Yesterday I started learning Italian with my boyfriend, who said he needed something constructive to do with his time.
We were just doing it with memrise, because it was an idea I proposed for him, and I had zero books or resources as we were lying in bed, but we needed to test it. It didn’t take long for him to say he missed the grammar parts, and wanted it to be more thorough, so he could actually speak and understand the language.
Today, however, I found a good book to use, and a very nice grammar book, but I also just know it has to be a “we’re relaxing in bed, but doing something constructive”-thing for it to stick, and I’m missing the audio parts from the flashcards if we start using books instead.
That’s the biggest flaw of duolingo, memrise and similar flashcard-apps, and I really miss something really comprehensive to learn a language when you’re just starting out. They’re all good add-ons, if you find a comprehensive grammar book and a normal ‘’learn x language’’ book, but I cannot believe that no one made something like that yet?
Memrise is lovely for Chinese, but that’s because I went to an actual school and learnt it for 2 and a half years, plus four months in China as an au pair with Chinese classes, before starting on my own, so I have most of the basics down. I have also used it for German, Swedish and Norwegian, but as a Dane I have a bigger comprehension of all those languages, because we also read Swedish and Norwegian texts in school, and German is mandatory as well.
But maybe it’s because the “Italian 1” course and so on on memrise are bad? I know the “Chinese 1” could be better because that was the one I used when I wanted to refresh my Chinese after my one-year break.
Anyway… Do people know an app or something, that acutally might do what I ask for it? Maybe I just haven’t found it yet.