What is the best alternative to WordBrewery?
Pro Very large, active community
The community is very large, meaning you'll never have a problem finding someone to chat with.
Pro The interface is very intuitive/easy to use
Despite being feature-rich, the app is very easy to use. It provides a tutorial which you can revisit at any time if you can't remember what certain icons are. It has a very clean, uncluttered design.
Pro Allows you to share "memories" with the whole community
"Memories" act similar to a Twitter feed. You can post pictures, ask questions, or let the community know what kind of chat partner you are looking for (for example: maybe you want to discuss a specific topic with someone). You can "love", and comment on memories.
Con The number of messages can get overwhelming
Because it is such an active community, you may find yourself getting 20+ messages an hour when you are online. It can quickly get overwhelming. However, there is a setting that allows you to hide your profile from search.
Con Keyboard can't be used in landscape
The app doesn't let you rotate to landscape, instead you're stuck with portrait. Using the condensed keyboard when writing long messages can be a pain for some.
Con Free version has restricted search
On the free version, it won't let you change the language of the people you can search, though you can still access the profiles of other language speakers. For example, if they comment on a memory you made a comment on, you can access their profile through that. Even if you can still send th...
Pro Helps grow your vocabulary quickly
Memrise uses "mems" to increase your vocabulary, which are a way to connect a word to its meaning. A common example is associating a word with an image. Mnemonics are another one they use to help you remember new words. For example, "le parcours" (route or course) could be r...
Pro Free account without a time limit
The Basic account is totally free (has no time limit) and is very generous. An upgrade (with more features) is available for 9 USD / month.
Pro Android app can be used offline
You can download courses to use offline with the Android app. Great for when you're traveling.
Con Doesn't teach much grammar
Memrise is more focused on increasing your vocabulary, so has very little on grammar and sentence structure.
Con Typos and other mistakes in target languages
There is no guarantee that the word you just learned is the correct spelling, because there are so many errors throughout many of the user-made courses.
Con Lack of uniformity
It is driven by community, that can be good, but quality isn't always the same and it misses some uniformity.
Pro Motivates through creative gamification
Progress is measured gaming-like by gaining XP, and leveling up. They use other creative gamification techniques to keep you motivated such as making wagers and improving your position on the leaderboard.
Pro Generous free plan
Duolingo is completely free to use, with no features limited to upgraded accounts. If you want to go ad-free, the cost is $12.99/month.
Con Mobile app is less beneficial because it's too easy
Some of the games available on the mobile app are different from that on the desktop version, and are oversimplified/make it very easy to guess.
Con Little production of target language
Duolingo focuses heavily on reading comprehension and translation into one's own language rather than encouraging production of text/speech in the target language.
Con Available languages are predominately European
Duolingo teaches 23 languages from English at the moment: Latin American Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Irish, Turkish, Danish, Russian, Norwegian, Esperanto, Ukrainian, Polish, Welsh, Greek, Romanian, Hungarian, Hebrew, Swahili, Vietnamese and Japanese (the last cu...
Pro Helps you to remember vocabulary by giving you context
Clozemaster helps you learn vocabulary in a natural way by giving you regular sentences and asking you to fill in the missing word, either by typing or using multiple choice. For example, "Apenas hay __ en esa ciudad". The additional context using natural speech helps get you comfortable...
Pro Free to play
There's a paid version with extra features, but it's free to sign up and play. The free version is quite generous and will give you plenty of material to learn from. If you want to upgrade, the cost is $8/month. You can see the additional features here.
Pro Large variety of languages to choose from
Currently offers over 50 languages from around the world.
Con Translations are sometimes inaccurate
This can be a problem when in a given sentence there are multiple words that could go in the text field, and the translation narrows it down to one possible answer, but then it turns out the translation gave the wrong word for that slot. This is particularly an issue with pronouns for some reason.
Con Some sentences are inaccurate
Sentences are from the user-curated database Tatoeba and not all of them are written and checked by native speakers. It is impossible to know the original source of a sentence. Additionally, because they do not control the database they pull the words, reporting individual sentences will not help t...
