Make use of what you can
Everything can be a language learning resource, even some packaging you find in a store or a second hand dictionary. Try to find what you can and use it innovatively. When I was studying Korean 13 years ago in South Africa, there was next to nothing I could use. I found a Korean grocery store, bought some snacks, and used the packaging to learn and practice characters and learn some basic words I could write down.
Use apps that support these languages
Let me spam you with a list of what I usually use! Wikitongues on YouTube documents all the world’s languages, uTalk has a ton of languages, Pimsleur is good, Bluebird has a lot too, and Ling app has lots of lesser-learned languages. Polygloss is a very good app to practice with native speakers on. Assimil is also a trusted resource that contains lots of lesser-learned languages.
Find a language exchange partner or tutor
Tandem, HelloTalk, italki, HiNative and Preply are all websites and apps on which you can likely at least find one native speaker or tutor to help you.
– You can get $10 off your first language lesson on italki after spending $20 if you sign up using my discount link here.
– If you want to use Preply to find tutors, get 50% off your first trial lesson by using this link.
Have fun!
Check out forums
You will be surprised to see what you’ll find if you look for a Facebook group for the language, or find some online forum with people learning it. Duolingo has lots of language forums too! Reddit might also be a good place to look. Journaly is also a website you can use where you write something and get corrections from native speakers.
Try to find native content
It might be tough, but you can practically listen to the radio from every country if you use the radio garden app. Try to listen to the radio or any podcast you can find in the language and take note of common words, write them down. You can even Google a word in the language and try to find articles, podcasts or videos related to the topic.
Find YouTube channels
Most likely, there will at least be a few people who vlog or make videos in the lesser-learned langauge you are looking for. Search for keywords on YouTube and try looking at their videos.
Contact embassies or linguistic departments
Your last effort can be to contact the embassy of the country of the language you are learning. This is what I did with Hungarian and realized there was a Hungarian association in South Africa! Try contacting universities too, there might be a linguistics department or a library that you can get access to.
Try Clozemaster. They have over 60 languages.
Clozemaster is one of my favorite apps on which you can find more than 60 languages to learn! It’s better for intermediate to advanced learners, but you can still help yourself if you use a dictionary and take it one sentence at a time. Use my link to sign up to Clozemaster here.
Check out government and endangered language websites
Some countries’ governments have special websites promoting or preserving their language. You can Google around and try every avenue there is online. Good luck!
One Response
Hi Lindie! Thank you for sharing, while I’m mostly an old school language learner, I do try some opportunities online. Just one thing, Duolingo no longer has official forums, the closed them down a few months ago. There are only unofficial ones made by DL users and they of course can’t use the name Duolingo.
Thanks for all you do 🙂
Take care