Nikolija Grozdanovic

The Fastest Way To Learn French: 10 Tips To Help You Learn French Fast

Nikolija Grozdanovic — Mon, 22 Mar 2021 08:55:03 +0000

If you are looking for the fastest way to learn French, you have come to the right place! This article will help you set high yet realistic goals, maintain motivation, become consistent and avoid procrastination, combine learning methods to achieve greater results, and give you some ideas on how to spice up your learning style.

One of the biggest reasons people give up learning French is great expectations combined with a lack of consistent learning. As you might expect, your motivation to learn a language tends to be the highest at the start.

You may even have a picturesque vision of yourself, sipping red wine, enjoying a view from a Parisian rooftop, and speaking casually with the stranger about art. But, there’s a long way between your dream and reality. Having a romantic picture in your head will surely boost your motivation, but unless there is consistent and methodical learning behind it, you’ll end up like Joey from Friends. And we won’t let you quit so soon.

If you are less of a dreamer, you may be doing extensive research to find out the answer to the question: Is French hard to learn? Find out in our analysis here:

Is French Hard to Learn?

With that covered, it’s time to face your expectations and put your goals into action.

1. Set achievable and realistic goals

To set a realistic goal there are some questions you should be asking yourself first. Think about the reason you are learning a language.

Is it traveling, reading books, business, connecting with friends? Your answers will help you determine the path you want to take, and how far you want to go. Specific goals are easier to achieve than vague ones. Make sure to know precisely what you want first.

To decide if a goal is realistic, you must know how it could be achieved. Signifying that, you’ll need to break the goal into small steps. Make daily, weekly, and even monthly plans.

Being an independent learner is challenging because sometimes you need to play both roles, one of a student and one of a teacher. Before you hit the books, give yourself assignments and set up an achievable plan.

2. Write your goals down

Neuroscience explains that writing your goals down on paper helps their achievement. That’s why you should be taking the time to write them down attentively. Don’t let your precious piece of paper get covered with a pile of other things. Be aware that the importance you give to making a list could reflect your willingness to achieve it. Use a clear intention of what do you want to achieve, write thoughtfully, and at the end, make your goals visible by putting the list on your desk, bathroom mirror, computer desk as a constant reminder.

3. Discover what kind of language learner are you

Now, that you have set measurable and realistic goals, you’ll need to figure out what kind of learner you are. Each person takes in information differently. That’s why different formats appear all the time, books, newspapers, video, music, pictures. We could divide all the learners into three main categories, Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic learners.

If you enjoy doodling on paper or taking notes, this could mean you are soaking in all the information through sight. In that case, choose the material that consists of text, videos with subtitles, notes, projecting maps, and images. Visual learners appreciate colors, so make sure to bring some colorful notes and highlighters. You might also want to get a visual dictionary if you are just starting out.

If you enjoy talking with people or attending live classes, perhaps you are an auditory type. Supply yourself with enough audio material, such as podcasts, songs, Ted talks etc. Podcasts are incredibly convenient because they enable you to learn while you commute or clean the house.

Read our picks for the Best Podcasts in French.

Kinesthetic learners like to engage in an activity to understand the meaning. They might enjoy speaking with French speakers, performing a task, experiencing French through specific assignments. If you are an online shopper, perhaps you could try looking for items in French or read the specifications or reviews. If you like cooking, try out a new recipe and learn all the ingredients in French.

An important thing to remember is that no matter what learning type you are, at a certain point you’ll need to study in all different ways, so your language skills develop evenly. The best value comes when bringing multiple methods together.

4. Get consistent

We all know that studying hastily for an exam, or one single occasion, isn’t enough to be transferred in a long-term memory. Language learning is no different. Revising regularly what you learned, in spaced repetition allows you to activate your knowledge. Each time you revise, you’ll need less time to remember.

Being consistent is one of the greatest challenges, because of many factors trying to pull you back from building a new habit. The art of showing up is the first thing you should be establishing, and at times, it’s more important than the act of learning itself. Plan your learning ahead and be there when the studying time comes. With the internet and all other distractions of the world, we easily find ourselves procrastinating. Remember that the moment you say to yourself, “l could do it later”, you weakened your will for the next time.

To keep your learning consistent, offline and online courses are of great help. Before anything else, they offer a firm structure that leads progressively to improvement. A significant advantage is that it saves time, since all content and exercises are ready to be consumed. In most courses, revisions are included, allowing you to revise in different ways, through writing or listening exercises, role-play etc.

One of the most thorough courses we found is FrenchPod101 by Innovative Language. It offers four levels of expertise from absolute beginner through the advanced speaker. There are audio and video lessons, interactive learning tools, and even one-on-one instruction available. To find more about the course, check our review of French Pod101.

Another great course is Rocket French from Rocket Languages. The course is well-structured and material is comprehensive. We found it to be a good option for people already enrolled in a high school or university French course.

