Are you looking at different language
app reviews and you see
so many different opinions
and you don't know who to trust?
Keep watching to learn
five things to look for
in language app reviews
individually and
the creators that make them.
If you're new here, hi, my name is Jamie.
I'm a language coach
and my specialty is helping online
language learners
find success in their language learning,
no matter what that looks like.
Fun fact I started out language coaching
because I was posting
language app reviews
like I'm going to be
talking about in this video,
so I know what I'm talking about.
So if that sounds good to you.
Make sure you subscribe and hit the bell
to be notified when I post a new video
every Wednesday.
Like I said, I got started
posting language app reviews
and I got started
posting language app reviews
because when I was looking up language.
apps for myself,
I realized, well, what
we're going to be talking about
in this video that everybody
who was posting language
app reviews,
a lot of them tend to be there
just to convince you to buy
different language
apps without discerning
whether or not it would
be good for me personally.
I started posting language
app reviews in 2016,
that was a long time ago now.
So believe me when I say
that I am not new to this.
So let's talk about five different things
that I highly recommend
that you look for
in the language app reviews
that you are researching.
The first thing to think about
when watching and reading
different language
app reviews is what experience
that particular creator
has with language learning.
The most extreme example
I can come up with to make it really,
really obvious for you to understand
this is when travel bloggers
decide that they're going to,
you know, learn the language of the area
that they're living in
for that period of time, which is great.
Don't get me wrong,
and they recommend
specific language apps
because those are the apps
and services and resources
that they're using.
They will talk a lot
about how they use that
particular resource
or service or whatever
to get more confident
in having conversations
while they were living in
that particular country.
The problem with that
is that they don't have any experience
doing anything else
to have a more informed opinion
and be able to inform you
about what to look for
and how to decide
if you would like that resource.
A lot of times
people like travel bloggers,
they can use this type of content
to add more income to their bottom line,
which isn't a bad thing, necessarily.
But in this particular context,
it's not the most helpful.
It's kind of like deciding
that you're going to go to college
and get a bachelors degree
and you know somebody else
who went to college
and got a bachelor's degree.
And so you ask them
what college they went to
and then you decide
to go to that college
to get a bachelors degree
based only on the fact that your friend
also went to that college.
If we all did that with college,
that would be ridiculous,
and it's the same concept.
So make sure you're aware of the creator
that you are listening to or reading
or whatever and understand
what actual experience
they have with language
learning and different
language, learning resources.
And if they don't appear
to have much experience
and their experience
is on a totally different
thing like traveling,
then that's important information.
The second thing to keep in
mind is how creators
are talking about language
learning resources as a whole.
And by that, I mean, if they have
five different language
app reviews, for example,
what are they saying?
Are they all raving about
how amazing they all are
and that you should definitely try out
those specific app reviews?
Are they saying that
these are app reviews that they love?
And so therefore you should try them too,
because you will also love them
based on the fact that they love them?
And the same goes for
language app reviews
when it's all negative.
Are they talking about how terrible
a particular language
learning, resource
is and that nobody should be using it?
And here's why.
Like either end of both extremes.
Generally, of course,
you'll find the first one
where they're raving
about how amazing a specific resource is.
And that's also not helpful
because just like the first point,
if they are just constantly raving
about an app or a resource,
but they don't provide any like,
Hey, by the way,
you might not like this
if you want this
or if you experience this,
or if you are trying to accomplish this,
then it's just completely subjective .
And it's just their opinion,
which is fine, but not necessarily
the most helpful for you.
A lot of the time
this happens because they have
affiliate commissions
or they're even being sponsored
by different language learning resources.
Not that that is an inherently bad thing,
but it can really change
how a creator talks
about different resources.
And I'm definitely not alone in this
because I talk to different language
learning resources.
And when I ask them
if they have an affiliate
program of any type
where you can earn money
for talking about that particular app,
a lot more of them are saying,
No, we don't want to offer
affiliate relationships
because we want an objective review.
We don't want you to rave and,
you know, be so excited about.
Our resource
if that's not genuinely how you feel,
because we don't want you
to tell people to use our resource
if they shouldn't actually be using it.
Over my years of
creating language app reviews,
I've definitely found
that there is a huge difference
between resources that offer
affiliate relationships,
but it's pretty reasonable.
And language apps that offer really huge
affiliate commissions like 50 $60
because the resource itself
isn't actually particularly good.
And yet people are posting app
reviews of those resources
and being so excited,
so happy about how amazing this app is,
when in reality, it's not.
They either don't know
what makes a good app
or they don't care
because they want to make a lot of money.
It is unfortunately a trap
that a lot of creators can fall into
because sometimes
it is hard to earn money.
