Hey there, it’s me, your trusted language learning app reviewer. I know that everyone has different tastes when it comes to discovering the world. For me, I like learning the culture and language of a new country that I haven’t discovered yet. Can you relate to this? – I enjoy listening to the locals while trying to mimic their tones or accents and also find out if they’re using slang words.
Have you been practicing your pronunciation lately? Do you wish to find a native speaker that can help you learn Vietnamese? If you feel that the prices for many vocabulary and grammar language apps are absurd, then why not try Falou?
Imagine that you don’t need to go to your friend’s country just to know how to speak to them. With Falou, it will help you discover and improve which language you want to learn just by listening and speaking. But is it worth trying this app? Let’s take a look at how fast your fluency will be achieved in this comprehensive Falou review.
Table of Contents
What Is Falou?
Falou is one of the popular language learning apps today. It offers free introductory lessons to practice phrases, sentences, vocabulary, or grammar through voice recognition and bite sized lessons. Coming from São Paulo, Brazil, Falou has one mission – To provide a fun and free language app that will enable you to get new jobs, connect with your loved ones, get a better degree, or just learn a new language.
Languages Offered: 25
| English | French | Spanish | Italian | Japanese |
| Chinese | Korean | German | Russian | Portuguese |
| Turkish | Dutch | Polish | Swedish | Danish |
| Croatian | Norwegian | English (British English) | Vietnamese | Indonesian |
| Greek | Romanian | Ukrainian | Malay | Hungarian |
Learner’s Level: Beginner to Intermediate
How Does Falou Work?
Excited to start your very first lesson with Falou? Wait a minute! Let’s review some of the basics of this app first.
Every lesson starts with a description of the situation, so you’ll feel like you’re having real conversations with native speakers.
You’ll only need a few minutes to create an account, verify it, and start with the lessons right away.
Getting Started With Falou
Ready to test Falou? Go to your phone or tablet, and then search for the Falou app on the Play Store for Android or App Store for iOS devices. Once downloaded, you’ll be greeted with an introductory video about what Falou is and why language learning is important.
First steps: After the video, you’ll have to choose which language you want to learn. Be careful though! You cannot change the language in the options menu after choosing.
Account creation: You’ll be asked right away to register for an account. You can use your Google account, Facebook, or other login methods.
Activating your account: There is an activation for your account that will be sent to your email address.
First Lesson: Your first lesson will have an introductory video about why language apps are important. It is a very insightful video of how to memorize words and what you can expect from Falou. Then, you’ll proceed to a lesson of introducing yourself.
How The Design And Interface Of Falou Stands Out
Honestly, Falou is as minimal as Duolingo, and you can definitely see the similarities. The design has a dominantly white background with its branding colors blue and yellow. You can also see this branding color on their monkey mascot too. Seemingly, many of their cartoonish designs are like Duolingo’s. But, one thing that I see that’s different with their design and interface is how they group the lessons.
Also, you can see right away that they have fewer boards, tabs, or features to look at. In that way, you’ll already feel like you only need to browse certain areas to get a gist of what you’re looking for or supposed to be doing.
With these points, I’ve certainly enjoyed apps like Falou that focus on what matters to the students first.
What Are The Amazing Features Of Falou Language Learning App?
Revisit Your Learned Vocabulary Through The Words Tab
While I was studying Vietnamese, I found it hard to pronounce some words. But, I don’t want to go through the same lesson again just to access that vocabulary I forgot. With Falou, you can choose which words you are having a hard time with. It can detect those words through their voice recognition feature.
Check Your Progress Quickly
Competition is not a new thing for language enthusiasts. If you are keen on detail and want everything in a strict, organized manner, Falou has detailed progress of your learned words as well as your mistakes. If you’re like me and want to ace the achievements in this journey of going from basic words to full advanced Vietnamese sentences, then you can just press the Progress tab and see everything in plain sight.
Browse Courses According To Your Needs
Do you want to check a specific topic? After subscribing to Falou Premium, you can access their specific lessons. This is perfect for intermediate learners after you’ve tested your language proficiency or just want to challenge yourself at a higher level.
Who Is Falou For?
Are you a fan of Duolingo, Memrise, or any similar fast-paced language learning apps? Falou works in a similar way. If you are a businessman with no time to learn Spanish, French, or any new language, then Falou is a great app for you.
For students who don’t have the money to hire a tutor or sign up for long language classes, then Falou is the best app for this situation.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Learners hear practical phrases through audio examples | Too many videos, which are impossible to skip |
| Speak your way to fluency | Lessons are mostly beginner to intermediate levels only |
| Organized lessons tailored to learner’s needs | Studying multiple languages is locked in the free version |
How Much Does Falou Cost?
Do you want to remove your daily limit of learning a new vocabulary? If the free version of Falou isn’t enough for you, you can try out their premium plan. Want to know more? Check out the rest of the Falou premium in our detailed exploration.
Falou Premium
It seems that Falou has removed its other premium pricing plans. Before, there was a monthly pricing plan that I can see from other reviews. But as of now, Falou has a yearly fee of $149.99.
