#busuu

[orion-my-rion]

i cannot keep quiet about this anymore.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

so that's my wisdom for the day. mango and busuu. please check them out :)

#languages #language learning #mango languages #busuu #duolingo #<- in case people are using this tag to search for alternatives #this feels like a sponsor thing. it's not. i'm just autistic about language resources #i had to make a post about this bc my family and friends are tired of hearing about it LOL #orion originals

[3rdexistence]

For everyone recommending Busuu as an alternative for Duolingo: stop.

It uses AI voices (as in literally the "sigma chad guy voice used on TikTok).

Plus, today I recieved a deepfake video on a listening exercise (speakers' facial expressions didn't match their tone or what they were saying, those unnatural circular head movements that most deepfake videos do, very periodic blinking and arm movement, eye level never changes).

Additionally, I'm pretty sure that the German course to learn Dutch is just a translation of the English version, because the German instructions were often weird/unnecessary/explaining stuff you wouldn't have to explain to a German speaker but to an English speaker.

Also on some translations they straight-up forgot to change the English translation to a German one.

At this point it just feels like we have to abandon the concept of language learning apps completely because they're all starting to use AI (and AI does *not* understand language).

tldr: Busuu is just as bad as Duolingo because it uses AI translations, voices, and videos

#busuu #duolingo #language learning #langblr #artificial intelligence #ai

[wtfduolingo]

for anyone who wants to quit duolingo but still wants an easy way to learn a language: BUSUU IS PRETTY COOL! they don't have a lot of languages but the ones they do have are super fleshed out and easy to learn from. it's very similar to duolingo, but they have a community tab where you can help other people who are learning your native language, and vice versa!!! it's honestly super cool and also has no terrifying bird mascot

!!

#duolingo #busuu

[council-of-beetroot]

So in my preparation for my Exodus from Duolingo and my 568 day streak one post recommended busuu.

I've played around with it for a few hours and I already enjoy it much more for a few reasons

You can get feedback from native speakers

It is free (with ads)

One thing I've noticed is that the lessons have a much better pace. You're not being over loaded with vocabulary

It teaches phrases you actually need. Sure Duolingo sentences are fun but not useful when someone speaks to you in Polish and you don't know how to respond because Duolingo has never bothered to teach you how to say "Dobrze, a ty?" but has instead focused on teaching you how to say "ten kot ma czterdzieści noży"

If there are any polish language resources out there that are worth checking out let me know

#Duolingo #busuu

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Because of the mess that Duolingo turned out to be, I checked out a recommended app (list of recommendations here.)

I tried Busuu today and it’s great!

It actually uses the language skill levels of A1/ A2/ B1/ B2 that are used to compare language proficiency.

The assessment test was swift and didn’t feel pressuring, you can actually re-do the assessment for a language you already started whenever you feel like it!

However, one major point of critique (which is actually about accessibility): you can not turn off speaking exercises in Busuu. You can only repeatedly click “skip” whenever they pop up. But you can not just say “I don’t want/ can’t do speaking exercise at all.” And the same goes for listening exercises but worse because you can’t even skip those within your regular exercises/ lessons!

Disclaimer: I am not Deaf/ deaf nor mute. To me these things are annoyances more than actual accessibility issues but it does make Busuu feel rather inaccessible. Sometimes I just don’t want to deal with listening exercises. And I generally don’t like speaking “on command” or vocally replying to prompts. But, again, for me these are preferences.

I know speaking and listening exercises are important to achieve an actual comprehension for a language and I recognise avoiding speaking/ listening might slow down my progression in my chosen languages of study. I recognise that I need to and do consume media where I need to listen to the languages I’m learning.

To other people, it is an actual problem of accessibility that you can not universally turn off speaking/ listening exercises in Busuu.

I just figured this might be an issue people will inevitably notice now that we are changing away from Duolingo in droves and someone had to make a post about it.

#sickpunk #sick punk #accessibility #accessability #busuu #busuu language learning #language learning app #duolingo #language learning apps #langauge learning #langblr #c-punk #hard of hearing #disability advocacy #disability #italian and french #<- my language learning tag #large text #coloured text #colored text #big text #bold text

[vempress]

when a random stranger on busuu tells me my exercise was good

#language learning #busuu #duolingo #german #studyblr #langblr #grammar

[sunsorbit]

busuu is just. So much better than duolingo in every single aspect. I have been making significant progress in my korean skills in only 10 days, and i am so excited to learn more!

the mix between actual videos of native speakers saying the sentences, to audio, to text only, to images, to actual writing/speaking exercises, the little fun facts and explanations on grammar and sentence structure, or even just highlighting meanings of specific words is so good. I’ve even started to adore the community feature and am excited to have my own lessons corrected!

