Language Learning App

A Language Learning Phenomenon — 5 Reasons 1,000,000 People Use This App To Learn Languages

Facebook now has approximately 1.6 billion users, which equates to about one quarter of the world’s population. This number becomes even more astonishing when you consider that 3.3 billion of the world’s 7.2 billion people are connected to the internet — Facebook has registered over half the world’s connected population. The other internet giant, Google, handles around 4 billion search queries a day. Our information age of hyper-connectivity has heralded a new understanding of achievable scale. Every two days we generate the same amount of information as we did from the dawn of civilization until 2003 — five exabytes — and platforms with skittish names and basement origins categorize and index this information, mediate how we interact with one another, and mould the channels through which we access the vast repository of human knowledge.

Companies that operate on the breathtaking scale of Google and Facebook address and satisfy core fundamental human needs; namely, access to information and social interaction. It’s a formula for success: identify or create a need and provide a product or service which fulfills this need. In our networked world, this can be done at a global level: Uber can hail you a car either side of the Atlantic, Airbnb can secure you an apartment in Bombay or Buenos Aires, and Foodora can deliver you a takeaway in Birmingham or Berlin.

What happens, though, when a web company focuses not on need, but on aspiration? Can it also unite thousands of people in a common desire to educate and better themselves?

In 2007, the language experts at Babbel set out to make language learning easy, effective, and accessible to everyone. Fast-forward nine years and the four founders have multiplied into over four-hundred language enthusiasts — among them linguists, teachers, polyglots and content creators — who produce courses for learners of fourteen different foreign languages from seven different native languages, which equates to ninety-eight combinations of individually tailored courses.

So how’s it working out?

The numbers speak for themselves: over 1,000,000 people choose to learn a language with Babbel, and that number continues to grow. But why have the Babbel apps proved so popular? We’ve selected our top five reasons:

1. The People

From a rabble of budding language enthusiasts working in a loft in the Kreuzberg neighborhood of Berlin, Babbel HQ has since evolved to house a broad range of experts united by the common goal of creating the best language learning tools possible. That may all sound rather, um… lofty, but as I heard Eric Schmidt say just this week, such overt ambition possesses a strong force of attraction. For a company that requires specialists in ninety-eight language combinations, this force of attraction is integral to finding the right people, whether it’s a Spanish linguist who can design a course in Polish, or a graphic designer who can help localize the look and feel across seven languages. This imperative of multilingual, intercultural expertise has endowed the company with a truly unique topography of skills, and an unrivaled potential for innovation within the world of language learning.

2. The Product AND The Service

App-based learning carries a few inherent advantages. It’s convenient: you have your smartphone by your side at all times, fully-charged and ready to guide you through the labyrinth of contemporary life, from the gentle tap of the snooze in the morning to the emoji-peppered goodnight-message you compose for a loved one in the evening.

Furthermore, an online product can be constantly improved and updated, blurring the distinction between product and service. A Babbel learner’s progress is measured, and junctures within courses that prove difficult are optimized in order to ensure information is conveyed as effectively as possible. Yes, all that German grammar may sometimes seem complicated, and yes, some of those French words don’t look anything like they sound, but that’s exactly where Babbel comes in handy: it prides itself on making the complicated simple.

3. The Learners

All of the 1,000,000+ learners have their own story, their own reason for endeavoring to learn a language. As Babbel is in frequent contact with them, some truly inspiring tales have emerged. Gianni, for example, is probably our oldest learner at the age of 101. He’s a technophile who has long used Skype to communicate with his daughter in New York, and who likes to practice his new language with his great-granddaughter’s English speaking nanny. Cecilia is also Italian but has lived abroad for many years and speaks multiple languages. She now uses Babbel to learn German with a view to moving to Berlin in the next few years. The Babbelonians themselves are also keen Babbelers, having taken part in numerous challenges to see how much they can learn within a given period of time, whether that be Turkish in seven days, or French in a working week…

4. The Magazine

The Babbel Magazine was founded two years ago with the aim of promoting entertaining, educational articles, artwork and video on the topics of language and culture. It’s written in six different languages – English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese – and is visited on average by over ten million people every month. The editorial team now consists of thirteen people from eight different countries, and you can read about anything from the secret languages of twins to how soccer players in international teams communicate with one another. If this sounds like your cup of tea, then you can easily register with Babbel and receive all the latest updates from our magazine.

