Please delete this if I’m in the wrong sub to ask this!

I’m looking to learn a new language without relying on data harvesting apps. Is there a privacy friendly platform I can use, or a FOSS app (android)?

      • Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
        10·
        4 days ago

        Anki + Yomitan is the goat. Download some dictionaries of your target language, load them into Yomitan, and now you can search words on any website with selectable text and instantly make a flashcard out of the word. Watching a video in browser? Use asbplayer to load subtitles onto the video/movie and select the text from that too. Wanna watch not in browser? Use mpvacious with mpv.

        Find yourself a card format you like and some cute addons (I use Ankimon [Pokemon]) for Anki so you don’t fall into that “it looks so dull!” trap because the SRS system it uses is no joke. I have years old vocab on there that I still remember, and medical students aren’t joking when they say it saved them.

        I just love this app so much.

  • Paragone@lemmy.worldEnglish
    14·
    4 days ago
    • Pimsleur language learning ( learn at instinct-level, not the prompted-stuff or memorizations that many other language trainings work at )
    • Tandem app ( probably not great for privacy, been awhile since I tried it ), you help someone learn your language, & they help you learn the target language one you want
    • simplified short-stories, books of collections of the things…
    • TV in the target-language
    • songs because they wire-up your other-hemisphere ( right-hemisphere for the 85% of people who have language in the left ) with the language, & that reinforces the language’s patterning
    • flashcards for the stuff that actually requires you to remember specific arbitrary things, like difficult words, or whatever, for random moments throughout the day

    Some of this I got from a book by a guy who knew … 29 or something? … languages & worked for the CIA.

    Other stuff ( songs ) from science news, & my discovering that language-destroyed-by-stroke people could sometimes still communicate through picking a song which had the idea they were trying to communicate…

    I have a bad time learning anything through hearing, though, so … language-learning seems itself to be kinda broken ( I learned English before anything, & it was my 2nd wave of braindamage which took much learning from my life, not the autism 1st-wave ).

    These are the best tools I know-of.

    I wish I could learn languages.

    I wish everybody learned other-languages, to understand just how diverse humankind’s meanings can be…

    _ /\ _

    • DornerStan@lemmygrad.ml
      2·
      4 days ago

      songs because they wire-up your other-hemisphere ( right-hemisphere for the 85% of people who have language in the left ) with the language, & that reinforces the language’s patterning

      That’s something I’ve never thought about. Interesting idea, I’m gonna try adding that to my study routine.

  • foremanguy@lemmy.ml
    5·
    3 days ago

    Try to decide what your threat model is. A language learning app (except harvesting traditional device id and such) doesn’t reveal very important info to anyone.

    The only know which language you learn and your approximate level. Sure that’s better if there’s a more private way of doing it, but the core principle of learning a language doesn’t reveal very much.

  • N0t_5ure@lemmy.world
    15·
    4 days ago

    The fastest way to learn a language is with the comprehensible input method. You watch videos, all of which are 100% in the target language. The early videos are easy, involving simple things, and using props and gestures to provide the context for understanding. As you learn more, the videos progress and become more difficult. It’s amazing how quickly you pick up things and retain them. There is a lot of comprehensible input material for Spanish, French, and English, but you can use children’s television shows like Peppa Pig where there isn’t specific material for the target language. Here is a beginner video in Spanish.

    • yellerbadger@piefed.socialEnglish
      11·
      4 days ago

      I second Dreaming Spanish. OP could use Materialous/NewPipe or whatever method they use to watch YT anonymously. Anki also works.

    • racoon@lemmy.ml
      71·
      4 days ago

      Local libraries require ID if you wanna borrow them. Better read in the premises or buy one with cash

      • rangber@lemmy.zip
        41·
        4 days ago

        For when you want to learn something, but with the thrill of dealing crack.

    • Libb@piefed.socialEnglish
      3·
      4 days ago

      That, or enroll into some local class, if you live nearby some campus check if there aren’t students offering private tutoring for their own native language.

      Also, if you already speak French, get an Assimil book for whatever language you want to learn. The older the edition the better (pre-80s) but even the more recent ones remain a good self-learning method, they’re just not as great as the older editions which were really great. Those books can be purchased (with or without accompanying audio recordings, highly recommended) or they can be had for much cheaper on the used market (also, most people have no idea how much better the older editions are so they can be found for even cheaper but the audio files (LPs) will often not be available). These books are 100% privacy-respecting: you’re alone without any tracking happening, there is no ‘login’ required either. Just you and your book (plus the audio files, if you want them)

  • LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    5·
    4 days ago

    You can also try to find some kids shows in the language you’re interested in. I’m sure sesame street has been dubbed into many languages by now.

  • snek_boi@lemmy.ml
    4·
    4 days ago

    I have a suggestion that is not FOSS, but it is privately held so the pressure to be profitable each quarter is not at all the same as publicly held companies.

    Check out the privacy policies of LingQ and Rosetta Stone. Idk if they’re good, but I know they’re the most efficient language-learning apps right now. They require the least amount of minutes using them to achieve the highest scores in standardized language tests.