#Busuu

[rainbowchibbit]

I’m so glad I can post a new and better post about language learning software after Duolingo did all that fuck shit with AI and firing a bunch of their staff. (I dropped them so fast—but that widget post I made is still getting notes and I cringe now)

Anyway. I recently downloaded Busuu as an alternative and I’m going back through all the lessons from the beginning even tho it lets you competency test placement. ANYWAY so in the kana and

Guys I’m ceyingkfns still about this i adore this sm.

I am fucking LAUGHINGIDHSJDNGKD LMAOOO

So when they go over the kana they tell you like

“Hey this resembles this” to help you remember

They’re like “ha” (は) looks like a person hiking/holding a stick and then give this image as an example:

And im like yea cool i get it.

Then we get to “ho” which is ほ which looks just like ha with an extra line on top right?

And it’s like. “It’s someone hiking/holding a stick but WITH A HAT” and I was like lmao ok

And then it shows me this:

THE SCREAM I MADE OUT LOUD. IM STILL CACKLING ABOUT IT IM TELLINF ALL MY FRIENDS ITS SO FUNNY 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂😂KDHDKGJFJDKSKNF HELP HELP HELP I HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH THIS APP AS OF THIS MOMENT CRHINGJDHSKG

[orion-my-rion]

i cannot keep quiet about this anymore.

if you're in the US or Canada and interested in learning a language using a free app please get a library card and download MANGO. it's very good and extremely free with a library card (there are many public libraries and universities using the service, so make an account and use the search feature here to find out if there's one near you).

mango currently has 72 available languages and dialects (that's right! different courses for french or canadian french! spanish or latam spanish!). it's set up basically like an audiobook with text. the idea is that the narrator explains the words while you read, and you repeat after them or say the translation out loud when prompted. there's a daily review where you go through flashcards. you can also use the flashcards at your leisure and create your own. at the end of each chapter there's a listening comprehension quiz and a reading comprehension quiz. i cannot emphasize how effective this all is. and it's free with a card.

if you're not in the US or Canada and/or looking for something more like duolingo (don't use duolingo btw tldr they fired translators and replaced them with "ai"), then try BUSUU! it only has 14 languages atm but the lessons are really descriptive and effective. it also has a feature where you can correct other people's open-ended speaking/typing exercises. you set your fluent languages, and exercises by people learning those languages will appear in your feed for you to correct. you can even add others as friends! and, much like duolingo, it has a streak and leaderboard system for you to strive for, minus the guilt-tripping owl.

busuu is free (you watch ads to unlock lessons and they're all skippable after like five seconds), although it also has paid premium/plus versions (i don't use the paid version—the language courses are available for free, and the ad system is Really unobtrusive).

so that's my wisdom for the day. mango and busuu. please check them out :)

[3rdexistence]

For everyone recommending Busuu as an alternative for Duolingo: stop.

It uses AI voices (as in literally the "sigma chad guy voice used on TikTok).

Plus, today I recieved a deepfake video on a listening exercise (speakers' facial expressions didn't match their tone or what they were saying, those unnatural circular head movements that most deepfake videos do, very periodic blinking and arm movement, eye level never changes).

Additionally, I'm pretty sure that the German course to learn Dutch is just a translation of the English version, because the German instructions were often weird/unnecessary/explaining stuff you wouldn't have to explain to a German speaker but to an English speaker.

Also on some translations they straight-up forgot to change the English translation to a German one.

At this point it just feels like we have to abandon the concept of language learning apps completely because they're all starting to use AI (and AI does *not* understand language).

tldr: Busuu is just as bad as Duolingo because it uses AI translations, voices, and videos

[wtfduolingo]

for anyone who wants to quit duolingo but still wants an easy way to learn a language: BUSUU IS PRETTY COOL! they don't have a lot of languages but the ones they do have are super fleshed out and easy to learn from. it's very similar to duolingo, but they have a community tab where you can help other people who are learning your native language, and vice versa!!! it's honestly super cool and also has no terrifying bird mascot

!!

[aziz-speaks]

Guess who worked out a routine/ACTUAL study plan

As much as I love just listening to Disney songs in my target language, it wasn't doing much for actually learning.

I've also added two new target languages??? I know, I can't believe it either! Anyway, here's my current plan that's been working fairly well.

I aim to hit 7 areas in each language every day: Consume media, listen to speech, Read while listening, Speak, write, study and review.

The idea is to touch each item every day, not spend forever on it. Build consistency first and then spend more time on it if you want to.