5. Journaling in French

The act of writing itself is utile as a memory-enhancing activity. It allows you to build a closer relationship with the content, and it gives one additional processing layer that your brain goes through. Expressing your emotions and daily thoughts in French, allows your brain to engage, and when your brain engages, it remembers.

Journaling is profoundly personal and could be about anything: your day at work, the book you read, your daily routines, a chat with a friend. Marie Curie’s journals are all about her discoveries in the radioactivity field. Make your journal about something you feel passionate about.

The point is to practice thinking in French, by having regular thoughts. Nothing else. Instead of textbooks or other people’s content, create content out of your ideas. After all, it’s you who will be speaking a language, and talking about your personal ideas and feelings, so you might include French, in your thinking process as soon as possible. It’s about adapting a language to who you are, and not vice versa. At first, you’ll be frustrated as all sentences come in your mother tongue, but once you establish this routine, you’ll see how your passive knowledge is showing up on the surface.

6. Combine methods to learn pronunciation

It is quite normal to lead language battles on several fronts when starting to learn French. It takes time to master the pronunciation and even more time to train your ear. Many learners get disappointed when they realize their inability to get even simple words in French. The same ones they already went through thousands of times.

The French language has many pronunciation specificities, such as nasal vowels, plenty of homophones, peculiar writing systems, unpronounced e’s, and much more. One of the most challenging aspects is called a liaison, or linking sounds, that makes it hard to determine where one word ends and the next one begins. Knowing the word is no guarantee that you’ll be able to understand in oral communication.

When it comes to pronunciation and oral understanding, we suggest combining different learning methods to achieve the best results. Try out understanding the rules, listening to tutorials, practicing in front of the mirror, listening to native speakers, completing listening exercises.

Keep in mind that for certain things in French, no matter how hard you try to learn, will need time. Be gentle on yourself and allow the pronunciation to stick naturally.

7. Name every item around you in French

For the basic vocabulary, this game might be useful: try naming everything at your reach. Whether it’s kitchen, office, street, your wardrobe.

This way you’ll be learning necessary vocabulary while engaging with the given item. If you want to move a game to another level, label every item in the room in French, using sticky notes. It’s less practical, but it is fun and most importantly, useful for remembering difficult vocabulary.

8. Lead a French language lifestyle

This means if it’s raining in Paris, grab an umbrella when leaving the house. Surround yourself with daily things you usually read, do and listen to, all in French. If you are an online buyer, then browse in French. If you are trying out a new cake recipe, why not choosing French “tarte”. Following a French recipe will help you get familiar with the ingredients related vocabulary, and connect with the French culture on many levels. Most importantly, leading a French lifestyle will keep you motivated. You’ll be bouncing off the walls to learn more French.

9. Connect with French community

Find where French people hang out and join them. Perhaps this would have been science fiction thirty years ago, but today with the internet, forums, Facebook groups, and apps, you already have one foot in France. Start by asking a question, replying to someone’s message, or find a language pall. There are plenty of places to do so. Let’s name a Tandem application, a language learning app for finding a partner that will help you practice any language. In exchange, you’ll be helping them learn any of the languages you speak fluently. Everyone wins, and you might end up with a couple of new friends. If you are lucky to have a French institute in your city, don’t miss a chance to connect in the offline world. They often organize events for people to meet, discuss and discover French cultural heritage in a fun and engaging way.

10. Realize that not understanding is okay

Oh, la la ! Je ne comprends pas.

The soonest you apprehend the fact you won’t be able to understand everything, (even as a C1 fluent speaker) the sooner you’ll allow yourself to progress. Having a more relaxed mindset, will allow you to advance more naturally, and keep your motivation flying high. Global understanding is more relevant than going into detail. Particularly at the beginning. Remember that your mother didn’t rush you to say your first words, nor to take your first steps. It all came naturally, out of a loving and supporting place.

Nikolija Grozdanovic

Nikolija has been an avid language learner for many years. She became a language teacher, and more recently realized she wants to explore how being a creative learner helps you acquire a new language. Her most recent project was developing a textbook for learning French language (B1) through storytelling and creative projects.

Duolingo vs Memrise

Nikolija Grozdanovic — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 12:33:46 +0000

Some decisions in life are tough. Deciding between Duolingo vs Memrise is one of them.

Today, we are going to take a closer look at two of the most popular free language learning apps out there, and find out which one is best for your learning style.

The first word that pops into my mind when l think about an app like Duolingo and Memrise is: EASY.

Both apps are an easy way to build a new habit.

And we all know how building habits is crucial when learning a new language. Like any other skill, consistency is more important than hard work.

Some of us are great procrastinators, therefore if a new habit isn’t easy enough at the start, there’s a chance we get discouraged and stop before we even begin.

As both apps are at your fingertips, there is no need to make any learning plans, prepare notebooks, make a schedule, the idea is to learn whenever you have a few free minutes. Duolingo and Memrise make your habit so easy that it’s hard to say no. And that’s the whole point.

