In this GlibTalks blog, we explore different English learning modes using digital learning tools and analyze the benefits and perceived limitations of each. What are the ones you have found that have worked best for you across different stages of English proficiency levels?
Call it the hottest programming language in today's prompt-engineered world of AI; the lingua franca of the corporate world; and the undisputed operating system of global commerce, academic research, and international discourse. It helps as a bridge language connecting people of different nationalities and enables you to unlock more than half the the knowledge base that exists digitally. English serves as more than just an essential academic credential, but a high-leverage asset that dictates career mobility, earning potential, cross-border collaboration, and social influence.
From the estimated 2 billion people who communicate in English, only ~20% are native English speakers, while those who use it as a second language and those learning it as a foreign language constituting a huge 80%. How are they learning and continuing to hone their English language skills?
It is estimated that more than digital tools are being used by more than 500 million learners globally, while offline tutors at brick and mortar English training institutes continue to cater to the rest. There is a proverb - "All roads lead to Rome". Likewise in the English language learning space, there is a whole gamut of digital tools that can be used to help you in your English learning journey. In this blog, we shall explore the various modes adopted by these digital platforms and tools, weighing in what works for them along with their potential limitations.
1. Applications powered by LLMs
Think the trinity of ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude. Add to these a host of other applications built on large language models (LLMs). Besides asking direct questions (substituting in place of Google Search), the primary use cases we see English learners prompting and using these applications for are:
- Editing / Paraphrasing a body of text.
- Generating a speech, presentation, report or social media post.
- Generating Bite-sized Lessons and Synthesizing Micro-Quizzes (MCQs, Fill in the blanks, error spotting, word jumbles etc. with or without a knowledge resource document uploaded).
- Simulations for Speaking practice where the model stays strictly in character, evaluates performance criteria, and provides feedback after the simulation concludes.
Judgment-Free Environment: Learners can practice speaking and writing without social anxiety, embarrassment, or fear of negative evaluation.
Hyper-Personalized Roleplays: Learners can simulate real-world interactions such as job interviews, salary negotiations, client grievance handling, sales or entrepreneurial pitches etc. with the AI roleplaying as a counterparty.
Lack of Structured Curriculum & Progression: LLMs operate without a pedagogical roadmap. The onus is on the learners to design their own syllabus, leading to fragmented learning.
Prompt Dependent: The quality of the prompt determines the quality of the learning experience. Let's also not discount the possibility of answers generated that are linguistic hallucinations and delivered with complete authoritative confidence.
There are a whole host of mobile and web applications built on these Generative AI platforms. Come to think of it, you'd rarely find any language learning app that is devoid of any form of AI intervention these days. Such apps structure and personalize your learning journey based on your proficiency level.
2. Specialized Speech Practice Apps
Conversational Quality is a function of your English Proficiency: Any conversation you have is restricted to your current level of vocabulary and your knowledge of the topic being discussed.
Corrections you can act on: In-conversation corrections to grammar and sentence construction take place. While the apps have learning paths for vocabulary building, they present a limited scope for actually working on filler words, emphasis and pauses other than identifying them post recording.
3. Language Learning Apps
These are apps like Duolingo, Babbel and Memrise which serve as the entry point for millions of digital language learners world over. Learners do not have to worry about planning a syllabus like on ChatGPT; they simply open the app and complete the next modular exercise. Such apps have proven to be the gold standard for implementing gamification and spaced repetition system (SRS) algorithms to aid in better lesson retention.
4. E-Learning Modules
These are pre-recorded, video-led curricula on platforms like Udemy, Coursera, edX, and LinkedIn Learning, among others that deliver structured, lecture-style English instruction asynchronously. Some e-learning providers such as The Hindu STEP may have live instructor led tutoring interventions at strategic intervals during the course.
Such platforms allow learners to gain access to the teachings of top-tier university professors, corporate voice coaches, and seasoned ELT practitioners whose live hourly rates would otherwise be cost-prohibitive. There's greater conceptual depth as lessons are covered far more rigorously than 5-minute gamified app drills. Moreover, most courses offer transcripts, downloadable slide decks, reference PDF cheat sheets, and self-graded quizzes alongside video lectures to make the learning tangible.
Systematic, Linear Curriculum Design: Unlike scattered open-web resources, pre-recorded courses typically follow a planned pedagogical arc (e.g., Business English from beginner to executive presentation skills, or module-by-module IELTS preparation).
Flexibility: Students can pause, rewind, re-watch complex grammar breakdowns, adjust playback speed, to learn entirely at their own pace.
Cost Effective: Such platforms allow learners to gain access to the teachings of top-tier university professors, corporate voice coaches, and seasoned ELT practitioners whose live hourly rates would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
One-Way, Passive Consumption: Be it an uploaded text, image or video file, learners spend hours reading or listening to the discourse rather than actively speaking, writing, or retrieving words under pressure.
The "Lecture Fatigue": Sitting through 30-45-minute modular videos often does not lead to actual oral fluency. Learner motivation falls rapidly resulting in a 10-15% course completion rate.
Limited Practical Application: Once a video lesson ends, your learnings in the lecture typically stay locked inside the LMS unless you practically apply them in social and professional settings. The certification you get is purely academical with little to no proof of practical application.
5. 1:1 Live Tutoring Apps
1:1 live tutoring apps such as Cambly, Preply and Clapingo represent the gold standard for personalized language acquisition, pairing learners directly with native speakers or certified ELT instructors via video call which creates a psychological commitment that drastically cuts attrition compared to self-directed video courses or apps. However, the human element introduces distinct pedagogical and operational trade-offs.
