Umi - Language Learning Reviews

by Rainbow Burrito

Language learning features actually quite impressive. Used to be able to use it for free with ads. The ads were completely reasonable considering it was free, and they offered premium plan if you wanted no ads, which is fair. Then it became only one free lesson a day unless you had premium. Now it seems I can’t do any lessons at all unless I buy premium. And they are asking too much for the premium plan. Not a bad app if you can afford it, but I honestly don’t think it’s worth the money when there are so many free and cheaper options out there.

by Can't Speak Japanese

App is not clear that you will not be able to progress without paying a subscription service fee. Locks you out of any lessons aside from the first two unless you “sign up”. Misleading and a crummy thing to do. Wouldn’t be as bad if they were upfront about it, but considering how it’s hidden until you already start and then suddenly realize you can’t continue unless you pay a subscription fee just makes me wish Umi gets taken down

by JadeDragonade

Okay so with all respect can you please mention that there is a subscription in the photos or marketing, because everywhere I’ve looked it doesn’t say that there’s a subscription. Also, I’m only allowed like 4 lessons before they offer a subscription.

Also, why can’t I delete my account? There’s no option anywhere, and I think that’s really weird. Please fix this. Thanks.

by Alyssawithawhy

I really wanted to like Umi- it’s an amazing concept for learning languages through listening to native speakers. Most of the reviews mention that the Japanese section is great and that may be true, but the Spanish lessons are certainly lacking. The captions don’t fully line up with the movie clips being played, with some words missing or in different orders, a major flaw when you’re trying to learn a language. The word by word definitions are also lacking. At one point the word “andar” was defined as meaning “around”, and a simple google translate could tell you how incorrect that was. For an app that requires a not-insignificant subscription for any substantial amount of learning, I certainly would expect accuracy at the very least.

by LoveLouis777

The idea behind it is good. But the delivery is not. First of all, some of the clips they have don’t even play in completion, so you don’t even hear the actual word you’re learning being used. It cuts off right before the actor can even begin their sentence.
Secondly, some of the definitions they provide don’t even coincide with the clips they use. For example, they say the definition of “날“ is day, day time and weather. Which should mean that the example for the dialogue they give would be “날씨” - which means weather in Korean. Instead, the example they give is “나“ which means “I” in Korean. What?? How does that even make sense.

If you’re going to show that words have multiple meanings, they have all the meanings in the definition you provide. Don’t leave it out. Otherwise it just makes Umi look super messy. I can’t believe I subscribed for this. You’re better learning on your own. Cancelling immediately.

by KGupt

Extremely fun way to increase vocab. Much better than duolingo, because it shows real world contexts. Please add mandarin! Edit: after paying, I’ve noticed some of the vocab showing a similar but not same word to the word being taught, for example learning 눕다 but showing clips for 누구. Seems like they don’t proofread the words/lessons… which makes it confusing. Originally 5 but taking down since it’s become a regular occurrence.

by Mfh2000

I really like Umi but I wish there was a free option with limited features. I did get 3 lessons free which is nice. I’m not sure it’s enough to really test Umi before committing to a subscription.
Totally understand needing to keep the lights on but the monthly subscription is a bit expensive and the annual subscription is cheaper, but for those who can’t afford a lump sum payment I wish there were other options.

by Beembip

Great app. I like this style of learning better than Duolingo.
The vids stopped working for about a week and there was no communication from the devs. I just kept checking twitter(X) and my app everyday to see if it was fixed.

I’d also like to see a more improved UI in the future!

by Reneshia

I think Umi is pretty cool. I’m so thankful it gauged my learning level instead of just making me start as a beginner. I’d like to see a few different kdramas used as references (just because I think it’d be more fun) and I’m actually interested in doing the 1 year subscription, but I’d much rather pay monthly than pay $50 all at once. If that ever becomes an option I’m all in.

by LMusketeer

Hey there, I’m studying Japanese at school momentarily and coming from Duolingo. Umi is brilliant and helps my comprehension so much with the real-life scenarios, which was my greatest weakness tenfold. Just wanted to give my appreciation and one small recommendation. I think practicing with these clips is great, but as a sort of large scale practice, I think there could be somewhere in app with full film recommendations for different levels. Just a thought, love Umi !

by Doruthedj

I’m so impressed with this application. I’ve gotten to the point where I am interested in challenging myself with listening input. As a beginner, it can feel difficult to find comprehensible audio with Japanese subtitles. this app takes the best of Duolingo (the gamification for those that like it, a clear pathway and wonder UI) and improves upon it.

My only suggestion would be maybe making furigana toggle-able for memorized words? To elaborate, I think I think it would be nice if I furigana didn’t have to be all off or all on. Words with kanji that have been reviewed and memorized can have furigana off to help with reading comprehension without the furigana support.