Duolingo and Memrise changed forever the way we learn languages. They became so popular over the years that today Duolingo has over 300 million learners, while Memrise claims over 35 million learners.

Both Duolingo and Memrise are accessible, easy to follow, and beginner-friendly — and that makes all the difference.

Now, let’s take a deep dive into each app.

Memrise’s story

Since 2013, Memrise has become one of the most widely used language learning platforms, both website and mobile app.

Memrise’s transparent name suggests that it’s all about helping learners remember vocabulary and isolated sentences.

To achieve this, Memrise uses spaced repetition and flashcards.

The first thing you should know about this app is that its unique learning system was developed by Ed Cooke, a memory master, and Greg Detre, a Princeton neuroscientist specializing in the science behind memory and forgetting.

How Memrise works

Most memrise courses flow logically and intuitively. They start with elementary words and phrases and slowly get more advanced.

At the beginning of each new course, you’re presented with vocabulary and a translation. We were impressed to discover that many flashcards are in fact short videos of native speakers saying the word or phrase. It’s a much more authentic way to learn the pronunciation when you see a native speaker moving lips.

Videos play a substantial role in Memrise, whether it’s to hear the pronunciation or in case of Chinese language, to see Chinese characters writing tips.

Learn and Immerse

Each course consists of two sections, “Learn” and “Immerse”.

The “Learn” section covers “Words and Phrases” and “Learn Grammar”. We guess you will spend most of your time, at least at the beginning, in the “Words and Phrases” section, picking up on new vocabulary, looking at video flashcards, listening to the audio, and choosing correct answers.

“Immerse” is slightly more challenging. It consists of short videos, where native speakers perform to illustrate a particular sentence, expression, or explain what they would say on a specific occasion. It’s not a textbook. Furthermore, it’s even better. Subtitles in your target language and English help you understand what’s going on the screen.

Memrise’s algorithm keeps track of the words you are struggling with. This means difficult words show up more frequently, while the ones you have already mastered get replaced by new vocabulary. Another personalized feature, allows you to tailor your experience, by making your vocabulary lists. However, this feature can be found and added only via a web browser.

On the good side, it has a wide variety of content available. On the downside, the same feature makes navigation a bit overwhelming. Well-structured courses are available mostly for beginners, but once you progress far enough, you can slightly lose your orientation.

Even for free members, you get to choose as many courses as you want. However, some nice features are only available for Premium subscribers, such as chatbots and grammar bots.

Features

26 language courses
Based on neuroscience
Spaced repetition
Diverse content
Native speaker’s videos
Immerse and Learn section
Personalized vocabulary lists
Multiple languages learning

Duolingo’s story

Duolingo is a widely popular language learning platform (both website and mobile) with free and premium membership options, and a wide range of different language courses.

Duolingo became so popular over the years that believe it or not, it has more Irish language learners than there are Irish speakers in the world.

Since 2012, more and more languages were added, so today they could brag with ninety eight language courses, including three fictional languages: Esperanto, Klingon and High Valyrian.

Most courses are available to the public in English, and as of 2020, they offer more languages for non-English speaking learners.

It’s obvious that Duolingo’s goal is being accessible to literally every person on the planet. Everything within this platform is meant to be easy. Doulingo wanted to remove any possible obstacles or excuses standing in your way, to build a new learning routine. The app surely understands the power of taking small steps each day, as well as rewarding you for your consistency. And we believe that’s Duolingo’s biggest strength.

How Duolingo works

Gamified structure and visual learning style make Duolingo perfect for casual learners. Tests take the central part in its courses and each lesson covers one or more tests, including a final review test. Upon choosing a language, you have two possibilities, start as a beginner or take a placement test. A learning path is intuitive and gradually increases its complexity. First, you will be introduced to the new vocabulary in pictures, and little by little encounter them in sentences and expressions. Every incorrect answer will be repeated as many times as it takes to finally retain the answer. Duolingo makes sure you don’t get away without learning. One of the drawbacks is not having access to the following lessons until you finish the current one. If you want to learn more daily, you’ll have to go for the Premium solution “Duolingo Plus” so you could get the luxury of skipping lessons and practicing as much as you want. Duolingo teaches you to form a sentence and get a deeper understanding of the language structure. To achieve this, it relies on the grammar-translation method combining various methods such as:

listening, reading sentences, voice recording, making phrases by putting the words in the correct order, and matching images to words. The downside is that the method sometimes leads to nonsensical sentences, with no real use in daily life.

With Duolingo, it’s super easy to learn multiple languages at once, However, not every language course offers equal quality. Some users complain that’s the case for languages with different alphabets.