aside from actual language learning aspects and just app design wise:

- currently ads are super non invasive, only about their subscription service, and are only 15 seconds before starting a lesson,

- there’s no shitty gem store, you can just stop during a lesson and pick up where you left off and it will still count towards your streak,

- skipped days count towards your streak (!),

- streak “shields” refill automatically. no need to buy them (altho i also haven’t run out of them yet! so no idea what happens then)

- lessons are divided into chapters and are clearly labeled, so you actually know what you’ll learn in each lesson and can find ones you want to redo more easily,

- plus they tell you how long the lesson is going to take. (game changer. genuinely a game changer)

- and while i’ll miss the little collectibles from quests and monthly stuff it’s just so much more stress free + i’m not just encouraged to do lessons/quests to gain badges (which duolingo only uses to pump more ads at you) or uphold my streak, but because i actually wanna do the next lesson!

- there’s still a leaderboard and daily quests, but they feel more subtle and easily reachable, also not as mandatory, in a way

only downsides so far are no dark mode, the font can be a bit small for hangeul, and you can’t just search for other users (like, your actual friends) (or i just haven’t figured out how to) but like. i’m willing to compromise that for actual language learning that is fun and useful. no more gibberish sentences and ai-generated audio samples this course is made by humans lmao

So here’s to reaching a 1000 day streak on duolingo and ditching that shit owl for my new bestie Busuu!!!!! cannot recommend it more

i’m finally free!!

#language learning #busuu #duolingo #<- boooooo. you suck. shit owl #genuinely i am so relieved. for more than a thousand days. probably like 3? years now #if you count all the streak saved days #i’ve been struggling so much to get anywhere with korean #and now i’m just speeding through all the lessons #sunny speaks

[tuituipupu]

started using busuu yesterday as a duo alternative and it has tasks you can't skip where it asks native speakers to peer review an answer you generate yourself 😭 it's scary like plz don't be meanie 2 me

#pls don't judge meh ;;; #but also a good feature if people are nice and judge free! #so far no one has openly laughed at me at least #busuu #duolingo #personal

[bookish-library]

Y'all I finally got around to learning portuges (continuing to learn French and Spanish) and holy cow Busuu is awesome, it even tells you how to abbreviate it in text messages this is awesome

#Highly reccomend this app #Pros and cons versus duolingo #Like there are ads #But you actually interact with people to correct your speaking AND writing #It's so cool #If anyone wants to add me as a friend send a dm here! #Main tagging for those that may want to learn #Qsmp #Heaven knows I started because I want to understand forever's lore streams and cellbits fnaf ones lol #For the library #Language learning #Portugese #Language shennagins #Busuu

[takeshitakyuuto]

#Duolingo #busuu #just tried out busuu and I think I like duo better #langblr

[orion-my-rion]

i'm at the point where i use busuu community more than other social media, because sometimes you get to read really detailed and carefully written paragraphs about someone's best friend, or how to cook their favorite food, or what their hometown is like.

and other times you get to see really awesome things like this:

#busuu #languages #language learning #i'm actually obsessed with this response i can't stop reading it. i met my girlfriend at 10. and we broke up #orion originals

[salvadorbonaparte]

Since not everyone I sent a free trial to used it so far, hmu if you want a 30 day free trial of busuu to check if you prefer it to duolingo lol

#langblr #duolingo #I think I still have two or three? #busuu

[techniktagebuch]

30. September und andauernd, noch

-ieux oder -eille, ich werde es bestimmt noch verstehen

Der Sohn erzählt mir, dass er nun wieder Spanisch lernt. Mit einer App. Er hat die Möglichkeit, mit einer Organisation in ein paar Monaten nach Peru zu fahren. In der Schule hat er bis vor ungefähr einem Jahr Spanisch gelernt, das will er dafür wieder auffrischen.

Von Freunden und aus den Berichten im Techniktagebuch kenne ich Duolingo und nehme an, dass er Spanisch also damit lernt. Aber er sagt, dass er da eine andere App habe, Busuu. Und die sei ganz gut. Er erzählt mir, dass es eine Funktion gibt, mit der man Lösungen und Aufnahmen von sich an Muttersprachler senden könne, und die würden das dann korrigieren, und gleichzeitig bekomme man Lösungen und Aufnahmen von anderen, die gerade deutsch lernen, und würde die im Gegenzug korrigieren. Das finde ich einen spannenden Communitygedanken und möchte mir das gerne angucken.

Mit Sprachen hab ich es nicht so. Englisch habe ich beruflich mal sehr intensiv gesprochen, in den letzten Jahren ist das aber ziemlich eingerostet, seit ich es nur noch als Fachsprache und nicht mehr als Umgangssprache benutze. Und meine französischen Sprachkenntnisse... naja. Die waren immer äußerst bescheiden. Mein Französisch als “eingerostet” zu beschreiben wäre sehr euphemistisch.

