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Tuesday, January 21st
LingQ was launched in late 2007 by a father and son duo as a way to better help language learners. The LingQ system was based on the experience of the founder, Steve Kauffman, who took 10 years of French lessons in school and still felt that he had not mastered the language. After much research and development, LingQ was founded as a way for people to learn languages from the language itself, the way that most children learn to speak when they are young. Kauffman now speaks 20 languages and over 1,000,000 people have used LingQ.
Beta mode
You can sign up for LingQ for free. The first thing they'll ask is the language that you want to learn. There are quite a few language courses that are available, but some of them are in beta, meaning they aren't fully fleshed out. Hindi is one of the languages in beta mode, so you may not get as much content as you would with a full-course language. Upon starting out lessons, LingQ confirmed that Hindi is in "incubation” which means the LingQ staff does not add to or edit any content for the language. Everything you find here has been community generated.
Customize your lesson plans
LingQ will ask whether you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced Hindi speaker next. Your activity will be tracked with "coins”, which are earned by reading, listening, and learning words. You can either do a daily goal of 50 casual coins, 100 steady coins, 200 intense coins, or 400 insane coins. LingQ has a list of topics to customize your lesson feed that you can choose from, including books, podcasts, grammar, pronunciation, travel, lifestyle, health, culture, kids, sports, news, and others.
Enhance your learning
There is a browser extension for LingQ that you could install that will pull YouTube videos, Netflix shows, podcasts, and other entertainment that fits your lesson plans. This is optional, but it's recommended by the company to enhance your overall experience.
Free version won't take you far
Like many other language platforms, LingQ does have a free version of their service. However, it's pretty weak sauce and won't get you very far. Without paying anything, you'll get thousands of hours of audio with a transcript, 20 words and phrases, 5 lessons, 1 audio playlist, and flashcard quizzes. With the premium version, you'll also get unlimited words and phrases, unlimited imports, full sentence translations, statistics tracking, the option to compete in language learning challenges, and offline access. This comes with a monthly cost of either $12.99 for one month, $11.99/month for 6 months, $8.99/month for 12 months, or $7.99 for 24 months.
Live tutoring and writing correction
A third option for learning Hindi through LingQ is their Premium Plus plan. This includes everything in the normal premium plan, but it also comes with credits for live tutoring, writing correction, and premium lessons. Pricing for this is also monthly and starts at $39.99 for one month, $38.99/month for 6 months, $35.99/month for 12 months, and $34.99/month for 24 months.
Confusing lessons
Once we jumped through all the hoops to get our Hindi lessons started, we were disappointed at how confusing the lessons were. We chose some beginner mini stories to get started and saw a paragraph in Hindi (which, of course, we did not know how to read yet). We could click on each word and then save a meaning (sometimes there were multiple meaning options). We then earned LingQ coins and were instructed to continue on. We truly did not understand how this was supposed to teach us the language and recognized quickly that this would burn us out quickly. And dare we put away our pride and say this site made us feel... dumb? It was not intuitive at all. We would definitely not continue to diligently use the free version of LingQ, let alone pay for it.
Scathing customer complaints
Not all language platforms have a rating from the Better Business Bureau, but LingQ does. They receive an "A+” rating, which is fabulous. On the flipside, we've seen some pretty scathing reviews from students who say that customer service is a nightmare to work with, charges to cards are made even after memberships are ended, the site is confusing (we agree!), and more.
Better options elsewhere
Since there are some incredibly comprehensive and effective tools online to help you learn another language, there's no need to take a risk on LingQ. And, given that Hindi isn't really a primary language taught here, it probably won't be the most useful tool for you. Refer to our highest-rated sites for learning Hindi and you'll be in better hands.
If you ever took a French, Spanish, or other second-language class in high school, you know how difficult it can be to learn in a fast-paced group environment where it's easy to fall behind. Many people walk away from these classes without the knowledge sticking long-term and feeling discouraged about how hard it is.
This is where new, robust online platforms come into the picture. Taking a Hindi class online lets you progress at your own pace, utilize multiple forms of methods that fit your learning style (one-on-one tutoring, flashcards, practice quizzes, conjugation charts, practice dialogues, and more), refer back to previous lessons and notes, and practice your skills right away.
If you already have a basic understanding of Hindi, you can shape your online learning experience to build on this and take you to the next level. If the only thing you know about Hindi is that it's the most common language spoken in India, you can start from scratch and work your way up to fluency. There are amazing programs out there that are built for everyone and they couldn't be easier or more convenient to use.
There are over 336 million people across the world who speak Hindi, making it the third most commonly spoken language. In a time of global connection and communication, it's an exciting time to take your learning skills to the next level and start incorporating second (or third or fourth) languages into your toolkit. If you're looking to travel, build a business, become a more valuable employee, or connect better with your colleagues, neighbors, and friends, learning Hindi would be an incredible skill.
The biggest perk of learning a language online is that you can do it your own way. Some platforms let you choose a topic you want to learn about to make it more interesting and get you started that way. For example, if you're connecting with colleagues in India and need to be able to converse about business topics, you could start there.
If you're traveling and need to be able to ask for a bathroom location or restaurant recommendation, you could focus your study there. Or, if you want the basic building blocks of language learning laid out for you and to have the program lead you through progressive lessons that broadly cover all topics, there are options for that too. When you find a program to fit your learning style, it will make learning Hindi so much easier and more thrilling.
There are major opportunities for those who know this important language, so now is the time to start. When deciding where to take Hindi lessons online, take the following things into consideration:
Are you ready to take your Hindi language skills to the next level? Top Consumer Reviews has reviewed and ranked the best places for you to take Hindi lessons online from the comfort and convenience of your home. We hope this information gives you the tools you need to become confident in the Hindi language. Aasha hai aapko kamyaabi mile!
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