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Clozemaster Review: Limited Focus But Fun Way To Grow Vocab

Quick Review

4.2

Summary

Ideal for people who are already at an upper beginner/intermediate level, Clozemaster will help you build your vocabulary and learn new words and sentences in context. While you won’t learn much grammar or improve your speaking and writing much, it is great at what it does and the videogame aspect makes it fun and addictive to work though. Although the exercises are all pretty much identical, there are various ways in which you can increase the difficulty and Clozemaster’s free account is almost as good as the Pro User one.

Quality

Very easy to use with thousands upon thousands of sentences for you to work through, Clozemaster’s main exercises are well-designed though some features are a bit hit and miss.

Thoroughness

Although you aren’t given any explanations, Clozemaster’s huge database of sentences allows you to learn words in context.

Value

The free version offers a ton of value, but for those who use Clozemaster regularly, it may be worth upgrading to a Pro account.

I Like…

There are an insane number of words and sentences for you to learn, and you’re exposed to them within the context of a sentence.

Just using the free account you are sure to learn a lot with only some extra (and undoubtedly useful) features being included in the Pro plan. This makes learning accessible to everyone.

Lots of languages available to learn, and you can do so from a wide range of languages, making it very useful for non-native English speakers or those who want to study two languages at once.

I DON’T LIKE…

A couple of features such as the Cloze-reading and the speaking exercises seemed like they could have benefited from a bit more thought and effort put into them.

There is no real progression and you are basically given an endless array of different words and sentences to work through and the various exercises are all pretty much identical.

The usefulness is primarily limited to learning vocabulary, so you’ll need to use additional resources alongside Clozemaster.

Not very suitable for beginners.

Price

The free version is very useful, but you can upgrade to a pro account for $8/month or $60/year.

visit clozemaster

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By Alex Danish English French German Italian Japanese Russian Spanish

Language101.com Course Review – The Worst I’ve Ever Tried!

Quick Review

0.6

Summary

Language101 (not to be confused with LanguagePod101) is the worst course I’ve ever tried. The platform has ten different languages for you to choose from and claims to take you from a beginner level up to an intermediate level but ONLY in speaking and understanding. Consequently, you won’t learn how to spell, write or translate the language or even learn any of the grammar. As the courses are poorly designed, each ‘lesson’ is identical and the fast-paced learning method seems inefficient, it is doubtful whether even beginners will learn much. Making matters worse, the price is obscenely expensive.

Quality

Easy enough to use but the content is severely lacking.

Thoroughness

There are no explanations at all. You just learn to parrot and memorize words and phrases

Value 0 star

Terrible value. It honestly feels like a scam. Not worth using even if it were free.

I Like…

They provide you with a literal translation of the phrase you are asked to produce.

Despite coming away thinking this is a terrible product (and it is), I liked being asked to produce words and phrases.

I DON’T LIKE…

I don’t agree with their ‘teaching’ method which basically asks you to produce words and phrases in a language you have never learned before as quickly as possible.

The ‘courses’ are a muddled mess, nothing builds on anything, there is no progression at all and there is only one exercise for you to do ad infinitum until you lose your mind.

Language101 tells you that you won’t learn to spell, write or translate the language you are learning using their methods – or any grammar. Oh, and it is highly unlikely you’ll learn to speak either. So what’s it good for?

It is insanely expensive. My god. It is insulting how much money they are charging for a product this terrible.

Languages: Spanish, German, French, Russian, Japanese, Italian, Danish, Canadian-French

Price

Language101 has lots of different subscription plans for you to choose from. A one-time payment for access to all of its languages costs $472 or $63 if you opt for the monthly installments option (that would end up working out at $756 if you chose the latter!!).

For ‘1 Package’ of the language of your choice it is then $147 for lifetime access or $342 if you want all 3 packages in a given language.

viait language101

Alternatives: Literally anything else on the Internet (or in a bookstore) would be better!

