07-27-2024, 12:28 AM
Babbel is crap, judging by the ads. What they describe sounds like a repackaging of the the "audio-lingual" approach my high school used (until they hired someone who could actually teach French) which resulted in no one learning enough to test out of college foreign language requirements.
Sure, you can "learn" little conversations. However, these are only useful if by some miracle the native speakers you encounter never say anything that deviates from the bits you memorized. In the Babbel ad, the Babbel student tells a cabby she wants to go to the Hotel Pierre. The driver just says fine, and off they go. What if he says anything off script? "The Hotel Pierre is being fumigated. Would you like to go somewhere else?" She would have no hope of understanding and responding.
There is no short cut. Maybe just learn how to say "Do you speak English?"
Sure, you can "learn" little conversations. However, these are only useful if by some miracle the native speakers you encounter never say anything that deviates from the bits you memorized. In the Babbel ad, the Babbel student tells a cabby she wants to go to the Hotel Pierre. The driver just says fine, and off they go. What if he says anything off script? "The Hotel Pierre is being fumigated. Would you like to go somewhere else?" She would have no hope of understanding and responding.
There is no short cut. Maybe just learn how to say "Do you speak English?"