Lingoda vs Mondly
Overview
Lingoda connects you with approved native speaking teachers to help you get fluent fast. Live online lessons are available 24/7. Class sizes are between 3-5 students so the learning experience is very immersive and with plenty of individual real-time feedback. Though there is a strong focus on speaking and listening, grammar, reading and writing are covered.
Mondly is a language learning platform with 80 million learners. It offers 42 languages and enables you to learn anywhere on any device. It targets all aspects of communication: speaking, reading, writing, and listening. Mondly provides you with a gamified, interactive learning experience via memory exercises, a very intuitive interface and cutting edge augmented reality (AR) and chatbot technology.
Pros
- Live teaching from qualified native speaking teachers to help you get fluent fast
- Covers speaking, listening, reading and writing with a proven track record for developing fluency
- Lessons contain puzzles and games and downloadable materials to help cement learning
- 24/7 lessons you can fit around your busy life
- More immersive than conventional apps due to small class size and live teaching
- Different levels are available and the option for 1-1 tuition enable you to personalize lessons 100% to your needs
- Lessons cover useful and relevant topics and content is regularly updated
- Certification for each Common European Framework (CEFR) level you complete
- Cashback opportunities with Sprint or Super Sprint
- Effective and comprehensive covering speaking, listening, reading and writing
- You can tailor your learning according to your goals and interests
- Engaging and fun - short sharp lessons and gamification to make learning fun and motivating
- Learn anywhere, anytime on any device
- Great user experience with a user friendly, polished interface
- Augmented reality and Interactive chatbot conversations provide an immersive way to practice your skills
Cons
- Potential lack of consistency due to rotation of instructors
- Someone struggling can put the whole class behind
- Only four languages available
- Less to offer more advanced learners or those wanting a strong conversational focus
- You always have to start at the basic level
- Bite-sized lessons may be too short for those preferring a more in-depth approach
- Free version is limited
Best for
Best for: Anyone who prefers live, face to face learning and is from beginner to more advanced ability in the target language. And if you’re not sure of your level, you can take Lingoda’s placement test. Lingoda is also suitable for those who have busy lives as you can fit classes around your own schedule.
Best for: Anyone who is looking to learn a brand new language or has a limited grasp of one and wants to improve. Those who love fun, gamified, interactive apps and are intrigued by AR and like to engage with new technological experiences. Overall, Mondly is for those of you who consider themselves to be self-guided learners and would benefit from daily, weekly, and monthly lessons and goals
Price
From $10 per lesson
From $4.99 per month
Number of users
120,000
500,000 active subscribers
Overall
Overall: A great and authentic way to learn a new language (or pick one up where you left off) that gets you speaking and reading in no time at all. I found Lingoda to be very effective and started learning, speaking and understanding from the very first lesson.
To providerOverall: Mondly is an incredibly popular platform that has over 80 million users. Having used the platform for the past couple of weeks it's easy to see why. Lessons are comprehensive and immensely fun and I found it a really effective way to learn a new language. I was very impressed by how easy it was to use and how fast I was able to introduce myself in a new language.
To providerSupported languages
German, Spanish, French, English and English for business
English (UK), English, (US), Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Turkish, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Hebrew, Catalan, Latin, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Afrikaans, Croatian, Czech, Bulgarian, Polish, Slovak, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Hindi, Bengali, Indonesian, Tagalog, Thai
About
Lingoda was founded in 2013 by Felix and Fabian Wunderlich. Initially it offered 1-1 German tuition over Skype. It now teaches 4 languages, has 120k+ learners, 1.9k certified native speaking teachers and teaches over 562k classes every year.
All Lingoda courses are based on levels set by the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). This provides an approved standard for identifying language proficiency. Each level contains several lessons which target writing, reading, listening and speaking. The levels cover A1.1 (beginner) to C1 (advanced). Lingoda has a team of in-house experts on linguistics who have put together all of the course material with the aim to get you speaking fluently faster.
