linguafolks vs Busuu
frlisez n'importe quoi à votre niveau exact
Busuu moves you through CEFR levels. linguafolks measures where you are inside one and writes to it.
Busuu is a CEFR-aligned course with lessons, tests, and feedback from native speakers in its community.
Busuu takes CEFR seriously, which makes it an interesting comparison, because so does linguafolks. Its lessons are organised against the framework, it will tell you which level you are working through, and its community feature, having something you wrote corrected by a native speaker, is a genuinely good idea that no algorithm replaces.
The difference is what a CEFR level is used for. In a course, the level is a container: it describes the unit you are in and the material that has been written for it. In linguafolks the level is an input. A one-minute vocabulary test produces an estimated word count, that becomes a band placed to Lower, Mid or Upper, and that placement is what every text you are handed gets written to.
The practical consequence is where the material comes from. Course lessons must exist before you can take them. Rewriting does not: any page you paste, at your measured level, with the original beside it. The level updates as you confirm words you have learned, rather than waiting for you to finish a unit.
Three things Busuu doesn't do
- The level names the unit, not your vocabulary
- Working through a B1 unit tells you which material you have been given. linguafolks estimates a vocabulary size, places you to Lower, Mid or Upper within a band, and uses that number to set the difficulty of everything you read.
- Lessons have to exist first
- Course material is written in advance. linguafolks generates on demand, so anything you can paste a link to becomes readable material at your level, including things nobody would ever write a lesson about.
- No mnemonic imagery
- Vocabulary is taught and reviewed as vocabulary. In linguafolks it becomes an anchor from a language you already speak, fused with the meaning into a single drawn scene.
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.
Read about what's interesting to you.
delies, was dich interessiert
Pick something ready-made, paste any URL and get what the page actually says, or describe in one line what you feel like reading and it gets written. Not a library you have to want something from.
Italiancurated stories and articles, sorted by topic - every one at your level
Das Festival beginnt heute Abend.
The festival starts tonight.
Germanpaste a link - the page arrives side by side, simplified to your level
A chuva caía devagar sobre a esplanada.
Ela escolheu a mesa junto à janela.
O empregado trouxe-lhe um chocolate quente.
Portuguesedescribe a text in one line - AI writes it, at your level, on your topics
Where Busuu wins
No product is better at everything, and a comparison that pretends otherwise is worth nothing to the person reading it.
What Busuu does better
- Corrections from native speakers: a real human in the loop, which we have nothing like.
- A clear CEFR-aligned path with lessons written for each stage.
- Speaking and listening practice throughout.
- More languages than our six.
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 Busuu if
- You want a native speaker to correct what you write.
- A clear CEFR ladder to climb is what keeps you going.
- You want speaking practice, or a language we do not cover.
Choose linguafolks if
- You want to know where you sit inside a level, not just which one.
- You would rather read the open web than a curriculum.
- You want your placement to update without sitting another test.
Questions
- Is linguafolks CEFR-aligned?
- The placement maps an estimated vocabulary size onto CEFR bands from A1 to B2+, each split into Lower, Mid and Upper. It is an estimate for choosing reading difficulty, not a qualification.
- Does anyone correct my writing?
- No. There is no human feedback and no community feature. If that is what you want, Busuu is the better choice.
- How far up does the level go?
- The placement tops out at B2+. Beyond that, native material is generally the right difficulty and rewriting matters less.
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 Busuu'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.