If you've been on Duolingo for a while and you realize it's not quite as great as you thought it would be, you're in good company. So if Duolingo just isn't cutting it for you, what do you do instead? My name is Jamie. I'm a language coach. Let's talk about what apps are better than Duolingo for learning languages based on what you're looking to accomplish in your language learning. Because if you're new to my channel, I'm all about making sure that what you're doing to learn a language will actually get you to the results you're looking for in your language learning, and not just peddling different apps and courses because they pay me to. So the first point that I want to make right now is that Duolingo is really excellent at getting you to come back to the app. It keeps you addicted, it keeps you excited and it keeps you motivated because it gives you a sense of accomplishment. This is what Duolingo is good at. It is really excellent at that short term motivation. And it drags out that short term motivation as long as it possibly can. And by that, I mean your streak. You're really motivated to keep your streak going, whether or not it's actually developing your language learning. So Duolingo is really excellent at getting you addicted, but that doesn't actually get you the language skills. It doesn't actually get you using the language. So what should you look for instead? If you are a beginner and you really like the gamification, you really like the cute characters and the fun sounds, then Drops is going to be better than Duolingo for you if you're looking for vocab. It's built for beginner language learners specifically and it's fun, but it's also teaching you vocabulary. Not only that, but it teaches you a huge wide variety of vocabulary. So instead of just learning “horse eats tuna” in like 17 different ways, you'll learn actual words that are beneficial to you because these words are separated by category and you can pick and choose whichever words you want to learn at any given time. Instead of going down Duolingo’s learning path where you are told exactly what to learn, like literally against your will, Drops keeps you in charge of what vocabulary you're learning and there's no like prerequisites, order about which words you can study at whichever time, it's it's up to you. Drops will give you that flexibility that Duolingo has completely gutted from its app. Now, once you learn the vocabulary, how do you use it? Definitely not Duolingo. Duolingo doesn't do this at all unless you are learning English. For getting used to practicing the language on your own, if you're a beginner, I would totally recommend Polygloss. Polygloss is cute. It's fun, it's lightweight, it's easy to use and you can start from like absolutely beginner. Basically, the way that Polygloss works is that you have a collection of images. You describe one of the images and then it connects you to somebody who is learning your target language, I think, and they have to guess which image you're describing. It's a really, really simple concept and you can use it from absolute beginner from literally saying “a cat” to, I don't know, “that is a fat old cat with a brown nose” or “I wonder if the cat had its food on time today.” You know, it's really, it's up to your imagination and it's up to you to decide which level you're going for. But this kind of practice is really essential for beginners who are trying to get used to using the language. And it's much better than Duolingo because instead of just rehashing the same 17 sentences over and over and over again - and not even like in a necessarily productive way, and like, you're just pressing buttons with Duolingo - with Polygloss, you are actively using the language every step of the way, and you're doing it in a way that matches your level, matches your comfort. Gold star for Polygloss. Now, let's say you have your vocab down and you're starting to get used to producing the language, but you're, you're having a hard time putting sentences together, right? Grammar. Duolingo is just fine with starting to build those patterns implicitly so they don't explain the patterns to you. But eventually you're going to get to the point where you need a more explicit education. You need to be told exactly what's going on and you need to be able to practice it. And in this category, Busuu is much better than Duolingo, because not only is it a really explicit introduction to the grammar, and you can be told exactly what's going on and what to do and how to do it, but you're also linked to Busuu’s community where you can practice using the grammar and have it corrected by the community. So by real human people who speak the language that you're learning. And Busuu’s app and website are really nice and functional. They're easy to use, they're very modern and there is a little bit of like, you know, fun sounds and animations, but not nearly - like, I mean, because Duolingo is just like excessive half the time you're using Duolingo, it's all just waiting for animations to go by. Busuu has a little bit of animations, but enough so that it's kind of an accentuation. It accentuates the experience. It doesn't completely take over the experience. And just like Polygloss, Busuu is better than Duolingo because it has you using what it is that you learned, and you can choose how you want to use it. You can write something down, you can say it, whatever you want, it's up to you