Glossika Review: Helpful or Overhyped? What You Need to Know
Kelsey Wetherbee
Published on February 25, 2022
Improves fluency but not for beginners
Glossika offers 64 different languages, which is more than most other language apps. All of the content is the same between languages though. The Glossika method is pretty effective, but the platform isn’t the most engaging. It’s also a lot more expensive than its alternatives. Overall, it’s worth a try but not really the best option out there (especially for beginners).
PROS
- Learn multiple languages at the same time
- Strong focus on listening and pronunciation
- Free courses to learn endangered languages
CONS
- Not many features
- Lack of variation in practice activities
- Listen-and-repeat method can be boring
Languages Available on Glossika:
Arabic (Egypt), Arabic (Morocco), Arabic (Standard), Armenian (Eastern), Azerbaijani, Belarusian, Bengali (India), Bulgarian, Cantonese (HK), Catalan, Chinese (Beijing), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian (Štokavian), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (UK), Estonian, Finnish (SW dialect), French, Gaelic, Georgian, German, Greek (Modern), Hakka (Hailu), Hakka (Sixian), Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Kurdish (Sorani), Latvian, Lithuanian, Manx, Mongolian, Norwegian (Nynorsk), Persian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (European), Russian, Serbian (Ekavian), Slovak, Slovene, Spanish (Mexican), Spanish (Spain), Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Taiwanese Hokkien, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Vietnamese (Northern), Vietnamese (Southern), Welsh, Wenzhounese (Wu)
Table of Contents
Glossika Overview
With Glossika, you can learn a new language from any source language, which is convenient if your native language isn’t English. By using a machine-learning algorithm, Glossika optimizes your learning experience by helping you achieve a decent level of fluency in a short amount of time.
You should know upfront that Glossika is best for intermediate and advanced speakers. In fact, it might even be a little frustrating if you’re a complete beginner. Even the most basic level throws you into the deep end with complete sentences, so it’s hard to identify vocabulary and patterns at first. This is a similar problem to the Speechling app.
It’s still a solid way to beef up your language skills, even though its price is a lot higher than its competitors. This Glossika review shows you everything the app offers so you can decide if the price is worth it for you.
Glossika Price
The price of Glossika costs $16.99 per month for unlimited access to one language, or a Pro subscription costs $30.99 per month and you can access all 60+ langauge available. There’s also a 19% discount on these plans if you buy them annually.
Glossika updated their pricing in March 2023 to better reflect the interests of customers. Previously, the only option was a Pro subscription, and it was by far one of the more expensive language apps. An app with a comparable price would be FluentU, and it offers a lot more interactive content than Glossika. The option to just pay for one language makes the app a lot more accessible. Other apps with a similar price point include Pimsleur, Babbel, and Drops.
Glossika Free Trial
Glossika offers a free 7-day trial. You can access all of Glossika’s content for the 64 languages available. It isn’t necessary to enter any credit card information either, so there’s no risk involved. Setting up an account is simple, and the free trial is the best way to see if you like the platform.
Glossika Discount
Glossika offers a huge discount of 55% off for students. The student price for Glossika is $7.65 per month. All you have to do is verify your student email address to receive the discount.
Glossika Free Languages
Glossika offers nine languages for free in an effort to help language preservation. These include: Catalan, Gaelic, Hakka (Sixian), Hakka (Hailu), Kurdish (Sorani), Manx, Welsh, Taiwanese, and Wenzhounese
Glossika Review: Getting Started & Features
It’s easy to start learning a new language on Glossika. Creating an account only takes a few seconds. After choosing what language you want to practice, you take a quick placement test to see where to start. You can also skip the test if you want.
There was no walk-through of the platform, so it was a little confusing to know what to do at first. Glossika sent an email with a tutorial video a few minutes after I created the account so I had a better understanding after watching it.
Once you’ve watched that, you’re ready to start learning! There are two main features of Glossika: Learn New Items and Review Mode.
Learn New Items
In each session of Learn New Items, you hear 5 different sentences. First, you hear the sentence in your native language. Then, a native speaker reads the translation in your target language. After that, you have the option to repeat the sentence out loud or record yourself saying the sentence so you can hear what you sound like.
