It was very good at first. But after getting a premium account, the app started having bugs. Whatever we speak, doesn't reflect correctly in the chat. It is frustrating at times, as it gets translated into altogether a different language.
I give Talkpal 5 stars even though rarely there are errors in pronunciation of some words (in italian), and sometimes translation is not very correct (like walking (verb) translated into noun) when i am doing my homework, i read the text and then describe it in my words to get corrections, or when I do the true or false exercises. I also make it listen to audio and then discuss the topic. What is missing for me is writing exercises in the course and constant reuse of the words from prev units.
The free version, a 12 day trial, is far too locked down, pushing premium sub so none of the features can be sampled, and only 10 minutes a day. It also didn't store the feedback for review later. Take a bit more of a chance guys! I am not providing my payment information for your trial, forget it!!!
There are so many mistakes in this app, as though nobody has proofread it at all before launching. The 'deck' of words are supposed to be like flash cards, to learn vocabulary. However, the translations confusing and often wrong. Words such as 'agitate' are taught and then in a sentence its translated as 'enthusiasm', which are two different things. It's as though the app has heavily relied on Google translate, using very bizarre word patterns and no helpful explanation. A big waste of time.
It's a good app, but there are basic functional flaws for the developers to be addressed.. In sentence mode, for the last sentence it's not possible to check the pronunciation score. And in word mode, whenever the recording fails because someone or something makes a background noise, the pronunciation score goes very low and it's not possible to retake without having to repeat the full unit.. and, it would be good if we could opt the AI to read the sentences before us or not.
It sends unwanted, annoying notifications that you can't turn off to continue my streak, to do my daily lesson even after I reached my daily free limit (15 minutes). It is very annoying please fix. Otherwise works fine, the AI is alright, sometimes struggles to remember what we talked about already. Explanations of mistakes sometimes are a bit weird.
The app look fine, but after some lessons and hours you will notice that there are many points (such as word decks) where you cannot retry. That prevents you from practicing, and practice is one of the most important tool to learn. So an absolute ZERO STAR, in that aspect. Elsa, lets you retry, but it's English only. In addition to that, every time you switch to another app (a dictionary), when you com back, all your contents is lost. Even worse, it takes you to the main menu.
I think this app is a great idea and the UI is very easy to use but I don't think it's quite there yet. I'm studying a language that isn't very popular so I imagine this app is better suited for major languages. I was constantly using a different app to translate what I wanted to say then being told my grammar was wrong because my pronunciation would register as a different word. I think it's a helpful app but I certainly wouldn't spend $80+ on a year's subscription.
I've had a subscription for a while, but I rarely used it because the language learning options offered were too advanced for my level (calls, debates, etc.). I was about canceling my subscription, but then I realized that the app now has great new features for learning words, sentences, dialogues, and even a course! Thank you for the significant improvements, I will continue enjoying using it!
I finally noticed the "feedback" red dot, which is finally leting me start to learn microfragments of romanji! The proper japanese characters are useless to me at this stage of my progress. I will have to use this app every "day" for it to become useful, as each "day" is about 5 minutes of conversation only. But she remembers my name from when I last used the app many weeks ago... that part is nice!