Duolingo is the easiest tool that helps you build a habit and gets you started on a language journey. Metric “Streaks” count the number of consecutive days you have worked on Duolingo and rewards you for being consistent. However, it’s not self-sufficient to become an advanced speaker, and it was never meant to be. Duolingo stands as a comfortable complementary tool, especially for beginners in any language. It’s a great place to get the first contact with some languages or review the rusty ones.

Features

36 language courses
Gamified tests
Diversified reward system
Gradual progress
Public leaderboards where people can compete
Some of the most active language forums around
Grammar tips
Topic lessons

Additional Features for some languages and purposes

“Duolingo for Schools” is created to allow teachers to track students’ progress.
Duolingo Incubator platform where volunteers can participate and contribute to create new language courses
Podcasts in French and Spanish

Duolingo vs. Memrise: Similarities and differences

So far, we explained how both Memrise and Duolingo are great habit-builders, most of all because they offer chunked lessons, easy to swallow in a couple of minutes a day. Practicing your language skill whenever you have several minutes off is a great benefit. Speaking of convenience, they both offer mobile and desktop versions. The downside for both platforms is the limited speaking opportunity, but we don’t expect one app to cover everything. They are also beginner-friendly but not necessarily taking you to an advanced level.

Now, let’s talk about differences.

Duolingo is more of a general language learning site with a nice progressive curve, whereas Memrise is mostly vocabulary-oriented. As we see, they accomplish different goals. While Duolingo teaches you to build a sentence, Memrise is all about helping you remember individual words or phrases.

Both apps offer testing opportunities, but also differ in style. To test your knowledge, Duolingo uses gamified tests whereas Memrise spaced repetition. Duolingo has a much more diversified testing system, and on the other hand, Memrise contains much more interesting content to learn, such as native speaker videos and even an immerse section.

Duolingo works a lot to become accessible to everyone, including those who aren’t English speakers. Instead of English, Duolingo offers many other languages as French, Chinese, Nederland, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and many others.

DuoLingo Pros

98 language courses
Much better for understanding how to construct sentences
General language learning site
Gradual progression
Gamified testing options
Grammar tips
Very beginner-friendly

Memrise Pros

21 language courses
Much better for remembering isolated words or phrases
Spaced repetition system
Vocabulary oriented
Better sound recording
Infinite possibilities in terms of vocabulary
Great for irregular verbs
Beginner-friendly and above
Videos
Immerse section
Variety of content and topics

DuoLingo Cons

Robotic sounding for some languages
Could be slightly misleading for languages with different alphabets
No videos
Less effective for advanced language-learners.
Nonsensical sentences
Too many repetitions

Memrise Cons

No level placement test
Limited grammar instructions
Less effective for advanced language-learners

Duolingo or Memrise: Which Is Better?

Instead of deciding which one is better, we say they compliment each other, simply because they reach different goals. Duolingo is better if you want to figure out how to make a sentence, and Memrise is perfect to help you build up your vocabulary or learn any kind of irregularities. Everything depends on what kind of gaps you need to fill. In case you are a complete beginner, then both apps go hand in hand.

In case you aren’t English speaker ( and your language is one of the languages on Duolingo’s list), you should go for Duolingo as it offers many languages to start with instead of English.

Speaking of sound recording, Memrise wins this battle, while Duolingo has a kind of robotic-sounding. As you can see, in different areas, we choose different winners. Sometimes it’s Duolingo and sometimes Memrise.

Should I upgrade to premium?

Memrise Pro comes with two additional features: the chatbot and grammarbot options. Chatbot lets you practice the target language, feeling comfortable to make mistakes, as you’ll be chatting with a well-equipped robot.

The grammarbot will send you messages to teach you different grammar points. It also tests your comprehension after the lesson. Memrise Pro brings more interactivity into the game, and having more interactive options it definitely lacks the free Memrise program.

Unlike Memrise, Duolingo Premium doesn’t include much more than the standard version. With Duolingo Plus, you get the luxury of removing ads, downloading lessons on mobile and learning as much as you can, without waiting for one day to pass. But, basically, you don’t get any additional content for upgrading. You do get the chance to learn faster though. In the end, subscribing to Duolingo Premium allows you fast-paced learning, and Memrise Pro offers some tech features such as the chatbot and grammarbot.

Duolingo vs. Memrise: Conclusion

No doubt both Duolingo and Memrise could help you become more consistent and allow you to build strong habits. If you are a casual learner, learning whenever you have free time is the convenience you’ll adore.

Both apps are very beginner-friendly, as well if you want to scrape the rust off. However, neither Memrise nor Duolingo leads you to complete fluency. These apps will allow you to go from A1 to A2, (Memrise slightly above) but you will indeed need a bit more if you want to go further.

Depending on your needs, we recommend choosing Duolingo if you want to get familiar with the sentence structure or grammar and opt for Memrise if you want to learn vocabulary. As a complete beginner, you will probably benefit most by using them hand-in-hand to get a complete learning experience.

