What makes Mondly stand out in this ultimate battle for knowledge? How unique are its features, and what exactly does it offer? This Mondly review will give you answers to these and many other important questions.
Pros & Cons
Pricing Plans
One-Month
$9.89
Access to one language
Annual Plan
$47.89
Access to one language
Full Annual
$478.90
Access to all languages
Lifetime Plan
Varies
Access to one, three, five, or all languages
Language learning apps must meet very high standards to succeed in today’s highly competitive market. The constant need for improvement and one-upmanship gave us access to various platforms that incorporate different ideas and teaching methods.
Founded in Romania in 2014, Mondly is not your typical language learning software. Its founders, brothers Alexandru and Tudor Iliescu, wanted to ensure users would have fun while learning new languages, so they implemented various special methods and features.
Features, Courses, and Materials
Mondly is a language application that offers alternative ways of learning. It combines different tools and techniques, from modern technology (speech recognition software, chatbot, virtual reality, and augmented reality) to more conventional methods (grammar exercises in the form of games and translations).
The lessons on Mondly are short, interactive, and straight to the point. To start using the platform, you first need to visit the website or download the app. Then you’ll have to select your native language and the language you want to learn. Finally, you should pick your learning level and start your first lesson. The app will automatically save your progress.
Mondly Learning App Review
When starting your first lesson, you’ll be presented with a tutorial to walk you through the app’s basics. You’ll also see different categories, including Food and Drinks, Family, Travel, Romance, and Daily Lesson.
There is no specific order in which you should access these categories. You can start with any topic you like and switch to a different one whenever you want. For example, you can take a Hello lesson first and then jump to an Entertainment or Fun lesson.
The app has approximately 40 categories, so it’ll take you some time to explore all the options.
Mondly App Review of the Categories
The categories are divided into short lessons (usually six or eight) that contain questions you can answer using different methods, from swiping to the correct one to translating sentences and putting the right words under corresponding images. You will be graded for every answer you give.
Three stars are awarded to you at the beginning of each lesson. Every wrong answer will cost you one star. If you lose all your stars, you will have to repeat the lesson. Answering correctly will get you points and a good ranking on the Leaderboard, where you can also compare your scores with other users. This game-like learning style is ideal for beginners.
Mondly Chatbot Review
Another key feature of the app is the chatbot that helps you practice conversation. There are several topics (getting a taxi, ordering food in a restaurant, and checking into a hotel) that allow you to practice different real-life situations.
How Does the Chatbot Work?
You’ll get involved in an interactive conversation with the bot, where you’ll have to respond accordingly. Then you’ll get a few replies to choose from; if you don’t see the right answer, you can select the More Suggestions option. If you prefer talking over typing, use the mic to reply.
In reality, this tool isn’t without its flaws. According to one Mondly languages review, the mic button doesn’t always work, and the replies offered sometimes don’t make sense (for example, if the bot says “Good morning,” you can only reply with “Good afternoon” or “Hello”).
Still, if you ignore the scenarios that are not always realistic and look past the flaws mentioned above, the chatbot is an excellent tool for practicing pronunciation.
You can check your progress, points, level progression, and daily progression via the Statistics section at the bottom of the page. There is also a unique feature called Brain, which lets you see the words you learned and how they are connected with the lessons. Pretty cool, right? However, if you seek face-to-face classes with professors, then you might try Italki (find out more about it in our Italki review).
Mondly VR Review
VR technology has been used since the 1970s, mostly for medical and flight simulations, but it wasn’t until the 1990s that Sega popularized its use in video games. Nowadays, many apps routinely use this technology, and Mondly is no exception.
Mondly’s VR app is accessible in 28 languages, and it’s quite similar to the chatbot. When you put on the VR headset, you’ll be placed in a 2D environment and asked to choose the language you wish to learn. You will then have a choice of several real-life locations to be “teleported” to (e.g., train, restaurant, hotel reception, etc.).
There is, however, one big issue with Mondly’s VR speech recognition software. As the PCMag Mondly review reveals, users don’t have much control over it. Specifically, you can’t meddle with the speed of the audio, so it’s not possible to slow down the recording. You also can’t click on individual words to hear the correct pronunciation.
