Not everyone has the time or the money to attend language courses or study abroad. Therefore, free programs and online learning applications such as Duolingo have become very popular lately. One of the latest revolutionary ideas on the world of online language learning is Lingua.ly, an app which allows you to learn languages while surfing the Internet, on any website, for free and with just a few clicks. Sound tempting? It is. Lingua.ly is a plug-in for Chrome where you’ll be able to read any article you want while selecting words to add to your personalized dictionary to learn its meaning. Lingua.ly is currently available in English, Russian, French, Spanish, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Lingua.ly can be used to learn a new language from scratch. When you install the extension, you can go to any website in the language you are learning and double click on the word to learn it. Lingua.ly automatically saves the words you choose to your personal learning area. You can hear the correct pronunciation by clicking on each word or browse by clicking on the speaker icon. Unlike other online courses, the “lessons” on Lingua.ly are created just for you while you browse the contents online, and you choose what you really want to read. As you add words, the system will know your level for the language you want to learn and will suggest items to read, tests to take, practice exercises, etc. And you will be always able to see your progress.
The cons of Lingua.ly: once installed, the plug-in can become a little annoying due to the pop-up with the meaning and pronunciation of words whenever you double-click on something, but this is bearable.
Learn new works with Lingua.ly even while you are on Facebook
Do you like the idea? Then check it for yourself. Just download the plug-in, choose your native language and the one you want to learn, login with your Google, Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn account, and you’re all set. A Lingua.ly icon will appear to the right of the navigation bar: clicking on it, you’ll find the main menu of the app and you choose one of the 4 options:
1 Find something to read in English
2 Explore new words suggested by Lingua.ly
3 Study your own word list
4 Practice the words you have saved
I use this app all of the time and they have a new setting where you can turn word collection on and off and use alt+double click to make it less likely you look up a word you don’t want.