Während mein Wortschatz im Französischen durch meine Lateinkenntnisse und auch, weil ich mal eine Zeit lang häufiger in Paris war, vielleicht gar nicht so schlecht ist, sind Grammatik und Rechtschreibung des Französischen mir immer ein Rätsel. Diese französische Eigenschaft, die letzten Buchstaben des Wortes einfach wegzulassen und man muss dann halt wissen, ob da noch ein t, ein s, ein e oder sonst was für ein Buchstabe kommt, und wie die Striche auf und unter den Buchstaben zu verteilen sind, hat nicht so richtig zu meiner Freundschaft mit dem Französischen beigetragen.

Ich überlege kurz: Welche Sprache könnte ich mir also mit Busuu angucken? Englisch wieder vertiefen, Französisch endlich mal "richtig" lernen, oder eine ganz andere? Dänisch, das ich ein ganz klein wenig kann und das ich gerne vertiefen würde, ist auf Busuu leider nicht verfügbar.

Ich registriere mich und wähle aus, dass ich ca. 10 Minuten am Tag Französisch lernen möchte, nur mal ein paar Tage lang, um mir das anzugucken.

Aber sofort bin ich in den Fängen der Gamification. Es ist toll, ich bin in einer Liga, und wenn ich fleißig lerne, steige ich in eine höhere Liga auf! Und nun aber dran bleiben, sonst rutsche ich wieder ab! Und, tatsächlich, ich soll Sätze schreiben und nachsprechen, und dann bekomme ich von Muttersprachler:innen Korrekturen und ermutigende Kommentare. Das ist wirklich sehr nett, manche verteilen sehr großzügig Kommentare, dass meine fehlerhaften Antworten “Parfait” seien, aber andere geben sich richtig Mühe, mich zu korrigieren:

Screenshot aus Busuu, natürlich mit schönen Bildern

Ich kann mich dann wiederum bedanken, indem ich Daumen hoch für die Antworten verteile oder eine Antwort als “Beste Antwort” auszeichne - das gibt dann wieder Punkte für die Antwortenden, um in der Liga aufzusteigen.

Ich spreche auch Sätze nach, meine Aussprache wird von einer Spracherkennung beurteilt, und nehme eigene Antwortsätze auf, die dann wiederum in die Community gehen, die die Sätze und meine Aussprache korrigiert. Und andersherum revanchiere ich mich natürlich, indem ich Deutschlernende ermutige und korrigiere.

Wer bis hierhin gelesen hat, wird den Gedanken verstanden haben und so neu ist der ja wahrscheinlich auch gar nicht, aber ich finde das irgendwie toll: Fast jede:r ist ja irgendwie mehr oder weniger Expert:in in der Muttersprache, und ich bekomme ermutigendes Feedback, dass Muttersprachler:innen meine holprigen Sprachbemühungen verstehen können!

Jetzt muss ich nur dran bleiben. An vielen Tagen schaffe ich nur das absolute Minimum, eine Minilektion, aber auch das ist wichtig, damit mein Streak nicht abreißt:

Screenshot aus Busuu: 37 Tage schon täglich eine kleine Französisch-Lektion, "Gut gemacht!", finde ich auch

(Molinarius)

#Molinarius #Duolingo #Busuu #App #Fremdsprache #Lernen #Smartphone

[fvfvxcvxcv]

6.5 year duolingo streak ended!

To be fair I should’ve ended it a long time ago. That major update that removed the forums completely ruined the dutch course. It replaced all of the helpful guides that teach you the rules before you start a new subject with only example sentences… no explanations or nothing now!

Why is ‘de jongen’ correct but ‘de water’ wrong? Who knows?? When should you use ‘zwem’ vs ‘zwemt’ vs ‘zwemmen’? We ain’t telling you anymore!!!

This made tying to learn korean as a complete beginner unnecessarily tedious, borderline impossible without having to google things every 5 minutes!

And now they’re bringing an ‘explain my answer’ feature which is like the forums but shit since is uses ai instead of real people and costs way more than their current premium membership to use! Not to mention they replaced 10% of their contractors with ai.

So yeah, good stuff :)

(Btw I’ve been using busuu and lingodeer for a while now and they’re both way better than duolingo! Highly recommend!)

#me #duolingo #languages #busuu #lingodeer

[masterhallmark]

When you're trying to learn a new language and recognize a word (while remembering what it means) in the wild

#learning italian #learning languages #it's such a great feeling #busuu #duolingo

[vempress]

busuu is actually such a fun way to practice grammar

#language learning #langblr #studyblr #german #busuu