Looking for a fun way to learn a foreign language? Do you own an Android device? Well if so, then you need to give Hello Pal a try.
I took Spanish in high school and college but since I do not use it all the time, I have forgotten quite a bit. In today’s review, I am looking at Hello Pal, an unique app that matches you with others around the world to work on your language skills. Here are the basics:
- First you create an account and login. You can use Facebook if you like
- Indicate which language you speak and want to learn
- Once setup, you will need to watch the basics tutorial
- When ready enter Hello Pal
Once in the app proper, you will see 4 main areas:
- Home – where you will see recommended pals and general Hello Pall News
- Chat – here is where you will chat with others
- Discover – here you can find other friends who use the app, phrasebooks, app tutorials, and info on learning a language
- Settings – general app settings
Here is the basics tutorial:
The key to this app is the phrasebooks. You will be speaking with others online – you will speak and record your conversation, one line at a time. The phrasebook will help you learn important phrases and guide you through conversations. The app also provides lots of general help and guidance to get you going.
I really like how this app is set up. There are quite a few people already using it so you should not have any troubles finding someone to talk with. When you look for someone to speak with you can filter your results by language, location, age, sex, etc. This makes it very easy to find someone similar to yourself. The app also indicates the last time they were online. I should mention that conversations do not have to be in real time. Users will get notifications when there is a new conversation.
This is a neat way to meet new folks from around the world and learn a new language at the same time. This is a free app and could be a great tool for any student who is currently taking a foreign language in school. The only way you get better at a new language is to use it.
To end, I want to repeat something KL Wong, founder of Hello Pal, said in a recent press release: “Most people will agree that the key to success in learning a language is where we persist at it and not give up. Hello Pal gives users a strong motivation to persist – being able to have fun socializing with others. It’s just that in our case, the socializing is done in a foreign language.”
You can download the app for free from Google Play.