Con Not a good starting place for beginners
Clozemaster jumps right in with expecting you to fill in word blanks in the language you are learning. If you have little or no understanding of the language you wish to learn, it doesn't give you enough information to get started.
Pro Teaches realistic conversation behavior
Since Busuu puts learners in direct contact with natives, the learning is done in a realistic way - not an idealistic textbook way.
Pro Fast response time
For popular languages, translations can be received very quickly from real people.
Pro Teaches by theme
Instead of teaching words by most used, they are taught by case. This way, users can prepare for specific situations.
Con Ineffective "review" section
When a section is over, there is a multiple review session. Many of the questions are totally irrelevant and are not useful for learners.
Con Chat system doesn't support letters with accents
Busuu only accepts regular characters in the text fields, so non-native languages may be limited.
Pro Games focus on practicing the words you've struggled with
It remembers the words that you've scored poorly on in the past, and repeats these more often in games/tests than the words you know well.
Pro Free
Access to the whole site/program is completely free.
Pro Five different games to choose from for variety
You can choose from 5 different types of learning games so you can learn in a way that best suits you. There is a picture game, typing game, guessing game, matching game, and word search.
Con Should be used along with another course/book
InternetPolyglot states on their site that the program is meant to aid in memorization only, and should be used along side other resources.
Con Games do not end on their own
You have to decide when you've had enough playing the games, or set a timer. The games do not end the game for you, so it's not smart about conserving your energy or ending the session when you've learned the material or when you've gone beyond 25 minutes which is the limits of most...
Pro Translates native content quickly
You can read any content in your target language using the browser extension, and translate any words/sentences you don't know quickly.
Pro Creates flashcards from words you don't know
Readlang takes the words you translate most often and turns them into flashcards for you to practice.
Pro You can import long texts, including whole books
This is impossible or very annoying with other similar services.
Con Not a good way to learn a language by itself
It's not your standard learning website with structured courses. Instead, it helps you get more familiar with your target language by translating content when needed. This can be really beneficial for someone trying to improve their fluency, but isn't going to directly teach you grammar. R...
Pro Helps you to write fluently
Lingvist helps to greatly improve your target language vocabulary.
Con Few language pairs available
Currently only offers English and French. The website says there are 6 other languages in the works.
Con Not enough variety in exercises
Words are learned only through fill-in-the-blank style problems. The user is not challenged enough to be able to remember and use the learned words in circumstances different from the fill-in-the-blank sentences.
Pro Unique way of adjusting lessons to your level
You can tell Bliu Bliu which words you are comfortable with and which you aren't by rating them as "easy" or "hard". The site keeps track of these and gives you pieces of writing that use a good ratio of words you know and words you don't. The more familiar you get wi...
Pro Gives you real-world practice
Rather than simply expecting you to remember vocabulary, Bliu Bliu gives you practice reading real content in your target language.
Con Not all translations are accurate
Each word is translated individually by google, which only displays one definition. If a word has more than one use, it may show you the definition of the incorrect word.
Con Not a great starting place for complete beginners
The site will test your knowledge of your target language after signing up. If it finds you are just starting out, it will suggest you come back after you know a bit more vocabulary. Bliu Bliu throws you right in by giving you things to read in your target language, rather than giving you structu...
Pro Gain experience writing in your target language
Where many programs will have you writing single sentences at most, Lang-8 encourages you to write short stories or diary entries. Having to actually write in the language rather than simply remember vocabulary is a really beneficial feature for improving real-world use of the language.
Pro Get feedback from native speakers
Native speakers of the language you are learning will give you pointers on your writing, such as grammar corrections and advice on word choice/sentence structure.
Con New sign ups are currently put on hold
They are not accepting new registrations now, and it is not clear when will they accept them again.
Con Not a good starting place for beginners
The site doesn't teach you your language, instead it allows you to get advice on your writing in your target language. It's better if you have a basic understanding of the language at first.
Pro Wide range of courses
If one course doesn't meet your needs, there is a sea of other courses to choose from.
Pro Offers intermediate and advanced courses
Udemy offers plenty of courses for beginner programmers, but also has a large variety of more advanced courses to choose from.
