If your goal is to learn a language for an upcoming trip, then Fluenz is the language-learning software for your needs. It can be considered an online textbook as this online course provides, along with the lessons, attractive scenes, and scenarios you will most probably find on your trip, to help you learn as you visit these places. Like a child mesmerized by images and places, Fluenz captures your full attention, immediately transporting you to your destination as you learn the local language. Let’s get to know the courses and the details of this language learning program in this Fluenz review!
Right from the start of your experience, Fluenz focuses on vocabulary and phrases that you need to learn in the target language of your destination. It adapts to the learning style that a new language requires by teaching some must-know words and sentences, so you can start off with those immediately. Besides having an attractive design, its activities, and lessons to learn are certainly not boring. Thorough explanations, speaking exercises, Fluenz flashcards, video tutorials, and much more is available for language immersion.
As we know, learning a language is not an easy feat! We would like you to get the full feel of this platform in this Fluenz review, including the good, bad, and ugly! Let’s take a better look at it below!
What Is Fluenz?
Fluenz is a language learning platform that helps you prepare for travel. It’s specifically tailored to help you find your way around and communicate with native speakers easily in the land that you visit. The design is very attractive and modeled to keep you engaged in your learning as it truly focuses on the goals of your trip, such as tourist sights, restaurants and food, transportation, must-sees, and must-dos.
It is fully online, so an internet connection is a must to get the best of your language skills, and it offers seven languages in the program. The desktop version does provide the program offline, but this is not on all devices. In four to six weeks, the program aims to equip you with all you need to communicate well during your travels.
Fluenz was created by Sonia Gil, a language educator and entrepreneur. Sonia Gil co-founded it along with her brother, Carlos Gil, in 2005. Together, they developed the Fluenz language learning platform with the goal of providing a comprehensive and immersive language learning experience for users. Sonia Gil, who is multilingual herself, has played a prominent role in developing the content and methodology used in Fluenz courses.
What is it for? Learning a foreign language for travel.
Languages offered: Spanish (European Spanish & Latin American Spanish program), French, German, Portuguese, Italian, and Chinese (Mandarin course plus Pinyin).
Level: Pre-beginner, Beginner to Intermediate Levels, Advanced for Spanish only.
Who is it for? Travelers who require to learn a language quickly before arriving at their destination. It provides 5 levels of lessons which increase in difficulty, with 30 lessons for each language except Mandarin. Those seeking to learn Mandarin will need supplementary resources.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Structured approach with clear progression. | Primarily focuses on popular languages. |
| High-quality video lessons with native speakers. | Limited interactive elements. |
| Emphasis on pronunciation and speaking skills. | More expensive compared to other platforms. |
| Includes cultural insights. | May not provide extensive content for advanced learners. |
| Desktop application for offline access. | Mobile app has fewer features than the desktop application. |
How Does It Work?
The Fluenz language learning platform is designed to help users learn a new language through a structured and comprehensive approach. Here is a brief description of how Fluenz works, highlighting the differences between the desktop and app versions:
1. Course Structure: Fluenz offers language courses that are divided into levels, typically starting with beginner levels and progressing to intermediate and some advanced levels, although several reviews say that advanced learners need supplementary resources. Each level consists of a series of lessons that cover various language skills such as vocabulary, grammar, reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
List of languages offered on Fluenz:
| Spanish (European Spanish like in Spain) | German |
| Latin American Spanish program | Portuguese |
| French | Italian |
| Chinese (Mandarin plus Pinyin) |
2. Video Lessons: There is a strong emphasis on video lessons featuring native speakers. These video lessons provide explanations, examples, and exercises to help users understand and practice the language concepts being taught. The videos are carefully crafted to provide a clear and immersive learning experience.
3. Written Exercises: Fluenz incorporates written exercises to reinforce language skills. Users are given opportunities to practice vocabulary, grammar, and sentence construction through exercises that require written responses.
4. Pronunciation Practice: It pays special attention to pronunciation. Users are provided with detailed explanations and exercises that focus on improving their pronunciation and accent. These exercises often involve comparing and repeating phrases and practicing pronunciation in various contexts.
Fluenz Desktop Version
The desktop version of Fluenz is a software application that can be installed on a computer. It offers a comprehensive learning experience with high-quality video lessons, written exercises, and interactive features. The desktop version allows offline access to the course materials, enabling users to learn without requiring an internet connection. This is definitely a great advantage.
Fluenz Mobile App Version
Fluenz also offers a mobile app version for iOS and Android devices. The app provides access to the Fluenz courses, allowing users to learn on the go. While the app may have some limitations compared to the desktop version, it still offers video lessons, written exercises, and progress-tracking features. However, the mobile app does not have the same level of offline functionality as the desktop version, even though the creators have attempted to make them quite similar.
The User Interface Of Fluenz
Fluenz must be praised for its clean and intuitive design, which allows users to navigate through the lessons and features with ease. The interface is typically organized in a logical manner, making it easy to locate and access different components.
One of my highlights from Fluenz is that it incorporates multimedia elements, such as high-quality video lessons and audio recordings, to enhance the learning experience. Users can typically access these multimedia resources directly from the interface, providing a seamless and integrated learning environment.
The interface is typically designed to be responsive and adaptive, meaning it can adjust to different screen sizes and orientations. This ensures a consistent and optimal user experience across various devices, such as desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones.
