Memrise: Sprich neue Sprachen

I tried Memrise years ago, before the app, and liked it, so a positive experience with the free version of the app was enough for me to pay what I thought was a reasonable price for all-access. Within 6 months, all actual learning content had been swapped out for broken versions: vocabulary lessons with some words having a blank instead of a translation, or some vocab “words” that were not words, but were compound sentences using tenses and phrases I was never taught. There were—and still are—multiple choice questions that have the same answer for 3 of 4 options, which means even if you know the answer, you’ll probably be wrong. The video section that once had original content from native speakers is now flooded with stolen videos from creators on YouTube who offer their videos for free—but Memrise is using in its paid service, without credit and probably without compensation for the creator, who originally offered it FOR FREE. And as if all that wasn’t bad enough—and it most assuredly is—Memrise added the dreaded AI “helper”bots, just like every other corner-cutting language app out there. Naturally, the bots were messy and never worked right, but I was told to just wait it out because they were still in beta. The myriad of other, bot-unrelated issues I pointed out were, of course, ignored. And then something happened that would be so much funnier if I hadn’t paid Memrise for an all-access lifetime sub. It had been a few months, so I decided to see if the bots were “out of beta,” and had improved from when I last used them. That time, I had had been given quizzes with no questions because the AI “forgot” to include them??? Surely, it was a little better now, right? No. For the first question, it asked me to translate a simple phrase using the pronoun “je” (“I”), which is literally the first word you learn in French. I responded, using “je” as I had been instructed, and the bot marked it wrong. When I asked why, it told me the correct pronoun for “I” is “tu” (which actually means “you”). Flummoxed, I responded that je means I, and tu means you. Again, I cannot stress this enough, these are words you will learn immediately in any French course. There’s no excuse for getting that wrong in a language course, much less a paid one. However, things quickly descended into a bizzaro world as the bot told me that yes, je is I, but I had used tu. No, I explained, I had definitely used je; it was in the log from moments ago. At this point, the bot told me that je was not the correct answer, and repeated the question to point out my mistake once again. But it wasn’t the same question. It literally changed the entire question so it could insist I was wrong the whole time. What is this app doing, besides not teaching me French? What parallel universe did Memrise get their bots from and why am I being used as their test subject? I wrote to Memrise several times about the unprecedented uselessness of their bots and their app, asking to be refunded since I was somehow taught a negative amount of French by a bot that told me “je” means “you,” and “tu” means “I.” Obviously they never responded. Please save yourself and your money. Don’t give this app even a single cent. It’s that bad.

I used the app to learn korean which I really liked. However, the AI option really irk me. I understand it’s the new buzz word but I would’ve preferred having the option to use either AI for feedback or actual native speaker. For this, I’ll be looking for another app. Maybe in the future if this feature is implemented, I’ll be happy with the app again.

I started learning Spanish so i could be able to speak a different language and Memrise has been so helpful. With visuals of locals speaking and a bunch of different prompts like ordering coffee, Memrise is packed. It has different ways for diferentes types of learners to grasp what they are trying to learn. It’s great and I have one last thing to say… ¡Muy gracias!

I’ve been looking for a very good and traditional language learning app to help me with my Spanish classes in my upcoming school year. I have to say, this app is doing a great job with helping me learn! It lets you choose what you want to learn and what topics of that language! It also includes interactive videos to help you understand better! You also have a ai chat buddy to help as well! If you’re looking for a language learning app, I highly recommend this one!

I’ve emailed them in 2024 to refund me after charging me past the point of cancellation.. And again, had to email them this year—and they sent only 1x $30 annual refund so far. Terrible service. I’m calling my Bank this week if they don’t refund me for the last 4-6 years. Received no emailed receipts. Just charging my PayPal, even though I have NO ACTIVE SUBSCRIPTION with them! No app installed. And no usage on the app since cancelling / for years. I refuse this treatment by this company, and refuse to be ignored.

I was adopted at birth and took a DNA test after being fed up with the constant guessing over the last 30 years and found out I am over half Portuguese! I spent a lot more time than I should have trying to track down a Language learning app for Portuguese and not Brazilian Portuguese. OBRIGADO Memrise for allowing me to start the journey back to my roots.