World Schoolbooks Mini Review: Over 100 Languages Available to Learn

World Schoolbooks

Price:

Free for 5 minutes a day, $4.99/Month

Summary

Have you been interested in learning a certain language but haven’t found a relevant resource? You should take a look at World Schoolbooks.

World Schoolbooks is a language learning app that specializes in teaching high density and under-resourced languages. It aims to put a spotlight on the many important languages all around the world that get overlooked such as Balochi, Brahui, Kikuyu and many more. You can also learn popular languages like Spanish, French, Korean, German etc.

With over 100 source languages, the app includes many of the major languages and phrases that learners would need to get by. There’s audio material for languages that are hard to find like Manipuri, Runyankore, Saraiki, Shina and Tamazight. Interestingly, some of these languages are the most popular ones in the World Schoolbooks app. You have the option to learn languages with audio from your native language. Additionally, for the languages with audio, you can set your native language as the same one that you’re learning, the app will switch to immersion mode to keep you focused and reduce any distractions.

The app incorporates quizzes and vocabulary games that work to test your vocabulary knowledge in a fun and engaging way. You can’t learn new scripts or alphabets yet, but this will be implemented soon. World Schoolbooks is family friendly, meaning that the content is appropriate for learners of all ages, and it’s available in almost every country in the world.

What makes this resource different from similar ones such as 50Languages, Glossika and Duolingo is that it teaches languages that aren’t offered elsewhere.

As the app is still new, the interface is still a work in progress, but it is stable and shouldn’t be an issue to use. There’s also no grammar section yet, but you can use another resource alongside it. Whether you want to learn a popular language or a less commonly taught one, World Schoolbooks is definitely worth a try. The app is free for 5 minutes every day, so try it out and see if it works for you!

Visit World Schoolbooks

To see all of our self-study guides, favorite programs, online subscriptions, apps, podcasts, and YouTubes for the language you’re learning, look for your language in the table below.

Chinese	Spanish	German	French	Italian
Portuguese	Korean	Russian	Japanese	Arabic

Other Languages

World Schoolbooks Mini Review: Over 100 Languages Available to Learn Read More »

Anki Mini-Review: The Go-To SRS Flashcard App

Anki

Rating 4.1

★★★★

★

Price:

Free

Summary

It is the go-to app for free (except on iOS) Spaced Repetition System (SRS) flashcards. It has a simple user interface with various features that more hard-core users can dive into if they choose. Your flashcards will appear according to your natural forgetting curve; the app will test you in increasingly spaced out intervals, with more difficult cards appearing more than once in a session, while easier cards spacing out over weeks — or even months and years. An SRS system is the most effective way to drive information into your long-term memory. The cards can sync between the web, desktop app, and mobile versions to keep your flashcards updated and with you at all times. You can add images and audio clips to your cards and change the text formatting (if you use it on your computer). One feature unique to Anki, as opposed to other SRS flashcard apps, is the “Cloze deletion” function, which allows you to block out parts of your card and create a “fill-in-the-blanks” type card format. If you want a resource for how to make effective flashcards, check out the book, FluentForever. The author leaves a whole section dedicated to understanding how to use your Anki deck to advance your skills quickly.

Visit Anki

Anki Mini-Review: The Go-To SRS Flashcard App Read More »

italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just Alright

Rating 4.5

★★★★

★

Summary

italki is the most flexible and affordable place to find a tutor for the language you’re learning. They have a huge number of teachers offering classes to students of over 100 different languages. As a learner, you’ll be able to find a tutor that best fits your learning style, schedule, and personality. Teachers are able to set their own prices and make their own schedule.

Quality 4.5

★★★★

★

You’ll find everyone from long-time professionals to brand new teachers.

Thoroughness 4.0

★★★★★

The overall platform has tons of useful features but also some room for improvement.

Value 5.0

★★★★★

Huge number of teachers, low prices, and flexible scheduling.

I Like

There are large numbers of teachers available even for less common languages.
You can find skilled teachers even at low prices.
The flexibility to schedule lessons whenever convenient. The huge number of teachers guarantees you’ll find someone to fit your schedule.
The extra features in the italki Community make it easy to ask questions, get your writing checked, and find a free language exchange partner.

I Don’t Like

Community features are only available through the app.
You may need to try several tutors before finding one that fits your learning and personality style.
It’s easy to not take classes as often as you should.

Price

The prices vary by teacher and language with some being as low as $5 and others as high as $60 per hour. Most will fall somewhere near the $10 per hour range. Right now italki is offering a $10 credit with your first purchase.

BUY 1 ITALKI LESSON GET 1 FREE

It’s very rare for me to recommend a particular resource for everyone, regardless of the language that they’re studying. Usually each language will have its own unique resources that are great specifically for students of that language.

…

italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just AlrightRead More »

italki Review – The Good, The Bad, & The Just Alright Read More »

Transparent Language Review – Not Exciting, But Language Offering Is So Vast That You May Need It

Last Updated on December 13, 2023.

Transparent Language

Rating 2.3

★★

★

★★★

Summary

Transparent Language markets itself as “the most complete language-learning system for independent learners.” While there are lots of different exercises for you to work through in their Essentials Course, I thought that the material wasn’t all that helpful and that it got very repetitive. Although the courses might not be 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.

Quality 2.5

★★

★

★★★

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

Thoroughness 2.0

★★★★★

I hardly came across any explanations at all; practice was almost exclusively memorizing words and phrases.

Value 2.5

★★

★

★★★

I would only consider using if 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 in my opinion; it’s hard for me to imagine you’ll 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 was the biggest issue for me, 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

…

Transparent Language Review – Not Exciting, But Language Offering Is So Vast That You May Need ItRead More »

Transparent Language Review – Not Exciting, But Language Offering Is So Vast That You May Need It Read More »