Polyglot Reacts to Popular Language Learning Apps

Today I react to and review the most popular language learning apps and platforms, including Rosetta Stone, Duolingo, Memrise, Babbel, and Pimsleur. I regularly discuss language learning methods on my channel, including strategies for memorizing large amounts of vocabulary through spaced repetition software like Anki and making sure to speak your target language constantly (in person or via websites like Italki), but today we’re going to take a look at some of the most popular commercial, mass-market apps and websites for learning languages.
It was an odd experience as I usually don’t use these types of platforms for language learning, but there definitely were some gems among them! (And this video is not sponsored, by the way.)
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[@damondominique]

Duolingo stories are lit tho. They go so hard with the storyline plot twists.

[@jaichitzi3471]

OMG DAMON HI I'M LEARNING FRENCH BECASE OF YOU.

[@jaichitzi3471]

*because smh I can't even speak english

[@shiroi9888]

This plot when the boy had hallucinations or when they lived in other planet big wtf bruh

[@jordand3570]

I KNOW RIGHTT

[@klauskaldera2837]

@@shiroi9888 I have no idea what you want to say with your comment! ??

[@extremebooklover]

would love to see him try this video style again with languages he doesn't already speak, which is the point of these apps in the first place

[@deniz_yucel1248]

@snarl banarl yeah of course it’s not gonna be complex

[@japanvirtuallearning4268]

I can totally agree with this. and about japanese cant go more than that.

[@Luis-rj9tu]

Exactly!

[@luqmuhmmad2616]

Why would he pick a language he doesn't know? If he picks one ge does he can tell us the way their teaching is effective or not within that language cause you know he speaks it.

[@rk_san]

Duolingo's basics are the reason why I understand the complex sentences in Memrise. Duolingo's awesome.

[@dragonfruitreal]

@@666Blush rosetta stone is just duolingo but worse and not fun at all

[@666Blush]

@@dragonfruitreal I can’t believe how much it costs though, that’s the ridiculous bit.

[@Lottofatto]

@@dragonfruitreal and it actually costs money. I paid for it and was gutted when my friend said duolingo is free (I hadn't even heard of it before). To me they seem to be on par as far as the learning experience goes, I'm learning more about listening to conversations rather than engaging in conversation. I can't say how much of that is myself translating everything back to English in my head or if it's the apps themselves

[@dragonfruitreal]

@@otakuparadise3585 never heard of busuu before but it looks like it would be good since it lets you talk to native speakers

[@Xyndernox]

it just isnt. im sorry but from an objective standpoint you cant get past MAYBE early A2 but absolutely no farther

[@Robin_Goodfellow]

I've noticed that a lot of language-learning type channels and journalists tend to not like Duolingo so much, and I think it shows the difference in general language learning experience between them and the general public. Xiaoma is clearly ready and willing to start with full sentences. Duolingo is great because it does its best not to scare away absolute beginners. It says, "See, you learned how to say 'I am a man' in German! That wasn't so hard! Now, this is how you say 'He is a man.'" Baby steps, never more than you can handle at one time.

[@extrememetalhead]

As a hyper-polyglot, Duolingo and Pimsleur are extremely beginner friendly. Both wonderful apps that try to make you plenty committed to your language learning schedule.

[@thewheekingrodent]

Him: I can speak fluent Chinese Him: These Chinese lessons are far too easy for me, it’s ridiculous

[@blankb.2277]

okay but he's right about Rosetta Stone being easy to the point of being boring.

[@MrSupernova111]

I tried the A1 and A2 Spanish tests in Busuu today without doing any prior training. It was far too easy for me the same as most Americans taking a fluency test in English.

[@izukumidoriya3826]

@@blankb.2277 Actually your wrong

[@jeffdavis6182]

@@blankb.2277 well if you don't know any chinese words then you have no fucking clue what you're doing and that makes it pretty difficult don't you think?

[@RingsOfSolace]

@@jeffdavis6182 language apps generally are shit. Sure, it won't be easy. But I think there's better ways of making progress.

[@glamp63]

Dude, if you’re going to test out languages, don’t choose one that you’re already fluent in!

[@ezioauditore7378]

And how is he going to evaluate if the app is good or not if he pick a language that he doesn't know? He chose a language that he's fluent because he knows what is important for you to learn firstly...

[@shadowjfd]

@@ezioauditore7378 that's the point, that he chooses a language he doesn't know and evaluate if he actually learned something

[@mindsignals7496]

@WaitingToFade It wasn't available in each application.

[@mindsignals7496]

@hauha I disagree. Conversational context is proving much better for my beginner brain. I'm finding Pimsleur to be very good so far in my early learning of Japanese.

[@theenvyofgod6616]

@hauha I took 4 years of French and was conversational but the truth is that French is all repetition and flash cards. Before Anki, I had thousands of flash cards and subject matters. You should understand the roots and origins of Latin language as it will help you down the road. You should in turn know how to break a sentence down into its roots by the end of your studying. I am currently learning Japanese but from my overall experience in school I was teaching myself more then learning in class. You will reach a certain point of fluency (a relative term but you should use the language when ever possible) and once you do you need to A: talk in that language and B: read/ watch movies/ write stories in that language to not forget it. I regret giving up on my French but I hope you dont do the same.

[@jameslovell1618]

For someone with almost no experience with other languages, I think Duolingo's approach is good for training the ear and eye. I'm an almost 40 year old English speaker trying to learn Japanese and I don't feel nearly as intimidated as I did when I started a little over a week ago. The app keeps me motivated. It might not be the most efficient system, but it is effective at keeping me coming back every day. And that's the most important thing in my opinion.

[@FLAV3R]

Hey i hope you are doing well with your Japanese lessons on Duolingo. I am on day 389 of learning Chinese and must say it will be an amazing system for you to learn and grow in the language. Don't give up and keep on keeping on.

[@skeptical_playz6142]

@@FLAV3R 太棒了！我是中国人，但是我说的中文不太好，所以我也在duolingo上面学中文。我希望你学的好！

[@goatsntoast]

That same philosophy is one I use for working out. I push myself hard enough to feel like I’m doing something but not hard enough that I don’t want to do it again tomorrow.

[@jonharper8963]

You are basically me haha, I am nearly 40 and doing the same. I think Duolingo gets a bad rap, I agree with you

[@azman6568]

@@jonharper8963 I'm 42 just starting I thing duoling is fantastic.

[@emzee1148]

Duolingo turns into full sentences and sentence creation when you get past level 1 lol

[@Random-yh3jl]

yeah XD

[@77LUCKYNUMBER77]

this video just made it obvious that he is sponsored by babbel lol edit: which isn't a bad thing at all

[@robstuart1385]

Duolingo users are just lazy, cheap and will never achieve fluency. Just random words that mean nothing in a real conversation. I learned more in 2 weeks on Pimsleur than 2 years on duolingo. I can have actual conversations in spanish and portugese now with locals. Duolingo will teach you nothing.

[@lilsadbbg]

not really, I took a placement test for spanish because i am decent at it already. Despite that the lessons onwards were all just vocabulary memorization, the sentences they used are things no real people say so I found duolingo actually more useless when it came to learning spanish.

[@haseebibnwaseemp6307]

How many of you are tryyna learn a language over this quarantine?!

[@janellek21]

We may as well. If I believe the news media, then there's nothing safe to do anymore other than shop online, masturbate and stay glued to the TV news 24/7. At least learning a language would be productive.

[@sandwich2761]

Me, im trying to learn french as well as level up my german cos its very conversational and i need a bigger vocabulary

[@Brickcellent]

Yes, yes, learn the language of the bug people who destroyed the world. Simp.

[@Brickcellent]

@@mattgage1021 Try not to eat a bat on your way!

[@chrisoliver5010]

I'm learning Chinese (Mandarin) using Rosetta Stone. It starts a little slow teaching you the basics which is what Xiaomanyc experienced with the free trial in this video. You then move through different categories like Greetings and Introductions, Work and School, Shopping, Travel etc... I like that you learn via speaking, listening, matching pictures to words/sentences, and they teach you the symbols during pronunciation exercises in each category.

[@paulh2282]

He enjoys the one where he's learning Spanish more than the ones where he's learning Chinese. Try Spanish on all the apps for a better comparison.

