It is always hard to take a product that is as successful as Babbel is/was and to radically change it (see our ''Why Invest'' page for more on the success of Babbel 1.0). At it's inception, Babbel was a personal learning app meant for users to download on their phones, tablets, and/or laptops for personal use. And while that option is, and will always be, available, we here at Babbel are proud to unveil our brand new design: Babbel 2.0.
So how is Babbel 2.0 different from our earlier version? Simply, we wanted the personal app to transform itself into an interactive language learning textbook that can be used by teachers in the classrooms and by students at home.
Each lesson plan has been broken down into a specific chronological grouping, days of the week, seasons, holidays, etc. In our newer version each session comes jam packed with photos to help the brain better retain the information it is being presented with, something that was lacking in our previous 1.0 version.
A teacher can now follow the pre-set Babbel 2.0 design, and use it as the core of their teaching lesson plan, or to complement their own lessons. Each day, or once a week, the teacher can outline the learning outcomes (i.e. how to greet, or order food). This differs from our previous version, where our main focus was getting the learner ready to situationally communicate. Now we are breaking down the lessons so the learner, rather than simply knowing how to ask ‘’when does spring start in Latin America’’, will learn all the required knowledge that will be implied in the question, like how to say ‘’Spring’’, and how to ask ‘’When does . . . .’’. This process will be built up more carefully than in our previous version.
But the main difference is in the level of sophistication and detail in our explanations (also see our ‘’Babbel vs. the Competition’’ page). Previously, we had simple to read short sentences explaining what many users were seeing. Now, with our Babbel 2.0 version, we have provided much more grammatical explanations, key reminders, and important considerations.
Why is this important? There are many reasons. Again, we carefully crafted our 2.0 version with the student in mind. Many students, as they will be the first to remind us, have homework. The teacher can not be there with them all them time—so instead, our detailed language learning instructions will. Students will have so many of the important notes they need with them at home! The value of this is exceptional.
Our next page will explain how—and why—the Babbel system works.