Nikolija Grozdanovic

Rocket Portuguese Review

Nikolija Grozdanovic — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 11:39:23 +0000

Note: This Rocket Portuguese Review is up-to-date as of October 23rd, 2021.

Many believe that Portuguese is only spoken in Portugal and Brazil when, in fact, it is the official language of several countries in Africa, such as Mozambique, Angola, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Principe. There is even a country in Asia, Timor-Leste, where Portuguese is one of two official languages. With 270 million Portuguese speakers worldwide, it makes Portuguese the sixth most spoken language in the world, and therefore a good reason for anyone to master it.

If you are considering learning Portuguese, please read our in-depth review of Rocket Portuguese (2021 Edition).

Rocket Portuguese Review: Introduction

Rocket Languages is a popular language-learning website (and app) with lifetime access to the course of your choice, that’s a rare feature not many others give. It currently offers 12 languages for English speakers, one of them being Portuguese.

Like many other apps, it offers you the convenience of learning to speak Portuguese on the go and at your own pace with its collection of audio lessons, both online and offline. One of it’s best features are quality and fully downloadable audio lessons, diverse reinforcement activities, recording tools, search tool and guided learning pathway. It sounds like everything you want from a language learning course. To be accessible and easy to follow.

Before you decide to purchase, you could choose to enroll in a free trial and get 6 hours for free. Even with limited access to the first module (out of seven), it should be enough to decide whether this course meets your standards or not. Then again, if you choose to enroll, you get a second chance (within the first 60 days) to give up, no questions asked. (Or at least that’s what they say )

A few of the accessible features of RocketLanguages include:

Access on a computer or mobile app
Downloadable mp3 files
Three subscription levels including, Level1, Level 1&2, Level 1,2 &3
Voice-recording tools
Activities in writing, listening, speaking, and a quiz after each lesson
Reinforcement learning algorithm
Culture notes
Well explained grammar with loads of examples
Survival kit section (first language help in different daily situations)
Search tool

Rocket Portuguese : Pros

Pro #1: Interactive audio lessons

Lessons are designed to help you speak right from the start and retrain tongue muscles for the new language. The interactive form allows you to record your voice as one of the characters from the dialogue while voice recognition helps you become aware of your pronunciation, as often we are not.

Pro #2: Variety of activities to reinforce all aspects of your new language

Every lesson comes with a range of testing tools to make sure the material sticks in your memory. Activities are divided into four sections, listening, speaking, reading, and writing, so you have the chance to practice vocabulary and phrases in all possible ways. One interesting feature that left us impressed, was the ability to change the roles you are playing in the dialogue. So, for example, you get the chance to record your lines, once as a customer and once as a salesclerk. We found that this feature stands out especially if you learn in tandem.

Pro #3: Algorithm that measures your language weaknesses and helps you improve

Their clever algorithm follows your success and adapts to focus on areas you are most struggling with. After the lesson, you have a variety of options to reinforce your skills, one of them being flashcards. Here, you’ll be able to rate each word as easy, good, or hard, which later helps you redo only the ones rated as hard to remember. Sounds neat, right?

Pro #4: On-The-Go Learning

You have the option to access your account on a computer or mobile app. You can even download it as mp3 to study when you are offline. This allows you to learn whenever is most convenient for you. The MP3 audio is ideal for listening during commutes. Giving that no videos are included, this makes Rocketlanguage a true on-the-go learning app.

Pro #5: Culture notes

Culture notes in English provide essential pieces of information about Portuguese culture. It helps you as well take a needed break from all that language learning.

Pro #6: Search tool

A search tool allows you to enter a word and find it back with all sentences containing entered word or expression in the search query.

Try Rocket Portuguese For Free

Rocket Portuguese Cons

Con #1: A steep price

If you are a beginner who has a long-term goal of becoming a fluent Portuguese speaker, having lifetime access could be something to consider. However, if you want to purchase the Intermediate level, you are still bound to pay for Beginner’s course, as they are glued together. The same goes for the Advanced level, where you get (Level 1, 2 & 3). We conclude that beginners are in a more favorable position here.

Con #2: Lack of video materials

This is not a con for everyone, but for those who are more visually propelled, this course could look less attractive.

Con #3: No printable lesson transcript

Although mp3 files are fully downloadable, there is no such possibility for lesson transcripts.

Rocket Portuguese Features

Interactive audio lessons

You will find loads of audio material where the instructors speak slowly and give you time to follow along. Each audio lesson is followed by flashcard repetitions, audio repetitions, writing exercises, and a quiz. Speaking and listening are the greatest strengths of this course.

It covers a wide range of topics beginning with the absolute basics and leading up to discussions that are quite advanced in level, covering all the essential topics.

Dashboard

Your dashboard is your home base of the Portuguese program. Upon logging into your account, you will be taken to your dashboard. From here you can do things like access different learning pathways, keep track of your progress, check on your leaderboard position, how many points you have earned, and your position compared to other Portuguese learners. If you are competitive, this feature will drive your learning. Another thing we noticed is that navigating is convenient, and we salute the ability to take notes on almost every page.

