Level
The jump from Intermediate 1 to intermediate 2 is too large. To eliminate English altogether assumes that the learner is fluent enough to understand everything in French. I found it nearly impossible and therefore a waste of time not to mention very frustrated.
Great to use but..
I just downloaded the app. It was great with the first lesson and I took notes on the conversation, listening to it while reading the version in English or saying the English translation in my head. The app is great, the only problem is I can’t do another lesson without paying. I get the app needs money but I would much prefer if I could at least watch an add, especially when on a tight budgets
Show more
Fluency Technique
Very nice process in learning strategy, would be nice if I could select gender instructor. I love the ability to review while in the lesson & I can go back to review in time. Getting the brain cells to recall requires repetition 🫣
Latest patch is broken
Whatever you did you should roll it back. I cannot access review and the microphone is no longer recognized. The app is a brick
Does not open in PC
Only opens in IPhone
Goodish
It isn’t very good, I just did that to hope my review would be seen by people. This is only my first day of this, and almost every thing you need a membership for, like it is mainly only able to do lessons for people with memberships. Don’t recommend app
Paywall
Ts Lowkey pay to win
Good
This app is very good for teaching you a language but i want to learn korean and it doesn’t have that so i’m giving it 4 stars, 5 stars otherwise
The best one
Aplicativo maravilhoso para aprender qualquer idioma mas infelizmente muito caro.
waaay better than duolingo
Babbel does an amazing job of actually explaining how a language works, instead of leaving you guessing. I'm learning Italian on both, and Babbel is actually helping me make sense of the complexities from first principles, while Duolingo just keeps me guessing and refuses to show conjugation tables.
Show more
Clearly more helpful for real conversations
I did Duolingo for several months twice, and could quickly progress through the levels, but didn't feel I was retaining enough.
I started Babbel a few days ago, and one thing leaps out at me. Babbel quickly makes an important distinction between casual and formal conversation and when to use them. In an example between a realtor & customer, Babbel teaches to ask "how are you?" formally, as "Vie geht es Ihnen?"
This seems important for a new German speaker/traveller to know! But I don't recall Duolingo having used the word "ihnen" at all...
I started Babbel a few days ago, and one thing leaps out at me. Babbel quickly makes an important distinction between casual and formal conversation and when to use them. In an example between a realtor & customer, Babbel teaches to ask "how are you?" formally, as "Vie geht es Ihnen?"
This seems important for a new German speaker/traveller to know! But I don't recall Duolingo having used the word "ihnen" at all...
Show more
Will not listen, use Duolingo.
Was working fine. Suddenly doesn’t want to listen to me. Speech recognition is set, microphone set. Voice memo hears me fine. Bluetooth off. Restarted. Reinstalled. This thing will not listen to me. Don’t have this issue with Duolingo.
Consistency makes a difference
Once I started using Babbel daily. I noticed I retained the language better. All of the programs, podcasts, reviews, etc allows me to get a full lesson in 20 minutes a day!
Unauthorized subscription
Downloader beware. This app never showed up in subscriptions but renewed for a full year without a warning or approval. They are now refusing to refund the amount. There was no way for me to see it was ever actually cancelled prior to the renewal because again, it never showed up subscriptions.
Occasional errors or contradictions, not enough review
I like the Ap, but I wish it administered a test first to know where to start, instead of making everyone start from the beginning. Each lesson should allow the user to test out.
There are some occasional errors; like counting your answer incorrect but giving your answer as the correct answer; or asking for a word they haven’t gone over yet. As the lessons progress, there are more instances where they ask questions about materials they haven’t given out yet.
So far, I’ve encountered 2 times where an instruction was given. Then, a question was asked about that information. They count the correct answer (according to the instructions) wrong.
I wish there was an easier way to go back and forth within a lesson. You have to close the lesson, reopen, and select not to resume in order to go back one page. And then it starts the entire lesson over.
You never know when the speaker is going to be using Latin America Spanish or Castilliano. Native speakers use one or the other, but don’t tell you beforehand which.
This course is a “memorize dialogue” course; so you have to hope what you’re learning is going to match up with a real conversation. It’s not like Pimsleur that makes you form your own sentences.
I do really like the thorough coverage of the plural informal “You” verb conjugations. I’ve taken 3 years of Spanish and a total immersion class in Mexico and all of them neglected to teach those verbs.