Con Quality varies
The quality control for the content offered is fairly limited. As there are so many different instructors offering courses on Udemy, many of which lack formal training and teaching experience since anyone can be a teacher on Udemy, the quality varies quite a bit between the different courses.
Con Most courses are expensive
While Udemy does offer free courses, most of them are around $100.
Con Difficult to take multiple (10+) courses at the same time
The system becomes messy and hard to follow if you plan on using the site to learn more than a handful of things at once.
Pro Focuses on practice
It is focused on practice with penpals and it provides content about how to get the most out of language exchange.
Pro Engaging conversations
Writing a real person is much more engaging than repeating words from a program. You are more likely to continue with Ayni than other programs because you can actually have a conversation instead of simply learning words and phrases.
Con Not a lot of users to interact with
It is very hard to find a Japanese or Korean pen-pal on Ayni. However even some of the more popular languages don't have many users to talk with.
Con Website has a lot of grammar mistakes
The website itself (English version) has quite a few grammar errors throughout. The lack of attention put into the site, especially language errors on a language site, are concerning.
Con Not recommended for beginners
There is no content if you start learning a language from scratch.
Pro Saves you massive time learning
No commuting required, teachers are available 24/7, and you can fit it into your busy schedule.
Pro Every teacher is handpicked via live 1-on-1 interview
Eliminates the upfront work you have to do to find qualified teachers.
Pro Daily language lessons for a fraction of the cost
Rype offers more value for 1/10th the cost of a language school.
Con Insanely expensive
Particularly for a language like Arabic - it is far cheaper to find a tutor (or tutors) on sites like italki or verbling, then book lessons through them.
Pro Principle of anticipation
Rather than simple listen-and-repeat, you also have to translate phrases and answer questions in the target language during the lessons.
Pro Learn while you commute
Pimsleur uses daily 30-minute audio lessons. You can probably fit this in while you're driving to work.
Pro Very effective for beginners
Pimsleur is based on proven memory science, it's not perfect, but it is very effective. Intermediate learners may not get as much out of it.
Con No writing practice
Pimsleur is an audio-only course. This can be easier for beginners learning languages that don't use the Latin alphabet, but for serious language learners, it's a gap they'll have to fill using something else.
Con Limited vocabulary
It teaches hundreds of words. A great start, but not enough to achieve the thousands required for fluency, even with all three levels. Pimsleur deliberately focuses on the most common words of the target language for maximum recall.
Con Expensive
All the CDs for one language cost nearly a thousand dollars. The .mp3's are about half that. Your local library may carry the CDs, those that don't may be able to get them via inter-library loan (ask your librarian). You can also find them used and re-sell them for nearly as much (depending...
Pro Thorough courses
Each course contains four stages: new words, a dialogue, grammar instruction, and review.
Pro Offers explanations
When you aren't sure about tricky grammar, Babbel can refresh your memory.
Pro High quality content
Since the content isn't user generated like other apps, each lesson is extremely high quality.
Con Monthly fee
This app costs $13 per month
Pro Speech recognition technology
Instead of teaching word recognition, Rosetta Stone uses speech recognition technology to make sure that students are learning to pronounce the words correctly.
Pro Provides immersive learning without uncomfortable experiences
While trying to cary a conversation in a foreign language can be an effective way to learn, sometimes it causes a lot of stress. Rosetta Stone takes this concept and applies it to a stress free environment.
Pro Real human contact
At the end of each lesson, students are able to review live with real teachers.
Con Makes no use of native language
While Rosetta Stone tries to emulate "learning by immersion," many people find the inability to find direct translations of words to be an unnecessary an ineffective part of the program.
Con Uses the same course for learners of different nationalities
For a user learning English, the course will be the same whether they are Chinese, Russian, Italian, etc.. While this is a good way for the company to remain efficient, many cultural differences are overlooked.
Con Inconvenient meeting times for teachers
For users in the US, it can be easy to find a teacher to work with. In any other country, it can be extremely difficult to find an available teacher because of the differences in timezones.
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