IrishLanguage101.com is designed to be interactive and constantly testing and refreshing what you know. It does this using a “spaced repetition” learning technique that incorporates increasing intervals of time between subsequent reviews of previously learned material. The reason for this is to exploit something in the field of psychology known as the “spacing effect”, which is the phenomenon where humans (and animals, too) more easily learn items when they are studied a few times spaced over increasingly longer time intervals, rather than repeatedly studied in a short time span. This explains why cramming for an exam the night before does not generally work well.
Although this learning technique has many applications, it is most often used in situations where a learner must acquire a large number of items and retain them in memory indefinitely. It is known to be especially well-suited to the problem of vocabulary acquisition in the course of learning a second language. The method was first pioneered by Paul Pimsleur in the 1960s and has been adapted by language101.com to create our language learning programs.
One of the great benefits of our spaced repetition algorithm is that you don’t waste time reviewing foreign language material you already know well. This, and the fact that you simply learn and retain items more easily, means that you really can learn a foreign language quickly. Even when you have not studied in a few weeks, or more, our spaced repetition system will help you get your “forgotten” knowledge back in no time.
Language101.com is entirely web-based, i.e. we do not send you a box of CDs to load into your PC or Mac. This means you can access our system from any personal computer, including most smart phones and tablets. This allows the learner to practice anytime, and just about anywhere. Imagine being out of the office, travelling perhaps, and being able to fill in some spare time with a quick 30 minute study session on your iPhone. Ease of access means you are able to maintain your study regimen regardless of schedules.
Learning a language is more than remembering phrases, it is also about sounds. When you hear a foreign language, it often can seem just like a stream of noise at first. Language101.com has a unique two-speed audio playback feature that solves that problem. You can listen to native speakers talking at normal pace or slow it down to listen extra closely. When you have the flexibility of hearing the language spoken both normally and slow, you develop excellent pronunciation quickly.