The sentences are repeated multiple times during the lesson to help you remember them. It’s a straightforward way to learn and practice new vocabulary. It’s not the most exciting way, but it works.
You also have the ability to save your favorite sentences to listen to them again or mark them as too easy if you already know the vocabulary. You can also practice with a speaking option in Glossika, or use the listening-only mode. Glossika begins to include writing exercises as you advance through the content.
One of the most helpful features when you’re learning new sentences is speed adjustment. You can slow down how fast the native speaker reads the sentence to understand it better and correctly practice the pronunciation. This is helpful for beginner and intermediate learners. For advanced learners, it is possible to speed up the audio to hear a more natural way of speaking.
Review Mode
Review Mode is the other way Glossika helps you practice your target language, and I enjoyed using it. Glossika uses artificial intelligence (AI) to create a personalized experience for you. It predicts when you’ll forget a word or phrase, and right before that point, you’ll review it to reinforce your learning.
You can also review different collections, like your favorite sentences and sentences that you have recorded.
If you’re like me, you might need some motivation to stay on track with your learning. Some apps like Mondly help you track your progress, but Glossika takes a different approach. You can set goals for learning new material and for review in your account. At the end of each week, you receive a weekly progress report to you can see how you are advancing. Even though it’s small, this feature was helpful for me!
Glossika Languages
Glossika has over 64 languages to choose from. They also divide some languages by geographical area, like Spanish from Mexico and Spanish from Spain. With one subscription, you have access to all of the languages available so you can learn multiple languages at a time. It’s easy to switch between the different languages.
To get an idea of what Glossika offers for each language, I took a closer look at Korean, Cantonese, and Arabic. Here’s what I found.
Glossika Korean Review
You can pick up a lot of useful Korean vocabulary by studying with Glossika. The platform also shows every sentence in Hangul, the Korean writing system, with the phonetic pronunciation below. This helps you practice reading while you listen to the pronunciation.
You’ll need to use other Korean apps to learn how to read and write the alphabet since Glossika doesn’t teach it at all.
Glossika Cantonese Review
Glossika is an excellent supplement to more formal Cantonese lessons, but you won’t improve all of your skills by only using Glossika. The platform shows each sentence using written characters, and you can choose between four different phonetic spellings. Since Cantonese is a tonal language, most of the phonetic spellings use numbers to help you understand what the different tones are.
You’ll be better off if you use other Cantonese apps to learn the characters and pronunciations instead of Glossika.
Glossika Arabic Review
Glossika offers three variations of the Arabic course: standard Arabic, Moroccan Arabic, and Egyptian Arabic, so you can choose the course that’s right for your personal goals. All sentences are written in the Arabic alphabet, but there are phonetic spellings to help if you don’t know the Arabic alphabet.
You may learn some useful phrases with Glossika, but you’ll definitely need to use other Arabic apps if you want to learn the alphabet or improve your writing.
Glossika Review: Overall Learning Experience
I enjoyed studying with Glossika and think it’s a decent platform. While the artificial intelligence it uses to personalize studying is interesting, I don’t really think it’s worth the price. At least it wasn’t for me.
The content is helpful and comparable to other apps, like Clozemaster and Drops. The sessions only take about 10 minutes to complete, so it’s easy to squeeze in study time throughout the day.
Glossika’s focus is very limited. It’s a no-frills platform that focuses on listening and speaking. In other apps, if you get tired of doing the lessons, there are sometimes stories, podcasts, or quizzes that you can do, like in Duolingo and Busuu.
But Glossika doesn’t offer any of these features and sticks to what it knows best. There also aren’t any videos or pictures that go with the sentences.
Overall, it wasn’t my favorite app (that’s Babbel!), but it’s still a good-quality study tool. It’s helpful if you’re an auditory learner or if you want to focus on speaking and pronunciation. The listening-only mode, which is similar to Pimsleur, is perfect if you want to study while driving to work or doing something else.
Glossika Review: Areas of Improvement
Glossika’s biggest downfall is the lack of variety in the practice activities. There isn’t any visual or interactive content to keep you engaged. After a few practice activities, it started to feel monotonous.
Another area that could be improved is the lack of explanations, especially at the beginner levels. Because the goal of the platform is fluency, users only receive full sentences. There’s no way to see what each individual word means or learn why the sentence was written like that.
