Being at home becomes an ideal opportunity to catch up on those pending tasks or hobbies that, due to lack of time, you had not been able to enjoy. Today's opportunity: learning a new language!
English is the official language in 59 countries; French in 29; Arabic in 27; Spanish in 20; and Portuguese in 10. Although these are the most widely spoken, according to Ethnologue magazine, there are more than 7 languages around the world.
An interesting fact, according to the UN, is that 43% of these languages are in danger of disappearing, that is, just over 2.500 languages. The organization has an atlas in which some are reflected.
Another interesting fact is that, contrary to what we think, English is not among the two most spoken languages in the world. Which two do you think are in first place then? Perhaps Mandarin was the first one that came to mind, and you're right: this language has 909 million speakers, while Spanish, with 402 million, comes in second.
However, English, with 309 million speakers worldwide, remains the number one language for doing business, followed by Mandarin, German, Spanish and French, according to a study by employment agency The Adecco Group.
In this context, what tools can you use to learn a language for free? We recommend these five:
1. bussu: offers 11 languages, including English, Spanish, French, Japanese, German and Mandarin. It also offers interactive courses through vocabulary and grammar lessons, audio dialogues and video conferences.
2. Babbel: uses images as a teaching method, and has a total of more than three thousand words defined by means of photographs and phrases. In addition, it helps improve pronunciation with a voice recognition system.
3. Duolingo : It is one of the most popular platforms for learning languages; you start by learning the basic words and, once you are familiar with them, you continue with simple sentences and so on, so that learning happens naturally.
4. Hello talk: is a tool where you can find 150 languages and learn by talking to other users through text, recordings and voice messages. The advantage is that it has more than 7 million users and they all become a collective teaching network.
5. British Council English Course: If your intention is to perfect this language and make the most of it in business, this is the ideal course. The public entity of the United Kingdom, created to spread knowledge of the English language and its culture, provides a series of tools that will help you enter the business world.
How many times have we set ourselves the goal of learning a language for the new year? Let your stay at home be the perfect excuse to achieve it!
