Grab global opportunities with English language learning apps

Almost all economic sectors of the country off late have been emphasizing the need for skilled manpower to take them to the next level.
 
The Prime Minister of Bangladesh herself has been repeatedly emphasising the importance of building skilled manpower in the country. She recently said, "The world is now talking about the fourth industrial revolution. For this, highly skilled manpower is essential and we have to create that type of manpower."
 
We are now living in a time where employment opportunities are no longer confined to the local or national level. You have to prepare yourself with skills suitable for the international market.
 
One of the biggest barriers Bangladeshis trying to fight in the global market face is the English language. Our grasp of the international language, collectively, is often poorer than many of our competitor countries, such as India and Philippines.
 
When it comes to either education or the job market, both public and private, there is no way to deny the dominance of English. Therefore, to help you improve your grasp of the English language, the Business Standard has come up with a list of recommended English language learning apps that can help you learn English easily, interestingly and at your convenience.
 
Duolingo
Duolingo is an American language learning platform. It has both a website and an app as well as a digital language proficiency assessment exam.
 
One of the reasons it's so popular is because of the leaderboard challenge, where a learner can compete against other real players. It feels just like a game - one where you unlock levels and win virtual coins, all the while you're learning new vocabulary and grammatical structures.
 
Duolingo has offered 98 different language courses in 38 languages as of 13 October 2020. It has over 300 million registered users across the world.
 
Quiz your English
If you're preparing for an exam, Quiz your English may be your new favourite app. It was designed by Cambridge Assessment English. The app has levels which are specifically for Cambridge B2 First and IELTS.
 
You can expect to see the kind of vocabulary and grammar often used in real life. You can also play on the app while learning, which might provide some light relief.
 
If you are a Cambridge examinee, you can continue your study here after all that intense preparation. You can even play against your friends and family!
 
The British Council

The Learn English British Council app would be a great help if you are looking forward to developing your grammar skills. It has lessons and games on a variety of topics.
 
A learner starts as a beginner with Imperatives, Questions, Simple Present and Gerunds, and can reach advanced lessons on Modal Verbs of Obligation and Necessity.
 
One can check his/her progress and see how much they improved by clicking on "test".

6,000 Words
Those of you who want to expand your vocabulary stock, 6,000 Words could be a great help.
 
This funny app will help you learn new words with text and pictures. The app is created by FunEasyLearn and has a whopping 6,000 lexical items which are categorised into themes.
 
It has themes like Sport and Food with sub-topics in specifics such as hockey, dentistry, rocks and internal organs, so the vocabulary you'll learn is quite advanced.

Beelingu
Beelingu is a story-telling app that could be an excellent tool for practising reading. It is designed to tell a story in two different languages side by side. First, you read in English, then you can check in your language.
 
The karaoke-style text will help you listen and read-along at the same time. And there's lots of interesting content to choose from, including children's classics and popular tales, to articles on science and technology.

HelloTalk
HelloTalk is a free app which connects you with over 15 million members. You must find a native speaker to teach you English here. You have to teach them your language in return. It works like a language exchange.
 
If you're feeling too shy to video call, don't panic! There's also the option to text and voice record, alongside tools for translation and pronunciation.
 
Grammarly
It is best for developing writing skills. If you're looking for instant corrections, Grammarly could help you the best. It not only checks the mistakes but also explains your error. You have to download the keyboard to use on your phone and check your spelling wherever you go. Grammarly also checks your tone.
 
BBC Learning English
The best feature of BBC Learning English app is the mini daily lesson which only takes three minutes to watch. You can learn new vocabulary, listen to news stories and practise everyday English using this app.