Memrise Review 2024: Best App to Learn Vocab

A building can never stand straight until its pillars are strong. I consider learning a language just like it. The language that I learn is the building, and vocabulary is its pillar. Without its knowledge, no language can be learned. I am sure you will agree with me. But how do you learn it? Which platform is the best? There are several doubts in our minds. Well, I have come up with an app known as Memrise.

Memrise is an app that is specially designed to learn vocabulary. However, the question is whether it is worth using? Don’t stress yourself much. Leave all your tension to me. I will share everything related to it in this Memrise review.

Quick Takeaways

• Memrise is a platform that teaches vocabulary with the help of real-life scenarios. 
• There is a practice session, where I can interact with the AI bot. 
• It has a free version with limited content. To unlock all the content, get the paid version of it. 
• There are short videos to understand how native speakers talk.

What is Memrise?

Memrise is a platform designed to teach the vocabulary of the language. It has a course that uses engaging exercises to learn new words. The conversational use of the words makes it the best choice for anyone looking to have quick conversations. There are multiple decks created by its users which allowed me to create my deck. 

Update: The card decks made by the other community members were removed from the platform after 31st March 2024. There is now a particular path to follow. Also, earlier, it has some extra subjects like Entertainment and History. But now, there is no such subject on it. Of course, I could create my own deck but from the words covered in the lessons only.

Languages on Memrise

There are 26 languages on this platform, that are both popular and non-popular ones. Some of the languages that are available on it are mentioned in the table below-

Spanish	French	German	Icelandic	Danish
Swedish	Italian	Hindi	Polish	Dutch
Arabic	Russian	Turkish	Chinese	Hebrew

Memrise Cost

Memrise is a free platform but with some limitations. In short, to unlock all the content, I had to get the paid version of it. The pricing of the platform is based on the duration of it. I have added them to the table mentioned below-

Duration of the plan	Pricing of the plan
Monthly	$22.99
Annual	$71.99
Lifetime	$124.99

Course Overview

Memrise is one such flashcard app that I enjoy thoroughly. The reason behind this is the course structure of it. Thus, I thought to give you a course overview to help you decide whether to go with it or not. When you open the course there are four tabs on it. Choose the language you want and get the course for it. In the course there are four sections covering different aspects-

1. Home

In this section, I got my course. I used it to learn French, which had 7 learning stages, Starting from Beginner to Advanced learners. Each stage had a different set of levels in it. In the dashboard, I could see my score and the points I had scored in my learning. I got points for:

• Learn words
• Hear my words
• Use my words

This is the exact way the lessons are divided. The first section is the learning words. Here, I saw the word with translation and audio with video. After listening and reading the translations, there were quick exercises where I had to match the video with the options given below.  The matching exercises were two-way. Either choose the translation of the sentence or choose the meaning of the spoken sentences. At each level, there are similar exercises. Complete the level to unlock a new one. 

2. Scenarios

This tab is further divided into two sections Learn and Review. The learn section covers scenarios and covers the units of the path focusing on different topics. Some common topics are greetings, basic needs, meeting new people, etc. Although there is a recommended path, still you can choose to practice any scenario you want. 

The next is the review section. In it, there will be words that are covered in the learning sections. The more I completed, the more there were words. 

3. Videos 

This section has multiple short videos in the language you are learning. As I used it for  French, there were short videos in it. There were stories, rhymes, conversations, etc in this section. With each short video, there were questions that I had to answer. There was a transcript along with the scenario where this video is useful. 

4. Conversations

AI will be dangerous in upcoming future. But if used rightly, there is no better way to get help from. This is exactly how Babbel used it to learn the language. The conversation section includes dialogues from the AI and I had to answer it in French. Let me explain it with the example: 

The practice session was based on different scenarios. Let’s take the example of “Ordering your Favorite Coffee”. When I started this session, there was a statement written on the screen and based on it, I had to reply. In this way, a conversation is practiced between me and the AI bot. The best part of it was, I could reply in both French and English, which was translated on its own. 

5. Additional Features

In addition to these sections, there were some additional features, which I have mentioned below-

a. Streak score

Have you ever used Snapchat? The platform is all about sending streaks and maintaining a streak score. You miss a day and lose your score. Streak score on this platform also works similarly. It’s basically a score that represents the number of days I have used this platform. Honestly, it’s not an important feature to worry about. That is because our prime goal is to learn the language and not maintain the streak score. 

b. Phrasebook

This feature can be used even without creating a profile. To access it, just open the official website, and choose the phrasebook section. Choose the language and get the translation of the common words that we use. When clicked on the word, there were a lot of resources that helped me to understand what’s the usage of that word. In short, it is a guide that can be used while traveling.

Note: The above is the latest way the courses are created on the memories. Earlier it had community courses that were created through the users. Anyone can make their deck on it. In fact, I myself created decks for various languages. But with the latest approach, they have removed these decks and added a specific path to learn the language. Click here, to know what the platform has to say about it. 

Memrise review: Is it worth it?

Learning vocabulary is the main pillar of any language. Memrise is the platform that is known for learning it. Earlier it allowed me to make my own decks but the latest version has removed this feature. Even the community decks were removed. Now there is a proper path to follow. There are different scenarios that you can choose. Choosing a scenario will give the vocabulary related to it. I think it’s a perfect tool for anyone who is planning to travel to a new country.

It also has a special feature- Phrasebook. Phrasebook is the quickest way to find the translation of any word I need. If you really want to boost up vocabulary knowledge, I would suggest you choose Memrise. 

However, I will share the pros and cons to make you understand better-

Pros	Cons
The best app to provide a lot of vocabulary	Community decks were removed
Select the theme to practice conversations	No writing practice
Provides the best phrasebook

Alternatives for Memrise

This platform may not be a perfect choice for you. In such a case, it’s very common to look for other alternatives. Thus, I have suggested some of them below-

1. LingoDeer – Practice alphabets

One aspect that is missed in most of the platforms is teaching the writing style. LingoDeer is the only platform that starts the courses by teaching them first. There is a special section ‘Alphabet’, where it is taught first.

2. iTalki – Finding a live tutor 

iTalki is a leading language learning platform that has various tutors teaching a specific language. There are more than 100 languages taught on this platform. The tutors are divided into two categories- Community and Professionals. Depending upon the experience, type of tutor, duration of the classes, etc, the prices are decided.

3. Lingoda – Learning the course

The biggest problem of most of the language learning platforms is the unavailability of advanced-level content. This is the basic thing that makes Lingoda different from other platforms. Each course is divided into units. The unit is a set of multiple lessons. The first unit has 50 lessons and the rest of them have 75 lessons in each course. 

Conclusion 

I got multiple words and phrases that helped me in regular conversations. Memrise is a platform that was well known for decks made by its users. Earlier, when I used it, I was also allowed to make flashcard decks on it. But now, they have removed this feature and introduced a course designed to teach new vocabulary. The course is simple and easy to navigate. In fact, I could choose specific scenarios to get the related vocabulary. If you are traveling somewhere, the phrasebook can be a game changer for you. I got multiple words and phrases that helped me in regular conversations.

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