Learning Tools

Plenty of learning tools is there to supplement your lessons such as interactive flashcards, voice-recording options, writing exercises, audio recognition, and quiz at the very end. We already mentioned how great it is to have a clever algorithm that follows your ups and downs and helps you reinforce your weaknesses.

Learning Pathways

There are 3 main pathways to get you started speaking Portuguese. The first one contains interactive audio lessons, followed by the learning tools we mentioned. The second pathway consists of Language and Culture notes and covers areas such as grammar, alphabet, and useful information about the culture. And we couldn’t enjoy more the fact the grammar is demonstrated rather than explained in heavy detail. The third pathway is a survival kit section. In the Survival kit, you’ll find quick lessons if you need to brush up on travel or emergency phrases.

Who Would Most Benefit From Using Rocket Portuguese?

If you are committed to your long-term goal of becoming a fluent Portuguese speaker, then you will surely benefit from having a lifetime access feature. We feel that people who would benefit most from Rocketlanguages include those who:

thrive at independent study
have a long-term plan to become a fluent Portuguese speaker
enjoy learning on the go
like to be guided on their learning journey

Who Would NOT Benefit from Rocket Portuguese?

Some language learners may not reap all the advantages of RocketLanguages and that includes those who:

are on a tight budget
require one-on-one help with learning
lack motivation
prefer video format

Rocket Portuguese vs. The Competition

PortuguesePod101 vs Rocketlangauges

PortuguesePod101 consists of an extensive library of lessons in both video and podcast forms. You will also find interactive learning tools, news, and culturally relevant information. But, as we all know, sometimes crowded websites could make you feel overwhelmed, and you could find yourself spending more time searching for the right lesson than studying. On the other hand, the Rocketlanguages website is easy to follow and navigate and has well-structured pathways. The other main difference is that instructors in audios on PortuguesePod101 use English frequently and sometimes even unnecessarily, while Rocketlanguage audio files are all in Portuguese, and written translation in English, which saves your valuable time and cuts down unnecessary talk. You can read our full review of PortuguesePod101 here.

Pimsleur vs Rocketlangauges

Both Pimsleur and Rocketlanguages provide audio-based learning, yet they have different approaches. The main difference is that Pimsleur focuses more on constant repetition of isolated words or phrases, with a brief pause so you can repeat, while Rocketlanguages provides you with dialogues set up in the context of a real situation. Although repetition is much needed when learning a language, it is difficult to remember a phrase when it’s completely out of context.

We don’t see Pimsleur as a stand-alone product, yet as an audio supplement to a textbook or other main resources.

How Much Does Rocket Portuguese Cost?

RocketLanguages offer two days free trial, to get a sneak peek at the materials. Once you purchase the desired course, you’ll again have 60 days to make your mind, and they guarantee that if you decide it’s not for you, for any reason whatsoever, you could ask for a full refund. We like that we had a chance to fully test out the course before buying.

As it usually happens, a substantial discount is applied if you purchase all three levels at once.

Level 1- Instant lifetime access $149.95/ $99.95/ (using this link you get a coupon that saves you $50.00)

Takes you from beginner to intermediate.134 hours of lesson time
2666 phrases with voice recognition
34 Interactive Audio lessons
33 Language & Culture lessons
1 BONUS Survival Kit worth $49.95

Levels 1 & 2- Instant lifetime access $299.90/ $249.90 / (using this link you get a coupon that saves you $50.00)

Takes you from beginner to advanced.
244 hours of lesson time
5807 phrases with voice recognition
66 Interactive Audio lessons
56 Language & Culture lessons
2 BONUS Survival Kits worth $99.90

Levels 1, 2, & 3 – Instant lifetime access $449.85/ $259.90 / (using this link you get a coupon that saves you $189.95)

Takes you from beginner to advanced.
370 hours of lesson time
10004 phrases with voice recognition
98 Interactive Audio lessons
87 Language & Culture lessons
3 BONUS Survival Kits worth $149.85

Check For Rocket Portuguese Discounts

Rocket Portuguese Review Summary

In the end, we think that Rocket Portuguese is easy to follow learning tool for those just starting out learning to speak Portuguese. Its interactive and downloadable audio lessons are its best feature, alongside reinforcement activities that will surely lead you to steady success. Unlike other platforms, Rocket Languages offers lifetime access instead of monthly or yearly subscriptions. We admit this kind of investments sound a bit frightening, especially if you are not 100% certain in your decision to learn Portuguese. However, for those who are committed, and have a long-term goal to become fluent, having lifetime access is a major advantage.

Try Rocket Portuguese For Free

Nikolija Grozdanovic

Spanish Uncovered Review (Story Learning)

Nikolija Grozdanovic — Wed, 03 Feb 2021 13:29:21 +0000

This Spanish Uncovered review is up-to-date as of February 13th, 2023.

