Wlingua Mini-Review: A Clear Learning Path

wlingua

Rating 4.0

★★★★★

Price:

Freemium, $10.99/mo, $21.99/quarter, $64.99/year

Summary

Wlingua relies on two methodologies for learner success: staggered repetition and progressive exposure. Staggered repetition seems identical to typical spaced repetition methods, while progressive exposure ensures that all new words and concepts are based on what you have previously learned. This ensures that there are no gaps in knowledge when it comes to tackling more advanced lessons. Additionally, each lesson focuses on one concept at a time in order to avoid overwhelming the learner, and there is a clear path for what you will be learning from beginner to the end. Each new word is “linked to its precise meaning or use” so that you can use them in context. The program consists of new vocabulary, grammar, exercises, reading practice, and audio by native speakers with different accents. The downside is that there seems to be more focus on reading and comprehension than on listening and speaking. Only Spanish and Russian are currently available from Beginner to Upper-Intermediate. Other languages are available at the beginner and elementary levels. You can use the app without registering for an unspecified number of days. There is limited basic content available for free, while the premium plan offers unlimited access, practice reviews tailored to your learning, and downloadable PDF lessons.

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Magic Lingua Mini-Review: Pricey But Potentially Worth It

magic lingua

Rating 3.1

★★★

★

★★

Price:

Courses cost between $31.99 and $499.99

Summary

Magic Lingua provides a series of individual courses for language learning. They advertise that you will gain enough confidence in speaking that you will be able to not only start a conversation with anyone, but do so without thinking about grammar and vocabulary. The full courses are offered for beginner, intermediate, and advanced speakers depending on the language (advanced is considered the B1 level). The voice-recognition software seems to do an adequate job of recognizing which words you are pronouncing correctly, and it does appear to help improve speaking abilities by actively reenacting dialogues with you. Therefore, the app alone may help develop your confidence to start conversations in your target language. Although not subscription based, each full course must be purchased individually. The 2-3 week crash courses seem more reasonable for the price, but the full 10 week courses are a hefty $200+. They consist of 10 modules plus hundreds of video lessons and speaking exercises. There is the option to complete the modules with live tutor sessions, or alone. Magic Lingua is probably worth your time if you don’t mind spending a lot on one app, but with the current price it might be better to look for alternatives. There are some free lessons available on their website for you to test out, but check back for more languages and levels in the future.

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Assimil Review — A Fresh Look at a Longstanding Resource

Assimil

Rating 4.0

★★★★★

Summary

Assimil is a French company that has been selling language-learning resources since 1929. Assimil materials are available as books, CDs, and downloadable e-courses; there are a variety of available course types, and instruction is based on interacting with phrases in the target language. The popular Sans Peine or, With Ease, courses are for absolute or false beginners that would like to reach the B2 level, but we think you’ll need to incorporate some other study materials to make this happen.

Quality 4.0

★★★★★

The language materials are reliable, the audio is high quality, and the program is fairly easy to use after a bit of practice.

Thoroughness 4.0

★★★★★

Assimil is chock-full of explanations and thorough translations for all material, but you might need more to reach the advertised B2 level.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

There are cheaper resources out there, but Assimil provides super solid instruction for the price.

I Like

The audio quality is great.
The culture notes add a lot of value.
There are plenty of grammar explanations, but they aren’t a focus.

I Don’t Like

The mobile app isn’t super intuitive.
The pronunciation feedback method could be better.
The exercises aren’t especially engaging.

Price

Prices vary by course. The Spanish e-course is €49.90, the Spanish With Ease book (no audio) is €26.90, and the Spanish With Ease Superpack is €74.90

Try Assimil

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Gymglish Mini Review: English Algorithm-Based Assessment

Gymglish

Rating 3.0

★★★★★

Price:

$ 43.00

Summary

Gymglish provides immersion-style English language education. Unlike most apps, which offer unlimited learning upon purchase, Gymglish delivers 15 minute lessons to your email, 4 times per week. During each lesson, the AI will assess and adjust your skill level based on your responses to the last 150 questions. The lessons are designed for individuals who have a basic grasp of the language, and can understand grammar explanations in English without translation. The daily lessons follow a humorous storyline, in addition to providing iconic songs or movie clips relevant to English (American) culture; they emphasize listening comprehension, grammar drills, new vocabulary, comics, and culturally-relevant videos. Unfortunately, with an exorbitant price tag and limited lessons per month, it’s more economical to experience the free trial and then look for an alternative resource.

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LyricsTraining Mini-Review: Listening Practice Through Songs

LyricsTraining

Rating 3.3

★★★

★

★★

Price:

Free

Summary

Lyrics training is a free app that claims to improve your ability to recognize the different sounds in your target language. Through listening to different songs, you can reinforce vocabulary, expressions, and grammar concepts. Although it does not provide any translations or explanations for these skills, it does seem to train listening comprehension and memorization. While listening to your chosen song, you will be provided with a choice of 4 words to help fill in an increasing percentage of lyrics; by the advanced level, you will be responsible for filling in 100% of the lyrics. Each of the 14 languages available seem to have a wide variety of song choices, and even if you don’t understand what the lyrics mean, you will probably be able to sing along. If you would prefer an app that focuses more on comprehension, vocabulary, and grammar, check out Lirica.

