Romanian Archives - All Language Resources

Mondly Review – Far From My First Choice For Learning A Language

July 27, 2019 by Magdalena Leave a Comment

Quick Review

Summary: Mondly is a below average online language learning resource. It does some things right and other things poorly. It’s pretty cheap, and a decent enough crash course that could help you before a trip abroad. Still, it wouldn’t be my first choice.

Quality

Both the interface and the course itself could be designed better.

Thoroughness

It’s decent for learning vocabulary but a lot of material isn’t explained very well.

Value

It’s fairly inexpensive.

I Like…

Daily lessons, weekly quizzes, and monthly challenges – these functionalities encourage you to practice every day.

The vocabulary included is useful and drilled in an effective way.

It’s fairly inexpensive.

I Don’t Like…

The content and exercises are the same for all levels and languages.

The exercises are mostly passive and won’t help you use the language.

The order of lessons and topics isn’t very well thought out.

The interface is not user friendly and the platform is visually unappealing.

Price: There are three plans…
$9.99 per month for one language
$47.99 per year ($4/mo) for one language
$47.99 per year ($4/mo) for all languages

Strangely, I was able to access multiple languages even though I only signed up for one month at $9.99.

Visit Mondly

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Review Of Transparent Language – Their Courses Are Awful!

May 25, 2019 by Alex Leave a Comment

Quick Review

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.

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Pimsleur Review – Secret Subscription Option Is Much Cheaper

September 9, 2018 by Nick 8 Comments

Quick Review

Summary: Pimsleur’s courses primarily focus on oral language. They are one of the biggest names in language learning but was something I had a hard time recommending to people in the past because of the insanely high prices.

They recently added a subscription model with much more reasonable prices and a new app that is much better designed. This review focuses on the new subscription model which isn’t yet available to the general public from the Pimsleur website but you can find it here.

I was really impressed with the quality of the lessons and now that the price is much better, I’m happy to recommend studying with Pimsleur.

Quality

The lessons are very well structured and the new app works great

Thoroughness

Pimsleur primarily focuses on oral language at the expense of grammar.

Value

The new subscription cost is very affordable.

I Like…

The lessons focus on oral language which gets students speaking right away.

The lessons are very active. You’re constantly being prompted and need to produce the language you’re learning.

The lessons build upon each other exceptionally well with previously learned material constantly being reinforced.

The app is well designed with lots of beautiful images and interesting cultural notes.

I Don’t Like…

The lessons aren’t terribly exciting.

The written language is much more of an afterthought and not heavily featured in the lessons.

The practice activities included in the premium plan aren’t particularly well done.

Price: A basic subscription costs $14.95 per month and a premium subscription costs $19.95 per month. This is a massive improvement over the old prices which cost as much as $550 for five levels.

You won’t find any information about this new subscription price on their website. The link below will take you to a page with more information on their subscription plans.

Try a free 7-day trial of Pimsleur

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Memrise Review – Useful But Don’t Overuse It

September 4, 2018 by Nick 3 Comments

Quick Review

Summary: Memrise is one of the most popular language learning apps around. It’s basically a gamified flashcard app. It’s a good way to help build vocabulary and beginner students would benefit the most from it. While it can be very useful, it’s important to not try to use it as your main tool for learning a new language.

Quality

The app is extremely well designed, but courses are user-made, so quality can vary.

Thoroughness

There are courses covering tons of topics, but you’ll need to use additional resources.

Value

Free and very useful. Awesome!

I Like
It uses spaced-repetition software making it easy to learn new words and review them periodically.
It’s a bit more fun than traditional flashcard apps.
There are tons of different courses to choose from.

I Don’t Like
I personally prefer other flashcard apps that are less gamified (Anki or Pleco for Mandarin).
It should be used with other resources, not in isolation.

Price: It’s free. The Premium Plan costs $9 per month or $59 per year.

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Verbling Review – An Alternative to italki?

August 30, 2018 by Nick 5 Comments

Quick Review

Summary: Verbling is a language learning platform where you can find and book classes directly from a teacher. It’s very similar to italki with a few minor differences. Unfortunately, on Verbling, the cost of lessons are generally higher and the number of teachers to choose from fewer. Still, it’s a fairly good option for finding a teacher.

Teacher Quality

Professional teachers that have to submit an application

Platform

Doesn’t use Skype for lessons

Value

Cheaper than most options, but more expensive than italki

I Like
Teachers are experienced and professional.
No need to deposit money or buy credits first. Can simply pay one lesson at a time. Also has many payment options including Bitcoin.
Well designed platform that makes booking lessons easy.

I Don’t Like
Lessons are more expensive compared to italki.
Far fewer teachers to choose from compared to italki.
Fairly expensive if you’re only looking for conversation practice.

Price: The cost of lessons varies depending on the teacher and the language. The average cost for an hour long Spanish class is $18, for French it’s $24, and for German it’s $31. There are many other languages available as well.

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