Learning Languages for Travel

I consistently realize how important languages are for traveling. Therefore, I like to build a basic vocabulary. I have taken language courses several times (either through my job or at the local Chamber of Commerce) both on-site and abroad or online. Here is my experience with it.

During my school years, Spanish was not yet a subject. Therefore, later in my career (in international marketing), I took 2-3 Spanish courses at the local Chamber of Commerce. Unfortunately, I was not directly in a Spanish-speaking country afterward. Thus, I forgot many vocabulary words over time.

The good news for anyone who studied French in school: Acquiring a basic vocabulary is quite quick since many words are similar (at least that's how I felt).

Years later, I wanted to brush up on my Spanish skills for an upcoming trip to Mexico. At that time, Babbel was relatively new in the market. To refresh the most important terms and phrases, the app was ideal. This is also where my problem with learning through apps lies: I never got past the basic vocabulary. I need practice in using a language.

An alternative to Babbel: Duolingo. I could never get along with Duolingo. The app (even in French) uses simply silly sentences and applications. Or, is it important to you to know what spider or other unusual animals are called instead of just learning the most important sentences for daily use? Babbel clearly wins against Duolingo.

The major advantage of Babbel compared to Duolingo is the following: Babbel is backed by a team of linguists, language teachers, and native speakers. They work on developing new courses tailored to the various languages and mother tongues of the users, considering cultural differences (for example, between Spain and Latin America).

Regularly, the team conducts user tests and continually expands and revises the learning offerings for the growing number of Babbel learners. The accuracy and quality of the courses and exercises are thus also guaranteed.

Conclusion: With "Babbel," you can acquire good basic knowledge of the Spanish language in a relatively short time. Babbel now offers 13 languages for learning. The apps are available in the Windows Store, iTunes Store, and Google Play Store.

In parallel with learning through the app, I recommend reading books with actual stories. From Langenscheidt, I had bought two learning mystery novels: One is Pasión mortal and the other is Boda sangrienta. I looked up vocabulary I didn't understand. It felt great to read and understand the learning mysteries!

I had five years of French classes in high school. Because of not-so-ideal teachers (I'll put it that way), the enthusiasm for the language was not very high. Generally, I found the way languages were taught in school not ideal. We were always required to reproduce the solutions from the textbooks 1:1. I have always been more "creative." I understood the essence, could communicate, but it was not always 100% correct (not according to the solutions in the textbook).

Due to a fiasco during a student exchange, France fell far behind when it came to travel destinations I wanted to visit again. Until I was in Rwanda. I hadn't used the language in over ten years. Because my Spanish was now at a similar level, I mixed up vocabulary without realizing it.

Therefore, I decided to regularly refresh my French skills first with Duolingo, and now with Babbel. My current weekly goal: at least 20 minutes of French three times a week. I manage very well with Babbel in French, as I have a good foundational knowledge, only forgotten.

Here, I found a cool link where you can book a Babbel access for all languages for a lifetime for only €179.99. This link is not generally available; normally, you pay between €7.50 and €14.50 per month (depending on the duration):

Set a goal: I want to be able to read my first book in Spanish in a month. Without formulating a goal, it is really hard to get the right motivation for something. Create a schedule. Set a time when you want to learn each day. During my vacation, I often found it much harder to motivate myself to learn daily. Even though I had much more time available than on a regular workday. On a regular workday, I often spent 30 minutes of my lunch break learning vocabulary and grammar. During vacation, I suddenly realized just before going to bed that I still had to learn Spanish. This often happened quite late in the evening when I was already tired. That was not particularly good or effective. When I set a fixed time again, it improved a lot. Give it a try, it works. Reward yourself! Think of a reward when you've achieved your goal.

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