[@caffeinatednation8885]

As one learning Spanish, I concur!

[@pedrotcp]

I think the point he's trying to make is the time spent vs the number of new phrases learned. It's more about the method rather than the language. But I get your pont.

[@shichigatsu13]

I agree. I do value Xiaoma's opinion, I'm here watching this video obviously haha. However, I think it may have been more accurate to rate the apps after going through them with a language he isn't so familiar with. Spanish, I think would have been a better choice.

[@prestonhiew1899]

Exactly, of course the app will be super boring if he knows the language already. xD

[@jae0sauve]

Basically he thinks index cards is the best way to learn a new language

[@zenna4474]

Duolingo is probably my favorite, even though I only get like 10% of my learning from it. It makes me be consistent cuz I really care about my streak (my family might be at risk if I break it too) and on days where I don't feel like learning doing some duolingo can really inspire me to actually study that day.

[@mcbratko4236]

Where do you learn the other 90%?

[@Luke-mm4fy]

@@mcbratko4236 that’s what I wanna know everyone says Duolingo should be a supplement but don’t mention what their core learning material is

[@blazzo9633]

@@Luke-mm4fy most people from what I’ve heard usually just go on to watching movies and reading books regularly to ensure they learn the language.

[@kmradosevich]

@@Luke-mm4fy other courses, anki, lingolia, books, youtube, podcasts, music, dictionary, italki, and whatever else you feel you need

[@TuesdaysArt]

@@blazzo9633 It's easy to find Spanish translations of English songs or Spanish dubs of TV shows, but I'm having a hard time finding something similar for Greek. Some streaming services aren't available in Greece so I can't even use a VPN to get the Greek version of the shows.

[@thebelizeaneh]

Not everyone can learn and memorize whole conversations in one minute. Some people need a slower pace. Duolingo is the best for me.

[@TuesdaysArt]

The people who like to rag on Duolingo are the ones who already know 27 languages and have the resources to study them all. Lots of people don't know where to start, need the external motivation, can't afford fancy subscriptions (or in some cases, paying hundreds of dollars for a lifetime ownership), etc. Maybe someone only has ten minutes to study Spanish on their lunch break and Duolingo feels accessible to them.

[@qrome20]

I would have to agree with this... I also think that there are sets of languages that need to be taught differently. For example... I started learning Arabic there's no way i could just jump into sentences and a conversation with out understanidng the alphabet and what the letters look like, how the letters are written (you read from right to left and the letters are written differently depending on where it is in the word) If i did not know that, there's no way to keep up right away with a conversation. I'm sure this goes for other Asian languages as well where you need to learn the characters and also new sounds!

[@zuko803]

Exactly, I'm indonesian trying to learn english and spanish in duolingo, the english is getting hard for grammar since I'm suck on it, and spanish its really affordable to memorize the vocabs, now I have a picture where to start to learn the new language, and yet I still don't get it with people who say something bad on that app

[@joebentley2803]

@@zuko803 your english is great

[@mendivest]

Have you heard of Dr. Stephen Krashen. He is a professor of linguistics and I suggest you look him up.

[@MidosujiSen]

Duolingo is good for starting from absolute zero, that's why the first lessons are insanely basic.

[@TJ-di1iq]

I just signed up. I love it! It makes learning a language easy.

[@MidosujiSen]

@@bubba842 Duolingo shouldn't be used on its own or as a main source to learn a language. I view it as just a supplement, a very good one though. A plus side of it is that it's genuinely fun and makes you feel like you're playing a game.

[@GGoulartO]

agreed

[@CamiloConC]

Totally true. When someone knows something of the language they will feel bored because of the speed of learning but when you know nothing it'll be all right.

[@nootics]

I started japanese on duolingo and learned the hiragana alphabet rather reliably. After that I kept going for a month or so and now I've found much more helpful resources for the rest. Let's see where i'll be in a few months or years

[@Thepuffymonkey]

By the way, Duolingo doesn’t do the best job at Japanese and Chinese, but it does extremely well in french (from someone who knows french) Spanish and german

[@gabrielalmeida6085]

what do you think about russian?

[@carrosinsapato5992]

in the mobile version you can practice pronunciation but in the pc (web) version you can write with your keyboard and not just click

[@grwmix]

What's your thought on duolingo's Spanish and German?

[@jinfin221]

What's best for Japanese?

[@homelessturtles712]

I did the Japanese for about a month before moving on to different methods. Later found out a few things were wrong but it was super helpful for getting a foundation quickly.

[@anthonyfalteisek688]

The best thing about this is only spending 10 mins on each without seeing their entire program. It's like rating a book based on the opening sentence. Super useful 😂

[@anthonyfalteisek688]

@@telanis9 So, I speak 5 languages, 4 of which I learned after 30. If you're going to shit on an educated opinion I respectfully request you wash your hands first. gfy

[@soulwatcher4690]

@@telanis9the OP is right. This was a terrible method of review. An actual review would require time and languages he wasn’t familiar with to give a more realistic idea of what does and doesn’t work

[@lorrainemcfarland621]

@@soulwatcher4690 I agree, to review he needs to spend more than a few minutes with each app.

[@varuna6089]

My vote goes to Duolingo. My journey in French started with Duolingo. Today I speak at near native fluency. Though, I guess its a matter of personal preference as to which platform works best for you.

[@mav1783]

Did you solely learn French from Duolingo? If you did, what Unit did you make it to?

[@varuna6089]

@@mav1783 It wasn't solely Duolingo but if I remember correctly, I made it up to the chapter 'gérondif' (if that's what you mean unit I'm guessing). Then, I bought a book called Easy French Series and finally I regularly watched cartoons and easy to understand videos in French. I would keep the subtitles on and then pause whereever I needed to take notes.

[@misteryu5879]

Ah bon, prouve le moi alors ? Que tu parle presque parfaitment français. Ça m'intéresse 🙂

[@rathernotsayatall]

@@misteryu5879 Je crois que tu t'es pris·e un vent. M'enfin peut-être qu'il répondra un de ces jours...

[@misteryu5879]

@@rathernotsayatall Are you a native english speaker ?

[@Alfaris]

Duolingo has a diagnostic test you're supposed to take at the start. You skipped that and went to the intro lessons.

[@niuwave]

I think he was going for a beginner perspective

[@niuwave]

He is fluent so he would ace the test and it would be pointless

[@Nurseynurse202]

I noticed that too

[@tacocatt6808]

Joe Scott yeah, and if you’re a beginner then why would you complain about it being too basic? It starts with getting you used to some pinyin/sounds and basic greetings. It also splits it into sections which is very helpful.

[@vendettavera4641]

@@niuwave I mean, yes and no: I understand that he wanted to check those apps as a beginner, but I'd say that apart from choosing the same language for each of them he should have picked a language he was a beginner in the first place too.

[@MarriedMule]

"I'm just not sure how much I'm learning" Try languages you have no idea about, get an ACTUAL experience.

[@dasren]

He wont know if it was actually good if he cant understand and evaluate the techniques used

[@MarriedMule]

@@dasren He won't know how much he's learning if it's a language he already knows. Don't be dumb.

[@Anonymous51701]

Akanatsu GenericLastname He did do Spanish

[@MarriedMule]

@@Anonymous51701 On the only one that wouldn't let him do Chinese. Try again.

[@Anonymous51701]

Akanatsu GenericLastname Wym? He still did a language he didn’t know

[@MRCroosingTootH]

I used pimsleur to learn russian, and its awesome. It really makes u pronounciate and u also have The spelling and memorising. I recommend it strongly. I makes u listen to conversations so its More like real life.

[@joeldick6871]

I also did the Pimsler for Russian, and yeah, it throws you into the deep end the fastest to learn real conversations.

[@IsraelCervantes-le4gf]

The best part Is that they dont force you to pronounce words, on duolingo and Rosetta stone they wont let you see your family until you pronounce the words Speaking from day 1 Is a bad idea, as you Will acquire a thick accent that you wont be able to remove

[@jtcunningham7589]

You need to use the same language on each app to get a true side by side comparison. Also, duolingo does get much better past the first lesson.

