As autumn approaches and many people anticipate a return to their regular office schedules, the waiting time for transportation, meetings, and appointments becomes inevitable. While activities like playing games, reading, scrolling through social media, or simply daydreaming are common ways to pass the time, why not use this opportunity to give your brain a boost with brief lessons in subjects that interest you? In this guide, we will explore Android and iOS apps that can turn your smartphone into a travel-friendly pocket tutor.
Language Learning:
Web-based academic courses and music lessons have experienced a boom in popularity in recent years, especially during the pandemic when remote learning became the norm. While Apple and Google offer their own free translation apps, some people have found online language lessons to be incredibly valuable. While practicing your French pronunciations on a crowded commuter train may not be ideal, there are several language-instruction apps that offer free or affordable tutorials in vocabulary and grammar that you can quietly engage with or even use with headphones.
Apps such as Babbel, Duolingo, Memrise, and Rosetta Stone offer short lessons in a wide variety of languages. Each app requires a user account for progress tracking. Duolingo and Memrise have free plans with additional paid options, making learning more interactive with videos and touch-screen exercises. It’s important to note that Duolingo recently experienced a breach of user data. On the other hand, Babbel and Rosetta Stone have a more conversational focus and require a subscription to continue your studies. Prices may vary, but expect to pay less than $100 per year for full access.
Exploring Global Culture:
If you want to escape the confines of your bus seat during a 45-minute commute, you can virtually visit some of the world’s greatest museums through apps like Bloomberg Connects and the Google Arts & Culture app, available on both Android and iOS for free.
Bloomberg Connects offers over 200 guides, featuring videos and highlights from art museums worldwide, as well as other cultural sites. These portable museum tours combine video, text, and images and can be downloaded for offline use.
Google Arts & Culture provides content from over 3,000 cultural institutions, landmarks, and sites around the globe. It includes travel guides to major cities, science and history exhibits, and culture-based games.
TED Talks:
Although TED Talks have become somewhat of a pop-cultural phenomenon, thousands of free lectures on technology, science, design, and cultural topics are available through the official TED app for Android and iOS. When you sign up for a free user account, you can download the talks for offline viewing.
Science Learning:
You can also learn the basics of computer coding on your mobile device. While Google recently discontinued its free Grasshopper app for teaching coding basics, there are plenty of tutorials and guides available for learning coding fundamentals on your phone.
Sololearn’s basic plan offers free, short coding lessons in various computer languages, while their pro plan includes interactive demos and additional features for an annual fee of $70.
The nonprofit organization Khan Academy offers adult learner courses in computer programming, animation, and other topics. They have dedicated mobile apps and YouTube videos, although some content may need to be viewed through a mobile browser.
NASA has a multimedia app that showcases its space missions, along with other free educational mobile apps and games focused on aeronautics, the solar system, and more. You can find links to these apps through an app-store search or on the NASA website.
Mental Workout:
If you crave a break from learning and want to show off how much you already know, there is no shortage of mobile trivia apps available in the app store. Knowledge Trainer, for instance, tests your knowledge with 6,000 questions across various subjects. The premium version, without ads, costs $6 per year.
For further mental stimulation, apps like Elevate or Peak offer “brain training” through games and stimulating exercises that claim to enhance cognitive skills. These apps offer a free level, with annual subscriptions costing less than $40.
While some days may be better suited for micro-learning than others, you can still make use of transit or meeting delays by squeezing in some extra study time.
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