Well-known apps like Duolingo, Rosetta Stone or Babbel offer no Greenlandic language courses, but there are other apps for learning Greenlandic that are just as good or even better.
Overview of the Greenlandic Language:
The Greenlandic language (also called Inuktitut) has about 60 thousand speakers and is the only official language in Greenland since 2009.
It is the most widely spoken of the Inuit or Eskimo languages, which are also spoken in northern Canada, Alaska, and in Siberia.
About 70% of the people in Greenland speak only Greenlandic, while 15% grow up bilingual and speak Danish too.
Greenlandic or Inuktitut uses the Western alphabet, which makes learning the language easier.
Now let's take a look at the apps, software and online courses that you can use to learn Greenlandic. The biggest advantage of such learning apps is that they are much cheaper than traditional language courses.
uTalk Greenlandic App
Alternative to Duolingo or Babbel
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online Version
Content: Greenlandic vocabulary (2000 words), lessons and playful exercises
Prices:
USD 12 (1 month and all 160 languages)
USD 60 (12 months and all 160 languages)
Discount offer: USD 199 (Lifetime Access to all 160 Languages)
Overall Value:
The uTalk app teaches about 2000 Greenlandic words and focuses primarily on playful exercises.
There are several exercises to choose from:
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Read and listen to Greenlandic words (with translation and photos)
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Match the Greenlandic word you heard to a photo
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Speak a Greenlandic word and compare the recording with the original
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A memory game with pictures
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Speak the Greenlandic translation of an English word
The vocabulary is divided into 60 freely selectable topics. The special thing about the uTalk app is that you get access to
all 160 languages.
The interface of the app is well made and is similar to other apps like Babbel, Duolingo or Mondly.
Summary: Getting access to 160 languages is impressive and the scope (2000 words with native speaker audio and exercises) is also solid.
Link: uTalk Greenlandic Language Course App
Cudoo: Greenlandic Course
Online Learning with Certificates
Systems: Online Access (PC, Mac, smartphones)
Content: Greenlandic video lessons and quiz tests
Prices: USD 12.99 (one course), USD 24.99 (4-7 courses bundle)
Overall Value:
Cudoo is a kind of online university that offers courses with certificates on different topics.
This includes language courses for 160 languages. These are all beginner courses (CEFR level A1 and A2).
For each language there are 1-10 courses and each course has 20-40 lessons.
The lessons each include a short video with new vocabulary and there are short quiz questions below the video.
Summary: The videos are well made, so especially for smaller languages these courses are a good start.
Link: Cudoo Online Greenlandic Language Course
Memrise Greenlandic App
App with User-Generated Lessons
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online-Version (PC and Mac)
Content: Greenlandic lessons and vocabulary trainer with native speaker audio, grammar
Prices: USD 8,99 (1 month), USD 60 (12 months), USD 110 (unlimited)
Overall Value:
With the Memrise App you can learn over 90 languages.
This includes even very small languages - however, in such cases the language courses are often limited to just a few lessons.
One special feature of the Memrise learning app is the large number of lessons created by users (native speakers).
The quality of these lessons varies greatly though. For example, only the basic forms of verbs are usually taught, without the conjugations. Some languages also do not have an audio recording of the words at all.
Another good idea of the Memrise app are the user-generated tips and mnemonics for each word to help you memorize them.
Summary: User-generated lessons are a good idea. In practice, the quality of the lessons leaves a lot be desired.
Instant Immersion: Greenlandic
Learning Software for Download
Systems: PC and Mac
Suitable for: Beginners and intermediate learners, travel vocabulary, business
Content: Greenlandic vocabulary lessons and exercises
Prices: USD 35 (Level 1), USD 55 (Level 1-3)
Overall Value:
The Instant Immersion Greenlandic learning software is available for download only for PCs and Macs.
According to the vendor, this software is supposed to be "as good as Rosetta Stone", but much cheaper because less money is spent on advertising.
Unfortunately, this promise cannot hold.
The software interface is chaotic and all three "language levels" offer a chaotic mix of easy and difficult words.
Essentially, this software only introduces new Greenlandic vocabulary with native speaker audio and pictures, and then there are a few exercises.
Greenlandic grammar is not included at all.
Summary: Limited scope and bad interface. At least it is relatively cheap and there is a 90-day money-back guarantee.
Linguashop: Greenlandic
Educational Software for Download
Systems: PC (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP)
Content: Greenlandic lessons with native speaker audio and speech recognition, grammar
Prices: USD 35 (second language for free)
Overall Value:
The Linguashop educational software ("TeachMe") is available for over 90 languages, including Greenlandic. It also includes an audio CD.
The native speaker audio and speech recognition are relatively good.
However, the interface of the learning software is quite chaotic and there are no exercises — only lessons where new vocabulary is presented.
It is also unclear how many words are included in this Greenlandic learning program. There is no information about this on the website.
Some grammar lessons are included — however, these are basically just images with short texts.
Summary: Poor quality for a relatively low price. You get language courses for two languages when you buy, one as a free bonus.