[@DeDandy]

Duolingo gets more complex the more you learn

[@kencupid3720]

exactly

[@_Astrogirl_]

Huh

[@madcracker84]

Yes, it builds very well and explains the grammar not just teach you words. However the new heart system ruined the app.

[@DeDandy]

@@madcracker84 I agree the heart system definitely takes away from the learning experience.

[@TheBridget272]

@@madcracker84 The heart system is depressing.

[@mintyfresh9080]

Duolingo starts with very basic stuff for Chinese & Japanese because it’s trying to familiarize you with the writing system before it dives into complex syntactic structures. It actually does a very good job of teaching grammar in later lessons. You can also test out of skills you already know based on prior knowledge.

[@impulse8975]

I have quite the opposite experience. Duolingo does not even show you the grammar notes for each lesson unless you are using the web version.

[@argonwheatbelly637]

@@impulse8975 : That's the big thing. Look at Korean on DL. Without the web grammar notes, or the ability to divine certain character combinations, you begin to falter on simple sentences. Oh, you'll learn the alphabet, but it'll be like French, e.g. Les enfants jouent dehors. Which parts are silent, and which do you pronounce? :-)

[@XiXora]

The languages like Spanish have so much more content than Chinese. The conversations bot would be great to have in Chinese.

[@PickledJar.]

It might be different now because I haven't used it for ages but as far as I remember it sucked at explaining kana in japanese (it didn't explain the kana tabels or the consistant vowel pronunciation or anything like that which would make understanding easier) or like... how particles should be used and stuff like that

[@MasterlessVagrant]

Duolingo is quite awful for Asian languages. Everyone on their own forum agrees haha.

[@juliansandler4569]

Pimsleur is great. I love how audio focused it is because it gets you to actually speak.

[@shewolfbabe3419]

Some of pimsuler is not very accurate especially Italian

[@dr.professor5487]

@@shewolfbabe3419 Good to know. Thanks for the heads up.

[@wrakowic]

@@shewolfbabe3419 why is it not accurate exactly? Thanks

[@shewolfbabe3419]

@@wrakowic because it's not not especially unit 4

[@shewolfbabe3419]

@@wrakowic it has a fantastic Russian lesson plan and Korean as well but the Italian lessons are disappointing especially as someone who speaks it already the plurals are grossly inaccurate and inconsistent which is a big deal with Italian duo lingo had a better Italian course in my personal opinion but duo lingos Russian wasn't as good it all balances out honestly

[@karatekidakakatelyn8114]

I’ll precede by saying that you are a brilliant polyglot, and most of your videos are highly entertaining. I feel that you got wayyyyyyyyy too excited about learning so much Spanish from Babbel in only a minute or so; You should show us with a language that you aren’t YET fluent in.

[@qrome20]

yes! this!

[@kurt7937]

yes he did use spanish, but hes a polyglot, he understands how to learn fast. when he wants to learn a language fast he starts speaking full sentences with language coaches. throwing you in the deep end and making you figure it out while it holds your hand is (im tempted to say objectively) the most efficacious way to learn. duolingo excels in not scaring off their monolingual consumers, not sure if much else.

[@Remolizzo]

I’m 21 days into Pimsleur French and I feel like I’ve learned way more than a month of Duolingo. It really gets your brain thinking in the mindset of the language and teaches you how to speak casually, and not so much like a textbook

[@iskiiwizz536]

ah ouais mon reuf et tu parles bien mtn ?

[@jackwinstone2945]

I’ve been learning Japanese on duolingo for over a week or so now and I’ve definitely learned a lot but holy shit is it vague. It won’t say what the difference is between a word (as a word changes depending on the formality) so when you first dk that it’s just insane to get your head around

[@666Blush]

@@jackwinstone2945 they also don’t go into kanji, explain nothing of the syntax and don’t explain or help you to learn kana other than just by some basic repetition. Kana and kanji are three writing systems that aren’t explained nearly enough on duolingo. I’m about to buy pimsleur. Hoping for a better experience.

[@Acro_LangLearn]

@@666Blush Don’t get Pimsleur to learn Japanese, it’s a waste of time and money, and I’m pretty sure they don’t even teach the writing systems, or the grammar. Imo, just use Duo at this point instead of Pimsleur.

[@666Blush]

@@Acro_LangLearn I did duolingo for half a year and felt like I learned nothing on there. I’ve been doing pimsleur solid for a few weeks and I’ve learnt millions more. I practice writing and grammar separately to pimsleur because that’s not the point of pimsleur anyway.

[@Mookielady]

I'm about 4 months into learning Spanish on Doulingo and can converse with my Spanish coworkers now. It's very simple and slow conversations but they are super patient and encouraging.

[@quack4800]

In 4 months you finished the entire Spanish course on Duolingo?

[@Mookielady]

@@quack4800 No and I'm still no where near done or fluent but I used to practice with my coworkers at that job.

[@GuildMember]

Being around native speakers has probably helped you quite a bit.

[@rd101]

@@GuildMember yup

[@Shebacca6000]

@@rd101 goals NGL

[@thnotsointelligent]

I'm genuinely annoyed how little this person did in these systems and then judged them off the bat. Duolingo ive used often and it builds as I expect others do too

[@Mrbluefire95]

lmao but can you actually speak the language? I’m going to assume no.

[@thnotsointelligent]

@@Mrbluefire95 tu ne me connais pas. Ne présumez pas

[@Jeremiah1110]

@@thnotsointelligent and just like that... they don't reply at all.

[@morcchoppa]

@@Jeremiah1110 hahahha

[@HailCTheOmertosa]

@@thnotsointelligent you, sir, have earned my respect. this gave me a much needed laugh 😆

[@MrAnonCunningham]

Duolingo gets more intense later. For Korean I felt they crammed too much into too little actually, but they have a section for just learning the characters that I started using and it helped immensely.

[@samirzepeda4028]

I've actually been learning Chinese with Duolingo, and it has turned out to be really great.

[@ejames80]

It's not bad, i'm learnimg portugueses with it

[@rickjames2584]

你能读和写汉字吗？我也学习中文学了七星期

[@bernardonowotny6492]

@@ejames80 está aprendendo português meu amigo ?

[@ejames80]

@@bernardonowotny6492 sim.

[@bernardonowotny6492]

@@ejames80 pretty cool good luck . Portuguese is my mother tongue.

[@ElektroKrieg]

Pimsleur has been incredible for me. I am a truck driver and I spent a couple months ( have slacked lately) learning japanese (until I got scared by the writing) and I still months later find myself able to spit out full sentences as well as understand random segments of japenese I hear from time to time. It's the "13th Warrior" approach.

[@joselassalle5906]

Japanese has one of the most complex writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji, romaji). They should stick with romaji and ditch the others.

[@user-wb4dm4gu3g]

@@joselassalle5906 it's more difficult to read it in ロマン字 than to read it in 漢字＋片仮名＋平仮名

[@rainnchen9632]

@@joselassalle5906 Romaji is not a writing system, ok weeb.

[@Acro_LangLearn]

@@joselassalle5906 no

[@Acro_LangLearn]

@@rainnchen9632 I don’t think OP watches anime but okay.

[@adventurepantsmcgee]

I have been enjoying learning Spanish with Pimsleur. I'm just about done with level 5, which just makes me feel really good and accomplished. It's gotten way deeper into grammar with past tense and subjunctive than I would have thought possible with just audio. It's also great that they do have reading lessons at the end. Absolutely would recommend.

[@CynsCorner]

Oh, this is nice! Thank you! I was toying with signing up for Rosetta Stone and jumping into Duolingo again, but your section on Babbel changed my mind.

[@niamhshirley4805]

Him : I can speak fluent chinese Also him: I just wonder if Im learning anything

[@pea6]

Nailed it.

[@hunogo]

This could've been a good series of videos. You could evaluate deeper how each app teaches chinese and which you think is better for begginers, intermediaries and advanced students. You could even make one video for each app saying what you like and what you don't like. I mean, we're on quarantine, you're also. It would be great content. But don't evaluate them so superficially by one single lesson dude. It's so incredibly misinformative.

[@Roodneyfb]

I completely agree! Check my other comment in this video about that. I basically say the same thing you said.

[@szilvianagy2410]

Yes I was disappointed too.

[@melindamercier6811]

I second this comment! Id LOVE to watch a series on these apps!

