How This Expert-Designed App Gets Complete Beginners Speaking Spanish In 3 Weeks

Just how many people does it take to create a range of award-winning language courses? At Babbel, we have a team of over 100 linguists and language experts working together on one floor of our Berlin office. It’s probably one of the most multilingual places on Earth. Sitting beside an Italian who speaks Russian, French, German, English and Finnish is a German who speaks Spanish, Portuguese and English. And they’re all learning other languages, of course.

Aside from seeing just how many polyglots Babbel can fit in one room, there is a more serious aim to this: to tailor outstanding language courses that get you speaking your new language as quickly as possible — so quickly, in fact, that a recent study showed that even beginners just starting out in a new language only need an average of 15 hours of study over a two-month period to cover the requirements for one college semester. So how do they do this? Let’s take a look.

1. Our language experts tailor courses for your native language

The Babbel app is available in seven languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian and Swedish. From these seven languages, you can choose to learn any one of 13 languages. That makes for over 90 language combinations, and Babbel needs to be able to accommodate for all of them. Why? Let’s take a simple example. As an English speaker learning German, you won’t need as much help translating the verbs bringen and singen as the average Spanish speaker, whose verbs traer and cantar bear no resemblance to their German counterparts.

Every Babbel course is developed with your native language at the very forefront of the developer’s mind. We know you’ve already learned at least one language successfully — your native language — so we build on the grammatical concepts that you’ve already mastered and gently introduce the new ones.

2. They design courses to get you speaking as soon as possible

You all probably know the Eddie Izzard sketch where he effortlessly recites phrases from his school days: “The mouse is under the table and the monkey is on the branch.” Like most good comedy, it’s funny because it’s true. Generations of language learners can sympathize with the unfortunate predicament of being able to successfully construct semi-functional sentences (if you’re in a French zoo), but still struggle to complete basic daily tasks such as buying a bottle of water in a shop.

At Babbel, we believe that keeping oneself hydrated is more important than discerning the location of monkeys, so we avoid drilling abstract grammar and vocabulary, and focus on real-life dialogue. After the first course you’ll be able to introduce yourself, talk about where you’re from, how you’re doing, how you got to wherever you are, and — most importantly — say what you’d like to drink. In fact, if you’re bored of reading English, you can get started in your language of choice here. Select Spanish and you could be ordering sangria at your local tapas bar by this time tomorrow (unless you’re reading this at breakfast time, in which case, I recommend you go for the huevos rotos con papas fritas — ¡te echo de menos, amigo!)

3. They make courses that fit snugly into your schedule

The most common excuse we hear for not learning a new language is: “not enough time.”

People are busy nowadays. Your daily schedule looks like the first Lego™ tower you ever made, with blocks of meetings perched precariously on top of one another. So, it’s probably time you took a vacation. But before you do, indulge in a few of your Babbel lessons. Each designed to take you 10-15 minutes, they’re ideal for accompanying the commute, a quiet lunchtime snack, or a post-work glass of wine and that well-deserved bit of time for yourself.

4. They’re award-winning innovators who make continuous improvements

Babbel isn’t a book that you buy and then read (or ignore), and you don’t need to wait for the next edition for updates and improvements. Everything you touch within the courses is adjusted to optimize its effectiveness. This can be done with your explicit or implicit help. What does this mean? Well, either we notice that a high percentage of learners are struggling at a particular juncture and so we work to make it more understandable, or you shoot us an email with a suggestion, and it filters straight through to our linguists and language experts. Now that’s service!

That’s all pretty small scale though, right? A tinker here, a fine-tune there. What about the big stuff? Kitted out with some of the sharpest minds in edtech, Babbel strives to stay at the very forefront of innovation — to the point where Fast Company magazine awarded us the title of most innovative company in education in 2016.

5. They make courses which are fun and easy

We’re all capable of learning a second, third or even fourth language, but we often go about it the wrong way, opening dictionaries at A and bailing out at B, or assuming that our first communication fail is indicative of all future attempts. Babbel preaches the little and often approach, with a diverse offering of relevant lessons that keep you engaged and promote your reading, listening, writing and speaking skills. The timely introduction and repetition of new vocabulary and grammar explanations ensures you make sustained, upward progress and never feel overwhelmed.

Tourist killings jeopardize Costa Rica’s reputation for safe travel

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For years, travelers have flocked to Costa Rica for its serene beaches, lush wildlife and vibrant cities.

But the Central American country has been rocked with crime in the past year, and a spike in killings and fatal accidents involving foreigners have threatened Costa Rica’s reputation as one of the safest countries in the region for tourists.

In December, The Post reported on the murder of Carla Stefaniak, a 36-year-old Miami resident who was traveling to San Jose for her birthday. Her body was discovered in a shallow grave near the Airbnb where she was staying. A security guard at the Airbnb listing has been arrested in connection with her case. Meanwhile, local authorities said the killing was sexually motivated.

Unfortunately, Stefaniak was just the latest in a string of violence against Costa Rican tourists. Two unidentified female travelers were found dead near Tortuguero National Park in August. One 31-year-old woman’s body was discovered with strangle marks around her neck, and a 25-year-old woman drowned after she was attacked by two men, reports The Chicago Tribune. Over the summer, a 19-year-old Canadian tourist was robbed and raped after a local tried to offer her a ride from San Jose to Puerto Viejo, reports The Costa Rica Star.

And in October, authorities said that Tom Cook, a 62-year-old “hippie” from Vermont, was murdered in Jaco, a surf town in Costa Rica after he went missing for two months.

