# learning a language online **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 18, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660 "2017-09-18T19:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/1 "2017-09-18T19:16:01Z")
so far I have used Mango when I had a library that offered it free online for their patrons and currently I use Rosetta Stone the same way, through my library. I like them both. I am also using Duolingo and like it even better - including the flashcards, which I didn’t find until I’d been using the site for a bit. a quick google shows there are lots of places - do you have experiences to share? I tried a search to see if anyone had done a thread about this but the search didn’t work for me. \>:-( ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/2 "2017-09-18T19:25:19Z")
I’ve been using Duolingo to learn Norwegian through their app and I like it a lot but there isn’t a lot to guide my pronunciation so I am really unsure that I’m saying anything close to intelligibility. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/3 "2017-09-18T19:38:37Z")
I haven’t yet tried learning a new-to-me language online, but have had good results using Duolingo to brush up on my French and Italian. I plan to try Spanish next to see how it works for me with a language I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2017, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/4 "2017-09-18T23:12:30Z")
A friend recommended [Memrise](https://www.memrise.com/). I haven’t done much with it yet, but it’s fun so far. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/5 "2017-09-19T01:59:21Z")
> [@erysichthon](#): > > A friend recommended [Memrise](https://www.memrise.com/). I haven’t done much with it yet, but it’s fun so far. thanks, I will check it out. for those using Duolingo, have you tried the [flashcards](https://tinycards.duolingo.com/)? besides languages they have flashcards for math, history and lot of other subjects. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/6 "2017-09-19T02:43:22Z")
I tried the cards but haven’t used them extensively. Unfortunately, I have only limited time most days for language study. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2017, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/learning-a-language-online/796660/7 "2017-09-19T03:30:02Z")
I’ve been using Memrise to brush up on my Russian, using the “core” course and a user-made “top 10,000 words” series. I haven’t used other systems to compare with but things I like include that they have a number of different testing modes - English to Russian, Russian to English, multi-choice, straight typing - and they also use video of real people speaking real phrases. It also gives you some credit if you \*almost \*get it right. The only major difficulty I have had is that if you use a user-generated practice set and they have made any mistakes or bad choices in their translation pairs (eg having the same English word map to 2 Russian words, and then marking you WRONG if you provide the one that wasn’t in their head!) then you can’t correct that. That may be a problem that could be corrected by going to the paid version - as a person that’s not giving them any actual money I’m sure I’m not high on their priority fix list!