[@zatoichi1]

Definitely. Five or ten minutes per system isn't exactly a thorough review of different systems. Neither is jumping around between clearly different languages. Spanish is very easy to pronounce for English and Latin language speakers whereas Chinese has so many characters and tones. Slavic languages pose difficulty too with very different and difficult pronounciation and grammar. Try the systems over a longer period of time at least with the same language if you want to "rank" them.

[@elizabethw9373]

I agree with this so much! I feel like there were a couple really good ways to approach this and he missed them or tried to mash too much together. If he wanted to rate these for learning Mandarin/Chinese, he could have reviewed them all for longer and given "best for beginner to intermediate learners" or "best for conversational learning," in terms of learning Mandarin/Chinese. (Of course if you're fluent in a language you are going to find most beginner lessons too easy/boring. But some people need that slow paced start.) He could also have taken a language he was unfamilair with and compared it on all these programs over I dunno a week or so? (I know a couple offer a 7 day free trial... and while even that feels short to me, it would be better than 10 minutes or so on each.) The other thing that frustrates me is these programs are designed around different chunks of time. A 15 minute a day program is going to be much different than an hour a day program. To spend a small portion of time on each- doesn't give you a good comparison point. At least, not in my opinion. I do appreciate these kinds of videos though, and the time and effort given by those who make them. I'm sure the content will be useful for some who are trying to decide between or just want to know more about the programs. However, I feel a little disappointed.

[@godemperormeow8591]

The Babble where he is getting all happy about, Doulingo has the exact same thing called STORIES. Doulingo offers podcasts, guidebooks to teach you rules, and memorizing words is pretty damn important if you ask me. You kind of have to study for B1 in any given language on these websites before you can give out an opinion. Also best to purchase out the premium subscription out of any given website because teachers don't work for free.

[@Ami-gu5zi]

Not anymore

[@chollettgarrett]

What is b1

[@godemperormeow8591]

@@chollettgarrett CEFR language competency rating.

[@neezduts69420]

Most of these Duolingo features aren't available on most courses though

[@godemperormeow8591]

@@neezduts69420 Duolingo's Spanish, French, and Germany is good. Everything else on it sucks. I don't think they suck because they are lazy, I think it is generally hard to set up a prestigious learning environment. First, they need to play telephone with various languages. Second, they need to code all of it in. One look at Russia and it is going to take a while. And lastly, is it worth tossing money into it?

[@jafetvelasquez]

I really love Pimsleur, it helped me improve my korean pronunciation and gave me a sense of confidence I didn't think I could reach. Pimsleur can definitely improve, but yeah, you always have the feeling of beeing part of a conversation, plus they gift me every program they have.

[@jenniferjeffries83]

Please re-do this video once you’ve used these apps for one month, starting from 0 with a language you aren’t already familiar with. I usually like your videos, but this one is way off bc no real time was invested 😬

[@joeselzer850]

i agree not enough time on each to get the full experience of using it. what i was using before is program you down load to ur laptop at lest years ago this was called "before you know it" to learn some Korean and chines and Tagalog it using flash cards and a button to get them to say it slow. i did learn some Korean and some Tagalog but i did not stick with it because my my bran's working memory does not work normal witch is part of the short term memory i for get thing way to fast 1 mint to the next kinda like Dora the fish simply stores information for a while, while retains the information in order to manipulate it. is part of but that doesn't make it the same thing.

[@leif5046]

I agree that a more in-depth review would be great! But there is value in a quick evaluation/initial first impressions of these apps from an experienced language learner as well. It would take a significant amount of time to dedicate a whole month to each of these apps, with a new language each time. I don't think that's a reasonable request to make in terms of invested effort and value.

[@leif5046]

​@@RM... "It's a total waste of OUR time." Are you seriously complaining that he is wasting your time by spending his time creating free content for you to watch? It's your choice whether you want to watch it or not. It's your prerogative to spend your time however you prefer. Don't like it? That's fine. Move on. You seem to believe the world revolves around you, and all other people exist to placate your sensitivities. That's some next level entitlement right there!

[@lachlanstrom3685]

@@RM... hey if you really want something im a polyglot and i really only used pimsleur and language transfer until i was good enough to read comic books and watch shows

[@lachlanstrom3685]

@@RM... I felt that pimsleur really helped me get a grasp of the language on a general basis with a cool approach, at the start you would hear a conversation between two native speakers and by the end you would understand it perfectly. Pimsleur also really helped me with my accent.

[@spinnis]

Dude, the reason the first lesson on Duolingo gave you so little information is because they were tutorials that essentially teach you the layout/format of how it works. Later, it requires you to translate sentences on you own, it has longer stories where you get questions to see if you actually understood it, etc. Imagine reviewing a video game by playing 30 seconds of the tutorial and being like "yeah, this isn't that fun", or looking at the intro to a movie and being like "yo why is there just the earth with the words 'universal studios' on it? this movie sucks!". There are plenty of criticism to be made of duolingo, but honestly it has some good features. The stories work well as comprehensible input, they have a podcast thing with a very easy to understand level, they have a feature that's like anki but better, because they take all the words you have seen on duolingo, and do the spaced repetition thing, and ofc, before each lesson you can click on the tips to see more technical grammar stuff, and later lessons obviously get a lot more complicated. The first lesson is literally just for showing the layout of the lessons. The fact that you literally couldn't spend more than 10 seconds before saying a service was dumb is really weird.

[@aidenh4681]

Duolingo isn’t good

[@Phagocytosis]

@@aidenh4681 I disagree, I think it's good. It just shouldn't be the only source for learning a language, certainly not in the later stages, anyhow. Oh, and it does depend a bit on the language you choose. Some courses are better than others.

[@MrSupernova111]

I like the movie intro example. Spot on! haha

[@MrSupernova111]

This whole channel has become fluff in recent months.

[@Mephiston]

Duolingo was good for keeping me engaged in learning the basics, and I supplemented it later on with memrise and babbel.

[@stianhuste275]

I would say it’s probably easy for you because you are fluent in most of these languages but for new people that want to learn to speak a new language I’d say Duolingo is amazing! I’m practicing my Norwegian because of family up there and it’s awesome. It gets more complex the more you start learning.

[@abbyrose7161]

“I don’t think I’ve learnt much” yeah cos you already speak the language and you’re doing a beginner lesson?!?

[@alistair_7]

Me: Learns basic Korean from Duolingo from scratch Him: Is fluent in Chinese and judges these apps cuz they start from scratch Me: ㅇ ㅡ ㅇ Edit: BY ODIN’S BEARD 500 LIKES WHATTTT THANK YOU AYO WHAT

[@PassionPno]

The Korean in Duolingo is full of errors. I recommend learning the Hangul alphabet with Koreaclass101's website and the grammar/sentence structures from Talk to Me in Korean's website.

[@tjfjt]

He's not judging them for starting from scratch; he's judging them as someone who's learned multiple languages based on what would allow him to learn the language efficiently

[@nootnootd9450]

i think you should try out “lingodeer” it’s an amazing app imo

[@foxfloofmoments4795]

(⌐■-■)

[@shritan0]

ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

[@cestlaphie]

I use Pimsleur for French and it has helped so immensely with my speaking and confidence talking with someone in French! I had three years of French in school, so I had a solid foundation, but it clicks in my brain so much more to forgo the reading/writing and solely focus on the speaking. Started to think in French instead of translating English to French in my head, if that makes sense. But I like to use Pimsleur in conjunction with HelloTalk just to chat with real people.

[@jimmugford]

Hi Phie I would like to know if you are still learning french and how it is going? Also are you still using Pimsleur I also had many high school years of french (Canadian) and want to get my second language back. Thanks (also checked your you vids amazing job and amazing voice!)

[@dividad1]

Exactly! My 5 year old nephew can have full conversations, but is only learning to read now. Reading/writing is so much less important than actually speaking the language youre trying to learn. No one learns how to speak their native language as a baby by studying books, they imitate the people around them. It blows my mind people love duolingo so much when they are learning in the slowest way possible. Use it to refine your language skills and expand grammar, not to learn a language

[@GabrielLabrecque]

Bravo! Lachez pas!

[@erinbuyense4745]

Me too and spanish....I was SHOCKED when i would answer in full sentences no hesitation SHOCKED!!!

