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Polygloss Review: low effort, high quality

March 9, 2023 by Jamie Leave a Comment

Polygloss is a language learning app developed by a tiny team of language learners who use their spare time to “help language learners be independent and enjoy life using a foreign language”. In this Polygloss review, we’ll see how this goal is executed, and how to know if you should try using Polygloss to learn a language.

Polygloss languages

The Polygloss app has built a huge community of language learners who learn from each other; because of this, they offer flexibility in languages that can be hard to find elsewhere!

Based on the languages offered within the app, most Polygloss users are learning:

Arabic
Catalan
Dutch
English
Esperanto
German
French
Hebrew
Icelandic
Italian
Irish

Japanese
Korean
Mandarin
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Toki Pona
Vietnamese
Welsh

But if there’s at least 1 other Polygloss user who plays in your target language, you can use Polygloss to learn it!

And you can add, switch, and delete languages at any time with just a couple of taps. If your target language isn’t mentioned in the app, it’s incredibly simple to just type it out yourself and see what happens.

Polygloss themselves recommend you’re at an intermediate level in your language when using the app, but that’s of course all subjective; if you’re brushing up on a language you used to be more advanced in, or if you already know a closely-related language, you’re probably good to go.

Basically, you need to know basic words and basic grammar, because you won’t be supplied with it. There are no rules about looking up words behind the scenes and figuring it out as you go, though!

How to use Polygloss

After you create a free account in the Polygloss app, you will immediately be led to a simple tutorial. The tutorial is simple because the app itself is simple! The team behind the app has really excelled in keeping the process of learning a language simple, fast, and straightforward.

This tutorial is exactly like the real use of the app, except you’re playing with a robot instead of a real person. Take a look.

As you can see, Polygloss really is as simple as:

Start a match (make sure it’s the right language if you’re using Polygloss to learn multiple foreign languages)
Select one out of four images to write a sentence about
Write a sentence describing the image in your target language
Submit your sentence

The user you’ve been paired up with (totally random, just someone else who is also studying your target language) has 3 days to read your sentence and try to guess which of the four images you were describing.

Then, once they’ve guessed, it’s their turn to go through the above steps and have you guess which image they chose.

And that’s it! The process is super fun, and it’s easy to keep going over and over again if you have the “⚡ Energy” (more on this later). It feels so easy to create sentences again and again, and I can see how easily this app can turn into an hour of accidental language practice.

There are no rules or recommendations for how simple or complex your use of the language is. As long as the other user can reasonably guess which image you’re talking about, it’s fine. And even if they can’t, that’s okay too!

Polygloss’ motivational features

One of the reasons Polygloss is so simple and easy is because of its design; you’re not struggling to figure out what’s next, and the modern use of language app gamification is motivating but not overwhelming.

While Duolingo, for example, depends almost entirely on its gamification to keep you hooked, Polygloss peppers it in just enough to spice up your language learning journey just a little.

Specifically, Polygloss rewards you with ⭐ Stars, 🌻 Karma, and ⚡ Energy.

⭐ Stars are gained when you complete matches; they unlock new topics (more below)
🌻 Karma is gained when you help other players with corrections or when other players send you a reward
⚡ Energy is consumed to do certain actions in the game. It recovers with time or never depletes if you subscribe to Polygloss Unlimited (more later)

Polygloss review: the Library tab

As you use Polygloss to learn a language, you’ll likely start under the first “Play” tab; as you spend more time, however, head over to the “Library” tab for more options for review.

This way, you have the opportunity to review all of your work at any time. This can also be helpful to keep track of how your writing improves, maybe your use of specific grammar rules or vocabulary, and more.

You can also see that the sky’s the limit when it comes to subjects available on Polygloss! Because these aren’t concrete sentences but rather pictures that could inspire literally unlimited sentences or phrases, and you keep getting access to more until you hit 323 ⭐ Stars, you’ll pretty much never run out of things to write.

And that doesn’t even include the imagination and creativity of the users you’ll be matched with!

For example, you can create sentences as simple as “I like cats” or as complex as “this type of animal might live in a home, or it’s possible to find one out in the wild”.

