic information.
Thank you! Learning a new language is a lot of work and requires a real commitment. But prepping for a trip does not have to be onerous!