I like that the words/phrases are captions to pictures. That way you can recall a picture associated with words and you get a better concept of the meanings.
I like the pop up explanations. They are very easy to understand instruction. And I like it that the pop ups distinguish between the Spanish dialects ( just wish they’d let you know which dialect the native speakers were using.)
And I’m liking the review and getting congratulated for knowing the info. I don’t know how many wrong answers it would take for the Ap to say I wasn’t doing well.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t depend on this course alone to make me fluent in Spanish or any other language. If you’re serious about wanting to learn; then, you’ll want to include several different courses, listen to Spanish radio and television, and hang around with native speakers. This Ap is a good start, but get DuoLingo and Pimsleur, too.
There are some occasional errors; like counting your answer incorrect but giving your answer as the correct answer; or asking for a word they haven’t gone over yet. As the lessons progress, there are more instances where they ask questions about materials they haven’t given out yet.
So far, I’ve encountered 2 times where an instruction was given. Then, a question was asked about that information. They count the correct answer (according to the instructions) wrong.
I wish there was an easier way to go back and forth within a lesson. You have to close the lesson, reopen, and select not to resume in order to go back one page. And then it starts the entire lesson over.
You never know when the speaker is going to be using Latin America Spanish or Castilliano. Native speakers use one or the other, but don’t tell you beforehand which.
This course is a “memorize dialogue” course; so you have to hope what you’re learning is going to match up with a real conversation. It’s not like Pimsleur that makes you form your own sentences.
I do really like the thorough coverage of the plural informal “You” verb conjugations. I’ve taken 3 years of Spanish and a total immersion class in Mexico and all of them neglected to teach those verbs.
I like that the words/phrases are captions to pictures. That way you can recall a picture associated with words and you get a better concept of the meanings.
I like the pop up explanations. They are very easy to understand instruction. And I like it that the pop ups distinguish between the Spanish dialects ( just wish they’d let you know which dialect the native speakers were using.)
And I’m liking the review and getting congratulated for knowing the info. I don’t know how many wrong answers it would take for the Ap to say I wasn’t doing well.
In conclusion, I wouldn’t depend on this course alone to make me fluent in Spanish or any other language. If you’re serious about wanting to learn; then, you’ll want to include several different courses, listen to Spanish radio and television, and hang around with native speakers. This Ap is a good start, but get DuoLingo and Pimsleur, too.
Show more
Best Language Learning App
This has been a great use of my time. I think I am learning at a reasonable rate. I like how this app doesn’t take too much time per lesson.
Yo hablo English
Thank you greatly for your assistance. I enjoyed the Lessons I completed
and looking forward to the next.
and looking forward to the next.
The problem with these apps
The real problem with these apps is there’s a disconnect in the learning process. Similar to English, I can use context clues to gauge what a sentence is about to correctly choose a correct answer but when you do vocabulary and there’s no context clues it’s just like nope that’s wrong one after the other because it’s exposing that you’re not really learning. And in some cases it has to do with word tense or differences due to audience (eg yo el Ella usted etc) and there’s a missed coaching opportunity to expose WHY the learner is missing these and explore that disconnect more but instead it’s like wrong move on and then you can try again and you likely get it right the second time because YOU JUST DID the first time. The crazy part is all language apps follow this same broken learning path and style. I have yet to have an app stop me and say hey you keep getting these wrong let’s review the rules and figure out where we’re not landing.
Show more
Lesson length can vary dramatically
Tough to plan
Terms and conditions is about all you will learn
Reached out to Babbel a day after the auto-renewnal charged my credit card without any notice or emails and they say tough luck. Company seems to not care whether the app is useful to each user and doesn’t what to refund users like numerous other apps due. Company seems so desperate for users and money they just point out the fine print you are locked into instead of focusing on customer service.
It is pathetic and sad that it seems a main focus of the company is making sure you learn the terms and conditions. Save yourself some time and money and read the terms and conditions because that is about all you with learn!
I recommend Paul Noble’s audio books. They are way better at building sentences and hearing the language. You don’t have to worry about auto-renewals, reading terms or conditions or poor customer service.
It is pathetic and sad that it seems a main focus of the company is making sure you learn the terms and conditions. Save yourself some time and money and read the terms and conditions because that is about all you with learn!
I recommend Paul Noble’s audio books. They are way better at building sentences and hearing the language. You don’t have to worry about auto-renewals, reading terms or conditions or poor customer service.
Show more