It also provides a user-friendly navigation experience, enabling users to easily move between lessons, sections, and exercises. Clear navigation menus, icons, and intuitive buttons are commonly employed to facilitate smooth navigation within the platform.
Who Should Start Using Fluenz?
It is best for travelers or those planning to visit a country in which they plan to engage with the locals. Serious students who prefer and are comfortable with a more traditional learning setting and classroom environment will benefit from Fluenz as well. Those seeking a personal tutoring session and thorough explanations should definitely go for this platform.
To get the most out of learning a foreign language, you must first know your learning style, and if yours is video tutorials, you should know that Fluenz works on reading and writing by first explaining everything to you in-depth.
If this sounds right, then choose Fluenz. For those wanting a less traditional and less classroom feel, this is not the app for you.
The Best Features From Fluenz
Fluenz has a more classroom environment, where an instructor appears on the screen giving ‘in-depth explanations’ of a variety of concepts. Following this comes the exercises that help you test what you have learned to reinforce the material. Also, for those interested in topics like grammar, Fluenz explains grammar concepts in detail, as an instructor gives a heads-up before you move forward to the quizzes. You could say it is an online classroom on your screen.
Generally, Fluenz gives faster results for people trying to learn a language quickly. It helps manage basic conversations for basic interaction. Other learning platforms often have just audio lessons, but with Fluenz, you get to see and listen to the tutor, immersing yourself more in the lesson. This way, the program recreates the typical feeling of having a tutor teach you firsthand.
Learning retention is also easier with having a guide all through the course, something other programs do not always have. Granted that these videos are pre-recorded, and you are not learning live from a teacher – this can be arranged through another feature called ‘Zoom Immersion.’ But as some people struggle with self-study, these videos carry you through the foundation knowledge and then take you onto the practice.
Two other features to mention are ‘starting online and continuing in person’ and the ‘community immersion’ opportunities. That’s correct; you can actually arrange to meet your teachers in different Fluenz locations to continue your learning face-to-face, but these are only available for learners of the Spanish language. You can also meet with other learners and participate in various relatable topics.
By taking advantage of these features, you will be sure to gallop forward in your learning!
Fluenz Cost: Free Demo & Subscription Packages
The free demo at Fluenz is just an introduction to what’s ahead. To actually learn a lesson, the information given is not sufficient in the demo. Therefore, let’s get an idea of the prices that you can expect.
To purchase one level of the program, the cost is $187.00. For two, it’s $258.00, and for all five levels, it’s $398.00. Do keep in mind that once you have the program, it’s yours forever! If you want to take your learning up a notch, the Spanish Immersion Program of Fluenz costs $6,920.00 for a single person, and for two students studying together, the cost is $6,535 per person.
In my opinion, this is a great platform if you’re really serious about learning a language and are willing to blow money for an immersion program. But if you’re looking for one that is more affordable and can be taken at your own pace, I believe that Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, and Ling are better options.
Fluenz Review: 3 Awesome Takes & 3 Areas To Improve
Here are some things I loved about Fluenz:
- The exercises or workouts are really well-made. Each is different and interesting, and it is evident that the program is designed to drill the sentences, vocabulary, and pronunciation into you, immersing you fully.
- Ample opportunity to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing – all in one. There are options to play back your voice and see how you did.
- I thoroughly enjoyed the background music that gives the perfect ambiance of where you are. It’s almost as if I have already traveled to my destination and am actually carrying out this conversation with a local speaker!
For improvement:
- Fluenz does have expensive programs, and it would be possible to learn some of these languages at a lower cost, as they are the common ones.
- This brings me to my next point: more languages are needed in Fluenz, as these seven languages offered are quite common in other learning apps too. Also, the learning of languages only uses English as a medium, so it is best for English speakers.
- Although the community immersion efforts are very rampant on the website, the topics discussed remain general.
Several reviews also mention the costs of Fluenz being quite high. For me, I found the platform classy, and for those wanting quality classroom learning, I can imagine purchases of courses in bulk will be quite beneficial in the long run.
Wrapping Up
Fluenz teaches you a language in a traditional way and is mostly for serious learners who would like the teacher-student method of learning. The exercises are diverse but sometimes can feel a bit redundant. The interface certainly has its appeal, but I wonder if all the background images and music is the reason for a slightly slow connection or lag.
The Mandarin course seems to have some glitches, and the other courses have a similar feel and appeal. Even though Fluenz has few languages, it has aimed to give an immersive platform to learn them. Even with its formal study method, though, I feel there are other effective programs to learn the same languages.
Learn More With Ling
Some people have wandering hearts who love to travel, would like to learn and retain a new language, do not like a classroom setting, but still want to get the most they can of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. If you’re one of them, we have a gamified app that might just be what you are looking for.
The Ling app is a super cool way to learn a language with ease in just a few weeks. It is ideal for any level of learners. The best part is that it has over 62 unique languages to learn, complete with speech recognition, pronunciation improvement, and more. Ready to work on your vocabulary, conversations, sentence structure, and phrases in languages like Nepali, Croatian, Thai, Afrikaans, Cantonese, Danish, Greek, Hindi, and so much more? Try Ling today by downloading it for free from the App Store or Google Play Store. Enjoy learning starting now!