What Do the Lessons Look Like in the VR Setting?
After you’ve chosen one of the locations, you’ll be able to talk with an AI assistant that will greet you with several questions. From there, you use your voice to reply with one of the suggested examples. You also get to listen to a native speaker pronounce particular words.
There are many positive reviews of Mondly’s VR. For example, the glowing Forbes review of Mondly states that this VR app will positively affect the future of language learning platforms.
Mondly AR Review
With Mondly’s AR feature, you can create a CGI teacher in your room or any other environment. The teacher’s name is Mondly, and although she might look realistic (you can even change her outfits), don’t expect her to sound very natural. Her voice is a bit robotic and strange compared to a native speaker’s voice.
Mondly starts her lessons with animals and their names. You can ask her to show you the animal (which also appears in your room) with whom you can interact by clicking. This also launches a feature that helps you learn the names of different animal body parts.
Mondly Language Learning Review
The platform offers courses in 41 languages. You can learn popular, widely spoken languages like German, French, and Spanish, but you can also try out Hebrew, Afrikaans, or Vietnamese.
In addition to the categories we’ve already mentioned, there are daily lessons you can customize to fit your needs. The lessons unlock new content every 10 hours, and your only job is to turn on the notifications and choose when you want to conduct the courses. These lessons certainly don’t lack in numbers. There are 1,500 daily lessons in total, and their main goal is to keep you in shape.
Now, let’s see what individual language courses have to offer.
Mondly Spanish Review
Looking at Mondly’s selection of Spanish language courses, there’s one thing you’ll notice immediately. Although the app can help you learn Castilian Spanish and Catalan, there are no courses in Latin American Spanish.
As long as this isn’t a problem for you, the process is very simple. To get started, pick your preferred category and listen to any lesson you like while skipping those you find unnecessary. There are 40 categories in total, so don’t be afraid to explore them all. In our Mondly Spanish conversation review, we must point out the option to practice dialogue using the chatbot. You can respond to the bot’s questions by writing or by speaking into your microphone. Vocabulary practices include various exercises like adding the missing word, translating, repeating phrases, connecting pictures with words, etc.
You can click on any verb to see its conjugation, but you can’t see any grammar explanations, which isn’t ideal. All things considered, it’s safe to assume you won’t become fluent in Spanish in just one month. However, you’ll still be able to understand numerous words and phrases.
Mondly French Review
Like all other languages on the platform, French is also organized into categories. You can start your lessons by choosing any of the offered categories–Hello, Romance, Seasons & Weather, Grammar, Restaurant, and Chatbot.
Much like Spanish, the French language course focuses on vocabulary and conversation practices. However, many exercises here are too simple, and you won’t have problems solving them because you’ll be able to hear the correct answer.
To make things a little more challenging for yourself, you can turn off your speakers while practicing. Just don’t forget to turn them on again later to hear the correct pronunciation.
Mondly Arabic Review
Arabic is spoken in 25 countries, including popular tourist destinations like Egypt, Morocco, and Algeria. If you’re planning to visit Casablanca or see the Great Pyramid of Giza, you might want to learn the basics of the Arabic language and practice reading the alphabet from right to left.
The built-in transliteration tool converts the Latin alphabet into Arabic, allowing you to learn how particular words are written. There are over 5,000 Arabic words and phrases you can learn.
With the help of the extensive Arabic dictionary (with more than 120,000 words), you’ll be able to learn the most common words. This will help you understand various texts written in Arabic.
Mondly Korean Review
Korean is one of the hardest languages to learn, along with Japanese and Chinese. If you’re a fan of Korean cinema (or you’ve just seen the amazing Oscar-winning movie Parasite), you’re probably aware of its complexity.
The most difficult thing regarding the Korean language is learning the right pronunciation. You also have to understand the basics of the two writing systems – Hangul and Hanja.
This is where the chatbot exercises should come in handy. For an easy start, begin with the basic categories like Hello, Introduction, or Core Vocabulary, and don’t skip your daily lessons.
