linguafolks vs Babbel
frlisez n'importe quoi à votre niveau exact
Babbel teaches you a syllabus written by teachers. linguafolks rewrites what you already wanted to read.
Babbel is a subscription course built around practical conversation, with lessons written by language teachers.
Babbel's reputation rests on the seriousness of its lessons. They are written by people who teach languages, they concentrate on conversation you would plausibly have, and they treat grammar as something to be explained rather than absorbed by osmosis. For a learner who wants structure and adult-sounding material, it is a considered choice.
It is still a syllabus. The material is written in advance, sequenced in advance, and identical for everyone at that point in the course. That is the strength: somebody competent decided what comes next. It is also the ceiling, because what comes next cannot be the article a friend sent you this morning.
linguafolks inverts the arrangement. There is no syllabus. A one-minute test estimates how many words you know; anything you paste or describe comes back rewritten to that level with the original beside it, and the vocabulary you were missing becomes drawn scenes. What you study is decided by what you wanted to read and by what you turned out not to know.
Three things Babbel doesn't do
- The material is chosen for you
- A course is a sequence somebody else decided on. linguafolks has no sequence: you bring the text, and difficulty rather than topic is what gets controlled.
- Level is a course position, not a measurement
- Where you are in Babbel is where you are in Babbel. linguafolks produces an estimated vocabulary size and a CEFR band placed to Lower, Mid or Upper, and keeps it current as you confirm words you have learned.
- Vocabulary arrives as vocabulary
- Words are taught, then reviewed. In linguafolks a word you did not know becomes an anchor that sounds like it, fused with its meaning into one scene, and drawn, because the hook that gets made beats the hook you meant to make.
One minute, then a real number
estu nivel, medido
Fifty words, forty real and ten invented to catch over-claiming, give an estimated vocabulary size and a CEFR band placed to Lower, Mid or Upper. Everything downstream reads that number. And it keeps moving: each word you confirm you have learned is added, so the level follows you without a retake.
Read anything at your exact level.
frlisez n'importe quoi à votre niveau exact
The text is rewritten to sit within reach, hard enough to grow and easy enough to finish, with the original beside it so you can see what changed and check yourself against it. Tap any word to find out what it means and keep it.
FrenchLe café se trouvait quasiment déserté à pareille heure. Des effluves de café chaud imprégnaient la salle. Quelques clients s'entretenaient à mi-voix près de la devanture.
Elle tergiversa longuement avant de passer commande. Le serveur patientait près du comptoir, sans hâte aucune. Elle jeta finalement son dévolu sur un chocolat chaud et une part de tarte.
Il consigna la commande d'un hochement de tête. Au-dehors, la pluie ne faisait que commencer. Elle ouvrit son livre et fit abstraction du reste du monde.
EnglishThe café was almost empty at that hour. A smell of hot coffee filled the room. A few customers were talking quietly by the window.
She hesitated a long time before ordering. The waiter waited by the counter, in no hurry. She finally chose a hot chocolate and a slice of pie.
He noted the order with a nod. Outside, the rain was just beginning. She opened her book and forgot the rest of the world.
FrenchLe café était presque vide à cette heure-là. Une odeur de café chaud remplissait la pièce. Quelques clients parlaient tout bas près de la fenêtre.
Elle a hésité longtemps avant de commander. Le serveur attendait près du comptoir, sans se dépêcher. Elle a enfin choisi un chocolat chaud et une part de tarte.
EnglishThe café was almost empty at that hour. A smell of hot coffee filled the room. A few customers were talking quietly by the window.
She hesitated a long time before ordering. The waiter waited by the counter, in no hurry. She finally chose a hot chocolate and a slice of pie.
Words that stick
ptaprenda vocabulário mais rápido
Every word gets an anchor, something you already know that sounds like it, fused with the meaning into a single scene, and then drawn. If it makes you smirk, it is doing its job.
baleine
means whale
FrenchballerinaA graceful ballerina twirls on stage, her body morphing into a massive whale mid-leap.
pays
means country
FrenchpayA traveler at a border checkpoint paying gold coins to enter a vast, sprawling country.
raser
means shave
FrenchrazorA gleaming razor blade shaving off a thick beard in one smooth stroke.
Where Babbel wins
No product is better at everything, and a comparison that pretends otherwise is worth nothing to the person reading it.
What Babbel does better
- Lessons written and reviewed by actual language teachers.
- Structured, sequenced grammar explanation that we do not attempt.
- Speech practice, which linguafolks does not have.
- A coherent path for a complete beginner, which we are poor at.
Where linguafolks falls short
- Grammar exercises exist in French and English only. The other four languages have reading and vocabulary.
- There is no audio and no speaking practice anywhere in the product.
- We generate texts rather than curate them, so there is no hand-edited library to browse.
- Six languages: French, Spanish, German, Italian, Portuguese and English.
- It is a new product, without the years of polish the established apps have.
Plainly, then
Choose Babbel if
- You want explained grammar and a sensible order to learn it in.
- Conversation and speaking practice are the point for you.
- You are a beginner who wants to be told what to do next.
Choose linguafolks if
- You can already read a little and want to read a lot more.
- You want your own material made accessible rather than a syllabus.
- You want to know your level as a number that moves.
Questions
- Does linguafolks teach grammar?
- There are short grammar exercises in French and English: verb tables, sentence practice, match-ups. It is practice rather than explanation, and it is not a substitute for taught grammar.
- Can I use both?
- Comfortably. A course supplies structure; linguafolks supplies reading at a level that fits. They do not overlap much.
- Is there speaking practice?
- No. There is no audio and no speech recognition anywhere in the product.
Find your level first.
It takes about a minute and needs no account. Whatever you decide afterwards, you will at least know where you actually are.
This page compares how the two products are built rather than cataloguing Babbel's features, which change often. Either way, check theirs before you decide. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it.