FluentU: Learn Language Videos

I began my journey with learning German about 4 years ago, and I have to say from the outset that this program was not there at the beginning. I worked with several different do-it-yourself language tutoring programs; one of them I am still with (Babbel), one I really didn’t care for (Duolingo), and one I found helpful but no longer actively use (Lingvist). This program, I think (and this is just from my own personal experience), is better suited to those who already have a basic, fundamental understanding of their foreign language of choice. It is definitely helpful, before you engage with FluentU, to know some vocabulary and have some familiarity with how the grammar works. If you are at that stage in your language learning development, then this program can be an excellent tool in helping you further develop your vocabulary and overall comprehension. Don‘t look for them to coddle you - the words come at you fast, and it is your responsibility to learn them and follow along. I chose the intermediate level here (a little above what I can handle), and it‘s hard but I like being challenged. So, bottom line: If you are serious about learning a new language, and you already have some prior knowledge of the basics, I highly recommend FluentU to keep you moving forward!

I realize all language learning apps/programs have their flaws. My problem with FluentU is I’m paying $20 to be an app tester. I’ve been using this program for several years, I’ve completed Beginner 1&2, Intermediate 1, and am nearly finished with Intermediate 2. I’m not exaggerating when I say that every time there is an update, there are issues. I’ve emailed customer service so many times, I’m absolutely certain they ignore my complaints at this point. Sometimes the issues are fixed just to return at the next update. For example, the sentence translations will repeat themselves within a lesson. The lessons don’t go to the review or completed queue after you’ve completed them so it’s difficult to tell which lessons you’re done with and which are new. There are also the complaints of other users regarding the portrait mode and interface issues. I live with a native speaker and there are translation issues in a number of lessons. The app only runs well on a current Apple device, it’s slow otherwise. Don’t expect any kind of refund when you have issues, they are however, quick to offer an apology and reassurance that “they’ll pass it along to the devs.” I do feel I’ve learned a good amount and appreciate that the videos are mostly current. This year, I had enough and bought a different language learning program and am finally saying au revoir to FluentU.

I have already written a review previous to this one, but because this app and the educational content within it is so effective, a second review is more then justified. I am now on my third video of Mandarin and I am starting to notice something unique to this platform compared to other apps that offer Mandarin. FluentU seems to be endless. The videos themselves are very addicting because they are interesting besides being comprehensive in their content. The online dictionary that is connected to all their videos have separate sample sentences attached to each word that’s in the video. You press on a word within the video, a dictionary pops up with the meaning of the word and three sample sentences using that word. I have spent between 4 to 7 hours daily and the more I study the more content appears before me! It just never ends. The actors in the videos are amazing, and there is a lot of humor. For example in the video ‘Going in for a job interview’ the guy who pays the role of manager looks and sounds like a real no-nonsense boss’. It was really entertaining. These videos are divided into several parts and one must complete the homework before the app lets you go from one part to the next. In this way the app ensures that you learn the content. You are forced to study and pass several tests because you want to go to the next part of the video just to see what happens next in the story. Thank you to the team at Fluenz for all the hard work. I can see myself being subscribed for the next 7 years for sure.