These are two very different sentences that can both be used to describe the exact same image and are valued at the same level.

Polygloss price

Polygloss is free to all, and it doesn’t seem that will change anytime soon. If you want access to more features (and support the developers), you can opt to pay a few bucks monthly or annually. Paid features include:

Translating submissions*
Bookmarking texts to be reviewed later*
Save received corrections*

See your history, as shown in the above video
Listen to texts using your device’s text-to-speech

*these features are free up to 80 ⚡ Energy; paid users get unlimited access

Here’s the “official” breakdown.

For updated prices of Polygloss Unlimited, go to the app on your device of choice.

Bonus: if you’re so inclined, the Polygloss team is all about transparency; you can do all the financial math yourself here!

Polygloss review: pros, cons, and alternatives

Objectively, I think Polygloss is great! It’s hard to find a language app that effectively motivates users to practice their active use of the language (as opposed to just pressing buttons) without being overwhelming or a huge time suck.

Polygloss is high quality, low effort, and very feel-good.

However, at the time of this Polygloss review, the app does not provide any way to practice speaking the language; the opportunity is 100% there, but it’s not yet a function of the Polygloss app. If speaking practice is a priority for you, I’d recommend similar apps like Yask or Speechling.

Similarly, it can take some time to get any feedback from your exercises – Polygloss users have 3 days to respond to matches. If you’re an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of person, this could be a real sticking point; both Yask and Speechling move much faster (instantly and within 24 hours, respectively), and Busuu’s community feature is another option to help.

Speechling and Busuu are also alternatives if you want to be sure you’re corrected; Polygloss is more focused on the attempt, and corrections for your mistakes aren’t promised.

Regardless, if you’re at all interested in trying it out after this Polygloss review, it’s free – click here to try Polygloss!

Lingbe Review: language exchanges without the texting phase

March 7, 2023 by Jamie Leave a Comment

Many language learners struggle with finding native speakers to practice their target language with; sure, there’s Tandem and HelloTalk, but it can be a struggle to get past the texting stage and into the actual conversation stage. That’s where this Lingbe review comes in.

Lingbe has a slightly different approach to language exchanges: pick up the phone and see who answers! In this Lingbe review, we’ll experience this for ourselves, so you can see if Lingbe is the best way for you to practice your foreign language conversation skills.

How to use Lingbe to learn a language

Lingbe is a free app (with a paid option, but we’ll get into that later) and relies on its community to keep the app alive. Basically, the more you help others learn your native language (and earn “lingos”), the more opportunity you have to practice your target language (by paying in lingos)!

This is the normal premise of a one-on-one language exchange expanded to the community level; while a one-on-one language exchange has some of both languages, with you and your partner consistently switching languages to make sure you both benefit, you and your partner enter a conversation on Lingbe already agreeing on one language.

Language exchanges can be difficult if you struggle to agree with your conversation partner on when or how often you switch languages – Lingbe fixes this problem!

After creating your account and going through the above tutorial (if you can call it that), you’re spat out into the Lingbe community to figure out your options for yourself.

Besides making calls, Lingbe offers two other ways to exercise your language skills:

Rooms – live group chats, like Clubhouse for language learners

Tasks – asking & answering questions about your native & target languages

Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find these options if you’re looking for them. Lingbe’s home screen will show you which rooms and tasks are available, but in order to actually see what’s available, you’ll need to tap the button on the bottom to start a call.

Lingbe review: finding a phone call!

While Lingbe is not the only language exchange app to offer phone calls and video calls, it is unique in how easy it is to find language learners open to chat within a moment’s notice.

Instead of searching through dozens and dozens of language learners, hoping to find one that will not only respond to your texts but will also get on the phone with you, Lingbe removes those first steps and throws users straight into a live conversation.

If you’re on Lingbe, you’re looking for a language exchange without the hassle.

Unfortunately, while it’s super easy to hop on a call, it’s just as easy to drop a call. In the above video, you can see the first of 3 attempts I made to have a Spanish language exchange. The app even told me there were a lot of users online, but not one of them answered my call!

