Learning languages is a powerful tool in building connections. So while looking for the best app, you might stumble upon Rosetta Stone VS Memrise.
Today, the internet has been narrowing the divisions of the countries around the world. This gives the people the motivation and urge to learn a new language and improve their language skills. People are constantly discovering different ways to improve their language learning process, and one of these processes is using language learning apps.
There is no doubt that Rosetta Stone and Memrise is one of the leading apps for language learners to learn multiple languages nowadays. But, always remember that there’s no such thing as a “one-size-fits-all” language app. It still depends upon your needs as a language learner.
There are so many language apps today like Rosetta Stone and Memrise, so it can be tough to choose which one. That is why in this blog, we will compare these two language apps to know which of these two apps can be your holy grail to learn your target language.
Why Study A Foreign Language?
If you have been noticing the change brought by globalization, you can never be too eager enough to learn new languages. Whether through taking language courses or by just using different resources like language apps. Learning a foreign language is making people’s lives better. There are lots of advantages to learning a foreign language. Let me give you some of them:
Technology Cannot Change Personal Interactions
We cannot deny the fact that technology revolutionized communication among people. But, having personal interactions are still the best form of communication. Here’s a fun fact. Did you know that communication is not just all about the language we speak? In fact, it’s only 7% of the communication. The greatest factors that affect communication are tones and voice, which is 38%, and non-verbal is which is 55%.
This /just means that when you learn a foreign language, it’s not just the language you are learning. You are also learning the right tones and body language as they speak. Although we already have video calls, nothing can ever replace people’s personal interactions.
Languages Build Connections
Have you tried attending a concert by international artists like Bruno Mars? When he is on a world tour, he makes sure that he is learning new words from the country’s official language that he is going to. Notice how fans go wild every time he utters these words, whether it’s just a word or phrase. This is not to flaunt that he knows some words, but it’s his way of building connections with his audiences and respecting their culture.
As native speakers of a certain language, hearing someone who is not a native speaker speak your language is one of the most touching things in this world. It makes you feel that you are being respected and that your culture matters. Our native language is our identity; that is why you feel proud when somebody makes an effort to learn it.
Bilingual Or Multilingual People Are Sought After
When it comes to career opportunities, there are lots of people whose credentials are overflowing. But, people who are speaking another language or languages will always have a higher edge than those who only speak one. At this age of globalization, employers and companies nowadays want employees who can communicate with clients internationally and hold business meetings with foreigners.
Of course, there will always be the technology to help you out with the translation, but just like what is said above, it is important to build a meaningful connection. After all, if you’re a businessman, who wants to deal a business with a computer?
Improve Someone’s Cognitive Ability
People who know how to speak foreign languages think differently from others. In fact, countless research has proven that bilingual or multilingual people have better memory, attention, and decision-making. There are also studies that say that it can even delay Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia.
Broaden Horizons
Learning a foreign language is opening yourself to the world. You’ll view the world differently than before. You’ll also have the opportunity to discover new cultures, meet new people, and discover different forms of art that are very different from yours. This is where respect, understanding, and valuing other cultures will start to grow.
Now that you have learned some of the advantages of learning a foreign language, let us go to our main course, which is Rosetta Stone VS Memrise.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Discovering The Two Language Learning Apps
Rosetta Stone and Memrise won’t run this long if they haven’t really proved anything in the language learning world. We can say that they are one of the OG language apps that help learners learn languages. With this, you might be wondering which app is more suitable for you? Well, here is a review between Rosetta Stone VS Memrise.
Rosetta Stone Review
Let’s begin with discovering what Rosetta Stone is in a nutshell. You might recognize the name just by looking at it. Yes, it comes from the Rosetta Stone, an ancient Egyptian artifact discovered in Egypt that opened ancient wisdom. This is related to the apps’ main goal, which is to provide access to language learning success for people all around the world.
How did Rosetta Stone start? One man’s quest to learn a new language led to the invention of Rosetta Stone, despite his failures. Allen Stoltzfu invented Rosetta Stone in 1992. The idea is simple: to change the way people learn languages. He envisioned employing computer technology to reinvent language instruction for pupils of all ages by simulating how people learn their native language, replete with sights and sounds in context and no translation.
Today, Rosetta Stone continues to serve its clients and has garnered countless prizes and accolades; as a result, if you’ve been studying languages for a long time, you’ve undoubtedly heard of Rosetta Stone.
Design And Interface
Blue and yellow are the primary colors in Rosetta Stone’s app. The fonts are readable, and the important words are written larger and bolder than the rest. Simple visuals and icons are there, but they do not appear to be distracting to the eye. Since its golden days, the Rosetta Stone appears to have changed very little in appearance. It appears to be an online version of a school language textbook with all primary colors and relevant stock photos.