Also, the 24/7 availability of a real life tutor is a game changer when it comes to language learning. 97% of users say they found Lingoda better than other language learning providers.
Mondly is a language e-learning service founded in 2014 designed to meet one aim: to get adults and children speaking a new language - fast..
It’s consistently ranked as one of the highest-rated education apps in the app store and has 80+ million learners.
Mondly is a gamified language learning application that provides you with a guided yet interactive learning experience via memory exercises and a very intuitive interface. It offers learning in 42 languages via desktop and app, using virtual and augmented reality products.
It was acquired in 2022 by Pearson, the world’s leading education company, to boost its existing portfolio of state of the art learning tools and provide a way for students to study languages independently online. For Pearson to select Mondly, out of all the language platforms available is testimony to its effectiveness.
How it works
To get started with Lingoda, you just click ‘Start Free Trial’ and answer a few questions about why you want to learn your target language, what you hope to achieve and how much time you can commit to.
You then choose the plan that most suits you, go ahead and book some lessons and start learning! You take each class with up to four other learners over Zoom. Your tutor will not only be a native speaker of your chosen language, but also a qualified teacher. The idea is that live classes taught by native speakers are more immersive and will make you more fluent and accurate.
Tutors often introduce a topic, or ask you direct questions, in the target language. While this may seem hard to begin with, it gets you thinking in that language and you’ll be surprised how quickly this becomes easy!
This will improve your fluency and accuracy because your brain is actively engaging with the language rather than passively taking it in.
To get started on Mondly you simply select the language you want to learn and click ‘Start Learning’. Mondly works the same way regardless of the language you choose.
You’ll see the Mondly dashboard containing lots of topic icons such as weather, travel, food, etc. You can choose a topic or select ‘daily lesson’ and Mondly will guide you through in a recommended order.
For each topic (or within the daily lesson) you’ll take bite-sized lessons which cover the following:
- Vocabulary (Interactive flashcards)
- Listening (Audio to written and spoken exercises)
- Speaking (Hands-free conversational lessons and thematic lessons)
- Reading and writing (image association and phrase creation)
Conversation (chatbot conversations)
Lessons are self-paced and you complete them in your own time. You can view them on the go, on your computer, mobile, or tablet. Plus, you can track your progress with statistics and leaderboards and compare your score with other learners. Weekly quizzes, and monthly challenges are created according to your progress.
On top of this there are additional resources to optimize your learning, such as the Mondly Augmented Reality (AR) app. The AR app uses a virtual teacher to help you learn new words by showing you interactive worlds and activities.
As an experience, Mondly very much has the feel of a board game, where your objectives, achievements, and progress are visible as you go along a ‘learning path’.
What a lesson is like
Level A1.1 lessons (aimed at beginners) all begin with a link to Zoom where everyone introduces themselves.
You don’t need to show your face if you’re not comfortable doing that. You just need your microphone on to speak.Class sizes are small (3-5) so your turn to actively take part will come round quickly.
The tutor will take you through that lesson’s worksheet (which you can download prior to the lesson). But lessons are mostly interactive with opportunities to:
- Speak and read phrases aloud with feedback to help pronunciation
- Translate phrases
- Engage in conversation with the help of help of flashcards, scripted dialogue, etc
- Learn from questions asked by the group
- Pick up new vocabulary with picture clues and real life examples
- Complete puzzles and play games to reinforce understanding
And always get instant feedback
Lessons last for one hour. This might seem like a long time, but in my experience they fly by and the interactive nature of the course keeps you engaged.
Mondly’s lessons are grouped around topics such as weather, food, travel, etc.
The structure is very straightforward. This means that you know exactly how many words and phrases you will learn, the estimated time it will take you to complete the lesson and your overall rating.