Costa Rica has seen a rise in murders in 2012, and a record 603 people were killed in 2017. Meanwhile, authorities told Bloomberg that they’re forecasting an even higher number in 2018.

“There has already been damage done to the country’s image,” Security minister Michael Soto told Bloomberg.

According to the Costa Rican Tourism Board, about 3 million travelers visit the country every year. But in 2017, the number of American tourists dropped for the first time since 2009.

This could spell bad news for Costa Rica, as tourism brings in about $3.5 billion for its economy.

“These incidents infuriate us,” President Carlos Alvarado told Bloomberg, and he promised “intense work” to address the situation.

According to the US embassy website, “Crime is increasing in Costa Rica and US citizens are frequent victims … US citizens are encouraged to exercise a high level of caution and vigilance due to increasing levels of violent crime.”

And the US embassy has advised visitors to be extra cautious in the cities of Liberia, San Rafael and San Jose due to crime.

Costa Rica’s Tourism Board did not immediately return a request for comment.

Saturn Rings Vanishing At 'Worst-Case-Scenario' Rate: What Is Causing It?

Saturn's iconic rings may vanish completely 100 million years from now. NASA recently confirmed that Saturn's rings are disappearing at the maximum rate determined from Voyager 1 and 2 observations decades ago. 

But how exactly is Saturn losing its rings? According to studies, gravity is pulling the rings into Saturn as a dusty rain of ice particles with the help of the planet's magnetic field.

James O'Donoghue of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland said that the amount of water products drained from Saturn's rings every half an hour could fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool. Based on this, Saturn's rings could disappear in 300 million years.

However, this isn't the only thing causing the vanishing of Saturn's rings. The Cassini-spacecraft measured ring-material detected falling into Saturn's equator will shorten the rings' lifespan to less than 100 million years. O'Donoghue, the lead author of a study on Saturn's ring rain, added that 100 million years is a relatively short time when compared to Saturn's age, which is 4 billion years.

The Saturn ring rain research may also answer the mystery of whether Saturn was formed with its rings or if the planet acquired them later. O'Donoghue and his team's research supports the latter hypothesis as based on this, the rings are unlikely to be older than 100 million years. It would apparently take this long for the C-ring to become what we know it to be today, assuming it was once as dense as the B-ring.

The researcher told Science Daily that we are lucky to have been able to witness Saturn's ring system, which seems to be halfway through its lifetime. He also added that if Saturn's rings are indeed temporary, humans may have missed out on seeing the giant ring systems of Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune since these planets only have thin ringlets now.

There have been many theories as to the origin of Saturn's rings. If they only developed after Saturn was born, the rings may have formed due to the collision of small, icy moons that orbit around the planet. The collision could have been caused by a gravitational tug from a passing comet or asteroid.

Saturn's rings are disappearing at an alarming rate. In this handout image provided by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Saturn's sunlit face is visible in this view from the vantage point just beneath the unilluminated side beneath the ring plane and taken in green light with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on Jan. 18, 2017. The view was acquired at a distance of approximately 630,000 miles from Saturn. Between April and September 2017, Cassini will plunge repeatedly through the gap that separates the planet from the rings. The Cassini mission is a cooperative project of NASA, ESA (the European Space Agency) and the Italian Space Agency. Photo: Getty Images/NASA

Feature Phones Sales Rise Amid Smartphone Slump, Industry Research Shows

Feature phones appear to be on the rise again, while smartphone sales are weakening, a new industry research has claimed this week. 

On Wednesday, Korea Herald learned from industry tracker Counterpoint Research that there’s been an increase in the global shipments of feature phones as the smartphone makers struggle to lure more consumers into buying or upgrading to their latest-generation handsets. 

Global data compiled by the firm showed that feature phones saw a 3 percent jump from last year with its 112 million units shipments from the July to September period. The increment is very evident in emerging markets where phones with basic functions are preferred by most consumers. 

A big portion of the total feature phone shipments accounted for units that were delivered to the Middle East and African markets. Sales in the two markets reportedly shot up 32 percent. Shipments to the Middle East, Africa and India reportedly comprised 70 percent of the total figure. 

In comparison, feature phone shipments are less than half of smartphone shipments in the aforementioned period. However, the rise in the former is remarkable considering that the demand for smartphones has dwindled in the recent years. 

Counterpoint Research’s compiled data showed that smartphone shipments recorded 380 million units, down by 5 percent from the previous year. Meanwhile, market intelligence provider IDC noted that there’s been a 6 percent decline in global smartphone shipments during the third quarter. 

Despite the sluggish sales of smartphones, Samsung still kept its top spot by securing 19 percent share of the market. Following suit is Huawei, which outranked Apple by gaining 14 percent market share. As for the iPhone maker, it placed third with 12 percent. Rounding the top five are Chinese brands Xiaomi and Oppo with 9.7 percent and 8.4 percent, respectively.

“High penetration levels, mixed with some challenging economic times, has slowed the world's largest smartphone market,” IDC’s Ryan Reith said. ”Despite this, we believe this market will begin to recover in 2019 and beyond, driven in the short term by a large, built up refresh cycle across all segments, and in the outer years of the forecast supported by 5G migration.”

On the other hand, India’s iTel and the Finnish company HMD topped the global feature phone market with 14 percent share. Jio snagged the next spot with 11 percent, while Samsung followed suit with 8 percent. 

Feature phones are doing well in certain markets, while global smartphone shipments are experiencing a slump. Photo: Getty Images/Josep Lago