This was super frustrating because whenever you’re in the Lingbe app, you’re constantly told about other Lingbe users looking for a call; but even after tapping the button they wanted me to app to answer the call, the other person had already hung up.

In theory, this would be an excellent system for me: everything is strictly timed, and you know exactly what you’re getting into. But, like any other language exchange experience, it’s heavily hit or miss.

Nonetheless, here’s a clip of a successful language exchange from 2020. The app doesn’t appear to have changed much since then.

In this clip, I had wanted a timed practice session but answered a call from a native speaker instead (even though it cost more “lingos”) because nobody would pick up for a practice session.

Paying for LingbePro

Free users of Lingbe get free access to as many language exchanges as they want – as long as they spend just as much time helping out others who are learning their native language. Otherwise, be prepared to have the call spontaneously drop, like in the above video.

To be honest, this does provide an interesting exit strategy: only commit to so many minutes of a conversation based on how much energy you have. Fortunately, even when the call does drop, Lingbe recommends you “add” your conversation partner for future language exchanges if you two hit it off.

Taking turns sharing your native language and learning someone else’s native language is the concept behind any language exchange, but if you want to skip the whole “earning energy” thing, you can opt for LingbePro for unlimited language exchanges as well as other exclusive options.

For a few bucks a week, month, or year (depending on your plan) Pro users get to do the following:

Unlimited practice sessions
Extend practice sessions
Calls to practice pals
Video calls
Gender filters
Skip users
Greetings

See your visitors
Create practice rooms
Join practice rooms
Make rooms private
Post Lingbe tasks
Prioritized Lingbe tasks

And if you’re not sure if you’ll actually use Lingbe, you can always try a free 3-day trial to start.

Lingbe review: is it for you?

If you want to learn to speak a foreign language, language exchanges are a popular option: they’re free, and you get the chance to build real, lifelong relationships with native speakers.

With online language exchanges, one of the most common problems is that it’s easy to send someone a direct message, but it’s not necessarily easy to start a real conversation. This Lingbe review doesn’t totally fix the problem, but it does offer an excellent alternative to cut right to the chase and have a conversation.

That said, if you’ve been trying to find a language exchange on Tandem or HelloTalk but consistently run into this issue, I would recommend giving Lingbe a shot!

However, if this isn’t a problem for you, and you’re not interested in having to either “earn” your practice or pay for unlimited practice, then Lingbe may not be a productive addition to your language learning strategy.

Click here to check out Lingbe for yourself!

Language Reactor review: learn languages with Netflix with ease

February 6, 2023 by Jamie 12 Comments

Language Reactor (formerly known as Language Learning with Netflix [LLN] and Language Learning with YouTube [LLY]) is a fairly new Chrome extension that language learners are loving to help them enjoy foreign language movies and series. And in this Language Reactor review, we’re talking about why.

Let’s dive into how to use Language Reactor, why, and the absolute plethora of options (+ counting!) that are available for language learners who want to use foreign language media to learn a language.

Language Reactor: an overview

Language Reactor’s job is to take the subtitles already available in any given video and present them in a way that is engaging and significantly more useful for learning a language.

This is an important distinction: alone, subtitles are meant for audiences that are hard of hearing, process spoken words a little slowly, or any number of needs that can benefit from accommodations.

And while they are helpful for foreign language audiences, it can take a lot of creativity to get the most out of them…without Language Reactor. That said, let’s look at the opportunities offered to us when watching our favorite Netflix series.

From the get-go, with Language Reactor’s most basic settings, you get the following tools:

current subtitles in the target language, front and center
their translation into your native language
an overview of the previous/next subtitles, with their translations
automatic pausing when reviewing specific words or phrases

And all of these options are completely customizable; over time, they can be used to highlight new words, highlight difficult words, or you can hide them altogether. We’ll look at these options more in detail later.

These options are just the tip of the iceberg of this Language Reactor review – let’s see what else we can do!

Learning new words with Language Learning with Netflix

Language Reactor is most powerful when it comes to how many ways language learners can use subtitles to learn a language. This includes simple features, like getting the translations of words when you roll over them, to the most advanced use cases, like building up your vocab in order of frequency words (i.e. the most common words in the language first, the least common ones last).

