An excerpt from http://www.sitepoint.com/6-tips-creating-language-learning-app/, by @CateLawrence
Whether for international travel, business dealings or romantic relations, in our global society, many of us find ourselves needing to learn a new language.
Language apps are big, Duolingo was awarded Apple’s App of the year in 2013 and Google Play in 2014. Downloaded over 10,000,000 times, Rosetta Stone is similarly popular.
I am an Australian expat living in Germany and struggle with language every day. In this article I will discuss Language app UX, some of the broader issues in language learning using apps and an interview with a language app developer. Hopefully this will be useful to anyone building an educational app for an adult audience.
##Language courses have a high degree of attrition
Many people begin learning a second language with enthusiasm, only to fail to attend classes, complete assignments and eventually drop out. Language classes have historically had a high rate of attrition and it’s not surprising that software based courses suffer the same fate. In 2008 Jeff McQuillan utilized the ‘wear and tear’ method of determining how far people have progressed through language learning books borrowed at public libraries. He found that an average reader read less than 20% of each book. A study of Duolingo’s Spanish course found that a majority of students dropped out after less than 2 hours of study.