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Wednesday, May 18th
Have you wanted to learn German and have fun while doing it? Would you like to learn online or via an app - and even have a virtual reality experience in a German setting? Mondly is fun and innovative that way. You can design a chatbot that will give you the lessons, and the "teacher" is technologically advanced. They can guide you to a correct written answer, and can also recognize your speech to determine if you might be understood while talking to a real German-speaking person.
Lifetime is the best bang for the buck
The lifetime subscription price is quite reasonable, and gives you access to learn 41 languages. If you choose the monthly subscription instead, there is automatic monthly renewal, and if you need to take a break, they do keep charging. If you need to stop the monthly subscription, users have found it challenging to get that taken care of when they contact Mondly to do so. There is an additional choice: limited, free access. It sounds like a good idea, but not with Mondly. You can get a peek into what Mondly has to offer, but you won't have enough access to learn German this way. If you're only interested in a free language-learning program, you'll want to check out other brands we've rated.
Costs
Use the free trial before you invest in the monthly subscription
If you're interested in the monthly subscription, it can be a challenge to unsubscribe. It's best to use the limited, free version to get a feel for Mondly to see if it's a good fit. If so, get the monthly and be aware of possible cancellation challenges, or go for the lifetime, which is our suggestion.
What if you already know some German?
The lessons for German are mostly for the beginner, and there are quite a few. If you already know some German and don't want to start at the beginning, their intermediate and advanced levels aren't very advanced. You'll get a lot of repetition at the lower levels, which isn't all bad, so you can reinforce what you already know, but if you want to really progress, it may not happen with Mondly.
Super motivating
The short, daily German lessons are fun. Take a break from your busy world and enjoy learning with Mondly. The lessons are game-like, and there are rewards for hitting a higher level. It's motivating for the self-competitive learner to see if they can't get to...one more level...before they end for the day. Some critics note that Mondly's game-like, motivational method is not unique, and they see it as a possible turn off. Not only that, but the other brands have free access to this type of learning. Ah, but Mondly has so much more in the technology arena, and is worth the cost of subscription!
AR, VR, and chatbots, oh, my!
Mondly's augmented reality is an appealing feature for its learners! Create an avatar-based teacher and design their surroundings. It's this "teacher" that presents your German lessons. The "teacher" also uses their speech-recognition system to give you feedback on your pronunciation! You want people to understand you, right? The virtual reality app complements the main Mondly app, so that you can have conversations with virtual German-speaking people. Wouldn't it be great to go shopping in German and interact with the cashier? Or you could virtually dine in a German restaurant, order food, pay the bill, etc., and feel successful? All of this can happen at the convenience (and cheaper price tag) of staying in your own home.
User-friendly corrections
When you have virtual conversations via the app, you can type in your next line of conversation. A prompt will guide you to the correct answer, and can also accept other replies besides the "right answer." This is an amazing and rare feature with language-learning programs. Many programs can only tell you if you are exactly right or wrong. Exactly, meaning, if you misspelled a word or made some small mistake, or didn't put letter-for-letter what they deemed the "right" answer, you can be marked "wrong:" no hints, no knowing if you are way off, a little off, where the error might be, and that can be an enormous turn-off. Not with Mondly. They don't just give you the big, red X and beat down your self-esteem. Mondly's method of correcting written work is user-friendly and reinforces the fact that there's more than one way to get your idea across.
Specific options for kids and for businesses
Mondly has an app for that. MondlyKIDS is similar to the traditional app, but it is more entertaining and kid friendly. Mondly WORKS is available to businesses who order bulk subscriptions. The employer can provide this app for their employees and also track their scholarly progress.
Definitely a good product
With the advanced technology of augmented reality, virtual reality, and chatbots coupled with game-like fun and motivating level-reaching awards, Mondly is unique, technologically advanced, and best of all, motivating. We wish it offered more curriculum for the intermediate and advanced students, but until it does, you can reinforce your German by practicing the lessons it currently provides. We bet you still may learn something. We also like that there are 40 languages in addition to German, so for German learners and wanna-be polyglots alike, Mondly gets our recommendation.
Did you know that German is the second-most spoken language in Europe? Or that around 95 million people worldwide speak German as their primary language and that it is an official language in six countries? Perhaps you have German roots in your family and want to get in touch with your heritage by learning German?
If you study sciences, you may know that German is the most commonly used scientific language. Learning German can provide you with an insight into the German people's way of life and also broaden your horizons. Whatever your personal reason for wanting to learn German, the next step is to find your best way to study the language.
So much of our life now is digital, so it's natural to consider learning German online. There are many programs to learn languages: live, one-to-one tutoring; a real person teaching you through recorded video lessons; video-game-like lessons and practice; recording your voice and getting computer-generated specific feedback; getting feedback on written work by real people; or playing games and letting the time fly by while earning prizes and getting on a leaderboard. With so many different methods of learning and practice, we can help you narrow down what is best for you and your learning style.
The first thing to consider is how much German you may know. Have you had German classes in high school and want to brush up and continue to proficiency? Or is Gesundheit! when someone sneezes the extent of your German? If you are a beginner, choosing an online program will be easier, as most focus at least on the beginning German student. If you already know some German, some programs offer a placement test and others have you look at their curriculum and you select your own placement. If you are pretty advanced or your goal is to get there, only a few online German programs can help you get to advanced proficiency, while others fall short past the beginning German level.
How would you like to learn German? Would you like live one-on-one lessons with a tutor or in a small-class setting? Would you like to learn from a person, but via video so you can pause or review? Would you like to learn interactively with a computer program where you match phrases you heard with images, then record your voice speaking, and then have game-like practice exercises with awards and a leaderboard with a little healthy competition? It's all out there, and you get to decide which is for you!
Once you know your current level of German and how you might want to learn it, there are a few more aspects to consider:
TopConsumerReviews.com has reviewed, evaluated, rated, and recommended the best choices for learning German online or via an app. We're sure that with the information we have for you, you'll be able to make your best decision for learning German and becoming more proficient and fluent in this common and popular language!
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