While this tool is best for intermediate or advanced language learners – as beginners likely don’t have the comprehension level to understand anything – this does make Language Reactor more of an option for beginners! It’s easy to focus on the most useful beginner words first, before diving into more complex, niche vocabulary.

Watch the above video to see features in action like:

roll over words to pause and translate
click to see:
- translations
- synonyms
- other occurrences of the word in the episode
- links to the word in your favorite online dictionary
find other example sentences with the word in Tatoeba (a commonly-used source of sentences for language learners, like in platforms like Clozemaster)
read, listen to, translate, and save any sentence, be it in the episode itself or one of the sentences sourced from Tatoeba
sorting the words presented in the transcript from most common to least common

And, finally, the option to color-code your vocabulary words to easily differentiate between words that you know, words that you’re learning, and words that aren’t important to you, so you can ignore them.

Holy options, Batman!

Note: in the above video, the audio clips don’t match up at all when choosing other occurrences of a word in the episode, but the Tatoeba clips match up just fine. I can’t say whether that’s a platform glitch or a ‘me’ thing.

Speed options in Language Reactor

Depending on any particular show or movie (or your comprehension level in different languages), it can be helpful to have finely tuned controls when it comes to speed. Fortunately, Language Reactor’s tools here are both helpful and very easy to find and use.

Specifically, it can take a few tries to process the meaning of a sentence. This is why Language Reactor offers users the ability to:

automatically pause after every line
repeat sentences with just a keystroke
speed up and slow down audio in real time

It is worth noting that while it’s super accessible to be able to slow down audio, I don’t personally recommend doing so, or at least not long-term.

If you’re just starting out, that’s fine, but your intention should be building up your foreign language comprehension so that you can understand the audio at its native speed – this is because depending on slower audio will teach you to recognize different sounds.

Therefore, unless you’re only interested in listening to media where you can control the speed (so limited understanding of things like conversations and music), I’d make sure to build up your comprehension to not depend on that particular feature!

How to customize Language Reactor

Because Language Reactor depends on the content already on Netflix and YouTube, this Chrome extension truly succeeds in giving language learners the power to customize the tool for themselves.

Many of these settings can depend on the media you’re watching – for example, if you’re watching Las Chicas del Cable like I was in preparation for Language TV Club, don’t count on switching to something like Thai without double-checking.

In this case, you can use the Catalogues, which we’ll see in a second.

Clicking around the settings, you can customize options like:

audio language (i.e. the language native to the show/movie, or dubbed audio)
subtitle language
translation language (your native language or another advanced language)
show/hide subtitles
playback speed
keyboard shortcuts for efficient playback

Netflix and YouTube Catalogues

There’s no disagreement about how powerful this Chrome extension is, but where do you start? There is so much content on both platforms, it can undoubtedly be overwhelming to not only search for something that any given language learner will enjoy but also supports their target/native language.

Fortunately, right on the Language Reactor website, you can browse their searchable catalogues!

Select the appropriate platform and have fun exploring the content available based on settings like genre, country, number of subscribers, and even just directly searching for a show or keyword you’re interested in.

While you can click directly into whatever you choose, I do wish the Netflix movies/shows linked you to the “more info” page, not directly to the media. This just adds an extra step to browsing media that can get really frustrating really quickly.

You can also see new options available shortly, including using text or video files to create your own experience, which would put Language Reactor in direct competition with LingQ! I’m excited to see how these features turn out.

Saved & highlighted vocab

Once you’ve picked your media and consumed it however you like, Language Reactor’s final magic trick is how it helps you to learn vocab!

This is a powerful ability, although it’s a paid one (but only like $5/month). Based on the aforementioned ranking of words (most commonly used to least) and combined with the words you save as you watch Netflix/YouTube, the options are essentially limitless.

Thanks to Language Reactor’s help, it’s easy to pick out new words as they come up in your watching and fill in the blanks based on your level (or not).

