I'm working on learning German using apps such as Duolingo, Drops, Babbel, DW Learn German, etc. I'm certainly gaining in vocabulary but not sure I'm picking up enough to hold a real interactive conversations. So I'm curious if anyone here has successfully solely used an app to gain legit fluency in a foreign language.
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Eh, probably not.
An app can help with some things (like grammar tests) and as a supplement to other things, but there's no substitute for total immersion in the language.
The DW Learn German is probably a good place to start, though.
And we have to admit, the German approach to the coronavirus thing does seem to be working...
I agree that total immersion is probably the best way to go, but that's not a possibility. I plan to use the Tandem app for interactive conversation with native German speakers once my vocabulary reaches a level with which I'm comfortable beginning a conversation.
I recommend you go conversational earlier rather than later.
Perfect is the enemy of good in language learning.
Jes
I gained Spanish fluency by living in the culture ten years and having to speak at length as part of my job after spending a year in full time language study in Costa Rica. Having native speakers converse with you and giving them permission to correct you is really helpful. You mind will pick up on sentence structures, common idioms and loads of vocabulary through conversation better than any classroom or online course. Having good grammar is very important, so you have to hit the books for that, but fluency comes from many hundreds of hours of conversation, imho.
I spent a little over a year learning Farsi at DLI and you will only get conversational by practicing with someone else that knows the language. Learning to read, write, listen, and speak a language are all different skill sets requiring practice so focus on the one you are trying to get proficient at.
I found language software helpful for learning vocabulary and listening but not much for reading or speaking. If you want to improve reading pull up news sites in your desired language. BBC news is a good source since it has multiple languages to choose.