Languages Offered
Rosetta Stone offers a wide range of languages. Here are the available languages of Rosetta Stone:
Latin | Arabic | Hebrew | Greek | Dutch |
Swedish | Irish | Turkish | Polish | French |
Russian | Persian (Farsi) | Italian | German | Hindi |
English (American) | English (British) | Spanish (Spain) | Spanish (Latin America) | Portuguese (Brazil) |
Chinese (Mandarin) | Filipino | Vietnamese | Korean | Japanese |
Features Of Rosetta Stone
Now, let us discover what Rosetta Stone takes into pride. Below are the features that Rosetta Stone offers to language learners:
1. Rosetta Stone Courses
The Rosetta Stone Courses are the heart and soul of your language study. These online classes will guide you through a series of basic lectures and activities in pronunciation, listening, and grammar. Lessons are short and sweet, with most of the time spent practicing being between 5 and 10 minutes. It also has superb audio recording. Rosetta Stone also uses speech recognition technology which is best used with headphone microphones. What’s more interesting about this is that you can download units for offline use.
Rosetta Stone places high importance on immersion rather than direct concentration on grammar. Meaning, it teaches learners how to use the words in real-life conversation. Rosetta Stone never employs L1 translations or explanations, forcing users to rely solely on intuition as they progress through the levels, gradually learning the linguistic content required for the next level.
Rosetta Stone also places a strong emphasis on listening. Hearing a sentence and matching it to the corresponding picture is the most typical activity. Listening skills are often more difficult for language learners than reading abilities.
2. Live Lessons
Students are encouraged to interact with one another while learning with this feature. You can take part in polls, practice your pronunciation, and talk with other students. It will also teach you about the culture of the language you are learning. Using the Live Lesson feature, you’ll be able to participate in interactive 25-minute lectures that focus on themes specific to your course.
3. Phrasebook
Phrasebook is similar to other language learning apps in that it uses a flashcard-flipping method to learn new words and phrases. This function is useful since it allows you to learn new words while simultaneously hearing the correct pronunciation that is professionally recorded by native speakers.
One of the main reasons individuals learn languages is to communicate with locals; hence Phrasebook has a variety of categories. Greetings, shopping terminology, dining, and other topics are among the topics covered. You can easily pick and choose the category you want to study at your leisure.
4. Audio Companion
The Audio Companion feature operates in a comparable way to traditional language learning in that it solicits comments from learners by repeating sentences spoken by the native speaker. Different subjects and concepts are explained through audio lectures.
5. Seek and Speak
This is similar to a scavenger hunt in that you start by “collecting” items by photographing them. After you’ve gathered it, you’ll use it in conversational comments and questions. Finally, you’ll be able to use those terms in chats if you employ audio from real native speakers.
6. Stories
This function can be utilized in a number of ways. To improve your speaking skills, you can read it out loud, have it read by a native speaker, or record yourself reading it. With bite-sized narratives that keep you fascinated and help you fine-tune your listening abilities, Rosetta Stone’s Stories taps on our shared love of storytelling. The variety of stories offered will give you an understanding of the culture of the language you’re studying.
Pricing
Rosetta Stone offers different subscription plans. Check it out below:
Languages Available | Price | Months |
One Language Only | US$35.97 | 3 Months |
All Languages | US$119.88 | 12 Months |
All Languages | US$ 167.76 | 24 Months |
All Languages | US$199 | Lifetime Unlimited Access |
Pros And Cons
PROS | CONS |
Its approaches have shown to be effective over time | No beginners’ lesson provided |
Software and user interface are improved | Speech recognition can be more developed |
You’ll pick up useful phrases | Repetitive |
Subscription Plan is worth it for learners who are learning many languages | Limited free plan |
It has a wide range of educational activities | Photos aren’t fit for the culture |
There are 25 languages available | There are no manuals, explainers, or crutches in learner’s native language |
Memrise Review
In 2010, Memrise, a learning software mostly used for language acquisition, was developed with Science at its foundation. Its two main goals are encoding and testing. Practical education, conversational phrases, and words are also emphasized. Memrise boldly claims to incorporate Science into its technology because one of its founders is a neuroscientist and the other is a “master of memory,” and the company also covers a wide range of subjects such as History, Math, and Science.
