Duolingo App Review: How to Get 100 Million People Translating the Web for Free

Last year on European Day of Languages I decided that it was time to stop wishing I knew another language and take steps to make it happen in 2014. By the end of 2013 I was introduced to Duolingo by Apple when they selected it as the top iPhone app of the year.

Duolingo helps users learn a new language from their iPhones with user friendly visual and verbal lessons. The simple interface and the vibrant design make it a pleasure to use the app, and for a first time language learner I found it fun and simple to use.

Once you’ve signed up, you can choose which language you would like to learn from those on offer including French, Spanish, German, Italian and Portuguese. I have an ambition to learn both Spanish and Portuguese, but having a basic knowledge of French from school I decided to start there and hopefully progress.

After choosing a language you can also set a target of between 5 and 30 minutes of learning each day. I chose to start with 10 minutes to see if I could stay on track at first and I have found the daily reminders from my language coach really helpful and so far I haven’t fallen off my target!

The idea of having a coach is a great feature as are the different levels you can progress through which keeps the learner engaged for longer to complete each level. To make it more entertaining Duolingo also allows the user three lives in the form of lovely little hearts per level, and if you lose all three you have to start the level all over again. What’s great here is that even though you are starting the same level once again, Duolingo changes it up so you aren’t answering the same questions.

A series of questions encourage the user to answer correctly, learning along the way by typing in the chosen language and choosing from multiple choice and voice recordings with the phone's microphone. This innovative way of learning keeps the overall experience interesting and entertaining. Learners are also rewarded with experience points, which can be used to buy perks within the app, and, perhaps the best part, it's free, although I have enjoyed using it so much I would gladly pay for it too.

The most exciting part about Duolingo for me is the story behind it. The founder, Luis von Ahn (creator of CAPTCHA, the user identification test that tells humans and computers apart) created Duolingo out of an ambition to translate the whole web into every major language – the problem being that this would be a very time consuming and expensive project costing millions. He wondered how he could motivate people to do it for free and realised that many people have a desire to learn a new language, so Duolingo was born. Luis has created a way to help millions of people learn a new language while simultaneously motivating us to translate the web quickly and accurately, all for free.

Score: 8/10

I love... the simplicity of the app, the app icon and the way it motivates you to learn with daily reminders and helpful hints to stay on track

I'd like to... see the app offer more languages with introductory levels just to have an initial try, for example Mandarin or Russian. I would also like the app to have more ‘real-life’ scenarios to learn from. Since both Jane and I have been using the app we’ve encountered ‘The dress is red’, ‘The cat is black’ , ‘He is rich’, 'I am an ant' and our favourite… 'The shark eats the monkey'!

To find out more about the Duolingo journey click here to watch a video with its founder Luis Von Ahn. 

Download Duolingo here and find them on Facebook & Twitter to join a community of language learners...

Bon apprentissage!

Katie x

Pinterest Place Pins: Travel Planners Everywhere Rejoice!

It’s no secret that Pinterest is up there when it comes to our favourite ways to pass the time, it’s a place we both love to find inspiration and collect ideas, products, words and places we love.  To us, it’s not just another social network, in fact it’s now the third largest source of referral traffic on the internet, helping people to discover things that interest them. It's a social media network that doesn't promote self-indulgence, inspires the user and connects people to other people that share the same interests and passions. Above all it’s the meaningful social media platform and should be set apart from the big guns; Facebook & Twitter.

In 2012 Pinterest Co-founder & CEO Ben Silbermann was worried about the number of users only reaching 3,000 since the platform’s launch in 2010, but good things take time, and today Pinterest boasts 70 million 'pinsters' (pinning gansters!), with the UK ranking third for the amount of users. Brands are getting involved too, click here to see our simple tips on how to create an inspiring presence on Pinterest.

People pin anything from recipes and products, to style tips, news articles and quotes to inspire them at work, while shopping and at home, and of course for their next exciting adventure. Every day people pin approximately 1.5 million places, accumulating in more than 750 million pins of destinations on Pinterest. 

Pinterest doesn't stop at just an online pinboard of things we like, it has a much greater mission: to help users turn their inspiration into a reality. Cue Place Pins, rolled out by the company at the end of last year…

What are Place Pins?

Place Pins (or Pinterest Maps) enable users to map out the locations of all the items they share on their pinboards. For example, if a user pins a photo of a delicious meal they enjoyed at a restaurant while on holiday in France they can also add the restaurant’s location to a map on their board.