Mondly Thai Review
So you finally decided to visit the Grand Palace in Bangkok or hang out with the elephants in Khao Yai, but your knowledge of Thai isn’t that great. You’re lucky because Mondly is a great choice for people who want to learn a few basic words and phrases quickly in order to travel.
If you don’t already know how to read Thai, start at the beginner level and use English transcription. Of course, the sooner you learn how to read the Thai alphabet, the better. Keep in mind that Mondly will only teach you the fundamentals of the language. If you want to learn every aspect of Thai and become fluent in it, you should use additional learning materials.
Mondly for Chinese Review
Chinese is the most-spoken Asian language globally and also one of the hardest to learn. The Chinese writing system is logosyllabic (one syllable for one character). This writing system is called kanji, and it’s one of the oldest in the world.
The most difficult thing to learn will obviously be the grammar. Mondly offers you three grammar sections (Grammar 1, 2, and 3). Every section contains seven or eight short lessons. The lessons consist of reading, writing, speaking, and listening to natives. If you decide to use the VR set, you can try ordering dumplings in a simulated restaurant in Beijing or riding a train to Hong Kong while chit-chatting with the other passengers.
Mondly Polish Review
English speakers usually find Slavic languages (like Polish, Russian, Croatian, or Czech) hard to learn, mostly because of their different grammar rules and use of special characters (ą, ł, š, č, etc.). These unique Polish letters (ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ś, ó, ź, ż) are precisely the thing learners find most challenging to pronounce and understand.
Once you figure out the basics of the Polish language, learning other Slavic languages will suddenly look a lot less scary. Start with the beginner mode, and work extra-hard on your pronunciation as it will allow you to learn other similar languages much faster.
Let’s end our Mondly language review by quickly recapping what we’ve learned so far. As outlined above, every language on Mondly gets the same treatment. They all include the same categories divided into short lessons, weekly quizzes, daily lessons, and pronunciation exercises enhanced with audio recordings of native speakers.
In addition, almost all languages have a special augmented reality (AR) feature that can be downloaded as a mobile app. However, many users report that the app often crashes and freezes, so don’t be surprised if you experience some difficulties.
Mondly Kids Review
Mondly for Kids is a special app designed for children aged 5-12.
As with the classic version of the app, children can learn one of the 41 languages available (such as Hindi, Hebrew, Polish, Ukrainian, and Hungarian). The list of available lessons includes topics like Animals, Parts of the Body, Colors & Numbers, Buildings, Sports, etc.
Children can also learn new languages through:
- Various fun topics (animals, food, family, sport)
- Questions with multiple choice answers
- Audio recordings of native speakers
- Beautiful illustrations, music, and various sounds to keep them entertained.
Ease of Use
Preparing for this Mondly review, we learned that the Mondly app is available for both iOS and Android devices. You can also access the lessons via the Mondly website.
To use the app, you don’t even have to create an account. Do this if you want to save your scores, ratings, and progress. Speaking of the app, the graphics are admirable, and it almost feels like playing a game rather than learning complicated language rules.
All things considered, users are mostly satisfied with Mondly’s services and features like VR, chatbot, and AR, even though some of them have reported problems with the AR app.
Mondly Price and Plans
There are two plans Mondly offers to its users: Free and Premium. The Free plan doesn’t limit your choice of languages. You can still choose any of the 41 languages and any of the learning modules (beginner, intermediate, advanced) available.
The Free plan, however, has other limitations. Namely, you only get to view six lessons from three categories (Hello, Chatbot, and Daily Lesson). There are no such restrictions in the Premium plan, which gives you unlimited access to every lesson. In our Mondly Premium review, let’s take a quick look at what you get when you pay for the app.
With a Premium subscription, you can do the following:
- View every lesson from each of the categories (there are 40 categories in total) and partake in 250 lessons
- Try out 33 conversations (tailored to real-life situations) and practice your pronunciation with the help of the chatbot and VR technology
- Use the speech recognition tool to get direct feedback on your work
- View several daily lessons, solve quizzes every seven days, and take part in monthly challenges
How Much Does Mondly Cost?
