Mondly App Review – Is Mondly Premium worth it?

Learning a new language can be quite daunting. There are so many resources out there that claim they will be the tool to get you to reach your goals. 

Mondly is one of these tools, it claims to be able to help you learn one of its 40 offered languages. While this seems pretty impressive, we’re going to break down how effective Mondly actually is for learning a new language. We tested Mondly out – here’s how we got on.

Mondly Review – Our thoughts

The truth is that the free version of Mondly is very limited in comparison to the full version – it’s similar to many other language apps out there. However, in most cases it’s worth upgrading to the paid version, at least temporarily, as you’ll gain access to a whole host of different features.

The paid version of Mondly’s does tend to offer the same benefits as most other language courses and apps, like Babbel. 

In most cases, the free version isn’t worth your time, aside from maybe testing it out for a few days. It’s more basic and much less user friendly than the premium version.

Rather than wasting your time with this, I would recommend that you take out the 7-day trial and test out the app properly.

Mondly Lessons

The lessons are structured extremely well, and it’s clear that Mondly have put a ton of time and effort into their app. The vocabulary exercises are great – they split between drilling vocabulary in a systematic format and learning the words in context, which is a good way to learn. 

One of the first things I noticed about Mondly is that it doesn’t offer a placement test like other apps like Busuu or Duolingo. So you need to take a stab in the dark here and you may risk wasting time doing exercises that are too easy or too difficult.

I found that the vocabulary and basic speaking tools were the better features of the app. It offers very little in the way of grammar explanation so you would need to supplement the course with outside learning.

I found I had to Google the grammar points now and again to get to grips with what I was doing. 

The premium version is definitely worth the upgrade over the free plan, it’s easy to navigate and feels good to use.

However, I do feel like even the premium course lacked some structure and the exercises felt a little bit random when I was doing them. 

We’re going to break things down even more but looking at the pros and cons of Mondly, which should hopefully answer all of the questions you have about Mondly.

Features of Mondly

On the whole, Mondly feels more like a study aid to go along with a more comprehensive course in your chosen language. It’s good at drilling vocabulary and gets you more comfortable with the language.

Also, the wide range of languages that you can study is a massive plus. 

However, even the premium version of the app doesn’t feel particularly well-structured. There’s not a lot of difference between the beginner and advanced lessons, which is very unusual. 

I also didn’t really feel like I was making progress with the Mondly app. It was effective in practising words and terms that I was familiar with, but I didn’t come away with a sense that I had learned a lot.

With other apps like Babbel, I always come away with a feeling like I have gained more knowledge and learned something new. 

Within Mondly, you can learn using vocabulary lessons or basic phrases, and they’ll all be made for your education level. It provides exercises that get you to listen, read, write, and speak.

It also offers a new tailored “daily lesson” each day, however, this didn’t feel much different from the other lessons within the app. 

Mondly also offers a voice-recognition tool, which was a nice feature and not very different from other language course apps. 

How do you use Mondly?

You can start using Mondly and do exercises in your chosen language without making an account.

If you decide to stay with the app, it’s best to make an account so that you can track your progress. You’ll obviously have to decide which of the 40 languages you want to learn first.

You’ll then be asked to choose between the beginner, intermediate, or advanced levels. Mondly doesn’t place you on a placement test like other language course apps. 

Mondly offers a 7-day free trial as well as a free version. It then offers monthly, annual or lifetime access paid plans. 

After doing this, you’ll then be taken to your course home screen. Mondly’s home screen resembles a side-scrolling landscape, much like a game, with various landmarks that you can work through.

You don’t need to complete one level to move on to the next, but you can jump between them which is a great feature. 

Within each “level”, there are six to eight lessons inside. The lessons are pretty basic and don’t go too in-depth about any grammar explanations. 

However, the speaking activities are pretty well-made and are slightly more interesting than on other language apps as you’re guided through conversations rather than just speaking out random sentences.  

It is very handy if you have certain weaknesses that you want to target, as you can choose to opt for the advanced exercises in areas where you’re knowledgeable, and start with more basic stuff in the areas where you’re weak.

Pros and cons of Mondly

Common Questions about Mondly

Final thoughts 

There are a few different language-learning apps that you can choose from, and in my humble opinion, Mondly isn’t the best one – especially for the price point. 

While it does offer some good features, there isn’t anything that stands out from any other paid language-learning apps. It works best as a study-aid rather than a standalone language course.

If you’re a beginner, starting with the free version could be a good way to see if it’s for you. However, it’s not always necessary to use a paid app, and there are some better free or cheaper options for you to build a foundation in your chosen language.