Languages Offered
You can choose from a wide range of languages to study in one of Memrise’s approved “courses.” Here are the languages that Memrise offers:
Arabic | Japanese | Chinese | Korean | Danish |
English | Mongolian | Dutch | Spanish (Mexico) | Spanish (Spain) |
German | Portuguese (Portugal) | Portuguese (Brasil) | French | Norwegian |
Italian | Polish | Icelandic | Russian | Slovenian |
Turkish | Yoruba |
It also offers the following courses:
Maths & Science | Arts & Literature | Memory training | The Natural World |
History & Geography | Professional and Careers | Standardized tests | Trivia |
Features Of Memrise
Now, let’s go to the features of Memrise that language learners can enjoy:
Learn
The learn feature consist of two sub-categories. – Words and Phrases and Learn Grammar. This function allows you to learn the language rapidly and assists you in learning how to pronounce the words correctly. Furthermore, the software presents these words in the form of visuals and videos, allowing you to recognize them. This identification will help you read and write more effectively.
During each course, Memrise users have access to video and audio lectures from native speakers. These multimedia lessons substantially aid the process of learning a language. For example, if you’re learning Spanish, Memrise will take you to a page where a native Spanish speaker will read a word to you.
The Grammar feature, on the other hand, lets you understand the sentence structure and the pattern of sentences.
Review
Just like the name of this feature, it helps learners review what they have learned. This feature has three sub-categories – Difficult Words, Classic Review, and Speed Review. You can do a quick review if you don’t have five complete minutes to study some new flashcards. This test measures your ability to quickly translate words you’ve already seen. It’s a multiple-choice game, and if you make three mistakes in a row, you’re out.
Immerse
The main goal of Memrise is to immerse learners in a real-life context where they can actually use what they have learned. This feature has two sub-categories – Learn with Locals and Listening Skills. You’ll be given a sequence of extremely brief, highly catchy videos in your target language if you tap “immerse” on the app’s home screen. Subtitles are available in both your target and native languages.
It’s almost as if you’re there because you’re “conversing” with people in their own country, and it makes you want to learn more so you can speak with them. A video of a real person feels far more personal and inspiring than a painting or still image.
Communicate
The Communicate feature includes Pronunciation which is good to learn the right pronunciation of terms that you are learning.
Explore
Memrise will open your phone camera if you select the “explore” option. If you point it at objects in the room, the app will tell you what they are and provide a translation.
Pricing
Type of subscription | Price |
Monthly Subscription | $8.99/month |
Annual Yearly Subscription | $3.75./month |
Lifetime | $139.99 |
Pros And Cons
PROS | CONS |
Memrise is designed to quickly introduce users to new words | Learners cannot learn deeply |
The use of audio recordings from native speakers mixed with the presentation of vocabulary aids in the retention of words | There is a bit of noise in the background |
Offline Availability | Memrise on the desktop and Memrise on mobile almost appears to be two separate platforms. |
Its free edition includes nearly all of the features accessible to premium subscribers | Not for advanced learners |
There are numerous programs, languages, and levels to choose from | Unverified user-created contents |
Fun and fast | Out of context learning of words and inaccurate translations |
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Comparing The Two Apps
Now that we’re done detailing the features of Rosetta Stone and Memrise let us now compare the two apps. So, let the Rosetta Stone VS Memrise battle begin.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Design And Interface
While people are fussing over the features and languages offered, they tend to forget that the interface and design of apps also play a big role in learning. Language learners prefer and easy to navigate and easy on the eye interface. So the first thing we need to compare in Rosetta Stone VS Memrise is the design of the interface.
Based on the details above, Memrise has a more developed and trendy design and interface that can be attractive to users, especially to the younger generations. Memrise understands that learners nowadays have a short attention span so they use it as the basis for their design and interface.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Languages Offered
Since we are talking about language learning, the next thing we should discuss in Rosetta Stone VS Memrise is the languages offered by each app. Based on numbers, Rosetta Stone offers more languages than Memrise. On the other hand, Memrise also offers another field that is not present in Rosetta Stone. But, the real question here is not the number of languages offered. It is the availability of the language and the features. So, when deciding which app to use, do not just rely on the numbers. Check also the quality.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Features
The features that language apps offer make them unique to others. Every language apps have their own vision in learning and advocacies. They have been thoroughly researching different approaches, and it is usually backed with Science and Linguistic researches. But in the battle of which app to use between Rosetta Stone VS Memrise, you have to choose thoroughly.
Rosetta Stone believes in the “learn like a child” approach. This just means that there will be no support from your native language. It is not beginner friendly especially if you have totally zero knowledge about your target language. Rosetta Stone also offers a wide variety of features and activities, but some might think it is too repetitive. Learners do not always prefer to learn through gifs, answering multiple-choice questions, and watching videos.
Aside from a variety of topics to choose from, Rosetta Stone also offers stories with a culture that will help you discover more about the culture of what you are learning. Although this is good, you can also notice that photos used in the Rosetta Stone app are not culturally accurate. The Live tutors may also help learners learn more.