For each topic there are:
- 6 vocabulary activities (all are interactive and use different methods to target memory retention)
- 1 conversation exercise (where you practice what you’ve learned with the chatbot function and voice recognition software)
1 vocabulary review in which you swipe the correct translation
You can match your lessons with an intelligent calendar that helps you organize your learning objectives and provides you with a visual record of how your learning progresses over time.
Overall, you can view your progress by navigating through Mondly’s map and using the calendar function and the statistics view.
If you want to extend your learning, it is possible to click on parts of phrases and sentences to get additional information or grammatical explanations. Such as this screen below which conjugated the verb ‘to be’ after I had clicked on ‘is’.
Who is it good for?
The Lingoda learning style would suit anyone who’s:
- Looking to learn a new language from scratch
- Has some grasp of a language and wants to improve
- Learns best either 1 to 1 or in a class setting
Wants to improve their conversational skills
While Lingoda would be ideal for anyone who’s always wanted to start learning a new language it will also suit those who are proficient but want to improve.
Right away Lingoda will have you speaking, reading aloud and improving your conversational capabilities in your chosen language.
The Mondly learning style would suit anyone who:
- Wants to learn a new language from scratch or has a limited grasp and wants to improve
- Has a busy schedule and needs to fit lessons around their life
- Loves fun, interactive apps
- Likes the flexibility of learning on mobile and desktop
Is intrigued by AR and likes to engage with technological experiences
Overall, Mondly is for those of you who consider themselves to be self-guided learners and would therefore benefit from daily, weekly, and monthly lessons and goals.
Features
- Personalized live learning
- Direct contact with native speakers
- Immersion
- Fun, interactive lessons that touch all learning styles
- Flexible learning
- 1-1 tuition
- Super intense programs to get fluent fast
- Gamification
- Fun, interactive lessons that touch all learning styles
- Flexible learning
- Chatbot function
- Augmented reality
Is it worth it?
In a word: Yes.
If you’ve been wanting to learn (or improve your knowledge of) one of the four languages available on Lingoda, then it is absolutely worth considering.
Live teaching from certified tutors who are native speakers can really help you get results. Lingoda’s emphasis on in person learning -- something that sets them apart from other providers -- will have your conversational, listening and grammar skills up to a better standard in no time!
And if you have a busy lifestyle or no consistency in your schedule, the fact you can book lessons to suit your needs is so handy.
On top of this, you can book one to one classes or go for the Lingoda Sprint or Super Sprint program if you want to try and get fluent in 2 months. If you follow the Sprint guidelines carefully, Lingoda provides the opportunity to get some or even all of your money back.
I personally benefited hugely from Lingoda. It really helped me to bring my French back up to a passable standard. I haven’t felt this confident in speaking/reading French since school!
In terms of its price, I think Lingoda is worth it. If your goal is to reach a conversational level, you’ll only need a few months with Lingoda to achieve that.
Lingoda offers a free 7 day trial and I would strongly suggest you see what it’s like for yourself as you have nothing to lose!
I found Mondly easy to use, and thought the lessons were well structured, engaging, effective and ‘sticky’.
Together with gamification through points, streaks and leaderboards it makes for a fun learning experience that motivates you to come back for more.
Mondly’s stand out feature is its use of technology such as chatbots and AR that provide a novel and more immersive way to practice your new skills. It’s also comprehensive, helping you to improve all aspects of communication: speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
That said, there’s always room for improvement. Whilst it is comprehensive it has a fairly narrow focus on grammar. Its approach to this is more intuitive - with constant practice of phrases and sentences you’ll learn the rules without realizing.
Also, if you really want a laser-like focus on conversational skills, you may find the chatbot a bit limited and prefer a platform that offers live lessons with native speaking teachers.
However, if you value a fun yet structured approach that really helps new learning stick then Mondly is definitely worth considering.
You can use the free version to get a flavor of the platform or subscribe and make use of the 7 day free trial to make up your mind. Just remember to cancel before the 7 days is up to avoid payment. The pricing point is very competitive and there are frequent discounts available making it even better value.