![]() Loewen started his quest with a small-scale study of Duolingo. “But it’s much harder to take that knowledge and translate it into the ability to use language - to speak it, understand what you’re hearing, and respond in an appropriate way. If you teach people explicitly to memorize vocabulary and grammar rules, most people will learn that,” he said. Correspondence-type learning like Rosetta Stone also draws loyal followers. As a strong proponent of second language learning, Loewen was pleased by the number of users claimed by each app: Duolingo at 25 million a month, Babbel with a million or more subscribers and Busuu with 90 million registered users. With more apps than ever attracting language enthusiasts, Loewen narrowed his research to two of the most popular: Duolingo and Babbel, as well as Busuu. He also wondered if they were gimmicky or made claims they possibly couldn’t fulfill. Like many teachers and language specialists, Loewen was intrigued by the ads and assertions made by the various language apps. “I wanted to find out and to gather some data.” “Millions of people are studying languages on these apps, and as teachers and researchers of second language acquisition, we have no idea what’s really happening learning-wise,” Loewen said. Recently, Loewen’s research examined the effectiveness of popular apps and online platforms that deliver language lessons for free or by subscription. Loewen came to MSU in 2005 to join the faculty in the Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages and today, is leading courses on second language acquisition and quantitative research methods. ![]() Despite his passion for being multilingual, he knew he couldn’t make a living as a professional language learner. ![]() Shawn Loewen – professor of Second Language Studies in Michigan State University’s College of Arts and Letters – became enamored with languages at age 13 when his parents hired a private tutor to teach him Spanish.
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