Narges' Genius Hour Blog

Welcome, everyone. I decided to post a part two to my last blog post as analyzing Duolingo took a whole other day's worth of study. So let's get started!      Like with Memrise, when I first opened Duolingo, I was once again presented with an ad. This was also an internal ad for the company itself, advertising some course upgrades and the option to try Duolingo Plus (the premium paid version). Unlike Memrise, there was no mention of prices, but a quick search on their website shows its $6.99/month, which about 39 cents less than Duolingo's monthly rate without the 50% discount. While I've already discussed the fact I think students should have free access to educational tools, I do like the fact Duolingo mentions that part of the proceeds from their sales goes to making Duolingo available in countries where education is not as accessible.      To further compare Duolingo to Memrise, I tried lowering the volume on my phone to see if the app would det...

Hi all!  It's been another week and I had the opportunity to really start diving deep into these language learning apps. It's becoming clear they are targeting two different sets of audiences (tourists versus students), but the techniques they use are also very different and I am curious to see which one will be deemed more effective! Let's start with Memrise :      The first thing I noticed when I opened the app was that I was once again prompted with an ad. It was an ad for Memrise's premium account, which I think is a reasonable thing to advertise compared to third party ads you sometimes get with free apps. This is something I think is important to monitor though, as these are young students using these apps and we don't want them thinking they need to purchase anything to play.     * That said, if you are looking to purchase the premium version of Memrise, the prices are pretty reasonable. A  one-year membership using the 50% discount they w...

Hi again everyone!      After some more research, I have narrowed down the two apps I will be focusing on Memrise and Duolingo. I chose these two apps because they are both free (you have the option to pay for premium features) and they are available on both a desktop computer as a website or as an app at the Apple App Store and Android's Play Store. I think it's important to make sure the apps would be accessible to both teachers and students who may be on a budget. (www.duolingo.com) Duolingo is an app I've heard of before. Most people are familiar with the little green bird logo. Some of my fellow language learners at the university level have recommended the app because it gives daily short 10-30 minute lessons at a level of your choosing. This makes it easy to incorporate the app use into your daily routine. I have also heard there was some negative feedback from users because the app would send too many reminder notifications if the user did not use th...

Hello everyone!      One of the projects I will be starting this term is my Genius Hour project. At this time I am still trying to narrow down the focus of my study. As a language student in need of a tech update, I really want to take the opportunity to study different online apps that advertise language teaching. If they prove to be valuable I would like to possibly present them to colleagues and future students. As of now, I am familiar with Rosetta Stone and Duolingo but I have not personally used any of the apps. [Image retrieved from  https://lifehacker.com/how-can-i-support-my-tech-challenged-loved-ones-without-5884612 ]      One of my main concerns is how I am going to measure the quality of these apps. Initially, I thought perhaps I should study a new language so I could get a sense of what a first-time learner feels like when using the app and then test my knowledge at the end of my study. But after some chatting with my program i...

Welcome to my blog. My name is Narges Mohsin and I am a first-year teacher candidate at Brock University from Hamilton, ON. I previously completed a Master of Arts from McMaster University in French and have always been a lover of languages and travel. I actually spent a portion of my undergrad program living in France to better my French and have backpacked through Europe multiple times since then. I believe the more languages you learn, the more cultures you are able to experience and the more you learn about yourself. Please follow this blog for updates as I navigate through my Genius Hour Project. [Photo of myself taken at Dublin's National Wax Museum Plus (August 2019)]