Mitja Rutnik / Android Authority
My current Duolingo streak is 631 days and counting, and that doesn’t take into account the 223-day streak I had before missing a day (yes, I was sad about that). So when Google recently rolled out beta access to a new feature in its popular Google Translate app — a prominently-placed Practice mode — I knew I needed to try it out right away.
Practice mode not only has a heavy emphasis on speaking, which I find helps me a lot more than multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank methods, but you can also create new lessons entirely on the fly, thanks to a heavy dose of AI powering this feature. I’m honestly surprised by how polished Practice mode is already, and I’d imagine the small qualms I have will be remedied as it moves out of beta. And the best part is that it’s completely free.
Would you consider switching from Duolingo to Google Translate? 18 votes Yes 67 % Yes, but only when Google adds more languages and features 28 % No 0 % I'll use both 6 %
Hola or bonjour, the choice is yours
Stephen Headrick / Android Authority
When you first fire up Practice mode, you’re asked a simple question: What language would you like to practice? For now, if you’re starting from English, you only have two options — French or Spanish. You can then jump right into a handful of “recommended scenarios.” These are genuinely helpful situations you might find yourself in on any given day: ask for help in a store, greet an acquaintance on the street, order food and drinks, etc.
Like Duolingo, this app is gamified, albeit not nearly to the same extent. Google went for a more straightforward approach, which I really like. You have three statistics at the top of the screen: Goals, Daily activities, and Words practiced. You can update your goals, which affects the lessons Translate serves up to you. Daily activities simply nudges you to complete three lessons per day to earn three otherwise useless stars. The words practiced list is a handy list of all the new words you’ve seen throughout your lessons.
It's been a really nice change of pace having a language learning app that isn't begging for my attention.
While I appreciate the science behind Duolingo’s constant notification nudging and absolutely love the owl mascot and branding overall, it’s been a really nice change of pace having a language learning app that isn’t begging for my attention. I go to Translate because of my desire to learn, and that’s that. Perhaps a good middle ground would be letting users add a custom reminder if they want to.
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