Linguti vs. Duolingo: A face off?
At first glance, it looks like Linguti might just be the new Duolingo. It has many similar features, including a streak, money to buy power ups, and a general gamified learning environment. I decided to review Linguti and find out what made it stand out! And whether it's competition has anything to worry about.
Linguti offers a few languages that Duolingo doesn't. Korean and Japanese, for example. But I decided on French, because I struggled with it on Duolingo. (Mostly due to the robot voice.)
The course starts out with vocabulary. The first thing I noticed, and this is definitely a pro, was a human voice said the words. Not a robot voice! I think Duo is great, but that robot voice is horrible and will always be a con in my book.
After the vocabulary, you start learning simple sentences right away. This is similar to Duolingo, but you are treated to real pictures throughout the course, not just for vocabulary. This is a huge pro for visual learners.
The listening tests and midterm reviews were also nice features. Unlike Duolingo, Linguti makes you take two tests, a midterm review and a review, before you can move on to the next part of learning. Definitely a pro!
Now for the downside, because there always seems to be one. Linguti didn't seem to have any community or forum discussion. So unlike Duolingo, you can't discuss grammar concepts with other learners. This might be a pro for solo learners who would be distracted by the community environment, but for me it was a definite downside. I did see a spot for notifications of friend requests but no actual place to find friends.
Another con of Linguti is that they don't accept alternative correct answers. They do allow you to report bugs like this, though. While this definitely can hinder the learning experience, I think it is something the site will improve over time.
They are also very strict about accents. But for those who want to make sure that they are always spelling the words correctly, with accents in place, this is definitely a pro!
Overall, I did like the look and feel of the Linguti learning experience, and I will probably visit this site from time to time.
If your target language is Japanese, Korean, or (coming soon) Chinese, you'll definitely want to give Linguti a chance!
Pros: Completely free
Human voice
Many pictures
Tests
Offers Japanese and Korean
Cons:
Strict about accepting answers
No discussion forum
Languages: French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish
Similar to: Duolingo, Mondly, Rosetta Stone
Had a terrible experience with this one. I had an issue with sound not working on the web site, tried all the basic troubleshooting, tried other computers, sound worked on all other web sites. Because of the nature of the site, sound is absolutely required to complete many lessons and you cannot progress without completing them.
ReplyDeleteI made requests on their site and messaged them on Facebook and never got a response after 4 weeks. When I commented on a public Facebook post that I was having issues and not being answered, they went so far as to block me there with no response to avoid helping me.
Even before this killing issues, the site was buggy as heck, constantly having to reload pages to avoid issues. I don't know if it was better before, but they upgraded or changed something and it just doesn't work now. I wouldn't suggest it for anyone.