English

FluentU is a video-based language learning platform with a ton of content stretching quite a few languages. In this FluentU review, we’ll walk through the resource and see what FluentU does right, does wrong, and how it compares to other video-based language learning resources.

FluentU review: languages

FluentU offers content in a variety of pretty commonly learned languages, including:

The best part is that FluentU is more flexible than a lot of the competition: you’re welcome to switch languages as you please! I love this, because having to choose a language, or even pay double to learn more than one language, can definitely feel constricting for language enthusiasts like myself.

Another thing that FluentU does right: pricing!

Without a premium subscription, FluentU limits access to almost all of the tools that we’ll learn about later in this FluentU review. I would go so far as to say that unless you pay, FluentU isn’t the most useful.

The FluentU price comes with a 14-day free trial to give you a chance to test the water before you commit to a month.

As you sign up, FluentU asks for your level in your target language.

There is no native “assessment”, so it’s up to you to decide your level. Your answer to this question directs you to the relevant level in FluentU’s content, but honestly you can freely switch around once you get started anyways, so no pressure.

Don’t know your level? Hovering over those question marks gives you a brief description of each level:

Beginner: build a strong foundation with essential vocab and phrases, very basic grammar, and full – but short – sentences.

Intermediate: keep moving along with trickier vocabulary, longer sentences, and more grammar

Advanced: start feeling like a native speaker with exposure to high-level topics and scenarios, as well as all kinds of advanced grammar and vocabulary.

Last but not least, you choose a daily goal.

If you’re a daily goal kind of language learner, hopefully, this motivates you to keep coming back consistently! A minute a day may keep the language reasonably fresh in your brain, but you’re definitely not going to be making huge strides over time.

And, of course, FluentU takes it a step further and sends you a notification every day to remind you to get your points in.

FluentU lessons

First I went with beginner Spanish, so I could get an idea of just how beginner FluentU gets.

Yup, that’s definitely Spanish 1.1!

FluentU has their own native lessons for you to get your bases in, like the above screenshot. Once you get a bit more comfortable, there’s also a ton of natural content from all over the web that’s also stuck into this format.

You get a video and a really big text box that includes captions in both the language and English. If you’re getting along just fine, let it play and read/listen along.

If you’re not familiar with a word, mouse over the text area and it’ll pause automatically. Mouse over any unfamiliar words and you’ll get a translation, and the option to easily add it to a vocab set.

Feel free to go through this video as many times as you like – it won’t automatically continue. Instead, it’ll just stop and wait for you to make a decision.

Do you want to watch it again? Or do you want to use one of your other options (look at the transcript, take the quiz, choose another video, etc.)?

If you decide to take the quiz, it’ll run you through the words it’s registered as important (easy enough for FluentU’s native content, but I’m not sure how it assesses that vocab for its other stuff) as if you hadn’t watched the video.

From this, I can definitely tell that you should be working through videos that are just above your level; if you stick to your current level, watching the video and then being taught these words/phrases individually is redundant.

On the flip side, if you’re speeding through vocab that’s just out of reach in the video and then getting it dissected in the quiz, that’s a pretty solid vocab strategy.

You’ll go through the vocab, seeing and listening to it, with the option to tell FluentU that certain words aren’t new to you, and to stop showing them to you.

Then you’ll get quizzed.

FluentU switches up the nature of these quiz questions pretty well, so you’ll get an actual understanding of how the vocab is spoken, written, and flows; it’s not just a brainless activity.

I do wish you had the option to tell FluentU how easy or difficult a certain word or question is for you though, like Anki and Rocket Languages do.

You can choose to just go through the native content for a while, or you can branch out and find something that really interests you. Just hit Browse and you can look through all the content in the language you’re learning!

Don’t rush, though: I’ve found that if I type too quickly, FluentU doesn’t register some of my letters, and I’ve gotten words wrong because of that.

