Mondly: Learn 41 Languages

I’m giving Mondly a second chance and starting from the beginning in their Thai lesson series. It’s generally good (I’m an advanced beginner level) with the caveat that it’s developed for English speakers who, for some reason, require a way to say “good morning/afternoon” even though exactly nobody says that in Thailand. I know they’re just filling up the learning engine, but c’mon… A big plus for me is that the Romanization of Thai script is an option and I can avoid being distracted by a character set my brain is more familiar with. This lets you learn to read and listen from the very beginning. Props, too, for the lesson structure. They’re fun and short without being too gamified. Update: The app can’t work with a language like Thai where there are gender forms of personal pronouns like Thai. They’re hard coded into the examples so you can’t just say: Use the male form. This is an issue because 90% of the examples use the female form which doesn’t apply in my case. Also, there are a number of examples that use word-for-word translation of English. “We would like a pot of tea.” For example, that would never be used in spoken Thai. The app will also start using words in the examples that haven’t yet been defined. The lesson I just finished defined “grandfather” one way but then immediately started using a different way to say it. Like dropping from informal to very formal.

My trip to Greece years ago was wonderful. My ability to speak Greek even the few phrases I had mastered sounding authentic to the people. They were very surprised and appreciative. (See below for my first use of Mondly.) Now I’m reviewing my German anticipating working again with German speaking business people. The app is helping me to catch up quickly. I’m starting with the intermediate section and finding my memory coming back quickly. Mondly is an excellent tool! (Learning Greek) I’m really learning how to speak and read Greek. As a former language teacher I’m impressed that in 5 days I have learned lots of basic vocabulary as well as phrases that I will use in my coming travel to Greece. As well, the app is cleverly introducing the Greek alphabet. It combines pictures, audio and print. You are prompted to speak into a mike. Then the app reflects back what you say in writing. Using the color red when you’re wrong and white when you get it right. It works and it’s fun. An update: I’m on my 58th day now and continuing to learn daily. I still have a long way to go to be fluent, but I’ll be able to speak basic phrases and vocabulary when in Greece. I’ve noted that I’ve covered less than 10% of the app’s content so far. They have just updated the app to include more opportunities to speak and hear yourself converse. Very clever.

I love this app when it comes to learning. The hands free style where I can practice speaking is amazing and I’ve been able to put into practice the kanji, katakana and hiragana I’ve been learning on my own (I recommend this program in addition to a book or another program to practice sentence structure). I love everything about it...except the chat bot sections. The responses I give don’t work with the bot (despite them offering me the sentence) and if I try to do another sentence (which sometimes is an option) it’ll count it all as one sentence. I don’t know how to “speak” a period into a sentence. It’s frustrating. Even more frustrating however are the repetition sections. I repeat the dialogue exactly as they ask me (it even is recorded the same) but they mark me as wrong for using hiragana instead of kanji for some words. How do you “speak” in hiragana vs kanji? The program never says it. They just repeat the same section over and over again and drive me insane. I love this app...except that part. Please adjust the chat bot sections to either teach how to use the dialect they’re asking you to use (slowing down doesn’t help when it’s the same sounds you’re using and you’re still getting it wrong), or make it a bit more lenient with foreign speakers trying to speak a language they are unfamiliar with. Beyond that I love the program and recommend it to everyone...except the chat bot sections.