I recommend learning a foreign language while using our homeschool geography curriculum. A great app for language learning is Drops! I’ve personally used it to practice German and for learning Japanese.
Drops is an addictive, colorful app that teaches you individual words. It’s not a full-fledged language program that deals with grammar and conversation, but that’s part of its charm and ease of use. With Drops you learn vocabulary (along with some travel phrases and scripts for languages like Japanese) in a way that’s simple, easy, and fun.
There is something about it that just makes you want to sit for a while and tap/swipe/learn. Drops is the perfect app for when your brain is too tired for a more rigorous language learning effort, when you only have a few minutes, or to introduce a new language learner to something that isn’t intimidating and difficult. It’s also great for learning a LOT of words.
I made a quick video to show the different word categories and how the app works:
Drops has quite a few categories of words you can practice – from the very basic (food, colors, weather, etc.) to more advanced vocabulary that has to do with things like biology, computers, geography, politics, and much more:
You can choose your level to get access to more difficult words as you progress. Drops also allows you to practice scripts where you can trace with your finger or stylus to make the characters you are learning:
The free version of Drops gives you access to most features with a 5-minute time limit. Purchase a premium subscription and you get additional benefits like access to the word dojo (that helps you practice/retain the words you’ve already learned with a special algorithm), offline learning, no ads, no time limit, a word collection (where you can see all of the words you’ve practiced with instant pronunciation, etc.), all topics are unlocked, and you can restart a topic.
You can also download the app and give it a try. Everyone can play for free!
If you’d like more language learning suggestions and ideas, click here to read a previous article I wrote.
