Every few weeks I browse the Google Play Store for new language learning apps. Most of the time I don't find anything interesting, but three weeks ago I stumbled upon something amazing - So amazing that at first I thought it was some kind of scam. But it's not a scam. It's, I feel, the best new language learning app on the market, and stumbling upon it for me was like tripping over a large gold brick on the beach.
Bluebird Languages is an app developed by a company based in Jackson Hole, Wyoming called Pronounciator, LLC. It's a language learning app that is much like the Pimsleur system; audio input and spaced repetition. However, in using this app over the last few weeks, I believe Bluebird is much more than just a Pimsleur-like product. I have become a huge fan.
For one thing, it offers 163 languages; which is a lot.
Unlike the Pimsleur system, there is a small quiz attached to every lesson to further solidify the lesson in your mind. There is no limit to the number of times you can listen to a given lesson, so if there is a topic you struggle with you can listen to it again.
I have been using Bluebird for Norwegian for the past few weeks. The lessons I have been doing range from 12-34 minutes; however there are daily lessons I could choose that are only five minutes long, which would work for my often busy (non-quarantine) schedule. The range of subjects covered by the app is pretty impressive, everything from basic vocabulary to full conversations. This range of subjects is very powerful, but it is also something to be cautious of if you are a new learner. (I now know how to say "receding gumline" in Norwegian... Something I perhaps won't ever truly need to know... (It's "vikende tannkjøtt").
On top of a huge range of subjects, you can create customized lessons that include only subjects in which you are interested. Alternatively you can create lessons targeted at a certain occupation.
I would limit the number of topics you include in your customized lessons because it can snowball into a scattered mess of words if you aren't careful. I created "A Year of Norwegian" for myself, but I included too many subjects so the lessons are a bit scattered and are not really giving me a good vocabulary base. One lesson included the phrases: I laugh, you laugh, he laughs, she laughs, honey, and an infection. So be careful when creating a custom lesson plan so you don't end up learning words you probably won't need until an advanced level. You can choose how many new words are in each lesson and for how many weeks you want to learn. The app will then create lessons divided into weeks and days for you to follow, with words from the various topics you chose mixed together.
The lessons are audio-based, the narrator will introduce all the words in the lesson to you and then address them one at a time. You will be asked to listen and repeat what the native speaker says, and the words will repeat several times during the lesson. If you happen to be looking at the screen while the lesson is playing each word is accompanied by an associated picture. I think this is really cool and makes the app usable for people who learn well with Pimsleur-like spaced repetition and Drops-like picture association. For me the audio input and repetition are amazingly effective, and it trains my brain to respond to language input. It hones your conversational instincts, and with practice, you can respond to real-time conversations with less brain-lag (That is the technical term hehe), so when someone opens up with your target language you don't have to spend six seconds floundering while your brain tries to figure out that you did not just hear English and what language was that? I love the Pimsleur approach, and I have long wanted to incorporate it into my language learning routine, but the Pimsleur lessons are expensive and I just don't have that much money to use on Learning programs.
Each lesson block comes with an accompanying PDF you can download with all the vocabulary in each lesson, divided by week and day, so if you are the kind of learner that likes to have a study guide, Bluebird has you covered.
the audio quality of the lessons is top-notch, and aside from some minor issues with the speed at which the native speakers talk (In the Irish lessons for example), I have no complaints about the quality of the lessons. Today I went through and listened to a few minutes of lessons in a random assortment of languages ranging from French to Mongolian to Xhosa. All of the audio was top-notch in quality!
I am really impressed with the range of languages Bluebird has to offer. I know on a Facebook group I am part of the Faroese learners were all very excited to have content in that language available. I will say that a lot of the more obscure languages offered do not have as many lessons available, but the vast majority of languages I looked through today had quite a lot of content, and I suspect Bluebird will be adding content to languages as they continue to develop the App.
So what criticisms do I have for this app? Well there are a few. The Irish lessons are difficult to follow because of the speed at which the Irish speaker is talking, and some people on an Irish language learning facebook group felt he was not a native speaker of Irish and therefore people should not use the app. I don't agree with this view and I contacted the developers asking for information about whether the Irish speaker was a native speaker or not. They responded that he was but we may be hearing an effect similar to when someone moves to a new place and loses their accent over time. Even still I would caution Irish learners when using Bluebird, be ready for fast speech and irregular pronunciation times. In addition, because I have not looked through every single language on the app I would advise against trusting Bluebird implicitly. This, honestly, is my advice for every language learning app I have ever tried. Language is a complex system, and translation can be very difficult. Every app I have ever used for my language learning has had mistakes. This is not a reason to avoid Bluebird or any other app, just something to keep in mind. I would strongly advise anyone reading this to please let the developers of any app you use know about flaws you find. They want the feedback so they can improve it over time. The developers at Bluebird have been super nice and responsive about all the questions I have had for them, so don't be afraid of offering constructive criticism.
There is a set of lessons on Bluebird entitled "Words for Women". These are phrases such as "No!", "I'm not interested", "Don't touch me", and others. This set of lessons is one that I heard some people on Twitter talking about being strange. Why would women need these phrases more than anyone else?
Well I asked the developers about this and they responded that the lessons could probably be better named as "Anti-harassment" rather than "Words for Women". I agree, that would be a better name and I hope they change the name of that lesson to be more... I don't know, modern, I guess. Look, harassment is something people have to deal with in certain parts of the world. It's not right, or good, but it is a thing that happens. This lesson, though poorly named, has important phrases for a person traveling to a place where they may be harassed. I would submit that "I'm not interested" would probably be a useful phrase to know in just about every country in which you could walk through a market with eager vendors or aggressive taxi drivers. It doesn't just have to be about women or harassment.
Edit - 31 May 2020- Bluebird has changed the name of the "Words for Women" lesson to "Anti-harassment"
Though there are lessons called "Creating sentences", I don't feel Bluebird is the best app for learning grammar. This is not truly a criticism, just an observation.
So, How do I feel about Bluebird? I think its an amazing app! I intend to use it for a long, long time. I would recommend it to anyone learning a language! Is it a perfect app? No. Is it the grand unified app of language learning? No. I don't think there is such thing as a perfect learning system because everyone's brains learn in slightly different ways. However Bluebird is an amazing app of exceptional quality and intent. Furthermore, right now (As of May 2020) the app is free. For comparison, the Pimsleur mobile app subscription is between $15-$20 (US) per month.
So go do yourself a favor and download Bluebird on Google or Apple, and I hope you'll love it as much as I do!