If you’re a relative beginner in Spanish and are wondering which course is right for you, read our review of Spanish Uncovered — in our opinion one of the most unique, fun and effective self-study language resources we’ve come across in recent years.

What is Story Learning? And Who is Olly Richards?

Story Learning (formerly I Will Teach You A Language) is a language learning brand created by Olly Richards and his team. The brand is built around a blog/website, podcast, youtube channel. Olly and his Story Learning team produces self-study language courses in many languages including Chinese, Japanese, Italian, Russian and many more.

With this language course, Olly claims to not only teach you a foreign language but also master the art of language learning. Relying on the nature of human communication, Olly created a course that rejects the boring textbooks of yesteryear and puts the power of story in the spotlight.

As someone who fluently speaks 8 languages, Olly Richards is the guy that you want to learn from. Olly’s language learning insights are based on the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively.

Spanish Uncovered Review: Overview

Today, we are reviewing Spanish Uncovered, a comprehensive online beginner Spanish course that takes you from being a complete beginner in Spanish to an intermediate level.

Like other online Spanish language courses, it offers you the convenience of learning Spanish at your own pace with its collection of fully downloadable audio lessons, video lessons, and pdf lessons. Olly Richards’ courses are a natural, brain-friendly way to learn a new language.

Before you decide to purchase Spanish Uncovered, you can choose to enroll in a seven days free trial of the course (credit card is required). They also offer a 30-day money-back guarantee if you do purchase and decide it’s not for you.

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Spanish Uncovered Features

Some of the notable features of Spanish Uncovered include:

A Complete 20-module course that takes you from Beginner to Intermediate
The story runs through every module
Downloadable audio, video, and pdf lessons
Audio and pdf lessons in both Iberian and Latin American accent
Useful tips about learning a language in general
Expert pronunciation training videos
Extra-large and engaging community of learners
60+ video lessons with host Olly Richards

Besides Spanish Uncovered, Story Learning also offers a variety of other Spanish courses based on your starting proficiency level. You can choose between intermediate, conversational (Intermediate), grammar course, or survival Spanish.

Spanish Uncovered Bonus: 100 Most Common Spanish Words

Spanish Uncovered Pros

Pro #1: Learn Spanish naturally through the “StoryLearning” method

The heart of the story learning methodology consists of Listening & Reading which allows you to acquire language passively in a brain-friendly way. For thousands of years – even when we were cavemen – we have been communicating through stories.

Scientists proved that learning through stories improves long-term memory. Olly Richards’ StoryLearning method uses the power of story to teach you Spanish by immersion and passive learning. Each module starts with an audio story, followed by a reading activity in Spanish. Later on, Olly helps you understand cognates and other words from the context, analyze the sentence patterns and help your brain comprehend the connections. Give up a vocabulary list and understand the new vocabulary from the context.

Spanish Lesson – At The Bar

Pro #2: Immersion first, study

The essential Olly Richards mantra is: MOVE ON BEFORE YOU LEARN THE GRAMMAR.

The StoryLearning method means you learn a language the same way children do. That’s why each module starts with an audio story, followed by explanatory videos that analyze the text in more depth.

Pro #3: Useful tips about learning a language in general

Before you even start learning Spanish with Spanish Uncovered, you’ll find one chapter dedicated to different methodologies and tips on how to effectively adopt a language. In the end, you’ll leave this language course with a better understanding of the language learning process.

Pro #4: Suitable for Iberian and Latin American Spanish accent

Spanish Uncovered includes each story recorded in both Iberian and Latin American accents. This is a big plus for learners who want to hear the differences in dialects side by side.

Spanish Uncovered includes both Iberian and Latin American pronunciation

Pro #5: Fully downloadable material

You can access Spanish Uncovered online, or download the material to use while offline. This gives flexibility to those who want to study on their commute or away from the distractions of wifi.

Pro #6: Expert pronunciation training videos

Another important feature of the Spanish Uncovered language course is the set of pronunciation videos with Angela Moreno, a native Spanish teacher as well as an expert in pronunciation and accent reduction. It’s reassuring that Angela understands the subtle differences between how sounds are pronounced in English and Spanish.

You’ll learn the correct position of mouth and tongue and an additional worksheet will help you fully adopt these sounds in your Spanish.

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Spanish Uncovered Cons

Cons #1: Instructions can be too long

Instructions in Spanish Uncovered are sometimes longer than necessary and can get a bit repetitive, which unintentionally takes your valuable time of learning.

Cons #2: Lack of Interactivity

Even though Spanish Uncovered lessons are full of extensive vocabulary, grammar, and even pronunciation worksheets, it sometimes seems like they are a better fit for a Spanish teacher than a self-study Spanish learner. Although we love that everything is downloadable, we miss interactive flashcards and other no-pencil-needed features.