Once you have your words picked out, easily export them into whatever flashcard tool you prefer, like Anki or any other platform that allows you to create your own flashcards by uploading an Excel sheet.

At this point, this Language Reactor review is a bit more for the technologically savvy language learner, or at least those who have their own flashcard system for bulk-uploading terms, especially via .csv or similar.

However, this does have more to do with the flashcard platform than Language Reactor itself; it’s easy enough to download the file, not necessarily quite so easy to upload it to various resources. Looking for a flashcard system? Try the “bulk upload” option in my app search.

Language Reactor review: the pros and cons

This Language Reactor review undoubtedly proves that language learners who already enjoy using YouTube or Netflix to learn a language should not sleep on this tool. Just install the Chrome extension, and you’re good to go – while there are tons of options to customize your subtitles, you don’t have to make any decisions until you want to.

Language Reactor is already wildly helpful just as a free Chrome extension, but the paid subscription (priced at only $5/month) makes the process of learning a language with Netflix and YouTube exponentially more useful. I’ve been a fan of this tool since its inception.

However, because of the immersion style of learning, you’ll likely need to have at least an intermediate level of comprehension in your target language. Beginners can find value in this tool, but you’ll have to be picky about what/how much you want to understand.

You’ll also need regular access to a computer, as Language Reactor is a Chrome extension and therefore only works on a desktop or laptop computer.

Otherwise, you’ve got nothing to lose – click here to try Language Reactor for yourself!

Verbling vs italki for language learners

March 21, 2022 by Jamie 1 Comment

One of the best ways to practice speaking a foreign language is to have conversations with native speakers of the language. The two most popular platforms to connect with native speakers are italki and Verbling. Let’s take a look at Verbling vs italki to see which platform is best for you.

It should be noted that Verbling and italki are very similar platforms, and while they may technically be in competition with each other, it may be best practice for language learners to take advantage of both platforms.

Because as we’ll discover as we compare Verbling vs italki, it’s not so much the platform that matters as the teachers who use the platforms.

Verbling vs italki: teaching experience

Each company has different experience requirements for language teachers who are interested in using their platform to find students. This can also be evident in the student’s search for a teacher.

The most popular option, italki, lets you choose between professional and community teachers. The difference is that a professional teacher has some sort of official qualifications or certifications to teach; community teachers are just native or advanced speakers of the language.

On the other hand, Verbling requires potential teachers to have professional experience. If you’re using Verbling, you’re there to learn, not just to practice.

Is professional experience necessary? If you want the structured approach of a teacher, yes; however, if you just want to pay a native/advanced speaker to be available and help you focus on communication, not necessarily.

And of course, community teachers are much cheaper. Professional experience comes at a premium. It’s up to you to decide if professional experience is a priority, and this will help you decide on which platform to prioritize.

italki vs Verbling: trial lessons

Taking a language lesson for the first time can be a daunting experience, especially when you’re meeting the teacher for the first time, and you’re not quite sure what the atmosphere will be like.

Fortunately, both Verbling and italki offer a version of trial lessons. The approach, of course, is different.

First, italki offers 3 free trial lessons ever. These are tied to your account and must be applied to 3 different teachers if you use them. Not all italki teachers offer free trial lessons, so I’m guessing it’s truly free, which means that the teachers are not paid at all (italki does not pay for these lessons for you).

Verbling is a lot less strict and gives its teachers 100% say in their own trial lessons.

If a Verbling teacher decides to offer a trial lesson, they set the price. With this system, each new student gets to trial the teaching style of any teacher.

Plus, Verbling teachers are paid for their trial lessons. It’s half the time of a full lesson, so they can charge half the price. This is compared to italki, which expects its teachers to offer them for free.

In this way, Verbling is a much better option, both for language learners (who get to trial as many teachers as they like) and for language teachers (who get paid for their time, regardless of how much time they’re spending).

Class types

Both Verbling and italki specialize in private language classes, which means 1-on-1. You’re paying someone to focus on your language learning. There is a little bit of wiggle room, though.

For even more ease of commitment (more on this later), some Verbling teachers offer bulk lessons; if you commit to a number of lessons (5, 10, 20, whatever), you get a small discount.