Mondly has a choice of three Premium plans:
- For monthly access to one language, you’ll have to pay $9.89.
- For annual access to one language, you’ll have to pay $47.89.
- For annual access to all 41 languages, you’ll have to pay $478.90.
The price for the full annual package may seem a little steep, but you will often find it reduced. In some cases, you may be able to get a discount of up to 90% and pay only $47.89 per year. To check the prices, click on the Premium option in the upper-right corner of the website.
Mondly Lifetime Subscription Review
There are four types of Mondly’s lifetime subscription:
- One language–$39.99
- Three languages–$59.99
- Five languages–$69.99
- All languages–$99.99
The overall prices change from time to time, so be sure to check them often.
Refund Policy
Mondly doesn’t offer refunds to users.
If you’re unhappy with the service, you can only get discount codes and coupons for further courses, so there’s not much use in voicing your complaints.
Online Ratings
Mondly’s average online rating is pretty high. Users cite the simplicity of use and the entertaining, game-like approach to learning as the app’s main qualities.
Apple’s App Store dubbed it the Best New App in 2016, and Facebook for Developers included it in its App of the Year list in 2017.
Mondly Alternatives
Online language learning is a highly saturated market, and Mondly has some tough competition.
There are numerous similar apps that provide users with practical tools and unique features to help them overcome potential learning obstacles. Some use special learning methods, while others rely on the quality of the lessons.
In this section, we’ll talk about Mondly’s biggest competitors: Duolingo, Busuu, Rosetta Stone, and Babbel. We’ll discuss their similarities and things that set them apart from each other.
Mondly vs. Duolingo
Duolingo and Mondly have many things in common. They offer a similar number of languages (Mondly has 41, while Duolingo has 35) and allow their users to choose between a free and paid plan. Furthermore, both apps rely on conversation and vocabulary practices as the primary language learning methods, and they don’t focus so much on grammar.
As for the differences, unlike Mondly, Duolingo offers two fictional languages, Klingon and High Valyrian, along with the complicated Scottish Gaelic and Esperanto. Both apps are intended for beginners. Advanced learners may have to find a better solution.
Mondly vs. Busuu
Mondly and Busuu are similar in terms of the services they offer. Busuu also provides a free and paid plan, but there’s one major difference. On Mondly, you can only access one language with the monthly subscription. To view all languages, you need to purchase an annual subscription. In contrast, Busuu allows you to view all languages, even with a monthly subscription.
Then again, Busuu only has 12 languages compared to Mondly’s 41. One key feature that may give Busuu a slight advantage is the fact that its users receive the McGraw-Hill Education Certification after completing the courses. Mondly doesn’t provide any certifications.
Mondly vs. Rosetta Stone
Unlike the two competing platforms mentioned above, Rosetta Stone and Mondly are quite different in terms of the teaching methods they use. Rosetta Stone has a much better lesson structure for its 19 languages, even though the lessons on both apps may become repetitive after a while.
However, Rosetta Stone is way more expensive than Mondly. There are no monthly subscriptions, and the cheapest option is a three-month subscription that will cost you $79.
Mondly vs. Babbel
Mondly and Babbel both offer monthly plans, but Babbel’s is slightly more expensive at $12.95. There are also fewer language courses on Babbel – only 14 as opposed to 41 available on Mondly.
The key difference between the two platforms is that Babbel offers more advanced learning material. Babbel’s lessons have integrated grammar and vocabulary practices that can help you master the material faster.
Final Verdict
In this extensive Mondly review, you’ve learned everything you need to know about this app – what it does, how it works, what it looks like, and how much it costs. Based on all this, we can say that Mondly is an interesting tool that will get you on the right track if you’re at the start of your language learning journey, but it might not be a good choice for intermediate linguaphiles.
The affordable price, the game-like learning method, and the inclusion of a free plan are some of its key selling points. They should give you enough incentive to try Mondly for yourself and decide if it’s a good fit for your educational needs. You can always try some other language learning software if Mondly doesn’t suit your needs.