An Example from my journal today:

(Italian)

Consume: Listened to Disney songs on the way to work (Resource: Spotify)

Listen: Italian pod 101 unit 1 listening videos (about 7 minutes total) (Resource: Youtube)

Read: Lingo Mastery Read along video, Elena and Catalina (Resource: Youtube)

Speak: Busuu Community challenges - counting lemons and talking about family (Resource: Busuu)

Write: One sentence in my planner. Buongiorno. Io sono cosi-cosi. (Resource: pen and paper)

Study: Chapter 4/A1 on Busuu: Pronouns, the verb "to be", talking about people. (Resource: Busuu)

Review: Busuu flashcards: formal and informal greetings (Resource: Busuu, Anki Droid flashcard system)

I also just installed Language Reactor! I can't believe I ignored it for so long. I like that it searches for shows in your target language for you, especially on Netflix who seem to randomly take Russian dubs down. I also like the customizeable color coding for words you know, words you want to know, and words that you probably don't need to learn right now based on your current skill level and how relevant the word tends to be in real life. It even has an auto-pause feature that will wait after each line so you can replay it or assign categories to words if you want.

[council-of-beetroot]

So in my preparation for my Exodus from Duolingo and my 568 day streak one post recommended busuu.

I've played around with it for a few hours and I already enjoy it much more for a few reasons

You can get feedback from native speakers

It is free (with ads)

One thing I've noticed is that the lessons have a much better pace. You're not being over loaded with vocabulary

It teaches phrases you actually need. Sure Duolingo sentences are fun but not useful when someone speaks to you in Polish and you don't know how to respond because Duolingo has never bothered to teach you how to say "Dobrze, a ty?" but has instead focused on teaching you how to say "ten kot ma czterdzieści noży"

If there are any polish language resources out there that are worth checking out let me know

[solarianvoidthearoace]

Because of the mess that Duolingo turned out to be, I checked out a recommended app (list of recommendations here.)

I tried Busuu today and it’s great!

It actually uses the language skill levels of A1/ A2/ B1/ B2 that are used to compare language proficiency.

The assessment test was swift and didn’t feel pressuring, you can actually re-do the assessment for a language you already started whenever you feel like it!

However, one major point of critique (which is actually about accessibility): you can not turn off speaking exercises in Busuu. You can only repeatedly click “skip” whenever they pop up. But you can not just say “I don’t want/ can’t do speaking exercise at all.” And the same goes for listening exercises but worse because you can’t even skip those within your regular exercises/ lessons!

Disclaimer: I am not Deaf/ deaf nor mute. To me these things are annoyances more than actual accessibility issues but it does make Busuu feel rather inaccessible. Sometimes I just don’t want to deal with listening exercises. And I generally don’t like speaking “on command” or vocally replying to prompts. But, again, for me these are preferences.

I know speaking and listening exercises are important to achieve an actual comprehension for a language and I recognise avoiding speaking/ listening might slow down my progression in my chosen languages of study. I recognise that I need to and do consume media where I need to listen to the languages I’m learning.

To other people, it is an actual problem of accessibility that you can not universally turn off speaking/ listening exercises in Busuu.

I just figured this might be an issue people will inevitably notice now that we are changing away from Duolingo in droves and someone had to make a post about it.

[fraisefille33]

I knew Duolingo was bad but I didn’t realize it was “I learnt more German in 4 days on a different app than I did in 4 years on Duolingo” bad..

[studymochiandblossoms]

busuu 🇯🇵 lesson

なんにんいますか。 何人いますか。 How many people are there? How many are there? 🐱 Do you remember the kanji 何? It means "what". By combining 何 + counter, you can ask: How many of them? For example, 何人いますか。 means: How many people are there? However, the counter つ does not follow this rule. Instead, we simply use the word いくつ and say いくつありますか。, which means: How many are there? original kanji | how many...? | reading 人 / 何人 / なんにん 本 / 何本 / なんぼん 匹 / 何匹 / なんびき 枚 / 何枚 / なんまい 台 / 何台 / なんだい つ / いくつ 友だちは何人来ますか。 How many friends are coming? 木は何本ですか。 How many trees? なんびき何匹 (なんびき) How many animals/insects? 犬は何匹いますか。 How many dogs are there? ケーキはいくつですか。 How many pieces of cake do you want? ( 何本（なんぼん）、何枚（なんまい）、何台（なんだい）) パンを何枚食べますか。 How many pieces of cake do you want? ピアノは何台ですか。 How many pianos?