[@brittanysears9556]

Babbel ALL day. My husband and I both started Norwegian at the same time. He started on Duolingo and I started on Babbel and within 2 months I was SO much further ahead of him it was insane. I had already learned grammar, the building blocks of how sentence structure works (like where to put adjectives and nouns and how the imperative forms of words work and all the confusing stuff that actually matters in a language lol) all of that I learned in the first month and I was moving onto actually making sentences and stuff, and by the time I checked in with him after 2 months, he was still learning vocabulary and barely making sentences…We both were doing an hour everyday and Duolingo barely got him into sentence structure after 2 months🤦🏼‍♀️ He ended up canceling and just using my app after that Lol. Babbel is WAYYY better. I feel people are sleeping on that app for surrreee.

[@normanwestern9450]

I use both and Busuu

[@sagitta4291]

Duolingo is nice for starting out but it's so damn slow. It makes you review the same basic sentences 100.000 times before moving on.

[@theriddler482]

Duolingo is terrible because it doesn’t teach you grammar. Grammar is the building block of a language

[@lorrainemcfarland621]

@@theriddler482 Not true, it does teach grammar. Right now I'm working on feminine and masculine agreement. However, I agree that it's not their main thing.

[@randomhandle]

I'm about to undertake a crash course in Norwegian. I definitely think I'm headed toward Babbel. I only have 2.5 months though! 😬 I'm planning on averaging about 14 hours a week of work though, so we'll see.

[@peregrination3643]

Duolingo: just plain fun, good for sampling languages so curiosity doesn't distract you later. Memrise: similar to Duolingo but in a different way. Basic grammar emphasis traded for vocab and phrases. Mango: a lot like Babbel but with far more choices like Quebec French, Cherokee, Tuva, Ancient Greek, Tamil, etc. So far that's my app experience. All free (Mango is through my library's membership), so if you're broke or want to play around until feel serious enough to pay, you have options.

[@marianagarcia3827]

Immense thanks for sharing this! I’ve been searching an app for Arabic like Babbel but I didn’t find anything as good as Babbel but thankfully I read your comment about the similarities between Babbel and mango and I immediately tried it and I’m already subscribed! THANKS 💞🙏🏻✨

[@Luggruff]

Duolingo also forces you to speak, write and build sentences. Pretty quick/early too. Then you have stories for many of the languages, and intuitive tips sections for each of the parts (grammar).

[@TuesdaysArt]

Idk if it's just because I'm using mobile, but I notice Duolingo isn't really making me speak. There are some auditory processing questions (which are slightly annoying as someone with an auditory processing disorder), but I don't see the microphone stuff as much as it used to?

[@carlosmagalhaes7109]

@@TuesdaysArt Yep. On my Indonesian course there aren't speaking exercises, not even on desktop. I think not all Duolingo courses have them.

[@davidtaylor8686]

I am learning Russian with online videos with a teacher, then using duolingo as practice in-between lessons. So far it is going very well for me.

[@Abbie_Loves_John]

I’m learning Russian with KZbin ‘teachers’ 😭

[@mzbros8155]

That's incredible, I hope you're still on that grind over a year later

[@cowboymarlboro4820]

Ты все ещё учишь русский язык? ;-) Давай меняться! Я тебе русский, а ты мне английский! Как тебе идея!? Это лучшее предложение и к тому же абсолютно бесплатно! )))

[@cowboymarlboro4820]

@@Abbie_Loves_John Ты все ещё учишь русский язык? ;-) Давай меняться! Я тебе русский, а ты мне английский! Как тебе идея!? Это лучшее предложение и к тому же абсолютно бесплатно! )))

[@nib6383]

@@cowboymarlboro4820 if youre still interested in doing something like that contact me.

[@stephenvierra3419]

Hey I gotta say I appreciate you and this video I’m a subscriber on both tiktok and KZbin and have loved your videos and loved how much people genuinely appreciate people taking the time to learn their language. Always watch with a smile and am trying to learn Spanish as I am a car salesman and I feel a lot of people in my area are missing out on genuine treatment and honest business because of a language barrier and I see a ton of folk trying hard to learn English and I feel like more Americans should meet in the middle.

[@kodiererg]

I've also used these apps with similar opinions. Rosetta Stone does get better as you progress and has things like stories to read, videos to watch and monthly video chatting with a foreign speaker, and if you're learning to read and write/gain random vocabulary then Rosetta Stone does that as well. I have to agree that Pimsleur is the best at teaching you a lot quickly. If you're preparing for a vacation and need to be able to ask for directions, order food, and go shopping then the first CD of a pimsleur audio course from the library will get you there pretty quick.

[@Bigblob2013]

xiaoma: "I just Dont feel it was an efficient use of time"(inserts usb into back of his neck) "thats better"

[@Bigblob2013]

@Marc Harbison I would likewise like to recognize your excellent taste and sense of humor sir. I tip my hat to you.

[@Jacobzx]

Marc, I would like to acknowledge your keen eye and attentiveness. Both of you have fine taste in comedy. Bigblob, very nice robo joke.

[@itscashew5535]

N I C E

[@WilliamParkerer]

*(Pulls out Anki) "that's better"

[@matthewheath7839]

If only man, that would be sweet!

[@ibRebecca]

I learned Swedish to an intermediate level from just using Duolingo. :D

[@adneovesen1249]

I think duolingo works great if you use it for an "easy" language (with easy I mean a language that has similar structure or lots of cognates wiith your native language). English speakers could probably learn alot of french, dutch or swedish, but I dont think the app is the greatest if you wanna learn arabic or chinese.

[@kayazhang4559]

Ådne Ovesen I’m learning both Chinese and Japanese on duolingo, along with anime 😝 English is my native language but I feel like I have learnt loads of Japanese, I love it! To be fair I have experience with Chinese so it might help but duolingo seems to work really well for both. My Chinese is crap soo

[@BajanEnglishman51]

@@adneovesen1249 uhhhh not sure about french

[@guilhermefigueiredo766]

Yeah, and that's why you cannot watch videos, movies and talk to people :D

[@electroskates2434]

I'm doing intense Romanian

[@ninjadudeofficial]

Haven't used the others but Duolingo has done okay at reminding & expanding my forgotten German from school as well as starting Welsh. A friend who speaks about 4 languages already said like it'll never get you to any advanced level but as you say the fact is it's fun, and the leaderboards and streaks that it adds with the other gamification means that for a lot of people it's a good way to at least learn something where they otherwise may have been learning nothing. Same reason they have a low minimum study time, to make learning languages as approachable as possible even if you're not ready to commit a lot of time/work.

[@dimitricooper3396]

This video was very useful. I love your content because I have a passion for languages. I personally use Duolingo. It was the only one that I found that teaches Arabic. Doulingo works well for me because I need those basic because there is a new alphabet to learn plus pronunciations. But I think that the best method would be a mix of all of these depending on how proficient your are in that language. Keep up the great work!

[@brandonfuerst2977]

TLDR: This review is seems skewed by your beginning knowledge of a language, and you didn't try each service enough to get an accurate feel for them. Any of these services might work for different people. You looked at beginner lessons for the first two for a language you already know, so of course it was boring. I used Duolingo for German, and the first thing I needed to learn was the sounds and what basic words meant. If you're thrown into a conversation like Babbel where they haven't taught you any words, it can be more difficult and time consuming to understand. Duolingo, from my experience, builds your knowledge slowly and steadily, course after course. Later on, it can feel quite conversational. After about 4 months of inconsistent Duolingo, Germans were shocked at how much I could speak.

[@libertyIsAll132]

yes ! i'm working in germany thanks to duolingo , but i've also consumed a lot of side-content , and perfected it here but anyways everyone was surprised how much german i could speak i even got a german gf at the 6th month, but i ditched because her german was too complicated for me Now i'm learning chinese with duolingo and i've done 160 characters in 3 days, it's a lot and i kind of recognize them in sentences when i surf on internet with the duolingo words i've learnt, i practice on my head to build chinese sentences (i get the grammar part a bit from duolingo but mostly from youtube/google)

[@Hayanomie]

Yeah I'm 5 mins in he's just doing one lesson lol and as a pro of course he finds it all too rudimentary

[@Mekanos]

So you'd say that Duolingo is better for beginners in a language while Babbel or Pimsleur is better for someone who already has a good basis?