Benefits Of Subscribing To Falou Premium
Signing up to Falou Premium will give you benefits like:
- No daily limit
- All conversational lessons
- You can learn all the 25 languages available
- Has a Smart Pronunciation Corrector
- Daily conversation practice
- You can get a practice certificate from Falou
Why I Decided To Test Falou For Studying Vietnamese
Did you see Falou in many advertisements? I felt that this app was super advertised alongside Duolingo, so I decided to try it out. I was looking for a language learning app that focuses on audio and is not as expensive as the Rosetta Stone app. Ultimately, I want to find an alternative to Pimsleur, which also contains practical audio lessons for real-life situations.
What Makes Falou The Best App For Learning Vietnamese
As I know every one of you is worried about how the Falou app goes for non-Latin languages like Japanese, Chinese, Korean, or Thai; there will be some aspects that this app may lack. For this reason, it’s still important to get writing exercises from other supplementary apps, books, videos, or even free online lessons.
But we’re here learning Vietnamese, right?
Nevertheless, let’s all continue exploring what makes Falou the best app for learning Vietnamese.
The Listening And Speaking Exercises Audio Are Made By Native Speakers
It will force you to speak while listening to the exercises. One major conflict that many learners feel with using apps is the bot-like voice of many audio lessons. I can assure you that similar to Pimsleur, Falou also has native speakers that talk in their example videos and audio lessons.
Uses Real Life Conversations
Believe it or not, I’ve had a handful of apps that only teach weird or unnecessary sentences after showing the introduction part. Sure, you’ll learn “What is your name?” or “I love French food.”
For Falou, there are many examples that we can already use for locals who may know a bit of English but would rather talk to you in their native language. You can find this vocabulary under their categories for ordering food and drinks, getting to know someone, or even helping with directions.
But, sometimes, I feel like many apps are not prioritizing learning more intermediate to advanced sentences. Many of these sentences are, of course, used by the locals, so I think it’s important that we get a glimpse of those lessons even during the first or second lessons of the language we’re learning.
Lessons In Digestible Chunks
If you rather not be overwhelmed with a lot of lessons at once, many language resources like Falou put their lessons in digestible chunks. But, one unique feature I’ve seen in this app is that they also put those chunks into even more similar and smaller pieces. If you ask me, learning in these chunks are perfect to create a pattern for memorizing, like my favorite mnemonics memorization devices and methods.
Gaps That I’ve Seen In Falou Language App
It is inevitable to see gaps in an app for learning a new language. We get it, the developer will make many updates to cater to the needs of its customers. For me, I know that I also need to move on from just learning basic Vietnamese phrases to understanding Vietnamese media and so on.
Although I liked Falou in many ways, language learners may still find this free app a supplementary guide only. With that said, I’m listing a few gaps that are in the Falou app.
The Audio Detection For Speaking Practices Isn’t That Good
To be honest the takeaway of this Falou review is that both their pros and cons fall into the same category. I believe their speaking and listening exercises are really good. But a few mishaps in the app will take away my plus points for them. I think I spent a few repetitions of just one word while waiting for their voice recognition feature to light up that green check.
It was really annoying, and I think I’ve lost my patience in some of the lessons. I can hugely compare this app against Pimsleur and Rosetta Stone as those apps have better technology now for detecting my voice as I’m trying to say Tên bạn là gì? (What is your name?) in Vietnamese.
Too Many Unnecessary Videos Per Lesson Or Progress
As much as I like interactive apps, too many distractions in an app are not recommended. As I mentioned in my OkyDoky review, that was also my biggest gap when I tried learning Serbian with it. I felt like I was watching an advertisement for an app I was already using. But, if interactive videos are your thing, then it can be an advantage, too.
However, if you agree with my statement, just know that it is skippable, and you’ll not have any problems with this one.
Saw Some Grammar Mistakes On Some Lessons
Until now, many language learning apps have failed to have native speakers proofread their wrong vocabulary, speaking and writing exercises, and even their short grammar lessons.
Falou is not exempted in this situation. Although I believe they can correct their created courses faster than most apps I’ve already tried. Hoping this will be fixed in their next few updates!
Our Final Verdict On Falou
At first, I thought Falou looked like Duolingo with its characters and design. But as I’ve progressed as a beginner in Vietnamese, there are tons of differences. Ultimately, Falou’s biggest winning point is making you more proficient and creating confidence in speaking your desired language.
However, as mentioned earlier, I still hope that they improve their technology for voice recognition. It’s hard to always repeat words and vocabulary when you only have a 15-minute break from your work or school, right?
Looking For An App To Teach Vietnamese? Start With Ling!
To become fluent in your desired language, you must listen, speak, write, and learn it. It’s important that all other language learning apps incorporate these features in their products, especially since many people have different intelligence quotients. I, for one, want an app that can show me how to write Thai properly, complete with markers. If you’re looking for an alternative in this Falou review, I can only recommend Ling.
Listen to our audio practice with native speakers that will teach you the right way of pronouncing words, whether it be non-Latin or not. You’ll quickly notice how much Ling takes pride in being the best in teaching Asian and Eastern European languages.
Want to connect with your family? Download the Ling app now on the Play Store or App Store, or even check out the web version!