This can be frustrating when learning a new language, so I would’ve liked a little more guidance and help in that respect.
Glossika Review: Alternatives & Competitors
The main Glossika alternatives are Clozemaster, MosaLingua, and Pimsleur. All of these help you learn phrases in your target language quickly. Glossika and Clozemaster have the most content, but MosaLingua is a lot more interactive. Out of all of these, Pimsleur will help you become conversational the fastest.
If you’re looking for a more complete course, I recommend checking out Babbel or Rocket Languages. They’re both cheaper than Glossika and offer more complete courses for beginners.
Glossika vs Babbel
Babbel is a lot more comprehensive than Glossika and it focuses on conversations and real-life situations. Glossika offers a lot more languages though. Overall, you’ll gain a better understanding of your target language by using Babbel. It’s less than half the price of Glossika, so it’s more affordable. Check out more of its features in this Babbel review.
Babbel offers a free trial, so check it out to see if you like it!
Glossika vs Pimsleur
Pimsleur is the most similar to Glossika because its main focus is also on listening and speaking. Pimsleur offers more variety in its activities, including flashcards, dialogues, and quizzes. Pimsleur has a lot of explanations in your primary language, whereas Glossika goes for a more immersive approach to maximize the amount of time listening and speaking in the target language. Pimsleur is the better value and has a lower price than Glossika. Read more in this Pimsleur review.
You can sign up for a 7-day trial of Pimsleur to see if it’s a good match for you!
Glossika vs Drops
Drops and Glossika are different in their focuses. Glossika is a no-nonsense app that focuses on learning language structures and sentences, while Drops is a more interactive app that focuses on vocabulary. If you are starting a language, Drops might be a better choice to help you learn sounds and basic vocabulary before moving on to more complicated sentences. Drops is a lot more affordable than Glossika too. Learn more about it in this Drops review.
You can use Drops for 5 minutes every day without paying, so it’s worth trying out!
Glossika vs MosaLingua
Glossika and MosaLingua are similar in their flashcard-style approach to learning. They both use the listen-and-repeat method. Even at the beginning level, you are using phrases instead of just words. MosaLingua has a lot more features to help you practice. You can also study with music, videos, and even complete books! At $4.99 per month, MosaLingua is definitely the better option between the two, but it also offers a lot fewer languages. Learn more about it in this MosaLingua review.
MosaLingua has a free trial, so sign up and test out the different features to see if you like it.
Glossika vs Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone and Glossika both take an immersive approach to language learning. But they’re completely different when it comes to features. Rosetta Stone starts from a complete beginner level while Glossika is more helpful for intermediate and advanced speakers. While Rosetta Stone follows a somewhat strict course structure, Glossika is flexible and lets you choose what you want to learn. In terms of price, Glossika is a lot more expensive than Rosetta Stone, but it also teaches more useful information. Learn more about Rosetta Stone in this review.
You can try Rosetta Stone free for 3 days, so sign up for a trial to get a feel for its courses.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, you can use Glossika for free! Glossika offers a free 7-day trial. You have access to all of the features and do not have to enter any credit card information. You can access all 64 languages during your trial.
Glossika’s method is different from most other language learning apps. The goal is to acquire language in a more natural way to create fluency. To achieve this, learners listen to a native speaker read a full sentence and then record themselves speaking the sentence. Glossika uses spaced repetition to help you remember vocabulary in the long term.
If you are a student, it may be worth it because of the heavily discounted student price. However, the monthly price of $16.99 for one language or $30.99 for all languages is on the more expensive side when compared to other language learning apps like Babbel or Pimsleur.
Glossika’s method focuses on fluency and learning a new language in a natural way. You probably won’t become fluent just by using this app, but it can help with pronunciation and sounding more like a native speaker.
There are about 3,000 sentences in each language course on Glossika. You can study topics such as going to the doctor, trying different foods, and more. All of the sentences are the same in each language course.
About This Glossika Review
This is an independent Glossika review, and the company has not sponsored this article. To write this review, I used the 7-day free trial and used it for a few hours to thoroughly test its content and features. I also found additional information on the Glossika website to verify my findings.