If you really want to, you can switch the level on your account by going into settings and making a different selection. But realistically, it doesn’t really matter. You can literally just go into the different levels of content straight from the FluentU library and see what works for you.

Here’s an example of a video I found in the intermediate section.

There are a couple of things to note here.

First: ” no tienes remedio”. That’s not a word, but a phrase. While you can select individual words to go into your vocab lists, you can’t select that whole phrase to study just on FluentU.

LingQ does this better with written materials, where it always provides you the option to select potential phrases (because you never really know with new languages). I’m disappointed that FluentU doesn’t.

Second: I wish FluentU would differentiate between different Spanish accents. It may seem like a small detail, but the accent can truly make the difference between understanding audio or not, even at advanced levels.

Nonetheless, if you need some more info on a new word, just click it.

You’ll keep a couple more sentences for context, a couple of grammar notes, and the option to add it to a vocab list so you can remember to review it later. Like with Yabla, I like having access to so much context that you can add to any preferred flashcard app!

And if you can’t understand ANY of the words and just need to study all the vocab before you go through the video? No problem!

Take in this new vocab word-by-word to memorize it, or do so in the context of the sentences spoken in the vocab. Both options also include audio clips of how they’re said in the video.

And then FluentU takes it one more step forward: transcripts!

The transcripts aren’t pretty, but you can choose to download them with or without the English translations, and you’ll see the timing of the dialogue in the upper right-hand corner, which can be helpful.

Want to work on your pronunciation of a specific word? Maneuver to that time frame of the video and listen. Want more context to understand the meaning of a phrase? Go to that time frame and watch the speaker’s body language.

In this transcription, I notice something interesting, particularly in that second line: “for that reason”. That is the direct translation, but it’s not the natural translation; the natural translation would be “that’s why”.

This is a helpful way to get your brain thinking in Spanish – you’ll naturally put those two together. Languages put together their words differently to say the basic ideas of different words and phrases, and it’s an important way to make sure you’re thinking the language, not just translating it.

I prefer this approach to translation, but obviously, that’s a personal preference.

And of course, you can take a quiz on the video, just like in the native content.

My Content

Everything that you do or make note of is saved in the My Content section.

This includes a history of the content you’ve consumed, the vocab you’ve stashed away to review later, any other vocab lists you’ve made, and the vocab you’ve labeled “already known”.

You can separate them by the kind of content you’re looking for, too, so if you watched a video a while back and want to go back to it and see how much easier it is for you (which, by the way, is one of my favorite ways to see how much better I’ve gotten in a language), it’s not hard to find.

While you can see the level that all this content is at, I wish you could organize them by beginner/intermediate/advanced, at least. There is a big difference between the three levels (both in vocabulary and speed), so it would make reviewing content just a tad easier.

FluentU app review

FluentU will suggest you install the FluentU app (available on Apple and Android) from the get-go, and I don’t see why not! The FluentU app is just as smooth and digestible as the desktop version, so it’s great for on-the-go language learning.

The FluentU app is nice and smooth and fun to use…but I do have one complaint.

FluentU review: who it’s for

Now that we’re at the end of this FluentU review, the question remains: how do you know if FluentU is right for your language learning goals?

Fortunately, FluentU has content for language learners of literally all levels (as long as you’re studying one of the languages offered).

Plus, there’s even a list of future improvements that FluentU is working on!

FluentU is an excellent way to immerse yourself in the language naturally and easily – a lot of the videos are just content from YouTube or something like that, and they’re all outfitted with transcripts, dialogues…the whole nine yards.

At the same time…it’s really not pretty. The content itself can also be pretty random (20+ beginner Spanish playlists, but 3 intermediates and only 1 advanced) so it’s not the most reliable. The native educational content is also really cheesy!

If you like the concept but are looking for more options to learn with video, I’d recommend checking out Yabla – it supports fewer languages, but I like all the games and activities!

But if you really love the concept and the native tools showcased in this FluentU review, start a 14-day free trial with FluentU!