Genius Hour: Reaching Level 3
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!
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 were offering costs $44.25 (only $3.69 per month). The auto-renewal fee would then be $88.50 a year which is around $7.38 per month. I don't think this is overly pricey when comparing it to Rosetta Stone's yearly membership fee of $179 if you are seriously considering trying to learn a language.
The next prompt I received was one advising me that my phone volume was too low. Unlike the advertisement, I appreciated this notification. I think this is a great way to make sure students actually have their volume up on their devices when using the app. Without the audio, we can't possibly learn a language!
Another feature I would like to take note of was the Leaderboard. This feature allows you to add friends either by connecting to your Facebook profile or searching for their Memrise username. Once you have added your friends, all your scores will be posted on a leaderboard to see who ranks the highest. I think this is a great way to inspire some healthy competition among students. But it also may be a source of anxiety for students who are at the bottom of the list.
That is why I would ask fellow educators to make an informed decision on whether to invite the competition. This would depend on each class and your particular set of students. Regardless, even if students are not ranking themselves, I believe adding all your students to a teacher Memrise account would be an easy way to monitor student progress.
Another word of caution when using this app would be the fact that some of the English translations are based on UK English. I did not notice this while completing level 1 of the program, but eventually, I started seeing words like "half -board, knickers and second-hand shop" which made me realize that despite having to confirm your location, the app is unable to cater to your country's specific jargon.
My favourite feature of this app is how they recognize progress. There is a standard progress bar showing you how many questions you have to complete before finishing the lesson. But you are also tracked through a points system. Every correct question is awarded 45 points or more. When you begin a lesson, there is a seed planted in the dirt in a little circle on the top right corner of your screen. The more points you collect, the more your plant grows until the flower eventually blooms. I think this is a great way to show the learning process to students as it illustrates how learning is an investment and knowledge is not an immediate product, but something that must be harvested.
In terms of the types of knowledge you gain through Memrise, it is very auditory-based teaching. Some of the different question formats found on Memrise include:
Traveling abroad also is clearly the intent behind Memrise. The first set of vocabulary words are basic greetings but after that, the words are all centered around different types of accommodations (hostels, hotel, single versus double bedrooms) and common phrases one might ask reception such as Can I borrow an adapter? and I need another pillow. At times I think these phrases might be a mouthful for a new student, such as une auberge de jeunesse which means "hostel." I also wonder why common words like "please" and "thank you" have not yet been introduced, as saying something like J’ai besoin d’une autre serviette " ("I need another towel") without adding a "please" won't get you are far with reception!
One last feature worth noting on Memrise, is the list of words that you are provided with at the end of your lesson. This is a great way to track how many new words you've learned. If you were to apply this list in the classroom you could ask students to create flashcards of these words. Different students would have different flashcards depending on which words they struggled with, and sharing these sets of cards would be a great way to collaborate and study for a culminating test. For students who may be ahead of the game, you could ask them to try and create full sentences using these words. The full phrases they have learned could also be added into a written story or script for students to present at a later date. The possibilities are truly endless!
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 were offering costs $44.25 (only $3.69 per month). The auto-renewal fee would then be $88.50 a year which is around $7.38 per month. I don't think this is overly pricey when comparing it to Rosetta Stone's yearly membership fee of $179 if you are seriously considering trying to learn a language.
The next prompt I received was one advising me that my phone volume was too low. Unlike the advertisement, I appreciated this notification. I think this is a great way to make sure students actually have their volume up on their devices when using the app. Without the audio, we can't possibly learn a language!
Another feature I would like to take note of was the Leaderboard. This feature allows you to add friends either by connecting to your Facebook profile or searching for their Memrise username. Once you have added your friends, all your scores will be posted on a leaderboard to see who ranks the highest. I think this is a great way to inspire some healthy competition among students. But it also may be a source of anxiety for students who are at the bottom of the list.
That is why I would ask fellow educators to make an informed decision on whether to invite the competition. This would depend on each class and your particular set of students. Regardless, even if students are not ranking themselves, I believe adding all your students to a teacher Memrise account would be an easy way to monitor student progress.
Another word of caution when using this app would be the fact that some of the English translations are based on UK English. I did not notice this while completing level 1 of the program, but eventually, I started seeing words like "half -board, knickers and second-hand shop" which made me realize that despite having to confirm your location, the app is unable to cater to your country's specific jargon.
My favourite feature of this app is how they recognize progress. There is a standard progress bar showing you how many questions you have to complete before finishing the lesson. But you are also tracked through a points system. Every correct question is awarded 45 points or more. When you begin a lesson, there is a seed planted in the dirt in a little circle on the top right corner of your screen. The more points you collect, the more your plant grows until the flower eventually blooms. I think this is a great way to show the learning process to students as it illustrates how learning is an investment and knowledge is not an immediate product, but something that must be harvested.
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| [Photo retrieved from https://riseofthepolyglot.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/memrisescience.jpg] |
In terms of the types of knowledge you gain through Memrise, it is very auditory-based teaching. Some of the different question formats found on Memrise include:- Listening to an audio clip and selecting the corresponding flashcard
- Listening to an audio clip and typing what you hear
- Being given a word in English and selecting the corresponding audio clip spoken in French
- Being given a word in English and selecting the corresponding flashcard written in French
- Being given a sentence in English and selecting the corresponding French words in the right order
Each audio clip is said by a different voice, both male and female and French native speakers of different regions based on the differing accents. When being introduced to a new vocabulary word, you are provided with a French native pronunciation of the word or phrase, and you also have the option to swipe right to hear a more standard robotic-sounding pronunciation. I think this is an important feature as a lot of students learn french from FSL teachers who more than likely have a similar accent to their students. By exposing students to various accents they are more likely to understand a French native when traveling abroad.
Traveling abroad also is clearly the intent behind Memrise. The first set of vocabulary words are basic greetings but after that, the words are all centered around different types of accommodations (hostels, hotel, single versus double bedrooms) and common phrases one might ask reception such as Can I borrow an adapter? and I need another pillow. At times I think these phrases might be a mouthful for a new student, such as une auberge de jeunesse which means "hostel." I also wonder why common words like "please" and "thank you" have not yet been introduced, as saying something like J’ai besoin d’une autre serviette " ("I need another towel") without adding a "please" won't get you are far with reception!
One last feature worth noting on Memrise, is the list of words that you are provided with at the end of your lesson. This is a great way to track how many new words you've learned. If you were to apply this list in the classroom you could ask students to create flashcards of these words. Different students would have different flashcards depending on which words they struggled with, and sharing these sets of cards would be a great way to collaborate and study for a culminating test. For students who may be ahead of the game, you could ask them to try and create full sentences using these words. The full phrases they have learned could also be added into a written story or script for students to present at a later date. The possibilities are truly endless!
[Please note: All Memrise app photos are screenshots taken on my personal Android phone.]
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