[@adamsackfield589]

Mekanos I started using Pimsleur recently for Spanish, with no prior knowledge and it was fine. By the end of the first lesson you should be able to understand that conversation. I like to do a lesson in the evening, then repeat that lesson the next morning. Again, starting a new lesson that evening. So two a day but one is a refresh.

[@em-vo4ml]

i’ve been learning german for about 2 months and i can hold small talk and read/ comprehend text. i’m currently also learning norwegian (it’s only been about 4 days) and i can speak sentences, recognize speech and read (some). i would like to note that for german i only used duo, where norwegian i’ve been doing a lot like watching vids in norwegian and tv. duolingo is an amazing tool if you know how to use it

[@stronglikebo221]

Stop doing it in Chinese... You're already advanced in it, so you don't get the true experience.

[@kevingodding9316]

Yes would very like to see him do this video again with other language he cannot speak at all 😵

[@Mephiston]

@@kevingodding9316 I'd like to see it in german, since its a language he doesn't know, and its a language i want to learn.

[@CubingB]

Yeah I was use duolingo along with some other things, and it is indeed very slow at the start. It picks up speed later in and it lets you form whole scentences and learn to comprehend them, even speak on mobile. There are also a lot of negatives as it isn’t that time efficient and things like that but yeah. Great vid! Thanks :)

[@numivis7807]

Just started pimsleur a week ago and I absolutely love it! It’s really motivating and I love that you can do it while doing other things.

[@Roodneyfb]

Dude, even though you said 1 hour a day would be a good time for learning, you didn't get to use the apps for not even 30 minutes. You didn't get to see the evolution of each app and its features. You were really harsh on some of them for a person who only made it through the very first lesson in each app... I don't think your analysis was objective enough to make a rank out of it so quickly... or at least without clarifying that that's your personal analysis and how it suits you personally or something like that. The way you said stuff was like you were giving an expert's opinion, since you're a person who learns a lot of languages. You were really universal, saying the apps weren't good, by the way you said it. People who never used those apps might get the wrong idea and start bad-mouthing stuff based on your judgement, as an influencer. I like your content, your channel and yourself very much, dude, but this time I have to disagree here. P.S.: And I'm saying that as a person who likes all of the apps you mentioned, each with its own approach to language learning and I thought your analysis was a little shallow, without taking the necessary steps to clarify that it would be your personal opinion and it should be took as such, not as a serious analysis, otherwise it's unfair, unscientific and opinion generating without proper basis.

[@vr2crossquake705]

I don’t see how a language app can be bad especially one such as Duolingo which helps in all facets for FREE. I mean just saying they are bad because you enter a language you are already fluent in and learning intro lessons because you didn’t take the starter lesson seems like stupidity to me

[@sayss4611]

He's so full of himself

[@vr2crossquake705]

@Corey H Educated and Valid? Still can’t produce a good review. He starts in a beginner course in a language he is fluent and complains it is too easy, he judges them immediately by this and down plays how useful they are. He reviews them for not even 30 minutes after saying 1 hour a day would be a good amount of time for studying a language. It’s clear he had an agenda before going into the video as it goes against his learning style. All together this makes the review pretty pointless, doesn’t spend enough time despite saying how much to spend, complains that it is too easy after starting the beginner course and not doing the review course before and then also saying that these apps are bad because of it. Shit review at best

[@ayyhellachat9594]

I was thinking same thing

[@st0rm4g3dd0n]

He gave good explanation for why he thought what he did about each of them and pointed out what he thought they would be best used for based on the approach that they take from the beginning. Not knowing anything about any of the apps I now have a good idea of what each one is like and which would be better for learning vocabulary vs speaking etc. You may disagree, but this was very informative and gave good insight into how he approaches learning languages, and you can tell he clearly knows what he's doing just from watching a few of his other videos

[@doombuddha]

One thing that I've found, having used Duolingo longer, is that each level you increase on a particular course will increase the difficulty and length of sentence usage, especially further down the tree. That said, I feel like I've gained more out of having leveled up some of those skills and going for more repetition.

[@frankparoots2980]

Exactly

[@marin34]

The pace at which they increase the length is abysmal though, even the school system beats the app.

[@Currentttttt.]

Same!!

[@Currentttttt.]

Donnie Reese I’ve been using Duolingo for about 2 months and I’m only on the lessons right before the second quiz and I’ve done days where I used the app for 6 hours lol

[@Brick_Squared]

Right. It can take a while though to get to the more advanced levels. But if you feel comfortable try to "test out". That helped me progress more quickly.

[@samanthays05200520]

Fr, I love pimsleur. I've tried Rosetta, duo, and pimsleur. Pimsleur is the best for me. The content they teach is so relevant and they teach the cultral aspects of language as well. Duo alone won't get you far in conversations or anything (but its also free), but it is fun. What I do is use pimsleur as my main mode of learning and do extra fun practice with duo. They each focus on different things too, so I can learn a lot more. I've been practicing Korean for 3 months with pimsleur (not consistently) and I'm not scared of being thrown into South Korea to fend for myself. I'm not fluent by any means, but I understand the basics so well now that learning more of the language is super easy!

[@nicolelongoni]

I have Rosetta stone for free with my company benefit, I wanted to improve my French (the starting test said I'm a B2) and I can say at that level it's quite challenging sometimes, maybe too easy if someone starts with the total basic like you though (but as I said the more you go on, the more it gets difficult)

[@HairyBushPilot]

This video feels like an inefficient use of time...

[@HairyBushPilot]

This didn’t tell me anything about the product or what I should be doing.

[@IsaacNYC212]

@@HairyBushPilot That's because this is a reaction video. Not an in-death review.

[@buggy-boy]

yeah i feel like i just wasted 16 minutes of my life

[@Kraken_Dawn]

My concern with Babbel and other overload learning sights is retention. You're being taught so much all at once and you don't really know why it's formed like that; you're just expected to accept this, remember it, and move on.

[@ssmp00]

Yes, that's how children are learning. And it really works. You remember these every day phrases and use them. That's how learning begins when you're going to a country of your target language. You go to a store, to the market, to a laundry, to the hotel, to museum, to gas station and so on ... And here you need these simple phrases. And after you get used to use them in every day conversations, you can learn other sentences. That's my opinion and I learned last 4 languages that way and I'm learning another 3, going to 12.

[@bromarvids5186]

Exactly. Because when your learning as an adult you cannot think like a child would. Your mind questions everything and makes it difficult to understand.

[@ivomoreira42]

@@ssmp00 You said you learned 4 languages that way and you're learning another 3, going to 12, which means you already know 9 languages. Am I right? Are you really fluent in all those languages or just use them to ask for water, say hello, something like that? No offence, I'm only asking because you talked about going to a museum, gas station, hotel etc. I mean, if you are fluent in 9 langues, 4 of them that way, I really have to change my mind about methods of language learning...

[@Kojitsu]

@@bromarvids5186 Which means your only obstacle is to get out of your head and start speaking. Mistakes are inevitable. You WILL make them. Be okay with that and the sky is the limit.

[@damienroy5846]

Yes but it's repeated many many times over.

[@sammyv4468]

Yo thanks so much for this vid! Very helpful as i didn't know which to go for.

[@thebelizeaneh]

Duolingo has a lot of listening and speaking as well. You have to go further then one minute

[@bluecellspy]

Duolingo is dope asf idk what you’re talking about. How do you expect to learn a language without starting with the basics

[@sidjtd]

Because it doesn’t help you speak anything when you’re put on the spot. Like an actual human in front of you. It helps you realize the words for brother and sister or how are you when it’s in front of your face.

[@bluecellspy]

@@sidjtd if you follow the tips, complete their stories and compete the courses they provide then yes, yes you can speak the language that you’re learning.

[@silk1440]

@@sidjtd well obviously you cant if you do one lesson in any website

[@OneBiteoftheCherry]

@@bluecellspy Duolingo is good, just not for speaking.

[@vegetable1495]

@@sidjtd I’ve been using it to learn Japanese (I’ve gotten to like checkpoint two) and it does help you learn how to formulate sentences. It’s just that the first lessons are for learning the script and how to read it.

