Four Apps You Need While in NYC

It’s okay to get some help when exploring NYC. These free apps can help you determine the fastest and safest routes there.

Embark NYC

It got you to work, popular restaurants and house parties. Embark NYC provides details on train delays, accidents, and has scheduled updates to ensure you can stay ahead of the masses. The app also features an easy-to-read subway map so that you know where you’re headed next.

Devices: Android, iPhone, iPad, iPod

Citymapper

Citymapper is perfect for people internationally traveling in NYC. Available in Spanish, French, German, and Italian, the app allows you to customize your schedule to best suit your needs. The app works hand in hand with those who regularly use the car service. Citymapper will also tell you the nearest bus stations and departure times. It also provides weather up-dates, delays, and optimizes (使最优化) search results to ensure you are given the fastest routes available in your area.

Devices: Android, iPhone

MTA Subway Time

Straight from the source, this app offers quick access to all the trains. The app will help find stations to best suite your travels needs and can help find alternative travel routes in case of emergency. It also features updates on the Staten Island Railroad.

Devices: Android, iPhone

Cab Sense NYC

Cab Sense NYC updates street corners and areas where cabs are present. You don’t have to stand in the rain any longer, and simply use the app by shaking your phone to tell drivers in your area you’re looking for a cab.

Devices: iPhone

Today almost everyone knows computers and the Internet. If I ask you “What is the most important in your life?” Maybe you will say “Computers and the Internet.”

The first computer was made in 1946. It was very big but it worked slowly. Today computers are getting smaller and smaller. But they work faster and faster. What can computers do? A writer has said, “People can’t live without computers today.”

The Internet came a little later than computers. It is about twenty-five years later than computers. But now it can be found almost everywhere. We can use it to read books, write letters, do shopping, play games or make friends.

Many students like the Internet very much. They often go into the Internet as soon as they are free. They make friends on the Internet and maybe they have never seen these friends. They don’t know their real names, ages, and even sex. They are so interested in making the “unreal friends” that they can’t put their heart into study. Many of them can’t catch up with others on many subjects because of that.

We can use computers and the Internet to learn more about the world. But at the same time, we should remember that not all the things can be done by computers and the Internet.

If you have been wanting to learn Spanish, or perhaps you once took a Spanish course in college and want to improve your skills, but are too busy to take more lessons, you might have thought about using an app.

Pimsleur

The Pimsleur app offers an audio-based method for learning foreign languages. Its program includes core lessons, role-play speaking challenges, practice activities and games, as well as cultural and historical facts. The Pimsleur system states that you’ll learn the language in just 30 minutes a day without boring grammar lessons or mindless repetition.

Babbel

Babbel is a popular app that is based on conversational skills. Its program is based on real-life conversations about useful topics, and it uses speech recognition technology to help you improve your pronunciation. The app provides you with grammar tips and lots of review activities, and it also tracks your learning progress so that you can see how you are improving.

Duolingo

Its program is made to be game-like to make it fun. It claims to adapt to your own learning style so that you can have lessons that can meet your specific needs. It also offers rewards to keep you motivated (有积极性的). Duolingo includes reading, writing, speaking, listening and conversation practice. People enjoy this method because they feel like they are playing a game instead of working.

Beelinguapp

It is a clean, user-friendly app that focuses on learning a language by reading. It places Spanish and another language side by side using different stories, so you can build awareness of how the language works and listen to a native speaker read your favorite stories. You can choose different text genres (类型) and create flashcards to keep track of everything you learn.