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By Alex Spanish

Spanish With Paul Course Review – Solid Content But Not Very Exciting

Quick Review

3.8

Summary

Spanish with Paul is a video course that has over eighty hours of content to work through. The in-depth explanations will certainly give you a great foundation and understanding of Spanish grammar, vocabulary and sentence structures. While the course is not that fun and you don’t get any speaking practice, I’d say it is definitely an effective way of learning the language if you are a serious and dedicated learner who doesn’t get bored easily.

Quality

The videos look a bit basic and aren’t all that fun to watch but the audio is perfect and the concepts are clearly explained.

Thoroughness

Very in-depth explanations on everything from grammar and vocabulary to sentence structure and pronunciation.

Value

Not the cheapest or most exciting option but there’s a lot of good content.

I Like…

Paul gets you to think and engage with how Spanish is spoken so you understand how to use the language.

He goes into great depth on all of the grammar points that come up as well as the texts or stories which he asks you to translate.

The course gradually progresses in difficulty and towards the end gets pretty advanced.

I DON’T LIKE…

It isn’t all that fun to work through and every single video is almost identical to the one before it.

You are not asked to produce much Spanish other than by saying words or phrases out loud to yourself.

There are no native speakers featured in the course and lots of English is used throughout – even at the highest levels.

Price

For one year access, the ‘Course Only’ is $99.95 and ‘Course + Weekly Updates’ costs $199.95.

Visit Spanish with Paul

Alternatives: Although I think Spanish with Paul is a pretty good course, it’s not my favorite. There are several other Spanish courses that I prefer.

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By Alex Portuguese

Best Podcasts To Learn Portuguese In 2020 (Brazilian and European)

In this day and age, there are a plethora of different learning resources available to us online and in recent years podcasts have proliferated with their quality and content getting better all the time.

Depending on how you like to learn a language, a Portuguese podcast could really help you to achieve your learning goals and, while there are maybe not as many podcasts in Portuguese as in other languages; there are still some fantastic resources out there which are worth checking out.

And while I highly recommend incorporating podcasts into your Portuguese study routine, it’d be wise to use them alongside an online Portuguese course.

Before we have a look at some of the best podcasts out there, why is it a good idea to give them a go and how can you best make use of them to learn Portuguese?

To give you an idea of what is out there, below you will find both Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese podcasts for you to explore.
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By Alex Russian

Review Of Red Kalinka’s Russian Course – Exceptionally Comprehensive

Quick Review

4.7

Summary:

The ‘Largest Russian School in the World’, Red Kalinka has lots of different products that will get you learning Russian. Its main course – Red Kalinka Russian Course – is very well thought-out and will certainly improve both beginners’ and intermediates’ reading, writing and comprehension skills. While it is not the most entertaining thing in the world, the videos and exercises are exceptionally thorough. Without a doubt, if you stick with this course, your Russian will become very good.

Quality

Red Kalinka’s videos and exercises might not be that innovative or entertaining but you’ll learn a ton.

Thoroughnes

Red Kalinka goes into a lot of depth when it comes to vocabulary, grammar, and cultural explanations – possibly too in-depth!

Value

It’s not the cheapest course you’ll find but worth the cost.

I Like…

Right from the start, you are encouraged to read, write and listen to Russian.

The lessons all build upon each other and it would be very motivating to see just how much you learn as the later lessons are conducted almost solely in Russian.

Reading and writing aren’t neglected as with other Russian language platforms.

It’s easily the most comprehensive online Russian course I’ve tried.

I DON’T LIKE…

As all of the lessons follow the same format and go into such great depth, it can get a bit monotonous and boring.

The exercises aren’t very exciting to work through and they could all be found in any run-of-the-mill textbook.

Price

The Red Kalinka Russian Course costs 29 euros a month. However, through the link below, you can save 20% on the subscription cost each month, making it only 23 euros per month.

They also have a bunch of different products such as audiobooks, one-to-one lessons and online exercises for you to sign up for.

Save 20% each month on a subscription to Red Kalinka by signing up through the link below.

Visit Red Kalinka

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By Alex Russian

Rocket Russian Review – Uninspiring And Overpriced

Quick Review

2.3

Summary:

Rocket Russian is aimed at beginners who are looking to get to the intermediate level and, while its audio, reading and writing lessons do get you practicing different skills, the content is actually quite boring and repetitive to work through,

Although beginners will certainly pick up some basic words and phrases, the fact that you learn most of the words in isolation through endless memorization means that you are unlikely to get very far. As such, you’re better off looking elsewhere and there are definitely better options out there which are much more thorough and cheaper to boot.

