Hello hello! Today we’re looking at one of the resources ChatGPT recommended to me called Memrise. Now, I had never heard of Memrise up until the recommendation. But after some lengthy use, I gotta say, it’s pretty unique and cool.
One of the first unique things I saw were the videos, which were produced by native German speakers. Most of the ones I have encountered so far are short form videos, ranging from 15 to 30 seconds. Once the video was over, the app requested feedback on your level of comprehension. If you don’t understand what the video was saying, it’ll bank those key words to practice on later.
There is also a vocabulary builder, similar in function with duolingo in how it gamifies it. However, there are key differences. Again, there are native German speakers introducing the words or short phrases. It also not only provides a translation of the phrase, but also a literal translation, which is super helpful in how it all connects together.
The games themselves are slightly more difficult, which I appreciate, especially when it comes to learning new material. There is no punishment as well if you make mistakes. It simply marks it as a word you need to work on. You can even have the option to mark a word or phrase as difficult, which the program will remember later on. It keeps a whole progression on what videos and vocab lessons you’ve done and makes it accessible! I cannot stress that enough, especially given how much frustration I have with Duolingo on being a perfectionist to progress with the content.
Finally, something I was thrown off by at first, was the AI conversation bot. The app promotes having dialogue or text conversations with it. The app has specific AI conversation topics, such as ordering from a restaurant or working in a hotel. Even though it was daunting, I gave it a shot anyway. It was a bit rough, but I managed to produce 1-3 word sentences to keep the conversation going, haha. It was a humbling experience where I didn’t know exactly what to say, even though I’ve progressed decently well in German. There is a hint option as well, which will provide suggested answers to the AI’s questions. While I do think speaking with a native German speaker is a lot better than AI, this is a good alternative, especially if one is shy or not confident with other people around.
The only drawback I have is that in order to access all the content, you have to pay a premium subscription, but that’s nothing new. Otherwise, I would definitely recommend it. I think this is a great way on how AI can be integrated into the learning space for the better.
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