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LangCorrect: Unlimited, Free Writing Practice With Feedback

LangCorrect

Rating 5.0

★★★★★

Price:

Free

Summary

LangCorrect is a free community-driven writing site where users can both contribute to editing others’ work and receive feedback on their own writing. After writing your piece, you may submit it to receive feedback from other site users. In order to ensure accurate feedback, multiple users can cross-check the corrections that were made and add comments. Volunteers and Patrons have access to writing in up to 10 languages, but typical users can write in a maximum of two languages at a time. Everyone is encouraged to both write and correct others’ work on the site. If you are looking to improve your writing skills in one of the over 100 languages available, trying out this resource is a must! However, if you’re studying a less common language and not finding many users to give you corrections, consider trying the exercise section in italki’s community features.

The rating is our best guess, but we haven’t yet had the opportunity to fully test and review this resource.

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Best Online Courses for Learning English — A Look at More Than 35 of Them

English is everywhere; tourism, media, education, business, to mention a few. It is undoubtedly one of the most practical languages one can learn from a global perspective.

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Best Online Courses for Learning English — A Look at More Than 35 of Them Read More »

Beelinguapp Mini-Review: Reading & Listening Practice

Beelinguapp

Rating 4.3

★★★★

★

Price:

Freemium, $29.99/year

Summary

Beelinguapp makes it easier to read and listen to interesting content in a number of languages. You’ll find short stories, news, fairy tales, music, and more. Their side-by-side reading functionality highlights the sentence in the language you’re learning, as well as in a language you’re familiar with. The karaoke feature makes it easy to follow the audio with the written text. Some of the content and features are available for free, but there are also premium plans to unlock more.

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ELSA Speak Review: Your AI English Pronunciation Tutor

ELSA Speak

Rating 4.3

★★★★

★

Summary

ELSA, whose name stands for English Language Speech Assistant, is an AI-powered English pronunciation app and a serious contender for the position of your virtual pronunciation coach. It has a free and paid-for version, and is geared toward non-native English speakers who want to talk in a neutral American accent, improve their fluency, and speak with confidence.

Quality 4.0

★★★★★

It will effectively train you on 21 pronunciation skills, as well as syllable stress – although you’ll need to drill connected speech on your own.

Thoroughness 5.0

★★★★★

With 1400+ lessons, ELSA drills both your listening and speaking skills and has a natural progression from easy to difficult.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

ELSA is priced fairly for the value it provides.

I Like

You get instant automated feedback on your recordings, which includes feedback on mistakes and how you can improve.
It comes with a host of well-thought-out supporting features, including an Assessment, Dictionary, and Word Bank.
It has an extensive range of content, with four lesson types – listening, syllable stress, word pronunciation, and dialogue – covering 66 topics and 21 skills.
The app is intuitive and aesthetically appealing.

I Don’t Like

You can pass the syllable stress exercises even when you’re saying the wrong word. “PART-yada-yada,” for example, will get you full marks for “PARTnership.”
While it does a great job at drilling specific phonemes, the app doesn’t cover connected speech and contractions, which are important for a native-sounding accent.
Despite the variety of the content, the four lesson types become repetitive after a while.

Price

ELSA has a free version, but the premium one will give you access to the Dictionary and newly updated lessons.

There are three plans:

1. ELSA PRO: 1-month membership for $11.99 2. ELSA PRO: 3-month membership for $25.99 3. ELSA PRO: 1-year membership for $74.99

Use the code “ALRELSA” to get 10% off your subscription. The coupon is only valid if purchased from the link below and not from within the app.

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All the scores come as percentages and indicate how close you are to sounding like a native speaker. By clicking on the question mark next to each “skill,” you can see additional information about it, along with examples.

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Coffee Break Review: Italian, French, and German Courses

Coffee Break

Rating 4.0

★★★★★

Summary

The Coffee Break Languages series teach languages through podcast-style lessons. The lessons have a casual feel and offer lots of explanations, building on each other nicely. Courses are available for a one-time purchase, but much of the material is also available for free as podcasts or Youtube videos.

Quality 4.0

★★★★★

The audio is of high quality and the instruction is thoughtful.

Thoroughness 4.0

★★★★★

There are lots of explanations, and you can start as an absolute beginner, but practice opportunities are limited.

Value 4.0

★★★★★

There is a lot of high-quality content available for free; the paid courses might not be worth the price for some.

I Like

Explanations are thorough.
Lessons build on each other logically.
The language often feels authentic.
There’s lots of free content.

I Don’t Like

Opportunities to interact with the language are limited.
There isn’t much of a focus on productive skills.
I expected the paid courses to offer more extra materials for the price.

Price

Many audio lessons are free. The premium version of each season includes extra materials and costs $104.

Depending on which season of language you decide to get the pricing ranges from $20-$200.

Check Out CoffeeBreak

Spotify is my platform of choice, and it’s got a ton of Coffee Break lessons.

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