On the other hand, italki has a small collection of group lessons.

On italki, this is definitely not the star of the show. It simply does not compare to a service like Lingoda that truly excels at this. Based only on first impression, it seems to be a low-stakes way to find your next language teacher.

Though, at the time of this writing, this feature isn’t available in most languages. As I said, it seems to be an option to support more private classes, by making them slightly more accessible to start, as opposed to a formal feature.

Booking a class on Verbling vs italki

The process of booking a language teacher differs between platforms, and this is more important than you may think.

Emotionally, it can be difficult to commit to a lesson with a language teacher. It’s not uncommon to be self-conscious about your ability to have foreign language conversations, worried about financial commitment, anxious about committing to a routine, etc.

That said, it’s the responsibility of the platform to make it easy for language learners to book a lesson. If it’s too difficult to book, that just becomes another obstacle stopping a language learner from committing.

There’s one tiny difference between Verbling and italki here: where the lesson is hosted. italki allows you 3 options: their own software, Zoom, or Skype.

To be fair, I am 100% nit-picking. But at the same time, I am well aware of how tiny things like this can make it feel impossible to do things like schedule a lesson with a language teacher, which can be hard enough as it is.

italki offers 3 different platforms (which I’m assuming invites some technical difficulties when it comes to sharing usernames, Zoom/Skype outages, etc.), while Verbling only uses their own software.

Verbling keeps it simpler. When it’s time for your lesson, all you have to do is go to the website and there will be a link for you to join the classroom, right there on Verbling.

Obviously, I can’t say how reliable it is – that’s something to ask your language teacher with much more experience with the tech than I’ll ever have. But from the perspective of a language learner, this is a much better system.

Which platform is best?

While most online creators will mention italki, I personally find Verbling to be just slightly higher quality for language learners: higher quality teachers, easier to book lessons, and easier to join.

Above all else, as I mentioned at the beginning of this review, is that specific teachers on each platform. While looking for a language teacher, the website they’re on isn’t as important as the teachers themselves, so I encourage you to keep an open mind.

Want to learn more about each platform?

You can read my italki review here, and my Verbling review here.

italki review: the best place for private language lessons

March 21, 2022 by Jamie Leave a Comment

Italki is arguably the most popular language-learning resource online used by learners of all languages under the sun, so an italki review only seems reasonable! Like Verbling, italki provides its users the opportunity to practice speaking the language they’re learning with real live native speakers, regardless of geography.

From a social network for language learners in 2006 to the world’s most popular platform to find foreign language teachers, let’s dive into this italki review and see what the italki experience is like.

Finding your italki teacher

Italki boasts hosting native speakers of any and all languages you could be learning. Because there are so many italki teachers available to you, the site helps you narrow down your search, so you’re not sifting through all kinds of italki teachers that you don’t actually have any interest or need in setting up a conversation with.

That being said, your italki teacher search can and should be incredibly specific if you can make those decisions for yourself. This will really narrow down the number of choices you have to make.

So, for example, when I’m searching for an italki teacher to practice Spanish with, I’ll always choose Spain in this first category. Most of my experience communicating in Spanish is from living in Spain, so I have a hard time understanding accents from any other countries.

Though you do have a plethora of options to narrow down your search, my personal sticking point is that you can’t easily search by gender.

italki price

Hopefully, you’ll notice that one of those categories is “price”. Your italki price depends entirely upon the teacher that you choose. If, for example, you’re searching around for italki Spanish lessons, and you choose an italki tutor that’s from Spain (like I do), your italki cost is going to be just a bit pricier than if you’re learning from someone based in a Latin American country.

This is also the difference between an italki community tutor and professional teachers – because professional teachers are more experienced and likely have some sort of degrees or certification, you’ll pay a premium.

Fortunately, if you’re just testing the water, you do have 3 free trials to spend. Free trials are 30-minute lessons that must be used with different teachers. Not all teachers offer these trial lessons, but it makes it just a bit easier to try out using italki for the first time.