to dictate where your language learning is going. And if I haven't mentioned it yet, links below in the description for my reviews of all of the apps that I mentioned in this video. So far I've been very critical of Duolingo and for a reason, I'm not about to deny that. One of the things that Duolingo has done wrong in recent years is the learning path that everybody hates. So where you used to be able to decide what it is that you're going to learn, when you're going to learn it within reason, you had an option of like 5 to 6 different lessons that you could choose, and they've completely destroyed that. And now you have to learn what they tell you to learn or else. Then on the other hand, all the resources that I've mentioned so far are like the complete opposite. You can choose what you study, how you study it, let's go somewhere in the middle. So the last couple resources I'm going to mention do give you that structure until you kind of, you know how to progress from one level to the next. But it's not nearly as strict as Duolingo’s learning path. So, for example, I would say Rosetta Stone is a lot better than Duolingo in this regard because while there is like level one to level, however many levels Rosetta Stone has, and while there is that very strict hand-holding, I mean it's not even that strict, you can take whatever lessons that you want at any time. Rosetta Stone is really excellent at getting a full, comprehensive holistic language education A.S.A.P. Like if you use Rosetta Stone, your brain is going to hurt because it's working so hard. It's kind of like CrossFit. Rosetta Stone will get you speaking the language, it will get you building your vocabulary, building your grammar, building your comprehension, all of the different skills. Rosetta Stone’s got it down pat and it's, it's quick. So I would say that if you are looking for a more of a direct route that is a lot more efficient, then I would recommend Rosetta Stone. I mean, I know that I can't use Rosetta Stone for more than like 5, 10 minutes, and not because of the whole, you know, “learn a language in 10 minutes a day!” but because my brain will actually hurt, because I'm pushing, pushing my brain so much and like learning so much. Now finally, the last two apps I want to mention in this video that are better than Duolingo are similar to Duolingo, but do it better. What I mean by that is that these two apps have a similar structure and have a very similar, like they have the circles and you click the circles and you do the activities that Duolingo does, but it's higher quality. The first example of this is Ling. Now Ling was originally developed for learners of Southeastern Asian languages. But it's not anymore. It's available in a ton different languages. Link below in the description for an updated list of those languages. But Ling's functionality is similar to Duolingo’s, like I said, in like the pathways and, you know, the the the general look and feel of Duolingo. But it's a lot better at encompassing all of the language skills like Rosetta Stone does. It doesn't go as deep or as hard as Rosetta Stone does. It keeps it light and flexible and easy, but is still better than Duolingo because you actually you're, you're progressing through levels and actually learning skills, instead of just kind of feeling like you're learning skills. It's still lightweight, still pretty surface level and fun like Duolingo is, but the fun is higher quality. Another app that similar to Ling but still better than Duolingo is Lingodeer. Seriously, all these apps have like very similar names and it is genuinely hard to keep track at this point. Now, if you like the the flexible lightweight vibe of Duolingo and Ling, but you want something a little bit more complex, you want some more language that you can really sink your teeth into and get that like stronger function of a language, then Lingodeer might be a better bet for you. Lingodeer will really have you start to develop your language education a little bit more and give you a much more solid platform to start with so you can take what you learn from Lingodeer and apply it to pretty much anything, because Lingdeer is really excellent at how it hits all of the different language skills. Honestly, right now I am looking at my review of Lingodeer, because I haven't seen it for a while. And my biggest qualm was that you can't talk to actual human beings, but that's not what it's designed for and there are plenty of other options for that. So Lingdoeer is really excellent and definitely better than Duolingo, that's for sure. I've mentioned quite a few different language apps in this video, and I'll admit it can definitely be overwhelming to decide which one might be more beneficial to you. Fortunately, if you're looking for more direction with that, you're in the right place. So if you have all this information but you're having a hard time executing it, I would really recommend you take my free quiz link below in the description. Based on the answers to your quiz, you'll get some personalized advice about what to do next for your language learning. But that's all I had for this video. If you found it valuable, make sure to subscribe and hit the bell to be notified when I post a new one all about how to learn languages every Wednesday. And make sure to grab that free quiz linked below. I'm thinking if you like this video, you'll like that quiz even more. See you there!