Quality

Sleek design, easy to navigate but poorly thought-out content

Thoroughnes

While you do learn some vocabulary and grammar, you don’t really learn how to piece the language together

Value

There are much cheaper alternatives out there with better content so you’re better off looking elsewhere.

I Like…

Rocket Russian is very nicely designed and easy to use so you’ll never have trouble knowing what you’re meant to do next.

I enjoyed the Travelogue series as there was a lot more Russian used in these lessons and they showed you what it would be like traveling through various parts of Russia.

In the Language and Culture Lessons you get to learn about everything from the 2018 World Cup in Russia to what words Russian has borrowed from other countries and cultures.

I DON’T LIKE…

Rocket Russian is not very entertaining to work through and all of the various exercises become quite monotonous and boring as you’re essentially drilling the same words and phrases over and over again.

While you do learn some useful words and phrases, you’re never really asked to put it all together and so you learn most of them in isolation from one another.

The vast majority of the content you work through is in English.

Price

To get lifetime Online Access to Rocket Russian you can either pay $149.95 in one go or split the payment over six months which works out at $27/month. There is a 6-day free trial for you to try it out as well as constant sales to lower the price.

Visit Rocket Russian

Alternatives: RussianPod101 and Red Kalinka are two Russian courses I prefer.

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By Alex Russian

Russian Accelerator Review – Old And Not Worth Your Time Or Money

Quick Review

1.5

Summary:

The Russian Accelerator course aims to get beginners and intermediates to a conversational level in Russian using techniques such as contextual learning and power phrases. Created by Mark Thomson around 2010, the course has not progressed or changed at all since then and so has a very dated look and feel to it. As other resources cover the material in a better and more engaging way, I personally don’t think it is worth checking out.

Quality

Very easy to use but poor design and low-quality content.

Thoroughness

Mark needlessly goes overboard on some descriptions while neglecting to go into more depth on some more important grammar points.

Value

I wouldn’t use Russian Accelerator even if it was free and it’s far from free.

I Like…

Ummmmm… I’m not actually sure if I enjoyed anything about it. Actually, watching his students speak confidently in Russian on a trip was a nice moment.

I DON’T LIKE…

I didn’t find the material to be very engaging at all and lessons became quite repetitive very quickly.

Everything about Russian Accelerator looks and feels dated and, well, it is as it was last updated in 2010.

While there is actually quite a bit of content on the platform, not much of it is done very well and you can almost certainly find everything done better somewhere else.

It’s expensive!

Price

There is a $1 trial which gets you access to the resources for three weeks. Otherwise, it is a whopping $388 for the whole course.

Visit Russian Accelerator

Alternatives: Almost anything else would be better. Pimsleur, Lingodeer, Babbel, RussianPod101, Duolingo, etc are all courses that are much more worthy of your time and/or money. However, my favorite Russian course is Red Kalinka.

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By Alex Russian

RussianPod101 Review – Testing Their Course

Quick Review

4.3

Summary:

RussianPod101 is a fantastic resource that has hundreds upon hundreds of video and podcast lessons on offer. These take you all the way from learning your first word in Russian right up to an advanced level and so beginners and intermediates, in particular, will certainly learn a lot. While the course delves deep into Russian grammar, vocabulary and the cultural context of the language, the lack of speaking and writing practice means you would have to use it alongside another resource.

Quality

While the platform is a bit confusing to navigate, the lessons are very well put together.

Thoroughness

There is an almost endless array of material for you to work through and in general, explanations are very clear and concise.

Value

I’d say that RussianPod101 is very good value for money considering just how many lessons you gain access to.

I Like…

RussianPod101 really does have a lesson for every imaginable situation and so you can learn important words and phrases for every scenario.

There is a clear progression in terms of difficulty from the Absolute Beginner level up until the Advanced level

You get to hear a wide range of native speakers and a lot of the material introduces you to various aspects of Russian culture.