5. The Future

Artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality… Science fiction is rapidly becoming science reality. The education industry has often lagged behind other industries, such as gaming and travel, in adopting and developing new digital technologies. Babbel aims to change this – driving innovation in order to keep education in step and simultaneously addressing the soaring trend toward informal, autodidactic learning that’s been ushered in by the Information Age.

Nagrota Attack

Does Nagrota attack prove that India's aggressive stance against Pakistan is not working?

The attack on the Army camp in Nagrota which killed three Army men is one more in the long list of hard proof that the new tit-for-tat policy towards Pakistan isn't yielding the desired results.

Instead, the troubled Line of Control (LoC) may be only giving Pakistan military an opportunity to push more militants into J&K and bolster an otherwise depleted militancy which is now subsisting on the local recruits.

This is apparent from a conspicuous increase in the infiltration over the previous years. This year, there has been a three-fold increase in infiltration into Kashmir.

According to the information provided recently to Rajya Sabha by the Minister of State for Home Hansraj Ahir, 105 militants have infiltrated into Kashmir in the first nine months of 2016 against just 33 in 2015. There have been 121 infiltration attempts in the period.

Such attempts have since only gone up further. A security estimate puts the number of militants in Valley at 300 as against 100 or thereabouts over the past five years.

UNREST IN THE VALLEY

In the last week, the Army foiled two successive infiltration attempts by militants along the LoC in Gulmarg and Nowgam sectors in the Kashmir Valley.

The infiltration has complemented the local recruitment, which has seen a spike during the current upsurge.

According to estimates of J&K Police, around 60-70 youth went missing in Kashmir in the first 100 days of the turmoil, the highest such number in such a short period since the early nineties.

Police say that most of them, if not all, may have joined the militants, a fact also confirmed by the new militant videos on social media which have shown some new faces.

In fact, thirteen militants are said to have joined in Baramulla, a district that has seen little local militancy in the recent years. This is already leading to a visible rise in the violence.

As against 174 fatalities in 2015 -

113 militants

41 security personnel

Modi

Modi Plan's and Amit Shah deal's

After Catch's expose on the BJP's land buying spree in Bihar before the note ban, the party claimed that all the transactions were in white.

Reacting a few hours after the story on 25 November, senior paty leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Modi had said that loans had been taken out to purchase these lands.

"BJP provides every details of its spending to the Income Tax; any purchase of land is through cheque/RTGS not cash," he had said.

It turns out that these claims were false.

Documents accessed by Catch from Bihar's revenue department show that BJP paid over Rs 2 crore in cash to buy properties just before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his demonetisation policy on 8 November.

The deeds of five properties show that Rs 2.07 crore was paid in cash to buy land parcels in Bihar.

These transactions adding up to Rs 2.07 crore have been authorised by none other than BJP president Amit Shah himself. Catch has accessed the letter bearing his signature authorising these transactions.

The properties have been bought by Sanjeev Chaurasia, member of the Bihar Legislative Assembly from Digha and general secretary Bihar unit; Lal Babu Prasad, vice president BJP's Bihar unit; and Dilip Jaiswal, treasurer, Bihar BJP.

Where is Vidya Balan

Heartening to see women-centric films being made: Vidya Balan

Actor Vidya Balan, who has played strong roles in movies like Paa and Kahaani, says it is comforting that women-centric films are being made and actresses are taking up such roles.

"The role of women in the society has changed. They are no more defined by the man in their lives... we have our individual lives, dreams and aspirations. We are trying to lead our lives on our own terms.

"It is heartening to see so many women-centric films being made. So many actresses are taking up such roles and these films are doing commercially well," Vidya said during a media conference here ahead of her forthcoming film Kahaani 2.

"But the root cause for all this is change is happening around us. That is the reality and cinema is the reflection of reality," shared the actress.

