iPhones may be shiny toys good for showing off to your friends, but they’re also good for another thing: changing the way you solve problems. What’s your first instinct when you encounter a problem or question you can’t respond to immediately? Now think about how that would change if you had a small, expandable, Web-enabled computer in your pocket. You might reach for that first. The number of problems an iPhone can solve increases every day as more and more applications are added to the Apple App Store. (For instance, one of my colleagues was putting up a shelf and needed a level, so he downloaded a free level application.) Because there seems to be no limit to what they can do, iPhones and other, similar devices are becoming our first instinct when we’re faced with a dilemma.

Here’s a new dilemma you can solve with your iPhone: how to keep yourself in the habit of learning German. Transparent Language has released Byki German for iPhone and it’s been very well received, just like its French and Spanish siblings. People like it because it makes quick, frequent study sessions fun and engaging.

One of the hardest parts about following through with learning a foreign language is creating a study habit for yourself. When I learned 200 words and phrases in Czech I made a habit of studying at lunch or directly after work. With an iPhone, you have a much wider range of options for when and where you create your study habit, without the restriction of needing access to a PC. It becomes easy during any 10 minutes in line at the supermarket, waiting for the train, or between dinner and dessert to fit a few new words into your vocabulary. And no matter how little you learn during any given 10-minute session with Byki German, you’re still doing something critical to learning a foreign language: supporting the habit of frequent study. Like going to the gym, the less often you do it, the harder it becomes. iPhones and other advanced mobile devices, beyond being a lot of fun, can tear down the barriers that stopped us from doing what we want, where we want, when we want. Like learning German at Dunkin’ Donuts at 7am, waiting for that tasty hazelnut Kaffee.

Visit Transparent Language at the Apple App Store