And so and it's easy enough
to convince somebody
to click a link and create an account
or buy the product or whatever
it is, and you get $60.
I mean, it's it's hard to ignore.
The third thing to keep in
mind is when it comes to the flaws
that a creator is talking about,
what is the reasoning behind those flaws?
Nothing is perfect,
so I am 100% for acknowledging
the things that any
resource is not good at.
But the question is
why that creator thinks
those things are bad.
So, for example,
if we go into an app review
and it says that things are boring,
annoying and frustrating, just blanket
subjective statements
that are 100% that creator's opinion.
What's boring to me
might not be boring to you.
What's really fascinating,
interesting to me,
may not be fascinating
and interesting to you.
There is a difference
between those kinds
of flaws and flaws, like
I want to be able to learn
how to spell the words,
and this resource doesn't make it easy
for me to practice
that particular skill with that example.
If it's something
that's important to you,
then that is important
information to have.
But if it's important
to me and not to you,
you can say, Oh, that's fine.
I don't mind that
because I don't need that,
and it helps you to understand
if that resource
can genuinely be beneficial to you
and if the flaws that you can find are
going to be a real hindrance to you or if
if it doesn't really matter.
Obviously, mentioning things
like personal preferences
and personal experiences
and personal opinions, these aren't bad.
They're perfectly OK.
But when those things are
what drives their opinion
of a certain language learning resource,
then maybe you should be looking
somewhere else to be able
to make an objective decision.
It's like deciding
where you want to get your news.
Are you going to find
like the center most objective
news resource that you
can find to understand
what's going on in the world?
Or are you going to go somewhere
that's completely subjective
and very, very biased and likely
to reinforce certain opinions
that you already have?
Are you able to make
an opinion of your own that will help you
to make decisions
that will actually benefit
your language learning?
Or are you just kind of following
what somebody else is saying?
Have you noticed
any of these things so far
in your search for language app reviews?
Let me know in the comments
section below.
I'd love to hear what you see the most.
The fourth thing
to keep in mind about language
app reviews is whether or not
the app reviews function
as a review of the app themselves.
Or is it kind of a way for the creator
to advertise something else again
while it is OK to mention
different resources or,
you know, things like that?
What is the purpose
behind that app review?
Is the app review saying,
Oh, this is a perfectly fine app,
but it doesn't do this.
This, this, this and this, but mine does.
So you should buy my app
because it solves
all of these problems
that I'm mentioning.
Or is it saying, you know,
I really do like this app?
These are the things that
it could do better
or it's not really helpful for,
but it's OK.
And if you're looking for these things,
here's an alternative
that you might actually like
that's kind of related to this app,
but it doesn't do that
particular thing or does do that
particular thing.
Are they trying to get you to buy
their language learning app,
or are they trying
to genuinely help you to understand
what you're looking for?
And the last thing to look
for when it comes to language app reviews
is does a creator compare
that particular app
with other apps in
the market, in the industry
that you can also download
buy use whatever and compare
the two contrast
the two, say what one app does better.
one app does worse, whatever.
It is
because the thing is somebody
who doesn't understand
what it's like to learn a language online
and use all these different resources,
they might not be the most helpful
when it comes to finding
something that works for you
if they don't understand
what else is available.
It's harder to direct you to something
that might be more beneficial to you.
Can they make recommendations of things
that a particular app
could do better based on what they see
other apps doing?
Or can they say, Wow, this app
does this really, really well,
which is really, really great
because other apps don't do this.
It's all about helping
you make an objective
decision that will work for you
in your language learning
if this approach resonates to you.
I am really, really excited
to share this with you
because as I said,
I have been creating language
app reviews since 2016.
That was a long time ago.
Over those years,
I've been able to talk
with different language
learners and experience
language apps myself and,
you know, make observations
about my own language learning.
Big thing that's been happening, though,
is that for years language
learners have been asking me
what app I can recommend
for a specific language.
And so for many of those years,
I've wanted to create
some sort of search function
for my language app reviews
to help people make objective decisions
for their own language
learning that will actually
benefit them and not me.
That is why I am so,
so happy to announce my
language app search.
You can click the link
below to check it out.
Is on my website,
where you can basically
look for any language app
that'll work for you
based on the language
that you want to learn your level,
the level you want to be.
The skills that you really want
to improve upon.
And the objective differences
between these different options
so that you can make a
decision for yourself
that'll work for you.
It can compare and contrast
all the apps out there
that could possibly potentially
get you to where you want to be
in your language learning.
So click the link below
in the description
to see that search for yourself
and to play around with it.
And if you like this video,
I highly recommend
you check out these videos next.
Otherwise, have a wonderful day and I
will see you next time.
Shout out to all my
fellow Friends...friends?
Friends friends, Friends fans, whatever.