OkyDoky - Language Courses 4+

Surprisingly great language learning app

I’ve struggled with finding the right kind of language learning app before in the past. I’ve tried everything from the big name apps to the more obscure ones. None of them could keep my attention for very long and I would end up forgetting about this. I saw this app as a promotion on the App Store and I figured I would give it a shot. So I downloaded it and sped through my first course. Then the second, then the third, and so on. I recently upgraded to premium for a month to try it and I am glad I did. I’ve learned Tagalog from this app in one week then I have in the past year of attempting to learn it. The questions are great and challenge you in the right way. It helps you remember words and phrases by intelligently ordering them and giving clues with the context of the question. If I had one gripe, it would be that the app runs a little slow on older devices. I mainly use my iPhone 12 Pro when studying and have 0 issues. But when I try to use my 2019 iPad or iPhone 5s that I keep as a backup, it can take some time before the screen changes to when you see stuff update. Kinda kills your flow if you want to keep up a pace. But this is a non issue for me since I mostly use my iPhone 12 Pro. Give this app a shot. It’s very well done

Developer Response ,

Thank you for your thoughtful and thorough review. We are thrilled to hear that you're enjoying the app.

We're constantly working on improving the responsiveness of the app and will be doing some tweaks in the coming weeks to improve the performance. It's not a surprise that a phone released in 2013 may struggle a bit with our fairly intensive app, but your iPad model from 2019 should work just fine. If you could be so kind and let us know which iPad you're using and specifically what issues you're experiencing, we'd be able to work on improving the performance for this device.

A fun and easy app!

My review is based on the European languages of this app: I’ve studied several languages for years. I’ve tried every known language app out there, and I’m surprised to say this is one of the better ones. This app and Busuu are my top favorite apps for learning. OkyDoky has a colorful and super easy-to-use interface that makes learning fun and keeps me motivated. No weird graphics, no phrases that you’ll never use, the vocals are clear and easy to understand, and no tedious tasks. Just straightforward learning. Great for reinforcing a language you already know the basics of, or for newbie language practice. I hope OkyDoky adds Hebrew, Brazilian Portuguese and Latin American Spanish someday.

I really like it but one thing.

I am really liking this app so far. It’s far better than Duolingo but it in a specific way is similar with all the good parts about Duolingo and more. (I know everyone is comparing it with Duolingo and I’m no different, sorry).

There is only one thing I don’t really like. When going through the vocab, it shows like the romaji/ romanization for the characters in the other language. I personally think that it makes it harder for me to learn and it distracts me and messes me up. I think it’d be good if there was an option to turn it off or switch between hiragana and romaji or something (unless I just haven’t found that option).

But other than that I like the different topics that you can go through at your own pace and it doesn’t take forever to complete a section because it’s straightforward and only holds you back if you miss the answer.

Developer Response ,

You can turn off transliteration/romanization in the course settings. Thank you for your kind review!