Choosing your italki teacher

After you’ve narrowed your search for an italki teacher, it’s time to do some deeper research. Each italki teacher offers a ton of information: an intro video, About Me, calendar, statistics, reviews, any packages they offer (like specific test prep, for example), and more.

Suffice it to say, all the information any reasonable language learner would need to make an educated decision.

And if you have any further questions, you can easily send your potential teacher an email, no pressure.

The italki lesson experience

Once you’ve gone through all these options and decided who you want to try out, you’ll go through a few steps. The italki platform does this all pretty well and very smoothly, in my opinion. Everything is very clear and to the point.

As you can see above, you’re already given a preview of your italki teacher’s availability on their page. And yes, this availability is presented in your time zone, so you don’t have to do any gymnastics to find a teacher that matches up with your schedule.

Once you’ve made an actual decision regarding who you want to learn from, you’ll get access to their calendar and be able to make a selection based on their open slots. If you’ve opted for a trial lesson, you’ll be able to select a 30-minute slot, and if you’re making a request within 24 hours, you won’t be able to cancel or reschedule your lesson after your teacher accepts it.

Then, once you choose a time, you’ll be able to choose your communication tool. Italki offers 3 options for you to host your lesson:

italki Classroom
Zoom
Skype

If you choose the italki Classroom (which I honestly recommend* – it runs well, and you don’t have to worry about tech issues/passwords), you’ll be granted access once your teacher accepts your lesson.

*it is worth noting that my experience using the italki Classroom is limited, and my teacher stated the platform isn’t as good as just using Skype or Zoom.

Then, like any lesson with a language teacher, you’ll be able to make full use of whichever platform you choose – talk to your teacher via the video chat, get corrections in the chatbox, or follow along if your teacher shares their screen to walk you through an activity.

italki language partner & other perks

Besides being able to pay to talk to native speakers of the language you’re learning, italki has also expanded to offer a few other perks. If you head to the Community tab on the upper right-hand side, you’ll see your options.

Articles are written by italki tutors, and you can specify which language you want to be reading in. Notebooks, on the other hand, are written by your fellow language learners, and you have the opportunity to both review others’ content and post your own practice and potentially have it reviewed by someone else.

You can see the option to listen to a recording, participate in a quiz, and answer a question, all of which can be great ways to engage in your target language.

italki review: group classes

Usually language learners seek out italki for private lessons, but some learners can try out italki’s group classes as well. It’s not nearly as popular on this platform, so you’ll have fewer options, but it’s still an opportunity you may want to take advantage of.

As of the date on the bottom of this post, group classes are only an option for learners of English, Spanish, and Japanese. To be honest, though, I’d be more inclined to use Lingoda for group English and Spanish lessons, as that’s Lingoda’s bread and butter.

But if you’re more interested in one-off group lessons, every bit of exposure to the language helps.

italki review: alternatives

If this italki review just proves that you’re looking for something else, there are also a few italki alternatives you might also consider. There aren’t many other major platforms like italki, especially considering the sheer number of languages available.

For websites like italki that also host a variety of languages, you might consider Verbling, which is very closely related – the biggest difference is that Verbling does not support as many languages. HelloTalk is a free option if finding a professional teacher isn’t important to you.

And if you’re looking for one language in particular, that may help narrow down your search. BaseLang, for example, is a potential option for Spanish language learners who are open to a more intensive commitment..

italki review: in conclusion

This italki review proves that the platform has a lot to offer any language learner. There’s a reason it’s the go-to for most of us in the language learning community. Conversations with natives in almost any language you could think of are easy to find with just an internet connection; it doesn’t get much simpler than that!

Ready to give italki a try? Click here to get $10 in free italki credits!

Verbling review: don’t sleep on this language teacher platform!

March 21, 2022 by Jamie Leave a Comment

In the language learning community, there are two well-known and well-trusted ways to practice having conversations with native speakers: italki and Verbling. They have their similarities and differences (as noted in my Verbling vs italki review), but now let’s focus on this Verbling review.

In this Verbling review, I’ll take you step-by-step through going to the Verbling website for the first time, all the way through your first lesson, pros and cons, and alternatives to Verbling for all your language learning needs.

