Looking for something like Babbel.com's vocabulary trainer

Question

Babbel.com used to have a great vocabulary trainer. They still do, but you can't add your own words anymore. I used to create my own lists. Such as "colors", "days of the week" or whatever. However, they removed that feature.

Do you know anything comparable on the market?

I'm learning Russian and what I'm looking for is a website/app/whatever that shows me a word in my native language (English would be OK too) and wants me to say the word. It then records the audio and tells me whether I'm right or wrong.

Answer 1

I don't know how Babbel's vocabulary trainer works, but for vocabulary, a spaced repetition system like Anki works great (free android app). We already have few answers about Anki and spaced repetition.

Anki website also has many free shared decks, and you can add own words. If Babbel does not allow adding new words it would be of little use after basic vocab - because custom vocabulary is where fun starts. Good to know to avoid it.

Answer 2

If you are learning the Russian language you might find the no-cost Google translator app (at translate.google.com) to be a helpful tool. To illustrate only a few of the app's features I've made a sample English to Russian translation. Of significance is that the Google translator provides a transliteration of the Russian text. To illustrate, here is a sample English text input, Russian Cyrillic text output, followed by Google's transliteration of its translation, as follows:

Hello. How are you? The cargo ship going to Japan, and then from there to the Kuril Islands, will be departing at 1330 this afternoon. I hope you still can get here in time ... you don't have much time left, you know.

Здравствуйте. Как дела? Грузовой корабль, отправляющийся в Японию, а затем оттуда на Курильские острова, отправится в 13:30 сегодня днем. Надеюсь, вы все равно сможете добраться сюда вовремя ... у вас мало времени, вы знаете.

Zdravstvuyte. Kak dela? Gruzovoy korabl', otpravlyayushchiysya v Yaponiyu, a zatem ottuda na Kuril'skiye ostrova, otpravitsya v 13:30 segodnya dnem. Nadeyus', vy vse ravno smozhete dobrat'sya syuda vovremya ... u vas malo vremeni, vy znayete.

If you work with the Google translator you will discover that it has many more highly useful features. One feature that you indicate that you will need -- pronunciation of Russian text -- is there for you. Although it isn't exactly what you say you need, the translator can be used in conventional "repeat after me" manner; its spoken output is two-speed, spoken first in normal speaking speed and then in a slow learning speed.

I also infer from your question that English isn't your native language; if that is so, it makes no difference with the Google translator. The translator has more than 60 input and output languages, including many languages that do not use a Roman script alphabet. And of course if it helps your learning, and your computer's operating system is Microsoft's "Windows", you can change your virtual keyboard and output language so that you can toggle between English (or your native language) and Russian input text.