[@bangtanboizus9094]

“You could be walking around..well not in coronavirus territory.”😂😂

[@TrueToMusic]

That made me laugh

[@Catannoyed]

So... At this point. Is there any place on earth that is safe of this threat?

[@bangtanboizus9094]

Chris Kurisu not really no😂

[@hoddy007]

Thanks so much for your review of common language learning apps. This review was very helpful when considering which language app I should sign up for.

[@MackMiggy]

Duolingo allows you to skip specific lessons if you already have a foundation, letting you learn grammar, sentence structure fairly quickly when YOU are ready. Love your vids ❤

[@euhype802]

Also an obsessive language learner: I agreed with a lot of your rankings! I was super impressed with Pimsleur as a good start in speaking a language - but I would always recommend people supplement it with a text-based beginner source. Pimsleur to train your listening and speaking skills; and then the book for your raw knowledge and grammar of the language.

[@sebastiancarvajal3855]

Totally agree with you, best way

[@hannahbrittany]

I’ve been trying this type of method with French Pimsleur. Then I bought the ‘little prince’ in French and am working my way through that as a ‘fun’ learning experience

[@kulturekritik9665]

I agree as well. Pimsleur and a good phrase book with language basics will make you functional enough to sail through your trip to Italy or Japan.

[@Ryosuke1208]

@@hannahbrittany I gave up on "Le petit prince" toi much words and conjugations I do not master yet, I got frustrated.

[@hannahbrittany]

@@Ryosuke1208 don't forget to count the little things. I will never forget the word dessin (drawing) because it was mentioned so many times in the first few pages. The more you read, the better chance you have of learning.

[@caffeinatednation8885]

I'm 104 days into Duolingo and feel like I am really learning from it, steady at 20 minutes a day. Although I have learned a lot of words and sentence structure, I'm not at conversational level yet but I attribute that to being an introvert and the fact that when I am faced to speak Spanish to someone, I instantly revert back to grade school level grammar...of English. 😑 Edit: I tried Memrise and found it repetitive.

[@sofiaduran4241]

Same, I feel embarrassed when I try using my spanish.

[@MrSupernova111]

I'm about the same amount of days into Italian using Busuu and I can most definitely put my own sentences together. I consider myself an early intermediate speaker but the Italian language has a very large vocabulary and verb conjugations are an effing pain in the arse (more so than Spanish). But then, I worked my ass off for 1-2 hours most days. I think in the end the only thing that matters is having the drive to grind through the material and put in the hard work.

[@kulturekritik9665]

If you're 104 days into Duolingo and can't do any conversation . . . Duolingo is not doing the job. With Pimsleur you'll be speaking basic Spanish in a week.

[@MrSupernova111]

@@kulturekritik9665 . I don't think its fair to be hard on the OP. If he wanted to be fluent within 100 days of study he could have supplemented the app and spent more than 20 minutes a day studying.

[@RagavJanardhan]

@@kulturekritik9665 also would have costed a ton, and Duolingo was never really a great way to practice speaking.

[@WillGallagher1]

I love Pimsuler and think I took away more from it than anything else I tried. I think it is particularly useful for getting some basics down before switching yourself over to italki lessons (which I also think are one of the best ways to learn on the internet)... That said, with Pimsuler I find you need to have total focus on the audio and they do sometimes get a tad boring. I've done a large portion of their German, Greek, and French courses and with all 3 I tried to walk around, cook, and drive while listening to them but I constantly had to replay the lessons since I would zone out or be too focused on my other tasks. They also tend to use very formal language and not very much slang... I found it semi-difficult to break out of formal speech when talking to friends in Germany because it was deeply engranged through the course. I haven't tested the waters with French and Greek yet since I'm still a high beginner in those two but it seems these courses are similar.

[@kar460]

How is the german version of it?

[@extrememetalhead]

Pimsleur helped me become a hyper-polyglot. I’m 10. Wonderful app. So glad my parents let me learn so much!!

[@gecko2000405]

As somebody who is fluent in a language, it's kind of difficult to judge a learning website.

[@uncorrupted7832]

I agree with you, he should've tried a language he wasn't familiar with!

[@colleenmcbride3656]

I've been learning Japanese on Duolingo. I love it! The repetition helps me remember the words and common sense helps me figure out the sentence formation.

[@BradJames83]

I tried a little Japanese (though I'm mostly focusing on Spanish with a smattering of French) on Duolingo. It's REALLY hard!

[@iibornninjaii8263]

I really wanna know how polyglots learn because he got pretty amazed as if he never use these apps so what do they do

[@Bolognabeef]

Good ol' books

[@its_gabs]

Books and videos

[@iibornninjaii8263]

@@its_gabs do you know any

[@iibornninjaii8263]

@@Bolognabeef do you know any

[@Acro_LangLearn]

Immersion.

[@JonathonMcClung]

I took a year and a half of Chinese in college and then did four months of Pimsleur and got soooo much further in the my speaking and comprehension than I ever did with college. Granted I had a foundation cause the college came first, but I’ve used it for languages I had no experience with before and felt like I actually knew and understood the way the sentences in that language were supposed to be formed. It’s weakest point is probably sheer vocab because it’s really focused on helping you to understand the landscape of the language so you can just slot in any new word you learn. Obviously they don’t really touch reading and writing so you will need to supplement something for that, but honestly I’d wait on it until a month or two in once you really understand the pronunciations and phonotactics in whatever language you are learning. I’ve invested a decent amount of time into a few different language learning programs and I feel like Pimsleur definitely gave me the most return.

[@philesq9595]

Helpful review. Thank you for sharing!

[@easyawesomemagic5703]

Duolingo and Rosetta Stone may have only taught you “boy” and “hello.” But Babbel didn’t even teach you “boy” *or* “hello.”

[@mcp866]

Fair, but at the same time, Babbel gave sentences that are essential for starting to speak to fluent people. Being able to say things like "I don't understand" is crucial for language learning.

[@shritan0]

@@mcp866 Yeah lol, to be honest the first thing you should learn in a foreign language is “I don’t understand”

[@icouldbeyourmom2537]

@@mcp866 babble is for those who would like to quickly understand common sentences, and duolingo is for those who would like to have a deeper understanding of what someone is saying. If you know how to say "I don't understand" that's good but if you can figure out 3/4 of what someone that's even better

[@George-km9bz]

Are you here to learn some dumbass phrases like “I don’t understand” Hmm.. I think google translate does a better job. If you wanna learn a language, learn it fully. Small to big. Boy and hello are important topics. Phrases can come later

[@sangeetakalsi4819]

I don't know who told you Babbel doesn't teach you how to say hello or boy, there's a whole bunch of lessons on greetings, family members, descriptive words... I'm using Babbel and it's pretty damn deep and even explains cultural contexts of grammar and text

[@duacoss]

Memrise is more like a flashcard system. Not an app to learn a whole language.

[@hanna3684]

So, in your opinion, duolingo or memrise is better? I've used memrise and I like the repetition of lessons. Really helps. Before that I have remember myself using duolingo but it seems too hard for beginners.

[@emilyc4724]

Hanna Mahfuzah MK would you recommend memrise for a beginner?

[@pconstant]

@@emilyc4724 I'm learning japanese with memrise and it's pretty good!

[@DJVibeDubstep]

I’ve been using Pimsleur before I seen this glad you said that one! I’m learning Spanish and it’s going great

[@darrengabrylewicz5055]

I've used mostly Pimsleur for learning Russian. Definitely would recommend, like he said in the video it's great for popping in headphones and doing the lesson on the go. A lesson fits in great with a walk to work in the morning. It's also very good for building on the original conversation and having you repeat the vocabulary. I'm on lesson 30 now but occasionally they'll still have you utilize words from the earlier lessons in new sentences/context. That way it ensures you don't just forget them. Also to Pimsleur will slowly start having the instructions being spoken in the language you're learning. By lesson 30 half the instructions are in Russian however because they've been repeated so much and the context they're understandable. Again would highly recommend Pimsleur for anyone who isn't so much concerned with the writing and reading aspect of the language and is looking for just speech/understanding fluency. спасибо, хорошего дня!

[@noobymaniac]

As a person interested in learning another language for general use and in games like VRChat, thanks! Really like how you stressed the importance of conversation for language learning.

