by PushtoLearn
What free online services language schools can use for vocabulary practice
In our opinion, clients should always have choice among competing services so that they all can move forward and improve. We have prepared an overview of different services which can be used by language teachers and language schools for free to practise vocabulary and grammar. Please bear in mind that being “free” is not actually free as someone always has to pay. We will highlight business models of “free” services.
General information
Advantages of free services:
- they cost nothing or almost nothing
- they are designed and developed by professional programmers and methodologists
Disadvantages of free services:
- there are no actually free services, there is always some business model behind every app
- they don’t have any connection to your language schools, give little value to your brand
- they use their own content with little reference to your curriculum
- sometimes you have to develop your own content which is time-consuming
- it is difficult to implement them for all students
- students become loyal to the app, but not your school
Memrise
Teachers can create courses, which convert content into flashcards available for training activities.
Business model: students can use the app for free, but it constantly reminds user to upgrade to Pro account which costs around 5 USD per month.
Quizlet
User create flashcards for different study modes. One teacher account can create up to 8 courses for free.
Business model: teachers can use the service for free with limited features and can upgrade to Pro account which costs 35 USD per year.
Duolingo
There is Duolingo School, in which teachers can invite students and assign tasks based on the content of the app. You can’t add your own content.
Business model: students can use the service for free, but it constantly reminds them to pay 5 USD per month to disable ads and save learning progress.
It’s always your choice how to gamify your language classes and introduce new online solutions in your language teaching. We hope that this brief overview will help you to find a suitable provider for the upcoming business season.
