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Friday, June 20th
Mondly is a language learning program that's headquartered in Romania. This platform offers a fun and user-friendly approach to language learning, backed by recognition from Forbes, CNN, and Bloomberg. Mondly provides a dedicated app for kids, making it a competitive option for families who want to learn Japanese together. While the basic version offers free content, advanced features are available through a separate subscription. With a lesson design that follows a map-like structure, you can learn step-by-step as you progress through the language of your choice.
Sneak peek with free trial
Finding Japanese lessons on Mondly is simple. You just choose your starting language and indicate your proficiency level in Japanese and you're ready to start learning without even making an account. This free trial period allows you a sneak peek at the first six lessons, a vocabulary section, a Chatbot conversation, and bonus lessons on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis.
Mondly throws you right in
We tested out the first lesson, which throws you right into the language. You can toggle between hiragana and the Latin alphabet, but if you learn according to the way Mondly is set up by default, you'll be seeing only hiragana characters and pictures loosely related to the term you're learning. The lesson progresses quickly from pictures and vocabulary words to full sentences using hiragana characters. For an absolute beginner, this might feel frustratingly fast. It's almost impossible to complete the lesson in Hiragana without using the Latin alphabet back and forth during lesson one.
You don't have to start from English to learn
Mondly's distinctive features help it stand out. For one, Mondly was designed for students beginning from various languages, not solely English. This departure from the usual practice of assuming English as the starting point is particularly helpful if you're starting Japanese from a Spanish, Dutch, Italian, Polish, or other language background.
Monthly or annual payment options
While Mondly offers a free membership, it comes with certain limitations. The free version allows you to use Daily Lessons, the entire Hello lesson category, and a single chatbot lesson. However, to access more content, a subscription is required. To get an idea of what you might find with premium, Mondly offers a 7-day free trial. If you choose to subscribe, you'll find two primary plans available. The Mondly premium plan costs $9.99 per month or $47.99 per year with a 12-month prepayment option. You can also choose an annual access plan that provides access to 33 languages. At the time of our review, this package was on sale for the same price as the regular annual membership ($47.99). On the other hand, if you try to buy it outside of the promo period it can cost up to $479.99.
Learning style lacks grammar
At present, Mondly provides limited direct grammar instruction. From our observation during testing, the platform focuses on teaching through sentences and phrases, gradually incorporating grammar nuances without explicitly highlighting them in the lesson material. While this method may not appeal to everyone, especially those accustomed to structured lessons with explicit grammar explanations, Mondly's approach combines pictures, listening exercises, and written words. However, this can be overwhelming in more complex languages like Japanese where you may feel like you've been thrown into the deep end without a lot of explanation.
Extremely limited refund policy
One of the most disappointing parts of Mondly is its refund policy. Currently, only special circumstances qualify for a refund. These include things like a breach of contract terms by Mondly. Basically, Mondly has to be proven to be at fault for you to receive a refund. If Mondly is at fault and you've already paid for future services, Mondly will reimburse you for the unused portion of your subscription from the cancellation date. While this might not pose a significant issue if you plan to use a monthly membership, it could be disappointing for those who prepaid for a year.
Some mixed reviews on effectiveness
Based on student feedback, Mondly has gained a strong reputation, despite concerns about its refund policy. Reviews on the Apple Store and Google Play store both show high average ratings, with students praising Mondly for its effectiveness in helping them sound authentic and understand conversational language. However, there are some mixed reviews on third-party sites like Trustpilot where Mondly has a more mid-tier rating of 3.3 stars out of 5. Students complained that some lessons were very difficult to follow and that Mondly doesn't spend enough time teaching clear pronunciation. While none of these reviews referred to specific languages, we noticed similar drawbacks in our preview of Japanese lesson 1.
Japanese lessons may move too quickly
Mondly distinguishes itself as a cost-effective choice for Japanese lessons. However, as we know, not all sites are one-size-fits-all for language learning. While Mondly's method and continually evolving lessons position it as a preferred option for many languages, it misses the mark a little with Japanese. The program dives too quickly into full sentences without taking time to parse characters in hiragana and pronunciation to match the new character shapes. With this problem, along with some concerns about refunds and proficiency in the long term, Mondly doesn't come out as a favorite for learning Japanese.
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As you embark on your journey to learn Japanese, it can be hard to narrow down the options. Here are some key factors to consider to help you find the best resource for your Japanese lessons:
To help you get the most out of your language studies, Top Consumer Reviews has tested, evaluated and ranked the best options for online Japanese lessons today. We know this information will give you all the info you need to choose the best program for your learning style and schedule.
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