I’m a strong believer that learning different languages makes you look quite good when you’re in a foreign country and can understand and speak the language. Here are 4 apps that will help you learn a foreign language! You can download them for free.

Babbel — Learn Languages

Babbel is an excellent language tool to help you progress step by step while learning a new language. It helps you learn grammar along the way as you work your way through the tasks and assignments (作业). You need to pay every month, but this will still be cheaper than taking physical lessons with a teacher!

Duolingo: Learn Languages Free

The app has many languages to choose from and will work through the basics all the way to advanced words and sentences. It’s all completely free too! It’s well designed, looks great and will help you learn, remember and progress with just a little bit of time every day.

Tandem: Language Exchange

Rather than have you work through tasks and memorize different things, the app lets you match with people who share your interests but speak the language you want to learn. You can then have text, voice and video conversations with people who want to learn your native language, and in return you learn theirs, all by simply communicating with each other. It’s a great way to learn with only $1 a day.

Learn English — busuu

This app is perfect if you want to learn English. There are all sorts of audio and visual learning aids. You’ll find yourself working through interactive (互动的) tests and learning tools for vocabulary and dialogue.

Since graduating from middle school, this year's new 9th-grade class is adapting to (适应) the challenges of high school, a difficult process (过程) for many students. Some of the challenges the students must get used to are the increasing difficulty of schoolwork, the amount of homework, and the change in the grading system among other things.

“It's a bit harder than middle school, but that is to be expected from every ongoing year,” David Palacios, 9th-grade student, said.

Adaptation is also influenced by stories the freshmen hear before entering. These stories create a negative (消极的) idea of high school, as they are usually bad stories about classes, teachers, or other topics.

“Stories I've heard of high school are exaggerated (夸张的),” Palacios said.

The school is fighting against student fear by providing information about high school, even before they enter. This year, the 9th-grade class entered school on August 8, one day earlier than other high school students. This was done to help the freshmen by solving any doubts they could have.

“In general, they adapt well, because since middle school they have been given some information on what high school is,” Ana Isabel Garcia, high school advisor, said.        

The changes faced in 9th grade are more challenging than those found in middle school. However, after experiencing the first two months of 9th grade, many 9th graders agree that 9th grade is not as hard as they thought it would be.

“It's not that different from middle school,” Palacios said.

High school is harder than other grades as it's the final step students take before they enter the real world. Students must see the important role high school plays as it teaches them many skills that will help them improve their future.

“They do well because they come in with a good attitude (态度) and wish to adapt well,” Garcia said.

A lecture hall should be like a church—a little too dark, much too cold, and uncomfortably silent. You should feel guilty opening your water bottle, because all 200 people in the room can hear it.

So when I’m trying to pay attention, the last thing you should be doing is carrying on a conversation about your last weekend party or anything else.

During the past school term, I’ve had enough. One of my biggest complaints of large class sizes is the tendency for three to five friends to sit together and loudly whisper each others’ ears off for an hour and 15 minutes straight. My stupid monkey brain can’t help but focus on your conversation about the difference between ash blonde and light blonde colored hair that look exactly the same.

To me, it just feels like a waste. You’re actively wasting money, and missing vital information. We (and the government) pay quite a lot for our education, but you are here to ignore someone significantly more experienced than us, in classes we picked, for hours every week.

I know major requirements can be boring, but this is still an education. It requires two­way effort. Most students here have at least one goal in common: success. Not every checkpoint on that path is going to be filled with joy. Sit down, shut up, and force yourself to listen to your professor. Society tells us it will eventually pay off.

Or maybe it won’t because you don’t want to.

I actually don’t care if you decide to pay little or no attention to the lecture itself, so long as you’re not being disturbing.

For those willing to try, in 20 years when you finally pay off your debt with your fairly secure white­collar job, you’ll look back and be happy that you went through the lectures.