Place pins could revolutionise the way we plan our travel; before heading to New York City I could look at this brilliant board from SarahTolzmann, Web Designer at Ralph Lauren and blogger behind Note to Self. I could then repin any of the hotspots she has highlighted onto my very own trip itinerary board. I can hear the planners out there bursting with excitement!

Ultimately it’s part of Pinterest’s mantra to make pins more useful, including more meta data and useful information such as the contact details so you can easily pull up details you need - something I found particularly useful as my frequently on-the-go googling fails to bring up the extra details on the first page such as postcodes and phone numbers.

How can you use them?

It’s very easy to create a board of place pins, you can either select ‘Add A Map’ when starting a board from scratch or edit an existing board’s settings – start with a board you've dedicated to travel as this will be the easiest way to get to grips with the feature.

Pinterest allows you to create boards with friends too so you can plan your holiday or trip as a team, and if creating a board of your favourite things to do in your favourite city, you can send your board to a friend who is planning their next holiday to the same destination to spread your inspiration!

Have a little look at Jane’s ‘I’d Like To Be’ place board to inspire you to give it a go yourself!  Jane puts in all the destinations, hotels and even restaurants she'd like to visit, keeping a record in one place. Jane loves the way she's able to easily see all the pins on one large map in order to plan her next trip.

The future of Pinterest Maps

Place Pins are the network’s first effort to make Pinterest more useful for travel and for someone looking to plan a trip away, getting the chance to tap into to real people recommending real places in your dream destination is more than valuable. It remains true to Pinterest’s goal to encourage users to actually visit the places on their ‘Where to Next?’ boards, inspiring and enriching users to live the life they really want.

With time and more improvements, the team at Pinterest will iron out a few little niggles, namely the limited places when searching to place your pin – but you can of course add your own too. The sharing place boards are a great idea, the only thing is that when a friend pins to the board, there still requires someone to ‘place’ the pin onto the map too.

The future of Pinterest & the main man Ben Silbermann

We listened to CEO Ben Silbermann talk at a recent Google Hangout with Virgin Unite (read our blog post about it here) and since then we've read a lot about his start up journey. So much of his advice resonates with us, especially about building a product that people enjoy and one makes the end-user’s life better every day. Below are a few gems from Ben we want to share with you and, if you have ten minutes today, have a look at this video of Ben speaking at a networking event too.

...and our favourite: “Don’t give up”

Happy place pinning and here’s to all those destinations becoming a reality! 

Katie x

A Perfect New Year in the Seaside Town of Southwold

My family and I were introduced to the traditional seaside town of Southwold by our close friends and have been lucky enough to spend a week there with them every New Year for the past six years.

Southwold is on the East coast of England in Suffolk and almost feels like the town that time forgot. There's an ancient high street, a pier built in 1900 and the 300 year Adnams brewery... it's an 'Olde Worlde' English seaside town with a lot of charm and class.

There's so much to see in Southwold but these are my must-dos...

The Lord Nelson - the Best Pub in Southwold!

The Lord Nelson or the 'Nellie' really is the best pub in Southwold and believe me, we have tried them all! It stands just setback from the promenade so is lovely to sit outside (on the front or in the beer garden) and hear the waves. The staff are great and the drinks and food amazing, even for vegetarians; I had a delicious Quorn Chilli (twice!) topped with cheese nachos and soured cream.

Inside, it's a traditional pub with lots of wood, huddled up tables and comfy chairs, a fire and lots of history in the momentos and photographs on the walls. It's an old place; The Nellie was called Noah's Ark until 1805 and the earliest record of it was during the reign of Charles II in 1672!

A Visit to the Pier

The traditional pier was built 114 years ago but was weakened in World War II and a gale in 1955 destroyed a large part of it. It was restored in 2001 and is now a very popular part of the town. It has a pier pavillion, restaurant (with amazing hot chocolates!) and a amusement arcade. The most interesting parts of the pier are the novelty machines made by cartoon artist and engineer Tim Hunkin and the famous clock tower which, every hour, jumps into action to surprise visitors!

Adnams Brewery

Adnams was established in 1872 and is best-known as a brewer of beer although they now have a fleet of hotels and shops - all of which are amazing. Adnams was established in Southwold in 1872 with the brewery being built in the centre of town in 1890. Interestingly, the earliest record of beer being brewed on the Adnams site was in 1345 by Johanna de Corby and 17 other 'ale wives'!

The award-winning brewery is the town's largest employer and has beer, wine and now spirits on offer in most of Southwold's pubs, bars and restaurants. A few favourites of our group was Adnams Spindrift (a flavoursome, refreshing beer), Pink Fizz (a delicious sparkling wine) and Adnams Absinthe Rouge (inspired by an old French recipe with hibiscus flowers for a ruby-red colour).

