Just bought a subscription (there is no option to try it out beforehand) and already noticing lots of bugs. I have to shut the app down for it to register that I’ve completed a lesson (marked as Repeat instead of Start). And no matter how many lessons I complete, my little “fire emoji” total only ever stays at 1. Other than that, I do love this style of verbal learning SO much more than Duolingo or Busuu or anything because it feels more like a real-life context and it forces me to speak rather than just memorizing vocab. So, on the right path with some bug improvements!
Developer Response
Hey there, thanks for the feedback, we're glad to hear that you're enjoying the app. We have released Version 3.7.3 which has improved many reported bugs mentioned.i talk using the app for 10-15 min in the morning before my kids wake up. it’s easy to use. i select a topic, then usually select the option to see and read what someone is saying then i give a response. If I’m not sure i click on the blacked out version to hear the response then i repeat it. love it. i’d be happy with just a 5 min conversation with someone in another language so 10 min is a bonus.
Developer Response
Bbell6, What a great way to start your day! Thank you so much for your review!I love Jumpspeak so much. I have a 502 day streak on Duolingo but I feel like I’ve learned so much more on Jumpspeak in only 49 days. The difference is that the words and phrases you learn on Jumpspeak are actually useful and you can use them in real conversations. There are none of the dumb things that you find on Duolingo (“the rabbits are having tea in the garden”). I try to do each Jumpspeak lesson twice because I am not good at understanding what I am hearing, so first I will do the lesson with the words turned on so I can read it, then I will do it again just listening. I think it’s really helping me. The only thing I don’t like is sometimes it says I am not pronouncing something correctly, when I actually am (little words like y, al, el, lo, etc. But it’s not a huge deal.
I really like the concept, but as other users have said, the speech recognition often doesn't work. You need to be in a quiet space, wait a moment before you answer, and speak very loudly and clearly. You can't respond in a conversational tone.
Also, I will say that it starts off at a fairly advanced level. I did four years of highschool Spanish, so that's my baseline. I started on 'newbie', and I felt like it was pretty advanced, so I went down to experience 'zero'. It's still frustrating to get full, quick sentences that I don't understand instead of slower, less wordy conversational prompts.
If the software worked better, and there was a truly elementary level for beginners, the app would be perfect. As it stands, it's okay.
I like that this app caters to both beginners who know little to no Spanish and people who want to sharpen their skills. I've been trying to learn Spanish for a while, and I'm going to use this app as a tool to achieve my goal! I appreciate that it not only shows you words but also demonstrates different contexts in which the words can be used. The AI chatbot for practice is something I've never seen before, and that alone makes this app a game changer. No crashes or slowdowns. Overall, A++
Developer Response
javi34r, Thank you so much for your review! We're so happy to hear you're learning a great deal with Jumpspeak!I'm really hoping that the developers improve the reliability of this app because it could be great and maybe much more effective than Duolingo. The main issues are sometimes long delays in processing speech, complete app crashes when you repeat a sentence (which require you to restart the app and have to repeat the entire lesson), the skip button not working, and consistent problems interpreting simple speech. With the last issue, when I speak "No, ella no habla bien español," for example, it recognizes the first "no" but no matter how I say the second "no," it cannot recognize it (noting here that several native speakers from different countries have said that my pronunciation is excellent--plus, why would Jumpspeak accept the first "no" every time and not the second one?). Plus when the skip button doesn’t work and the app isn’t excepting your response, your only option is to, again, close the app. I could put up with problems like this in a free app, but not one that I'm paying $80 a year to use. How do I request a refund?
Developer Response
Rustlestilkin, Thank you for your review! We're always working on improvements, especially with our speech recognition and would love to turn this into 5 stars. Would you reach out to us at support@jumpspeak.com so we can get the details of your device and experience? Thanks!This AI responded creatively when asked, in the travel module, to act as a taxi driver being a tour guide. At one point, when I asked it to take me back to the port, I said I didn’t know which dock. The AI, however, knew the dock for my cruise line and I happen to know it was the correct dock.
But, in another chat, it showed none of this ability. Asking it to act as a spanish-speaking caller who had the wrong telephone number, it could only respond with platitudes, not join in the situation. But, the module I chose was advice from friends. So, the modules here are not equal. Maybe had I chose business it would be different?
I have found that talking on the telephone is something a lot of Spanish courses ignore. Yet, it is a problem I face every day and it is not as simple as it would seem.
Overall, this is a good app with all the expected problems and benefits of a talk/respond model. It will be interesting to see how it develops.
Developer Response
jaelb, Thank you so much for your review! AI is fairly new at this caliber and we expect it'll only get better. Since it's such a major part of what makes Jumpspeak unique, you can trust we'll be staying on top of this technology and incorporating it into our app as it improves!I really like the idea of Jumpspeak as an app, however, the execution leaves a bit to be desired. Well, the idea of conversing in someone real time with an AI is appealing, many of the conversations devolved into over exaggerating pronunciations to get the app to recognize what I am saying. For example, I have had to repeat the same phrase more than a dozen times to get the app to recognize that I’m saying “hablo” (the correct response) instead of “habla” (what it keeps thinking I’m saying), or similar. Additionally, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of progression in the lessons so much as the lessons seem to be structured to practice a specific situation that the learner has already experienced, perhaps, in another app or classroom. Overall, this might be a good tool to practice or refresh, but isn’t great to learn the first time.
Developer Response
thoughtwords, Thank you for your review! We're always working on improvements, especially with our speech recognition and would love to turn this into 5 stars. Would you reach out to us at support@jumpspeak.com so we can get the details of your device and experience? Thanks!I have tried multiple things speaking faster/slower, enunciating, I don’t get this app at all. Most of the time it doesn’t pick up anything I say. If it does happen to work, any natural pause makes the mike cut out. Also, cannot get this app to work with headphones (?) as soon at you tap to speak it cuts back to speakerphone (?). I like the concept, when I can get it to work- but it simply doesn’t recognize that I am talking, doesn’t catch any words, or just doesn’t register the microphone most of the time. This means I’m just repeating myself 10 times to get it to register and getting more frustrated with ever lesion. Just. Bad.
Developer Response
Ron1765, It sounds like your headphones or device may be having issues hearing you! I also see you're using an outdated version of Jumpspeak. Please give it an update and reach out to us at support@jumpspeak.com if you still run into this!I’ve been using Jumpspeak daily for the past couple months and the potential for a great app is there, but it just falls short in key ways. The stories and scenarios are great and I love that there are numerous levels and stories within levels (I was learning Spanish). But the voice recognition is quite faulty. One either has to have *perfect* pronunciation for words to be caught (e.g. it worked better for my native Spanish-speaking husband) or it would just not pick up random words. I’ve deleted the app and maybe will check back in a few months to see if it’s improved since I paid for a full year. Really hope the dev team can improve this app since there really is a lot of potential.
Developer Response
Mabsmith, Thank you so much for your review and feedback! We just released our Enhanced Speech Recognition update and have been updating it with minor bug fixes and improvements weekly and will continue to do so! If you still have speech recognition issues when you return, please let us know so we can make any necessary adjustments. Our email is support@jumpspeak.com Thanks!
brandily
Bbell6
kaydot73
HelpfulShane
javi34r
Rustlestilkin
jaelb
thoughtwords
Ron1765
Mabsmith