Directed by Sujoy Ghosh, Kahaani 2 also stars Arjun Rampal. It is slated to release on December 2.

25 indian soldiers killed

Nagrota, Baramulla, Machil and 286 ceasefire violations: 25 Indian soldiers killed after Modi govt’s ‘surgical strike’

The terror attack in Nagrota today comes exactly a week after the cross-border assault in Machil, where 3 Indian soldiers were killed and one of them was beheaded.

Nagrota, Baramulla, Machil and 286 ceasefire violations: 25 Indian soldiers killed after Modi govt's 'surgical strike'

New Delhi, Nov 29: At least 7 Indian army personnel were killed in the cross-border terror attack in Nagrota, Jammu earlier in the day. The army camp at the outskirts of Nagrota was attacked by heavily armed terrorists in the morning at 5:30 AM. The counter-terror operation lasted for nearly 8-10 hours. 3 terrorists were later eliminated by the security forces. This marks the third major cross-border terror attack after the Uri assault. Terror operations with similar modus operandi were carried out Baramulla and Zakura in the past month.

The terror attack in Nagrota today comes exactly a week after the cross-border assault in Machil, where 3 Indian soldiers were killed and one of them was beheaded. The repeated cross-border attacks, along with 286 ceasefire violations in the past two months, raises questions against the Pakistan-policy adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The so-called surgical strikes were opined to be as deterrent for Pakistan by defence experts. However, the next door Islamic Republic has instead shown more aggression against India.

The so-called ‘surgical strikes’ by the Indian Army in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) was highly publicised by the ruling dispensation and vociferously celebrated by its supporters using all platforms of media. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claimed that the ‘surgical strikes’ were the result of Modi’ government’s bold decision making. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar had said that Pakistan has turned into an “anesthetized patient” following the surgical strikes.

25 Indian soldiers martyred post surgical strikes

However, the surgical strikes has evidently failed to deter Pakistan from exhibiting aggression against India. Although an attempt was made to create celebratory atmosphere by jingoist opinion makers after the surgical strikes, the reality at borders contradicted it. According to a report, 18 Indian soldiers were killed after surgical strikes till November 24, including the casualties suffered in Machil. After today’s terror attack in Nagrota, the number of deceased Indian soldiers has escalated to 25.

286 ceasefire violations after surgical strikes

The surgical strikes failed to create any sort of lull at the turbulent borders. Pakistan resorted to ceasefire violations on 286 occasions post surgical strikes, reported The Hindu. In the unprovoked firing by Pakistan, nearly 12 civilians have been killed, apart from the soldiers.

The turbulent borders have been used by Pakistan to facilitate infiltration of jihadis in the Valley. Several infiltration attempts have been foiled by Indian army in the past couple of months. The turbulent borders have also provided an opportunity for Pakistan’s Border Action Team to enter inside the Indian territory through loopholes and assassinated Indian soldiers using guerilla warfare.

Terror attacks post-surgical strikes

• Baramulla: Nearly 4-6 terrorists attacked the Army’s 46 RR camp at 10:20 PM in the night on October 2. 1 Border Security Force (BSF) jawan was martyred in the attack. The terrorists reportedly feld using the Jhelum route.
• Kupwara: Three militants attacked the Army’s 30 RR camp in Langate, Kupwara on October 6. The terrorists were shot dead, without causing any casualties to the forces.
• Zakura: CRPF camp in Zakura were targeted on October 14 by the terrorists. 1 Seema Suraksha Bal (SSB) jawan was martyred in the attack, whereas, 8 were left injured. The terrorists reportedly fled from the spot.
• Machil: Pakistan’s Border Action Team (BAT), comprising of state soldiers and cadres of non-state actors carried out a covert operation in Indian territory of Machil on November 22. Three soldiers were killed and one of them was brutally mutilated. Recoveries made by Indian army confirmed that the attack was state-sponsored by Pakistan.
• Nagrota: 7 Indian soldiers, including 2 officers and 5 jawans were killed in the terror attack today. The three terrorists were also gunned down in the counter-operation.