[vempress]

when a random stranger on busuu tells me my exercise was good

[orion-my-rion]

i'm at the point where i use busuu community more than other social media, because sometimes you get to read really detailed and carefully written paragraphs about someone's best friend, or how to cook their favorite food, or what their hometown is like.

and other times you get to see really awesome things like this:

[zhooniyaa-waagosh]

Busuu isn't perfect but something I really do like about it is the fact that it has a social feature where you can answer prompts or translate things in your learning language and get corrections and tips from native speakers who also use the app. The only issue with it, other than people not knowing the grammar for their own languages lmao, is that it really only works when there's a significant number of native speakers for that language on the app. My Spanish and French exercises always get responses, but my Japanese ones have never gotten corrections :(

[sunsorbit]

busuu is just. So much better than duolingo in every single aspect. I have been making significant progress in my korean skills in only 10 days, and i am so excited to learn more!

the mix between actual videos of native speakers saying the sentences, to audio, to text only, to images, to actual writing/speaking exercises, the little fun facts and explanations on grammar and sentence structure, or even just highlighting meanings of specific words is so good. I’ve even started to adore the community feature and am excited to have my own lessons corrected!

aside from actual language learning aspects and just app design wise:

- currently ads are super non invasive, only about their subscription service, and are only 15 seconds before starting a lesson,

- there’s no shitty gem store, you can just stop during a lesson and pick up where you left off and it will still count towards your streak,

- skipped days count towards your streak (!),

- streak “shields” refill automatically. no need to buy them (altho i also haven’t run out of them yet! so no idea what happens then)

- lessons are divided into chapters and are clearly labeled, so you actually know what you’ll learn in each lesson and can find ones you want to redo more easily,

- plus they tell you how long the lesson is going to take. (game changer. genuinely a game changer)

- and while i’ll miss the little collectibles from quests and monthly stuff it’s just so much more stress free + i’m not just encouraged to do lessons/quests to gain badges (which duolingo only uses to pump more ads at you) or uphold my streak, but because i actually wanna do the next lesson!

- there’s still a leaderboard and daily quests, but they feel more subtle and easily reachable, also not as mandatory, in a way

only downsides so far are no dark mode, the font can be a bit small for hangeul, and you can’t just search for other users (like, your actual friends) (or i just haven’t figured out how to) but like. i’m willing to compromise that for actual language learning that is fun and useful. no more gibberish sentences and ai-generated audio samples this course is made by humans lmao

So here’s to reaching a 1000 day streak on duolingo and ditching that shit owl for my new bestie Busuu!!!!! cannot recommend it more

i’m finally free!!

[bookish-library]

Y'all I finally got around to learning portuges (continuing to learn French and Spanish) and holy cow Busuu is awesome, it even tells you how to abbreviate it in text messages this is awesome

[tuituipupu]

started using busuu yesterday as a duo alternative and it has tasks you can't skip where it asks native speakers to peer review an answer you generate yourself 😭 it's scary like plz don't be meanie 2 me

[der-schmetterling15]

What I learned after doing Duolingo, Busuu, Clozemaster and Babbel lessons every day for 60 days

So, a few months ago I realized my skills in German actually suck because I'd been using A1 language most of the time (I teach beginners up to B1 level), and I had not been reading or listening to spoken German other than movies and series. As a result, imposter syndrome and terrible self-esteem hit me really hard, and I decided to take action. At the moment, I can't afford conversation classes or a German course to get my B2 certificate (and I clearly wouldn't pass a B2 test). I had been doing Duolingo for years and I managed to achieve a streak of 784 days, but the German lessons were too boring for me (I had finished the entire German course, but they added new content). I didn't want to lose my streak, so I decided to start another language there just for fun (I was tired of Spanish as well), then I chose Italian, and it's been amazing so far.

After searching for some materials online, I decided to download Busuu again. I took a placement test and they told me to do the B2 course. However, I felt like I needed a recap on some topics, so I started B1 course there (I'm finishing this week!) and it helped me a lot. Interacting with others while having your exercises corrected is actually great, so as correcting people's exercises. Besides, I started a list on Quizlet to help me memorize new words and expressions.

As for Babbel, I paid for one year of German because the price was really good, and they sent me to B2 as well. I finished all the B2 contents and did the B1 courses as well, and they gave me two live classes for free. I was terrified of participating in them because I wasn't very confident I could speak to foreigners, but I did it and it was really nice. The teacher and the other participants were amazing, and the cultural exchange was very beneficial.

I discovered Clozemaster after interacting with a polyglot girl I follow on Instagram. It may be simply "fill-in-the-blanks", but it really helped me memorize some structures and also review stuff I hadn't seen in a long time.

I was feeling so awful before that I considered quitting German and doing something else (new information: I monetized my hobby and now I hate my life lol), and of course the impossibility of moving to Germany made me feel even worse. I can't apply for DAAD scholarships because I am not interested in academic studies at the moment, PLUS, I'm not getting any younger... A friend and former student recommended the Bundesfreiwilligendienst, and I am doing lots of research on that.

In conclusion, after doing all this for the past 60 days, I felt that I really improved my writing and listening skills (I had also stopped watching German tv shows because this made me really sad). I've been also searching for upper-intermediate books that can help me until I can pay for a course. Maybe next summer I'm going to Berlin for an exchange program, and then I'll try to travel to other cities and speak German there as much as I can.