Some background: I've taken Spanish in school and college, but my receptive language and written comprehension far outweighs my expressive language. I've done some Duolingo, Pimsleur, Say Something In, and Language Transfer. The app is closest to Pimsleur, or other speech/listening spaced repetition audio you may have tried. However, it includes flash cards and targeted practice so you don't have to repeat sections as often if you're not confident. It's also nice that you can see the words on the screen, in case the speaker has an accent you're less familiar with. It also saves your progress so you don't have to question, “where was I last”? for that time you got the stomach bug and couldn't find the motivation for a few days. Duolingo might be the most addicting, but Natulang does have the option to set a reminder to study.

I’ve been learning Ukrainian for a few years, but it can be difficult to find language learning resources for it in general, never mind high quality resources. I was very excited to see that this app was developed by a Ukrainian developer and had high hopes for it. The app doesn’t disappoint. It promises to add about five lessons a week and delivers on that promise, which is incredible. This app also has more direct explanations of grammar concepts than I’ve found in any of its competitors, which is very helpful. I quickly decided to purchase a lifetime subscription, which, at 100 dollars, is less than a year of Duolingo for far better content. To the developers: Дякую вам дуже! Я вражений!

It uncovers gaps in my Spanish and lets me practice in a realistic, conversational way. There are a lot of little words here and there that through the app I realized I wasn't using them quite right or was even avoiding using them - even extremely simple ones like “this” and “that,” for example. Kind of basic for fluent speaking! The other area I really love it for is making me do more complicated verb conjugations, like subjunctive and conditional, another thing I sometimes avoid and do workarounds for. It clears up a lot of confusion and lets you absorb the information. Maybe some day I’ll start French, too, and see what it’s like to start a language from scratch using the app.

Whenever you’re ready to break through the resistance to actually speaking your target language, in my case stubborn resistance to speaking Spanish, Natulang is superb at forcing you to get the words out and create a sentence, even if you’re off or way off. As you progress, the lessons can get brain steaming - but stick with it and do the spaced sentence repetitions. Seeing progress over time is the big reward. Natulang isn’t gamified, keeping you solely focused on producing sentences in your target language. It’s often a workout, pushing me along like a really tough teacher that I sometimes want to strangle lol, but it is so worth it.