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- Online learning services are great for enabling users to grasp basic language skills such as speaking and listening, say experts.
- But there are certain skills that only teachers are currently able to provide, they add.
- If AI tools are integrated into the service, this could change.
- For more stories, visit the tech and trends homepage.
Online language learning services like Duolingo are great, say experts, but they are no substitute for an in-person teacher just yet.
Online language learning services have opened up a new, more accessible avenue to learn a language.
They have soared in popularity worldwide since being launched.
Duolingo announced in August last year it had 49.5 million monthly active users on its platform and 13.5 million language learners who would visit daily.
Duolingo was launched in 2011.
Accurate data on the level of use of online language acquisition tools could not be found, but Google Trend data showed substantially more South Africans have been searching for Duolingo in more recent times.
It made Zulu available as a language last year, and the company announced Xhosa would become available by the end of the year.
Language learning tools are often free and can be used independently.
"Accessibility is probably one of the most appealling aspects of these programmes," said Sarah-Jayne Coutts, the programme coordinator at the Wits Language School.
Coutts added before services like Duolingo, language learners had to wait for a person to be available for the lesson, or for feedback on work and lessons had to be scheduled for a fixed time.
Online language learning tools could be learnt at your own pace and for your own progress, she said, adding online language services often met the language learning needs of users.
"Unless you are learning a language for study or work, I would say that most people are happy to get to a conversational level.
"Conversational is quite a low level. As long as you can be understood and understand other people, it doesn't really matter how accurate you are in most cases."
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Conversational language abilities included speaking and listening and largely ignore other skills like reading, writing, and grammar, said Coutts.
She added regular users who used tools like Duolingo diligently could "get to a fairly decent conversational level".
But there may be some gaps in the accuracy of the language used by someone who learnt a language online like this.
No replacement
The director of Alliance Française Stellenbosch, Dr Marie-Anne Staebler, said online language learning tools provided a good introduction to a language, but would "never replace a teacher".
She added you needed "interaction and the cultural background of the language to speak it".
Alliance Française provides lessons in several European languages at locations across the country.
Staebler said she would recommend that someone coming to the classes should also practice their language abilities online.
She added many people came to the classes having practiced using tools like Duolingo, but they generally began classes at an introductory level despite this.
Coutts agreed language teachers would remain important for now, saying:
"Language requires interaction and exposure", and the exposure was not as authentic as it was determined by the content already on the app, she said.
Scientifically proven
Duolingo said on its website it had the world's largest collection of language-learning data at its fingertips which enriched the service it was able to offer.
"This [its database] allows us to build unique systems, uncover new insights about the nature of language and learning, and apply existing theories at scales never before seen," it said.
Duolingo added its mission was to make language education free and accessible to everyone.
News24 reached out to Duolingo but did not receive comment by the time of publication.
There are other approaches to online language learning that are being tested.
Weeve, which is not currently available for public use, will integrate words from the language a user is trying to learn into web articles of the user's choice.
The tool would mean time does not need to be set aside for language learning as the browser extension will help users learn new words and vocabulary while completing other tasks.
Coutts said she was excited to see the impact artificial intelligence would have on language learning given the impressive abilities of large language models like ChatGPT.
"In a couple of years, it is going to become something that becomes serious competition for traditional classes," she added.