[@prodlivewre]

I can promise you duo lingo is actually worth it. Not in isolation but it’s taught me sooo much Spanish. The first few lessons are really basic though

[@citronmirab3083]

I really love your honest enthousiasm !

[@DekritGampamole]

I have been using Duolingo to learn Hebrew for more than two years and I have tried the other apps too. I think Duo is the most suitable for me.

[@darthvader9665]

Have you learnt it?

[@BobJones-gn2tr]

@@darthvader9665 Have you learnt the Sith language, Lord Vader? :)

[@darthvader9665]

@@BobJones-gn2tr yes little one i have

[@Cjust15]

Hey can you speak conversationally in Hebrew now?

[@DekritGampamole]

@@Cjust15 Yes, not very fluent yet, but I can make simple conversations.

[@Ash_W04]

Just a note for babbel: They do have speaking recognition now; however, the feature where you listen to a conversation and it quizzes you is sadly not available for the French course 😔

[@Ash_W04]

Note: I’m unaware if this was just added or if it has just been in intermediate this whole time but French DOES now have the listening and answering portion (at least for intermediate)

[@MadisonHalla]

I've always loved Pimsleur! I haven't used Rosetta Stone but I know there's an Anki deck with 1000 words/sentences that has sentences for each and it's great!

[@Calvin_Calvin]

Xiaoma could definitely make millions if he would get a sponsorship from one of these. But he stays genuine, gotta thank him for that.

[@asterixclay]

The one aspect I don't like is how he said a website was automatically not as good because it started with vocab, and he wanted to jump right in with the conversations; however, it is almost impossible to jump into conversation work when you know zero vocab along with possibly having a new scripture of writing (like Chinese or Russian, etc.) You need to learn vocab and the scripture of writing before just jumping into full conversation work. I find Duolingo good for vocabulary and building beginner sentences, but what it lacks terribly in is grammar rules and concepts.

[@99akol992]

My favorite thing about Rosetta stone is the fact it pretty much teaches you the entire language without using any comparisons to your mother tongue. It forces you to form the connections to the images without translation, which is dope

[@Acro_LangLearn]

It’s too expensive, and people could do it for free (mostly) and more efficiently, a.k.a “Immersion”

[@buggy-boy]

yeah rosetta stone is what works the best for me i really like it

[@rocky3027]

Children learn better from Rosetta stone. It's harder for adults because we already have bad habits and grammar structures for our mother language

[@Acro_LangLearn]

@@rocky3027 no

[@zsalt2018]

My grandparents continue using it to learn English, but to be honest. I don’t really like it? It’s kinda boring 😕

[@TriscuitsForDays]

I would love to see you get deeper into these apps and make a second video. Just knowing that I use Duolingo and after getting through the basics once you're thrown into discussing politics and topics that help evolve your vocabulary through references you can really appreciate these apps. I would just like to see how you feel about all of them deeper into their more advanced sections since you're more adapt at learning languages and just knowing the time it takes to learn them. Cheers to staying healthy and learning languages while being isolated

[@ssmp00]

These are phrases you will never need in real life conversations. Or very rarely. Or very late. The main thing is to learn the basic stuff. Asking for way, shopping, in the airport, at the hotel, and so on. That's what you need at the beginning and all your life and on this you can build. Not on political discussions ;)

[@globulidoktor1733]

my experience with duolingo: I tried learning Korean with it for a year, didn't get me anywhere. I had to start from zero all over again

[@pigsrock93]

I’m using Duolingo and Rosetta Stone, that combo works great. Learning Korean

[@rontom3405]

I think duolingo is good for helping with finding new words and studying those words. but nothing beats self practice and forming full sentences

[@saralopes3479]

The same happened with me

[@hephaestus7768]

Yea same

[@Checkmate777]

I use duo lingo and watch KZbin videos. It has actually worked decent for me. Duo lingo doesn’t really help me retain that much but it helps me a lot with vocabulary. When I watch videos on KZbin of people walking on the street and talking I pick up words hear and there I recognize just from duo lingo. So it kinda helps me learn quick vocabulary and understand where I need to look up grammar rules.

[@RTbookworm]

I am a huge advocate for Memrise. Once you get further into their courses, they integrate sentences and context more but the thing I like most is that you can create your own courses. I almost exclusively just use my own courses as that gives you ful control over the direction you want to go with your learning

[@heythere8318]

i love duolingo’s tips, stories, great visuals, and the way it progressively gets harder but prepares you for it

[@maxhuglerchannel3671]

Thank you Polyglot for the pointers you offer, it has been helpful for me. I would also recommend writing the vocabulary. For a long term learning I say that at some point everything you listen, see, read, and repeat, you've got to write it down, just as you would if you were learning how to write shorthand. This is how I do it: I take 100 previlously selected words that I consider I will use most, then I separate them in five groups of 20 words, I proceed to write them 40 to 50 times each (maybe more if you will), I make a small phrase with each one and repeat it out loud as many times as possible until it feels natural. Do this with the rest of the 100 words. This would be Voc-01. Now repeat the process with 100 new words. This would be Voc-02 (and so on and so forth). Now, 4 to 6 weeks from now go back to Voc-01 and repeat the process all over again. The words will be stored in your long-term memory. Just a thought. Thank you.

[@RH-nk7eo]

I pay for both Babbel and Duo and I think they complement each other really well. I like Babbel's attentions to teaching you about rules and grammar but I also like Duo's emphasis on learning through repetition and trial and error. For Spanish I also find Duo is too Latin America centric, as someone who lives in Europe I enjoy Babbel's focus on mainland Spain (e.g. I got to Checkpoint 5 on Duo and still didn't know what vosotros/vosotras meant. Babbel taught me that on the first day)

[@RoutierNordAmericain]

Pimsleur has always been my go-to for either learning a new language, or, brush up on 1 of my current languages.

[@MuttFitness]

I wish it had review lessons. Like a bonus disc that review all 30 lessons.

[@cristhianzerimar]

I personally learned Portuguese using a mixture of Pimsleur and Duolingo.

[@louisedawnauthor6590]

I love Pimsleur.

[@buggy-boy]

i tried pimsleur bc i heard it was really great but it didnt help me at all :/

[@louisedawnauthor6590]

@@buggy-boy Really? It’s got me speaking quickly and well. 😁

[@skilltoyguides]

For people that don’t know! Check out HelloChinese for learning mandarin, It’s very similar to duolingo but much better. I am leaning Chinese from scratch and tried both for a month, and HelloChinese was giving me much better results ! ☺️

[@lurklingX]

I love HelloChinese! I tried a bunch of different apps and it was the most helpful! 🧡

[@lurklingX]

Memrise is OK for Chinese too... And also Busuu! But I think helloChinese is my favorite. 🐼

[@acrawford01]

So far I’m using Memrise for Korean and it’s going really well. If you already know the alphabet you can skip that section and it teaches you sentences and starts mixing them to really maximize your learning.

[@joywong4224]

Great video. Just wanted to add that even for the same app, the style of the lesson plan for different languages can be completely different. I used Memrise consistently for quite a while (a year or two) to learn Dutch. It didn’t have these video clips of native people speaking the language, which was great because in my experience with another language on Memrise, it gets really annoying when the video isn’t novel anymore and you get impatient during your daily reviews. I ended up associating the person in the video with the phrase, instead of actually listening to what the person just said. Also, you’re pretty spot on for how helpful were Memrise eventually was for me. When I moved to the Netherlands eventually, coinciding with after a year of two of using the app, I found that apart from having learnt more new vocabulary, the app doesn’t really hold much weight with sentence forming or explaining how grammar works in the language.

[@zeuscasilac9909]

I’ve been learning Chinese and now french. I give credit to Duolingo, it does helps me a lot but I also use other different tools of learning. And I felt quite attacked in this video. Lmao

[@dao9627]

Zeus casilac Do u recommend learn Chinese and French at the same time?

[@zeuscasilac9909]

@@dao9627 I personally don’t recommend learning them both at the same time when you’re still a beginner to Chinese and French. U can learn both when you’re upper or intermediate to either 1.

[@dao9627]

@@zeuscasilac9909 Thank you so much! I'll do that ;)