Busuu Review 2024: Should You Choose It? (Sharing My Personal Experience)

Whenever we start learning something, what do we want? It’s an advanced level to be covered. The same is the scenario with language learning. Think there is a platform that teaches you from beginner to advanced level. Won’t you be glad for it? If yes, let me give you a reason to be happy. There is a platform that covers all levels of a language known as Busuu. I know you must have a lot of questions: What is it? How does it work? What are the languages it offers? And many more.

I will help you to get the answers to all your queries in this Busuu review. Read and see if the platform works for you.

What is Busuu?

Busuu is a language learning platform having only 14 languages. There are a lot of real-life experiences that helped me to learn it. I have used it in learning 3 languages that are Italian, Japanese, and German. I had a great experience using it. It combines conversation practice with self-study. There are different themes based on multiple life scenarios. The courses are created based on different learning levels from Beginner to advanced. 

Languages Offered

Bussu is a great platform that offers only 14 languages. Below I have mentioned all of them-

• Japanese 
• Italian
• French
• English
• German
• Polish
• Dutch
• Turkish
• Arabic
• Russian
• Portuguese
• Chinese
• Korean
• Spanish

Pricing of Busuu

Busuu is a free platform to use. All the content was free but if you want to access all the lessons take the premium plan. To download the vocabulary PDF, the subscription plan is needed. Busuu provides two pricing plans-

• Premium 
• Premium Plus

Below is the chart, I have added the pricing for both plans-

Types of Plans	Pricing of Plans
Premium	$9.99 per person
Premium Plan	$13.99 per person

Course Overview

I used this platform to learn three languages. When I used Busuu, I saw there were four tabs on it. Further, I will discuss each tab one by one-

1. Learn Tab

It is the tab where I got the four sections based on different learning levels. Each level has a different set of chapters. There are a total of 80 chapters in all the levels. However, all the courses have different set of lessons. Some courses have content at an advanced level. On the other hand, some only have to the intermediate level like Japanese. The content for this course was based on intermediate learners. 

As mentioned already the courses are divided into different learning levels. Each level is further divided into chapters. These chapters are based on a particular topic and compile a set of lessons. The lessons cover random situations. Suppose the first chapter is the introduction. It has different lessons covering different situations. In it, the first thing is how to greet the people, and ends with a checkpoint. Each checkpoint helps to test the things learned in the first chapter. In starting there is a short video of a real native saying the words. Listen to it and understand the word. Below I have mentioned different exercises covered in the lessons-

• Choose the word spoken in a short video
• True and false exercise
• Complete exercise

1. Review tab

It helped me to check the grammar lessons and get flashcards. There are grammar and vocabulary sections on it. The grammatical section is subscription-based. However, complete the lessons to unlock these topics. The vocabulary section is the one which covers the number of words learned so far. This section is further divided into 5 sections-

• All words
• Favorites 
• Weak words
• Medium words
• Strong words

2. Community tab

It is the tab that connected me with a lot of people using this platform. Honestly, community was my favorite feature on it. Again it is a paid feature. This tab is divided into different sections-

a. Discover 

In this section, there are queries and statements made by the people. I can correct them or give the answers.

b. Friends

This is like a language exchange program. I became friends with the people who were native speakers of it. It gave me some good friends to connect with. In fact, I could trust them easily. 

c. Conversations

In the Discover section, I got so many videos, audio, and texts to correct them. This is what I could do in this section. I practiced and got the correction from the native speakers. 

3. Courses

Despite already learning Japanese, there were awesome courses related to it. I thought it was a cool feature for it. It made Busuu a very unique platform to use. When I was learning, some other courses were

• Japanese for travel 
• Hiragana
• Katakana
• Kanji
• Manga

Though Japanese has a lot of extra courses, Italian on the other side, only has two courses-

• Italian for travel 
• Italian Pronunciation

This made me realize how the language chosen can affect the learning method.

4. Extra features 

In addition to these tabs, there are some extra features. I have mentioned them below-

a. Streak score

The streak score is the score representing the number of days I have used it. Either learn a new lesson or repeat the older one.

b. Study plan

There is a study plan to guide you on how to complete it. To get it, give answers to some questions asked in it. When I was looking for the plan, the questions they asked were

• The reason for learning
• Which level is needed
• Days and time duration 

I really don’t think it is a much-needed feature. Anyone can create that too. 

c. Leagues

This feature is just like Duolingo leagues. Complete the lessons and take part in the leagues. These leagues are the competition where I compete with other learners. 

d. Friends

Here I could check if I had any pending or new requests to connect. 

Busuu review: Should you choose it?

Fewer languages, Advanced level content

This is what I think for some languages on Busuu. Busuu is a platform that helped me to learn a lot of languages at an advanced level. It is mainly lacking in most of the language learning platforms. I think the reason for this is less number of languages. As the number of languages is very small, they could easily focus on giving high-level content.

If you are a serious learner, give a try to the paid plan. Though the free plan is awesome, the paid plan gives you an extra advantage in learning. However, never rely on the corrections only. I had a bad experience when I asked for a correction. Some so many people corrected me. But the problem was there were multiple corrections.

Remember: What level you can achieve depends upon the language you are learning. There are only 2 courses that are developed at the C1 level – Spanish and English.

Below I have mentioned the benefits and drawbacks to make you more clear-

Pros	Cons
Personalized learning goals	A limited number of languages
Limited free version	May get an incorrect correction
A certificate with the paid version
Grammatical knowledge
Video of native speakers

Busuu alternatives

I know this platform covers everything that is needed for learning the language. But some platforms work differently.  Also, fewer languages made it a drawback to use Busuu. Thus, I have added some alternatives of Busuu to use in the journey-

1. uTalk – Best for visual learners

This platform is perfect for a visual number as it teaches through the visuals on the screen. The visuals are with audio in it. Just listen when and take part in games. These games are basically different types of exercises to practice the language. 

2. Speaky – Finding a language exchange partner 

 Learning or language is not only important. Practicing it also plays an important role in it. Speaky makes the task easier. It connected me to learners of my age. Although the number of translations was limited, I made sure to use Google Translate. 

3. LingQ – Multiple learning tools

LingQ is a complete package for learning the language. It covers multiple language resources like Podcasts, articles, etc., to boost my learning. With so many features in it, I could easily get immersed in the language. It is full of audio and written content. 

Conclusion

Busuu is a platform that combines self-study and conversational practice. The learning level depends upon the language you are learning. There are only two languages that reach the C1 level: English and Spanish. The course is divided into different learning levels. At each level, there is a set of chapters focusing on different topics. Each chapter is a set of lessons. These lessons cover multiple exercises like fill-in-the-blanks or matching the words. However, the number of languages taught on it is very small. If you want to learn other languages, get help from other alternatives.

FAQs