I DON’T LIKE…

I found the platform quite confusing to navigate and so it often took a while to get where I wanted.

The material could be a bit more engaging as you are never really asked to use the Russian you’ve learned.

The lack of speaking and writing practice means you would have to use it alongside other resources if you wanted to get fluent in Russian.

Price

For the Basic subscription it costs $8/month while the Premium plan is $25/month and the Premium Plus plan is $47/month. There are various durations you can choose and if you sign up for longer, the monthly cost decreases.

Use the promo code “ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES” to save 25% on a subscription to RussianPod101.

Visit RussianPod101

Alternatives: Red Kalinka offers an exceptionally comprehensive and well-structured Russian course.

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By Alex Arabic Afrikaans Albanian Armenian Azerbaijani Belarusian Bengali Bulgarian Cantonese Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Farsi Filipino Finnish French German Greek Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Kurdish Latin Latvian Lithuanian Malay Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Ojibwe Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Spanish Swahili Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Ukranian Urdu Vietnamese

Transparent Language Review – Their Courses Are Awful!

Quick Review

1.8

Summary:

The Transparent Language Essentials Courses aim to get absolute beginners engaged and interacting with the language they’re learning and speaking the basics in no time at all. While there are lots of different exercises for you to work through, the material isn’t all that helpful and it does get very repetitive. Although the courses aren’t all that useful or in depth, with over a hundred languages on offer it might be worth checking out if you want to learn the very basics of a more obscure language such as Buriat, Kazakh or Turkmen. But, even then, I’d try to find other resources first.

Quality

While the exercises are for the most part well-designed, diverse and easy to use, it is the core material itself which is lacking.

Thoroughness

There are hardly any explanations at all, you just have to endlessly memorize words and phrases.

Value

I would only consider using if it were free and I was studying a very rare language.

I Like…

I really like the fact that they offer up courses in languages that are usually overlooked.

It’s pretty well-designed, easy to use and has lots of different activities to work through.

I DON’T LIKE…

The core material is severely lacking and you won’t learn much grammar or how to form even a basic sentence yourself.

It gets very repetitive and so I didn’t find it that fun to work through.

You learn virtually nothing about the different cultural contexts of the languages you’re learning.

Their teaching methodology is the biggest issue, leaving you memorizing lots of words and phrases in isolation.

Price

There is a free two-week trial period for you to try it out. Otherwise, it is $24.95 per month or $149.95 for a whole year if you just select one language. If you want access to all of the languages it is then $49.95 per month and $249.95 a year.

Visit Transparent Language

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By Alex Arabic Dutch French German Greek Hindi Irish Italian Japanese Korean Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Polish Portuguese Russian Spanish Swedish

Michel Thomas Method Review – Avoid At All Costs

Quick Review

1.7

Summary:

One of the most famous language teaching courses out there, Michel Thomas is a household name and his audio lessons aim to teach you your language of choice, naturally, intuitively and without any memorization involved. With 18 languages for you to choose from, the courses are aimed at absolute beginners and at the end you should be able to understand and speak to a basic level. I tried out the French foundation course and found it to be severely lacking and as such cannot recommend it at all. You may, however, have more luck with the other language courses that they offer.

Quality

Very easy to use, the audios are decent quality but Michel Thomas’ discouraging manner means that students get flustered and this detracts from the content’s quality.

Thoroughness

Michel Thomas doesn’t go into much depth and any explanations he offers up are just at a surface level.

Value

I wouldn’t use these even if they were free due to Michel Thomas’ teaching style which ruins the material.

I Like…

Um…in all honesty I’m not sure if I enjoyed any of it!

I DON’T LIKE…

Michel Thomas never praises the students, often interrupts them and creates a negative learning environment.

The pacing of the lessons often seems off to me and in certain places they feel very hurried.

All of the lessons are almost identical and so it does get quite monotonous working through them.

Languages: Arabic (Egyptian), Arabic (Modern Standard), Dutch, French, Greek, German, Hindi, Italian, Irish, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Swedish.

Price

There are several different courses available with prices ranging from $11.99 to $100.

Visit Michel Thomas

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