On the other hand, Memrise also believes in the “immersive learning” approach. So, they will really immerse you in your target language even through the video clips that appear in every flashcard. It is known for its superb flashcard that uses that has a lot of features loved by learners.
Since it’s immersive, there could be some background noise, or the speaker could be speaking at a reasonable distance, which is how you would hear them in any conversation. This may appear perplexing at first, but it’s perfect for travel and casual chats. You’ll be in a variety of environments, with a variety of sounds around you. It’s almost as if you’re there because you’re “conversing” with people in their own country, and it makes you want to learn more so you can speak with them.
The other features can also help you learn new words fun and quick, but it still lacks in-depth content and activities for advanced learners. Yes, it offers lots of exciting features such as the “Explore” and “Communicate.”
So, to compare, both apps are really holding onto their advocacies. Rosetta Stone in its “learn like a child” approach and Memrise in its “immersive learning” approach. If you want an app that still makes use of your native language as an aid to your learning, then Rosetta Stone isn’t the one you are looking for. Memrise has more beginner lessons, but it lacks more advanced content for advanced learners. For the features, both apps are really good for learning vocabulary and some language skills but not totally.
Users find Memrise’s activities more interesting and interactive since they have trendy features, but it still depends on your learning style since people have different ways to learn. After all, Rosetta Stone won’t be prospering as one of the leading apps today if it hasn’t done anything good for language learners.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Spaced Repetition
Both apps use spaced repetition system, which is a great tool for language learning apps. So for this round of Rosetta Stone VS Memrise, we have a tie.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Gamification
Another tie between Rosetta Stone VS Memrise is the gamification feature. But, the real question here is, “To what extent do these apps use gamification?” In Rosetta Stone, the gamification feature can be seen throughout your lesson, and it has a “reward” system for every correct answer. In Memrise, there is a plant that will grow each time you progress, which is why you are learning and motivates you to learn more.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Operating System
One of the most important things to consider is the availability of the apps on your device. Luckily, in our topic, Rosetta Stone VS Memrise, both apps are available in web and mobile apps regardless of whether they are Android or iOS.
Rosetta Stone VS Memrise: Pricing
By just taking a quick look, Memrise offers a lot cheaper premium subscription plan than Rosetta Stone. Memrise also has a pretty generous free version which means that you can go a long way by even just using the free version. But, then again, it’s the quality of learning that you should be really taken into considerations. Is it worth your penny?
Final Thoughts
Rosetta Stone’s premise is simple: “Why fix it if it ain’t broken?”. The natural technique, which is how we learned our first language, is Rosetta Stone’s method to teach languages. Readings, speech-recognition feedback, optional films, and optional tutors, and live sessions are also available. The absence of translation appears to be their biggest flaw. We know at least one language because we aren’t newborns. As adults, translation can be useful at times.
On the other hand, Memrise is into “immersive learning”; you’ll be immersed in the actual environment and culture of your target language. Memrise is currently one of the most popular language-learning apps available. It has a robust free edition and a pro plan for consumers that desire more sophisticated features and variety. However, you shouldn’t expect Memrise or any other language study program to make you a native speaker.
In the end, it is still your learning style and commitment that matters. How far are you willing to go to learn a new language? Language learning apps cannot actually help you achieve full fluency to speak a certain language because you’ll have to use it in actual conversations and expose yourself to the language. But, this doesn’t mean that it cannot help you at all. In fact, some polyglots find it really powerful and useful. So, which between Rosetta Stone VS Memrise suits you?
You can also read other blogs related to these apps like Memrise Review, Rosetta Stone Review, Lingvist VS Rosetta Stone, and Memrise VS Mondly. If you still haven’t found the answer, I have an alternative for you.
Learn Beyond Your Native Language With Ling App!
“Skies the limit.” Just like what they say. So, if you haven’t made your decision between Rosetta Stone VS Memrise, consider Ling App as one of your alternatives in learning beyond your native language. Let me break down a few features from you:
Variety Of Fun And Interactive Topics
Learning topics that are interesting for you is a good motivation in learning. Ling App offers a wide range of topics that you can learn in a fun way through smart flashcards and gamification features. So, learn like you’re playing a game. Spaced repetition systems are also used for effective retention of what you have learned.
Dialogue And Chatbots
Aside from vocabulary building, you’ll also have access to the Dialogue feature. Since learning a language is all about using it in conversations, Ling App developed chatbots that you can chat with to use what you have learned.
Grammar Lessons And Blogs
It’s not enough that you only learn the words. You should also understand the grammatical explanations as well as the cultural significance of the topics you are learning. After all, you really cannot separate culture and language.
There’s so much to discover in Ling App. So, why not activate your curiosity and learn languages with Ling App now?