Instead of taking the traditional approach to learn a new language, Memrise sets itself apart from the crowd by structuring its programs around courses created by users and short video lessons.
With Memrise native speakers help you learn with quick, short video lessons that provide memory aids and context.
Plus, the courses created by users cover a range of topics supplemented by the tutors on Memrise, so there is always more to learn.
But, is Memrise free? That’s what we’ll be looking at today, as well as going over the pros and cons of Memrise.
Memrise Costs And Subscriptions
You can learn over 20 languages on the Memrise language learning app, and they have two types of subscriptions available. These are the free plan, and the Memrise Pro plan.
While the free plan isn’t bad at all, it does have a couple of limitations. However, if you would like to upgrade, then the Memrise Pro plan gives you access to all features and content across Memrise.
If you want to pay monthly, then it’s around $8 per month. But if you want to pay an upfront fee it’s $60 a month (which works out as $5 a month).
But for a lifetime, unlimited pass it’s $120. So all things considered, Memrise is definitely value for money!
The Advantages Of Memrise
Now that we’ve taken a look at pricing, let’s take a look at the positives of Memrise. (See also ‘Duolingo Vs Memrise’)
Videos Created By Native Speakers
Undoubtedly one of the best things about Memrise is how they make videos part of their lessons, which is actually quite rare when it comes to language learning platforms.
Other language learning apps and platforms just provide audio lessons without a visual component.
But Memrise gives you a chance to see a native speaker speaking the target language you want to learn, making the lessons more personal and intimate.
You can note their inflection when pronouncing specific words, and even their body language and hand gestures.
What makes this so valuable is that visuals can be a huge help in learning a language quicker.
An Amazing Tool For Learning Vocabulary
Memrise is an incredibly beneficial tool for learning and retaining vocabulary.
The learning framework of Memrise makes use of a spaced repetition system, a reliable teaching method that some other language learning platforms also use.
Basically, this means that as you finish lessons, you will be introduced to a new word or phrase, and then a couple of seconds later, you will be asked to repeat it.
You will then be asked to repeat this word a couple of minutes later, and then a week later.
This makes sure the words go from your short-term memory to your long-term memory, and you rely on your long-term memory when in real-life conversations in your new language.
Plus, another great feature offered by Memrise is that they use adaptive technology in the background to make your sessions more personal and alter your lessons to your level as you progress.
For instance, if you’re having difficulty with a certain word or phrase, Memrise will encourage you to review these consistently until they’re in your long-term memory.
They even provide a beautiful visual of a blooming flower as a certain phrase begins to stick in your mind. In short, their adaptive technology and repetition system are incredibly effective.
Courses Generated By Users
Another thing that makes Memrise so unique is the access you get to user-created courses, as well as official courses created by the platform. This opens your mind to a variety of topics that align with your interests.
For instance, in the Spanish language, you can take courses that teach you terms relating to criminal law, yoga, and even Harry Potter! It’s impossible to run out of things to learn with the Memrise app.
Plus, it’s amazing that you can find many Memrise language courses that align with your specific hobbies, interests, and passions. You can basically create a whole language program centered on what you love on this language learning website.
The Disadvantages Of Memrise
Now we’ve talked about all the positives of Memrise, let’s talk about the downsides of the platform.
Their Free Plan Is Limited
While we do appreciate that Memrise provides a free version, there are a few limitations to this. For instance, you don’t have full access to all the content and materials with a free account.
With the free plan, you’re also unable to download lessons offline, you are not permitted access to the various Memrise review exercises and video clips, there is no speech recognition tool, and there is none of that adaptive technology working in the background to optimize your learning.
But for those who just want to pick up a couple of phrases and improve their listening skills, then the free plan is definitely sufficient.
But for those that seriously want to learn a new foreign language, they’ll be better off upgrading to the Memrise Pro Plan, which is luckily rather affordable and definitely value for money.
Limited Options For Conversational Practice
Since the official Memrise courses appear to be so focused on learning new vocabulary, they’re not so great for developing your conversational and speaking skills.
Yes, Memrise’s speech recognition technology will grade your pronunciation when in pronunciation mode, this exercise just listens to words and phrases and repeats them in a vacuum.
Basically, there are limited options for spontaneous usage of language that reflects real conversations.
There are definitely better options out there for practicing your speaking skills and broadening your conversational abilities.
Rocket Languages and Pimsleur are better options in this regard, as their lessons do an awesome job getting you to use the language you’re learning under pressure and participate in simulated conversations.
Not The Best Option For More Advanced Learners
This downside actually follows from our last point. Since there is no real opportunity to improve your conversational skills, Memrise isn’t really the best option for more advanced language learners.
Once you advance from being a basic learner to an intermediate one, then the next step you will most likely want to take is to put what you’ve learned into practice by talking to fluent speakers.
However, with Memrise, this option really isn’t there, unlike Pimsleur’s Italian course.
Final Thoughts
We hope our article has told you everything you need to know about the pricing of Memrise! While Memrise is free, they have an affordable Pro plan too.
We appreciate that their lessons include videos with native speakers, their very beneficial user-generated courses, and their adaptive framework and spaced repetition that makes learning and remembering new vocabulary so much more effective.
We also like that the length of the lessons can be customized, and it’s great that Memrise has built such a strong community in its user base.
However, just like other language learning programs, there are a few downsides to Memrise too. The most notable downside is that Memrise isn’t exactly great at developing your speaking skills.
Overall though, Memrise is still an excellent language-learning platform we highly recommend.
Especially for those who would like to achieve a basic or intermediate grasp of a new language and achieve sufficient fluency, whether you opt for the free version or take the plunge and upgrade to the Memrise Pro Plan!