Southwold's High Street

There are some outstanding shops on the ancient high street with something for everyone from boutiques and craft shops to florists and bakers. My favourite fashion shop is Collen & Clare just up the road from The Lord Nelson which has a great mix of designer clothing, accessories, home fragrances and beauty products.

Two Magpie's Bakery is amazing stocked with homemade cakes, biscuits and speciality bread and perfect coffee, so I'd encourage a visit there!

Sutherland House restaurant located in the centre of the high street is my favourite place to have dinner. Although other members of our group had been before, I had never experienced it but I'm now so glad I did. The food is Michelin-star worthy (but with substance), the staff welcoming and the surroundings relaxed and packed with history (wonky floors and walls add to the charm).

An Invigorating Walk from Southwold to Walberswick

We take the dogs out for a walk along the beach every day and my favourite walk is from Southwold to the next village along, Walberswick. The walk heads across the beach, through the working harbour (I love seeing all the fishing boats and we occasionally buy fresh fish from there) then across the nature reserve near the River Blyth. Once we reach Walberswick, of course, we need to re-fuel so have lunch and Adnams beer at a great pub, The Anchor. A must-have dish there is beer-battered cod with freshly cut chips and jalapeno tartare sauce - lovely!

The Beach and Famous Beach Huts

If you don't do anything but this in Southwold you need to walk along the promenade, dipping onto the sandy beach here and there and be amazed by the fun, colourful beach huts. This year we rented a beach hut; the blue and cream Blyth Spirit, and enjoyed cooking breakfast in there and eating it outside on the beach in the sun and we even celebrated New Year's Eve in there with fireworks on the beach, champagne and dancing! Although the beach huts look very small, inside they fit eight people relatively comfortably and ours had everything we needed including chairs, games, books and cooking essentials.

My perfect day in Southwold would start off with an espresso from Two Magpie's Bakery followed by a spot of shopping in Collen and Clare, before having breakfast in the beach hut with the whole crowd. I'd then pick up the dog and walk to Walberswick for lunch before taking a leisurely stroll back. To top off the day I'd go to The Lord Nelson for a glass of Adnams Pink Fizz and then on to Sutherland House for a three-course meal. Perfect!

Finally, a bit of celeb spotting... last New Year I was pleased to bump into (literally) the lovely actor Bill Nighy and this year there was rumours that Johnny Depp was in town for New Year!

I couldn't think of a better place to see in a new year in the UK!

Jane x

Our 2014 Social Media Awareness Day Calendar is here!

Posting a constant stream of engaging and interesting content on social media throughout the year can be a struggle – we’ve been there! After much testing, we found the key to succeeding when it comes to content is... planning. There are lots of elements to planning social media content but something we find so valuable is having a calendar of national awareness days, events and historical moments to dip into to inspire online content – cue our newly updated 2014 Social Media Awareness Day Calendar!

This year we have revamped the calendar to make it an even more useful social media tool. We have researched each and every one of the hundreds of events to include all possible links to Facebook, Twitter and importantly, event hashtags too! This will make populating social media easier and less time-consuming enabling you to find the source of the event and join in topical conversations to increase engagement.

We have also updated the calendar and added many more events which can be adapted for a number of different target markets. We’ve had some lovely feedback about our 2013 edition, and although it’s been hugely popular among social media managers, we know that it’s been very useful for the PR industry and for lots of teachers using it to plan their lessons too!

When posting social media content, don't forget to...

• Adapt it to your target market, thinking about what fans already like to talk about online
• Give a call-to-action. That could be anything from a question relating to the topic or a prompt to visit your website to find out further information
• Add an image. Images speak a thousand words and are so important on social media, for example, on Facebook a post with an image increases engagement rates by 120%!
• Use the dedicated hashtags and include the official social media channels if present to increase your post’s reach.

You can download the calendar here where you’ll also find our Social Media Content Planner and if you'd like to see us add any further awareness days, just get in touch!

Happy planning, 

Katie x

The Best Things in Life in January

Happy 2014! We're continuing our blog series 'The Best Things in Life' inspired by a regular top 'best thing'; Red magazine. We follow the Red questions asked to contributors in each edition of the lifestyle magazine but add our own question for good measure too!

Katie

Best things in life...

A fresh new year – I love the feeling of starting over with the New Year, setting new goals to reach and thinking of all the things I will try to accomplish in the next 12 months!

A diary – This goes hand-in-hand with the above; I love getting a new diary and filling it with all the things I have planned in the upcoming year. Of course this year I’ll also have my most favourite diary – our app Countdown Keeper to keep a track of all my events, birthdays and celebrations!

