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In-Depth Reviews And Recommendations - Without The BS

uTalk Review – Learn Set Phrases But Not A Language

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Quick Review
Summary: uTalk is a software program and mobile app offering learning material in over 140 languages. Its approach is based on learning set keywords and phrases through gameplay. It covers a wide range of set phrases and offers pronunciation practice. It does not offer any in-depth language instruction or grammar.

uTalk is most useful for people who want to learn key phrases in a new language and aren’t interested in a more comprehensive understanding.

Quality
The app is very user-friendly, and the content is mostly useful, but the features are limited.
Thoroughness
The opportunities for focused practice are somewhat lacking.
Value
The price is very low, and there’s a decent amount of content, but there are more time-efficient ways to learn.
I Like…
The number of languages on offer is staggering.

Each phrase is recorded by a male and female native speaker. This was especially helpful in learning pronunciation.

You frequently get to hear recordings of yourself producing the language. I found this motivating and informative.

I Don’t Like…
The Memory Game exercise felt like a waste of time. It’s difficult to get a perfect score even if you know the language well.

I kept wishing there was a way to choose which phrases I could practice in games instead of them being randomly selected.

I’m not a fan of learning a bunch of set phrases. I’d prefer some instruction related to grammar and sentence construction.

Price*:

$2.99/month on a monthly basis and can be canceled at any time
$1.67/month for a year-long subscription
$1.00/month for a two-year subscription

*This is the price for the more popular languages like Spanish, German, Arabic, etc. Less common languages such as Afrikaans and Tibetan cost slightly more.

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Best (And Worst) Online Japanese Courses – We’ve Tested 28 Of Them

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Japanese Courses

Learning Japanese can be complicated, especially if it’s your first time trying a new language. From getting your syllables and pronunciation right to mastering any one of the three separate writing systems, you have a lot to figure out.

Luckily, we’ve tried a bunch of language courses and can guide you in the right direction. Some of these resources are top-notch, while others are a total waste of time (and money).

Here we’ll look at the best courses for learning Japanese, the top tier options. We’ve also ranked the second and third-tier. Down at the bottom, you’ll find the courses you should stay away from. These just don’t come highly recommended, so you’re better off picking a resource from the upper tiers.

Let’s get started!

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Living Language Online Course Review – Not Very Good

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Quick Review
Summary: Living Language provides numerous learning materials for multiple languages, including complete and essential courses that come with textbooks and CDs. They also have specialty courses covering business, travel, and several jobs. However, their standard online version isn’t very practical, and it’s difficult to tell if you’re actually learning or simply going through the motions. While the resource might be useful for those who want access to a large vocab list with grammar reading materials, there are better, cheaper options.

Quality
Though the information itself is useful, Living Language’s presentation reads more like a database than an educational/interactive tool.
Thoroughness
Again, a lot of the information is there, but it’s scattered. Additionally, some of that information appears incorrect.
Value
Cheaper options offer the same amount of content with more interactive features.
I Like
You can hop around between levels and topics, including Beginner and Advanced materials.

The subscription comes with a grammar guide, glossary, and forum access.

There’s a decent variety of games, including some games I hadn’t played before.

I Don’t Like
Although the games are fun, they get stale pretty quickly. It’s easy to guess at answers, thereby completing levels without really having learned.

The system doesn’t keep track of your mistakes, so it’s hard to know what areas you need to improve in.

I found several translation and presentation errors that made me question the rest of the material.

Price: An annual plan costs $150, and half a year costs $75. Three months is $50 and 1 month is $39.

Languages: American Sign Language, Arabic, Dothraki, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, and Vietnamese

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Drops App Review – Decent As A Supplementary Resource

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Quick Review
Summary: Drops is a phone app for iPhone and Android that covers 33 languages. Daily games test the user on thousands of vocabulary words, and many of these words are ideal for everyday use. Drops has an entertaining, user-friendly interface, but it also lacks grammar lessons, and it works better for some languages than others. For anyone looking to supplement their vocab lessons, this app is worth considering; however, the free version might be more worthwhile than the paid version.

Quality
Though cute and easy to use, several visuals are hard to distinguish, and some games aren’t too useful for retention.
Thoroughness
This app won’t help with grammar or verb conjugation. However, it does offer hundreds of unique vocab words.
Value
The free app is a great supplementary tool to help round out your vocabulary, but the paid app doesn’t offer many useful extras.
I Like
The daily reminders keep me accountable.

If you already know a word, you have the option of swiping up and removing it from your lessons.

Though the app works better for some languages, the sheer amount of languages is a plus.

Great audio examples.

I Don’t Like
It can be difficult to tell certain images apart, which means you’ll likely identify them incorrectly during your review.

Some of the categories seem to include random, unrelated words.

This app isn’t ideal for beginners, as it skips over basic lessons.

 Drops only teaches you a single verb form, meaning you’ll need different apps to learn how to conjugate.

Price: A monthly subscription costs $9.99, a yearly subscription is $69.99, and a lifetime subscription is $159.99. You can use the app up to five minutes every ten hours for free.

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Wanikani Review – A Useful Supplementary Tool For Studying Japanese

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Quick Review
Summary: Wanikani is an innovative, useful site for beginning learners of Japanese kanji. The site provides mnemonic devices and a spaced repetition system (SRS) to teach radicals, kanji, and vocabulary. Although it offers a phenomenal foundation in kanji, it doesn’t provide everything you’ll need to learn the language. Still, if you’re willing to put in the time and effort, Wanikani is an excellent supplementary program.

Quality
Easy and fun to use, so long as you don’t fall behind on your lessons.
Thoroughness
It won’t teach you stroke order or too much grammatically, but it provides over 2000 kanji and 6000 vocabulary words.
Value
Wanikani is constantly adding new material, so even if you finish all the kanji, there’ll be more to learn. If you put in the effort, it’s more than worth your money.
I Like
The mnemonic devices/stories are hilarious and make learning fun and memorable.

Wanikani keeps track of which radicals, kanji, and vocab you’re struggling with in its “critical condition items” feature. You can easily look at this resource to figure out your strengths and weaknesses, and you can restart a level if you’re having trouble with the new material.

Each kanji and vocab provides an audio reading by a native speaker. These recordings help you get an ear for the sound of the word, alongside the written form.

I Don’t Like
If you skip a day, it adds up. Wanikani does allow you to pause via vacation mode, but if you forget, or if you need more time, you’ll potentially have hundreds of lessons to catch up on.

Some of the mnemonics are hard to remember.

Wanikani is great for reading, but if you’re trying to speak or write the language, this site doesn’t offer much. And while example sentences are provided, the actual process of learning grammar is left to each individual.

Price: A monthly subscription costs $9, a yearly subscription is $89, and a lifetime subscription is $299. The first three levels are available for free.

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Alternatives: Wanikani is an excellent supplementary resource but it should be used alongside a textbook or course.

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