The developers are doing a wonderful job. I have extremely high hopes for the future of Umi and team.

by Boxing, Denver Broncos, ARNOLD

I am currently learning German on the this app app and really have to say that this is definitely the most fun app there is when it comes to learning vocabulary. It uses vocabulary words in context of clips from shows and movies in actual spoken dialogue that actual makes it stay in my long term memory. this app has quickly become my favorite language app when it comes to vocabulary and my every day language learning. Thank you this app!

by P4kl

Thank you for creating the language app of my dreams. It combines actual word usage from movies, anime, tv-shows in bite size formats that make the exercises fun and easy to do. I love the ability Umi has to record my voice and replay it!!! Then an AI scores the pronunciation to tell you how well you did!!!! I’ve dabbled with Duolingo, Babel etc. but the other language apps weren’t as robust and amenable to me. Thank you for all the hard work you’re team put into making Umi

by Cmahone24

To find a gem is hard when it comes to language learning apps. Some of them, especially that little green bird, get so much hype online and I’m not too much of a fan of the popular apps so it’s nice to find apps like Immersely that tries to do something a little different. The videos are cool( reminds of Memrise, which is another good app for the same reason) I really like the feature to slow down the videos and how the audio isn’t effected with a robotic or echo-y voice, it helps a lot because I can still understand the audio in the videos. Hopefully Korean is on the way, that’s another language I’m learning atm

by Reburanku

Very well constructed app for retaining vocabulary. My one complaint is that it appears you can't save the root words to your dictionary, rather than just the conjugated version that's underlined in the audio scripts. For example, I can save the word 騙せません to my dictionary but cannot simply save the word 騙す which I would highly prefer. Hopefully this can be resolved in the future.

by PizaNoAikouka

Umi is a great way to learn new languages such as Japanese. It’s been very fun listening to clips from various shows and movies. Umi helps you learn a lot of colloquial phrases and slang as well as the formal definitions of words/phrases.

The user interface is easy to use, and Umi helps you learn Kanji quickly.

The developers are very nice and very quick to respond to feedback. They fixed an issue I noticed super quick! 速い (hayai)!

by Zionm97

I was fortunate enough to travel to Japan and immediately became obsessed. I picked up some words here and there thanks to being surrounded by native speakers and have been searching for that experience digitally back home in the US. Immensely provides that. It’s a humanizing and more intimate form of language learning than other apps that leaves you understanding and absorbing more of the language so you can comprehend and communicate more effectively. I spent time on doulingo and other alternatives but found I wasn’t absorbing as much as I needed to actually have conversations and understand what people were saying. Thankfully with Umi, through the videos and other unique features, I find im learning and retaining more of the language than ever before.

by CrossFit Johnathan

You can tell the people who created Umi really care and understand language learning. I love that they pulled from a wide variety of media to help with hearing different tones and voices which really helps you pick up the sounds intonations of languages. I would definitely recommend adding this to your language learning repertoire. I look forward to benefiting from this app for a long time!

by Rsnna

I love Umi! I found it through an ad on Instagram that advertised it for free and I downloaded. And I saw a post by the developer made a year ago on Reddit, so I know it’s fairly new.
With that being said there are some issues with the clips that cut the word that you’re trying to learn. And there is no option for it limited access as a free user!
I understand that the developer needs to get paid, and looking at the replies on reviews I see that they’re working very hard.
I do wish for Umi to be very successful, but I’m broke and can’t pay for a subscription. I will wait for the day when this person makes enough money and a free option of Umi is available! Good luck and I hope your hard work pays off well. You still deserve a 5 star review.

by Ksudhdhdjdhdh

I don’t think I’ve ever written a review before! Out of all the apps that I tried for language, this one has been very good at helping me remember things contextually. Instead of just learning things on their own, it makes things much more interesting to see them in a bite-size piece of media.

by AshnRain

Umi is very different from other apps teaching language. I love that Umi introduces you to language as it is spoken right away through really interesting film and video clips. It’s very engaging and very fun. I also like the fact that you get introduced to the way languages actually spoken right away, so that you feel immediately immersed in the language and culture.

by RadioactiveMan90254

I can’t say enough about how this tool is actually helping me improve my Spanish. The fact that it uses real dialogue from actual shows, and allows me to slow down the video is a life saver. I’d give it 6 stars if I could!

by Chris_Durand

this app is wonderful - being able to link Japanese words to scenes from pop culture helps to more easily remember them.

I had to cut my subscription temporarily for financial reasons, but I intend to re-sub when I'm able. It's worth it.

by Fangxiaofei

This is everything I was looking for in an app. It will definitely help with my Japanese comprehension. I wonder when they will add Chinese to the list of available languages, that would be perfect. Please let me know if you plan on doing that.

by Fkxnksxnfjcn

Coming into this with some grammar foundations and background but looking to expand my vocab in Japanese & Spanish! So fun and immersive! The best use of my time when I have a few minutes to spare during the day. I’ve really enjoyed the variety of clips and content for boosting my listening skills which are a clear weakness in my Japanese. It’s so nice to hear the language from real, authentic contexts rather than the mechanical pronunciations you often get in other apps. I’m excited to see where my comprehension is after finishing the whole program - will update this review when that day comes hopefully.

by KMoussa33

I’ve been using Duolingo and another app for speaking to learn Korean for about 9 months… while they gave me general knowledge, I still couldn’t speak with confidence or understand native speakers that well. I’ve only been using Umi for 4 days… 4 DAYS! and I can remember things so easily already. It’s shocking me how well I’m retaining the sentences just by using clips from dramas. I will say it can get a little frustrating when the AI has issues understanding the voice clips- but that isn’t often & not really a huge deal compared to how great everything else is. There isn’t an in depth explanation about when to use certain forms of root words but you get it based off the clip context, which I think makes a huge difference! Umi is amazing, thank you so much to the developers!

by Gamers Cove

Finally an app that pushes you forward. I’ve tried so many apps and the keep the lessons basic with the same words learned over and over. This apps has bigger words and word structures. Also being able to here the translations from native speakers and repeat is great

by Tayranasourus

Umi is so innovative, clever, and a perfect way to learn a language in natural situations! But I’m also wondering if you could put in Chinese and Russian. If you can, I’d really appreciate it! