Speak 14 languages easily – Babbel launches app for Apple Watch
Location-based app enables users to effortlessly learn 360 words in each of Babbel’s 14 languages, from Spanish to Indonesian
Babbel, the app that makes language learning easy and affordable, today announces the launch of its app for Apple Watch. Wearables that control or monitor health or sports activity have already proven popular, but the field of education is still largely uncharted territory for such devices.
The Babbel app for Apple Watch is poised to set the pace here with a unique context-dependent approach: it integrates seamlessly with day-to-day life, empowering learners to collect vocabulary while they interact with their surroundings. Also central to the app are elements of game mechanics, designed to increase users’ motivation and maximise learning efficiency in a fun, interactive way.
“Apple Watch creates groundbreaking opportunities for language learning, connecting it to our everyday lives,” says Markus Witte, Babbel founder and CEO. “The tremendous role that space and specific places play in the function of our memory is proven, as are the benefits of bite-sized learning. Babbel for Apple Watch brings this to life in a new and fascinating way.”
Once the app is opened, it shows all surrounding locations based on the Foursquare API. Nearby locations are shown directly in the app or via Glance. A simple visit to a café or supermarket then becomes an opportunity to collect relevant vocabulary in any of the 14 languages Babbel offers, from Spanish to French to Indonesian. Each language includes 18 different location-specific categories – airport, restaurant, museum, etc. – that in turn contain 20 new words, amounting to a total of 360 words per language.
Babbel’s implementation of game mechanics sees users become ‘word hunter-gatherers’, collecting new vocabulary in an attempt to complete each of the app’s categories in their chosen languages.
The Babbel app for Apple Watch works via communication with the iPhone. It will be fully functional with or without a subscription to Babbel. The app will be available as soon as the Apple Watch hits stores.
About Babbel
Driven by the purpose of creating mutual understanding through language, Babbel has been building digital language learning products for consumers and businesses since 2007. The Babbel app helps people connect and communicate across cultures, whether for travel, friendship, or career advancement. Based on a deep knowledge of how we learn languages, Babbel aims to make learners conversational as fast as possible. And it works: Studies from institutions like Michigan State University, Yale University and the City University of New York demonstrate the efficacy of Babbel's language learning methods. Millions of language learners agree.
Babbel's secret sauce is the blend of true expertise, understanding of how humans learn, and the latest technology. Starting with one of 60,000 lessons across 15 languages hand-crafted by experts, the learner experience constantly adapts through behavior analysis to provide high quality interactive content that makes understanding a new language easy, from Spanish to Indonesian.
Because Babbel is for everyone, its team reflects this diversity. Across headquarters in Berlin and New York, a team from more than 80 nationalities represent the backgrounds and perspectives that make humans unique. With over 25 million subscriptions sold and an industry-leading retention rate, Babbel creates genuine connections with learners worldwide. For more information, visit www.babbel.com or download the apps in the App Store or Play Store.
