App Profile: Umi - Language Learning

Frylocs

Rating: 5/5

I downloaded this app as I had seen it advertised and we just booked a trip to Japan. I’ve always loved watching anime and would love to be able to understand while I’m watching as well. The way this system immerses you into the learning process is actually really surprising. I’ve done a lot of different language apps before and this is the first one where I feel as though I am picking it up extremely quickly. I absolutely would recommend this app to anyone looking for a different method to how many of the other apps work. Along with that I was having an issue with the app and wrote into support. To my surprise the CEO emailed me directly within the day and made things right. Along with that they were incredibly responsive. Really just made me like this app even more!

Mr.Slightlycrazy

Rating: 2/5

I used this app to supplement my French lessons in other programs, and while I love the idea of it, the availability of free lessons is pretty slim. On top of that the app did not work about half the time, failing to load the lessons, the clips, and/or the audio, and sometimes the only way to fix this was to close the app completely which would lose your place in the lesson. Additionally many of the clips were captured in the wrong place, or didn’t accurately represent the dialogue being spoken, missing entire words or sentences, or incorrectly translating them. I think that learning from this app could actually do more harm to your knowledge than good if it isn’t cleaned up a bit more, because teaching certain words incorrectly, or failing to demonstrate proper context could build your understanding of the language incorrectly. I would have been more impressed if most of the functions weren’t broken or inaccurate. That being said if the problems can be fixed and the formula improved then I think this is a great concept. I loved certain features like allowing you to play back a recording of your voice to hear your own pronunciation before submitting your answer. The price for a year isn’t terrible but unfortunately right now I can’t afford yet ANOTHER subscription, and I am very (VERY) tired of everything requiring a subscription in general. I wish more apps would offer an up-front, one-time fee like the Procreate app and many mobile games do.

Mecatmeowz

Rating: 4/5

I’m learning French, which I believe may be one of the newer languages added to the app, so this may not be as big of a problem with other languages. The clips don’t match the subtitles half the time. Usually it isn’t a problem with the specific vocabulary word being taught, but when the other words and phrases don’t match the actual dialogue, it’s missing a very big opportunity for learning. I have the app set to a level that is too easy for me, so it has become more of an exercise in spotting the differences between the clip dialogue and the subtitles, rather than learning the vocabulary. I think it would be very beneficial to pay native speakers to make corrections. If the “report error” flag allowed for a description of the error, I would also happily provide detail. Additionally, the listening exercise where you need to choose which word you’ve heard from a list of 4 words is too easy because the words are totally dissimilar. There’s no motivation to truly listen, as it’s always obvious which word it is. If the words were someone similar, it would require listening to and understanding the differences. All said, I love the idea of this app, especially listening to real, rapid French in context.