Spanish Uncovered Features

Language learning tips

Before you start Spanish Uncovered, there is an introductory section, where you can learn how to navigate through the course, how the StoryLearning lessons work, and get some useful tricks to learn a language. This section will also give you a list of 100 essential Spanish words to boost your Spanish fluency and to get you ready for immersion.

Tips for learning a new language from Olly Richards

Cognates and translation

Olly Richards’ learning system is created to help your brain build on prior knowledge (mother tongue, other foreign languages, or common sense) and maximize your understanding. The key is to start with the words you already know from English. Olly teaches you how to build understanding based on cognates (words that have a common etymological origin) or false cognates. After listening and reading only in Spanish, you finally get an English translation to fill in the missing gaps.

Spanish Uncovered Cognates Lesson

Lesson Transcripts

Spanish and English lesson transcripts are available and fully printable for later review. This means you are fully covered, even when you don’t have access to the internet.

Review modules

After you’ve completed ten modules, you’ll get one review module that leads you through Spanish grammar, vocabulary, and speaking.

Learning Pathway

One of the best features of Spanish Uncovered is definitely its logical, well organized, and easy to follow learning path. Each module consists of a synopsis, an audio story, a reading section, the cognates and translations section, vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, speaking exercise, and a review quiz.

The main idea of StoryLearning is to start by listening to a Spanish story and gradually analyze the material, in the terms of grammar, pronunciation, cognates, and vocabulary. The grammar lessons include extensive worksheets and detailed explanations about grammar rules. As you progress, you’ll find that you just begin to understand Spanish grammar more intuitively.

Olly Richards: The man, the myth, the legend.

Who Would Benefit From Spanish Uncovered ?

We feel that people who would benefit most from Olly’s course include those who:

can tolerate a little frustration of not understanding everything right at once
like learning a new language through stories and meaningful content (ie. “StoryLearning”)
like learning languages in general and would benefit from Olly’s broader language learning tips
enjoy discovering innovative methods in language learning
are patient to see results

Who Won’t Benefit from Spanish Uncovered?

Some language learners may not reap all the advantages of Spanish Uncovered, and that includes those who:

are on a tight budget
require one-on-one help with learning
lack persistence
feel too much frustrated when everything is not translated or explained immediately
prefer learning through repetition over context

Spanish Uncovered vs. The Competition

SpanishPod101 vs Spanish Uncovered

These two courses offer essentially different learning styles. While Spanish Uncovered uses StoryLearning to intuitively learn new vocabulary, SpanishPod101 lessons are arranged around general topics and rely mostly on the power of small and simple routines.

This easy to follow, on the go course, centers mainly around listening and repetition. While repetition is one of the elementary methods in SpanishPod 101, passive learning is the main goal in Spanish Uncovered. Here, the progress goes from passive understanding to analytical thinking and dissecting grammar rules. The learning pathway is well developed, structured, and based on cognitive psychology and neuroscience to provide brain-friendly learning. This kind of learning is not always fast-paced, but it sure provides a greater level of understanding.

If you enjoy the story learning approach and you feel you would benefit from language learning tips, then Spanish Uncovered is the one for you. On the other hand, SpanishPod101 has one of the most extensive collections of Spanish lessons, including podcasts, videos, and flashcards. Both courses cost the same amount of money, and in the end, it’s your learning style that makes the difference.

You can read our full review of SpanishPod101 here.

How Much Does Spanish Uncovered Cost?

Spanish Uncovered offers a seven day free trial to get a sneak peek at the materials, although you’ll need use your credit card to activate the trial. On day 8, if you haven’t canceled, $297 will be charged to your account — that is the cost of a yearly subscription.

Spanish Uncovered 7 Day Free Trial

Use the button below to sign up for the 7-day free trial of Spanish Uncovered.

Try Spanish Uncovered for Free

If you choose to cancel, simply send an email before day 7 and your account will be cancelled without being charged.

Spanish Uncovered Review Summary

Spanish Uncovered from Story Learning and is a unique course that offers innovative StoryLearning methods based on the latest research from neuroscience and cognitive psychology. With this course, you’ll be able to initiate a passive learning process, and later turn on your analytical mind for Spanish grammar, patterns, and vocabulary. Created by Olly Richards, a man who speaks eight languages, Spanish Uncovered will also give you the tools you need to learn any language through self study.

Innovative methods, pronunciation training videos with a native Spanish teacher in Iberian and Latin Spanish accent, loads of downloadable material, lesson transcript, pdf translation, worksheets, language learning tips. What more could one ask? This language course is the right choice for anyone who wants to learn Spanish in a brain-friendly way, who appreciates innovative methods, and is willing to challenge his or her brain for the best results.

With a 7-day free trial, and a 30-day money back guarantee, we’re confident to recommend Spanish Uncovered to any beginner who is serious about learning Spanish on their own.

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Nikolija Grozdanovic