Giving back – This year I wanted to give some of my time to helping out at my local shelter for the homeless and lonely on Boxing Day. The Coventry Open Christmas Shelter provides 24 hour food, clothes and a place to sleep for a week every Christmas. While I was there I helped kit out people with new clothes and toiletries that had been donated and spent time chatting and playing cards. If you would like to get involved next year head to www.coventryopenchristmas.co.uk

The moment that changed my life was...

It sounds such a simple thing, but I decided to throw caution to the wind and say yes to starting a business with Jane the moment she showed me her mind map! I had been worrying about how I’d survive financially and it was starting to hold me back and making me have second thoughts, even though I knew it was what I really wanted to do. Jane had created a mind map of all the options she had for starting a business and once I saw it that was it, I couldn’t resist just going for it! Mind maps have become a key tool we use in planning our many business ventures now!

The thing I'm looking forward to achieving in 2014 is...

Our second year of business and enjoying the journey! There is nothing more exciting than chasing your goals and dreams with a great partner and going into this year I’m excited to see where we will be and what twists and turns our business has taken this time next year!

Jane

Best things in life...

New Year spent in Southwold! Every December mine and my best friend's families venture to Southwold for a week to see in the new year in the fresh sea air. We spend time walking the dogs, eating delicious local food and having fun in our beach hut - I couldn't think of a better way to see in 2014.

New Kikki.K stationery... I love stationery, especially when it's flown all the way from Australia from my favourite stationery shop Kikki.K. Opening a fresh notepad, filling in a new diary with un-used pens and starting the year right by filling in my wellbeing journal are a few of life's little pleasures!

Books! All the books on my Christmas list were ticked off this year given to me from various family members. I'm excited and intrigued to be starting Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook COO this week and am already halfway through Build a Business from Your Kitchen Table jointly written by Not on the High Street co-founders Sophie Cornish and Holly Tucker. I have a resolution this year to read all the books I own (before buying anymore!) so have a lot to get through!

The moment that changed my life was...

Although I feel the need to say 'when I met my future husband' that's not me so I'm going with 'the day I decided to take the plunge, quit a stable job and launch Katie & Jane!' This was such a big thing for me; I'm from a family who like steady jobs (teachers mainly!) so having their support despite them not understanding why was a major factor in going for it! Having my own business comes with its ups and downs but I wouldn't change it for the world. I have an amazing co-founder who inspires and motivates me every day, I've been able to meet lots of new people and I love living my life on my terms. Getting excited for the new year instead of fearing going back into work is the best feeling in the world.

The thing I'm looking forward to achieving in 2014 is...

Starting all our app ventures! Although the plan for Katie & Jane was to initially focus on social media, we couldn't get away from our passion of creating meaningful lifestyle apps. Our first app Countdown Keeper will finally launch in January and we already have a plan to launch a number of further apps in 2014. It's going to be an interesting learning-curve for us venturing into the exciting world of apps... I can't wait!

Learning Online - A New Year's Resolution

Katie & I have promised to both complete an online eCourse in 2014 as part of our new year's resolution setting, not only to further our business but also to get more from our free time too. We found SkillShare earlier in 2013 and were inspired by their courses so much we decided to put our own social media course on it.

eCourses are a simple way of learning more in your own time yet with SkillShare there are practical activities throughout and an end of course project so you can really get hands-on and feel you have achieved something. With our 'Create an Effective Facebook Strategy' eCourse we set a Facebook strategy as the final project meaning students will be able to go ahead and utilise what they have learnt throughout the course in the real-world.

A few eCourses that have caught my eye (apart from our own of course!) are...

Love Photo Apps: Make Awesome Images Using iPhone Photo Apps 

Clear the Clutter: Design a Daily Writing Goal

Lettering With Texture: Dimensional Type With Layers And Color

Katie may try...

Create Your First E-Book Using Free Tools
Legal Advice for Entrepreneurs & Start-Ups

And finally, just for fun! Create Your Own Custom Sushi Roll

In celebration of 2014, there's currently 14% off our $23/£14 eCourse until 12th January 2014 - use the code KJFB12 here: http://skl.sh/19S61F6

Happy learning!

Jane x

Katie & Jane is One Year Old!

We wanted a record on our blog of our one year birthday... we're very proud of what we have achieved in the first year of our business Katie & Jane and are so looking forward to many more birthdays to come!

It's great to be really excited to start a new year with a positive mind-frame, going into January with a job and lifestyle you love - bring on 2014!

Happy New Year!

Katie & Jane