Verbling review: find a private language teacher

Starting from the “Find a Teacher” button right next to the italki logo, you’ll find yourself confronted with a huge list of people who teach your target language, as well as a few options to narrow down your search.

As you can see, Verbling keeps the search criteria pretty simple: language, location (important because you may be more confident with certain accents), any particular goals you have, and availability.

In the past, Verbling used to allow you to search by gender, which was a huge plus for me. They seem to have removed this option, though.

After applying your preferred search, click through to any of the Verbling teachers that stand out to you. And if none stand out to you, pick one at random! You can learn about any teacher you like, including listening to their voice/accent, and hopefully getting to know them a little bit before booking a lesson.

You’ll find tons of information on the Verbling teacher you chose, like their resume, how long they’ve been on Verbling, how many lessons their average students take with them, detailed reviews, any articles they’ve written, and more.

It can be a lot to take in, but you only need to take what’s most important to you. The idea is to give you an opportunity for an educated choice before you spend your time/money on your first lesson, even if you opt for a discounted trial lesson.

Once you make your choice, you’re just 2 clicks away from your first Verbling lesson. They don’t make it difficult, which is helpful. I definitely understand the pressure of hitting that “buy now” button, so I appreciate how easy it is to get started.

Once you complete your trial lesson (or even before), you can also opt for bulk lessons with that teacher at a slight discount. This is a plus not only for convenience but also for accountability – you’re more likely to consistently practice if you’ve already bought the lessons.

It’s worth noting that the discount you get with bulk lessons differs from teacher to teacher (and not all Verbling teachers offer lessons in bulk) so don’t make any assumptions based on this Verbling review. However, this is a feature unique to Verbling.

What Verbling classes are like

If you’ve never taken an online class with a private language tutor, you can expect your language teacher to start a conversation with you by asking some getting-to-know-you questions.

This will likely be primarily over video chat, with the added perk of using the chat box to help with spelling or vocabulary. If your Verbling teacher has an activity for you, they’ll probably share their screen, like any Zoom call you’ve been in.

However, Verbling language lessons do not occur over Zoom or even Skype – they use Verbling’s own proprietary software and that’s it. This does make things easy when it’s time for your lesson because all you have to do with click a button and be connected.

Then, once your lesson’s finished, Verbling will email you summarizing your lesson. This summary can help you keep a record of when/how often you’re practicing, with whom, the vocabulary you referenced, and your conversation. If you really like your teacher, you can also go ahead and book another lesson right from this summary.

The Verbling community

If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, you can also check out Verbling’s Community tab. You may be able to find an interesting article or a future Verbling teacher you may like, but it’s definitely not Verbling’s strongest suit.

Honestly, it seems more like a side project than a full-blown feature.

If your teacher referenced an article they wrote or a discussion thread they started, you can also click on the My Teachers tab and easily find any of the content they posted. Or, if you’re just browsing around the Trending tab, and you find an article that you’re interested in or have a question regarding, each article links to the teacher who posted it, so it’s easy to send them a message asking for clarification, or (better yet) book a lesson to chat about it in the language you’re learning.

This option is definitely helpful for coming up with material to talk about in your lessons, as your teacher will probably ask you what you want to talk about after you’ve had your initial “getting to know you” lesson.

It can be tough to come up with good material for yourself, especially when your new language teacher doesn’t know you well enough just yet to recommend study material that will be engaging to you. Think of this section as Verbling’s library.

Verbling review

While Verbling (now a part of Busuu/Chegg) isn’t as popular or well-rounded as italki, this Verbling review shows that it’s still a great option for language learners who want focused conversational practice with professional native speakers.

There are a few key differences, as noted in my italki vs Verbling comparison review, but the most significant thing to know is that the value and experience you get from either platform depends not on the platform itself, but on the teachers you work with.

My recommendation? If you are looking for conversational practice with professional, experienced native speakers, Verbling is an excellent place to start.

You can also look for non-professional native speakers (so basically a glorified Tandem or HelloTalk language exchange) on italki, but regardless of your choice, don’t be afraid to shop around for a private language teacher on Verbling!