Replicating the benefits of an offline classroom: The tutor will be able to gauge the strengths and weaknesses of the student and suggest interventions such as customized learning tracks which are likely to be far more effective than deterministic app drills.
Pedagogical Inconsistency: Open marketplaces feature a wide variance in instructor quality.
Prohibitive Costing: Due to steep hourly rates, learners restrict sessions to 2 per week, which is insufficient for rapid lexical acquisition.
6. Tutoring via Messaging Apps
Cognitive Clutter: WhatsApp is used for multi-purpose communication such as work emergencies, family chats, and social updates, educational messages are easily buried, muted, or skimmed passively.
Poor Referencing: A knowledge resource becomes unsearchable two weeks later, turning the chat into a graveyard of lost tips.
7. Flashcard Apps for Vocabulary Building
Flashcards are learning resources designed with the word on one side and its definition (and other lexical elements) and usage example on the other. Apps that generate flashcards and powered by Spaced Repetition Systems (SRS) such as Anki, Quizlet, and MosaLingua, are considered the benchmark for systematic memory retention in language acquisition.
Efficient Lexical Scaling: Flashcards enable learners to memorize large volumes of vocabulary in a short period of time especially for competitive exams such as GRE GMAT, IELTS, TOEFL among others.
High Efficacy & Customization: Programming spaced repetition flattens the forgetting curve. Some flashcards allow users to add their own tags and fields as every learner's learning style is unique.
Rote Memorization: Flashcards strip words from natural discourse. Learners can guess the word or the definition but more often than not fail in using them contextually.
Monotony: Flipping hundreds of digital cards can get cognitively sterile and repetitive. Language acquired using flashcards fails to activate during live conversations.
8. Google Search's Word Coach and Speech Practice
When you search the meaning of a new word on Google via mobile, it shows the lexical information along with usage examples. Under that you'd see a Word Coach which tests you on your contextual usage in the form of a multiple choice question (MCQ) for that word. It then proceeds with more MCQs covering 4-5 other words.
Google also helps users with pronunciation and speaking practice. For pronunciation help, Search "how to pronounce <English WORD>" to hear the audio and see a depiction of mouth movements.
The feature which is a gamechanger for students who speak English as a second or foreign language is the Speaking practice along with personalized feedback integrated into Google Search as a value addition to the existing definition generation and translation offering.
Practice Vocabulary in Authentic Contexts: Users are given a topic and have to use a set of words while speaking about that topic.
Personalized Feedback: Both semantic feedback (Response relevance to the topic) and grammar feedback will be given to the user.
Zero Cost: Access to Google Search is free of cost
Fragmented Learning Journey: Both Word Coach and Speaking Practice lack structured curriculum tracking, milestones, and habit dashboards.
9. Playing Word Games and Solving Puzzles
Word games and puzzles such as the Daily Crosswords, Anagrams, Wordle, and semantic word association games facilitate vocabulary acquisition and recall through play, lateral thinking, and linguistic problem-solving.
Deep Semantic Association: Crossword clues and word association games demand lateral thinking, requiring players to search their mental lexicon for synonyms, antonyms, double entendres, and category-specific terms rather than simply matching a single static definition.
Intrinsic Motivation & Low Pressure: Puzzles trigger intrinsic reward loops through dopamine hits upon finding a word or solving a grid. It sparks curiosity to know and learn from the answers.
Decontextualized Word Retrieval: Puzzles isolate words into discrete grids, letter tiles, patterns or single-clue prompts, but fail to demonstrate how it functions in a real-world conversation.
Zero Spoken Output or Pronunciation Practice: Puzzles are silent, visual, and orthographic. A learner can solve a crossword and still mispronounce the words or use them in wrong contexts entirely when speaking in an interview or meeting.
10. Browser Extensions for Learning from Online Reading and Videos
Global internet users spend roughly 11 hours and 39 minutes per week watching online video. 35 – 40% internet users regularly consume online news via news portals, news aggregator websites, or e-papers.
Browser extensions are software programs that add features to power-up the browser you use to access the internet on your laptop/ desktop PC to help you perform functions that boost your productivity or meet your desired objectives such as expanding your English Vocabulary while Video Streaming with English Subtitles and reading online English articles.
In-Context Capture: This mode of learning is highly effective as you encounter new words and phrases as they are used in context while reading or watching a video. You know the situation, the emotion and the undertones behind its usage making it easier to know the meanings of words.
Customized Personal Word Banks: Rather than forcing learners through pre-packaged, generic word lists, extensions build hyper-relevant lexicons reflecting the learner's actual reading and video consumption habits.
Desktop-Only Constraint: Web browser extensions work only on browsers of laptops and desktop PCs. They do not work on mobile devices.
Word Collection does not equal Mastery: You may come across 50 new words today. Merely looking up their definitions and usage example does not amount to learning. Without practice and getting assessed on their contextual usage, you cannot attain confidence needed to use them.
Browser extensions like Glibzter English Vocab Magnet not just helps you with immersive vocabulary acquisition of high impact English words and phrases from videos with English subtitles on video streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Prime Video and JioHotstar, but also from online English news portals. What's more? It bridges vocabulary acquired to mastery through contextual assessments helping you measure your learning outcomes.
Conspicuous by their absence in this article are Online Dictionaries and Listening to Podcasts.
While it is essential to have access to online dictionaries such as The Free Dictionary most of the dictionary related searches take place on Google or on GenAI platforms. Podcasts on the other hand are increasingly seen evolving into video formats on YouTube, which would then be covered by browser extensions like Glibzter English Vocab Magnet.
What are the digital modes you have used so far in your English learning journey? Ideally, your choice of tools and modes would be determined by:
- Ease of usage
- Efficacy to meet learning needs
- Engagement factor, and
- Cost effectiveness
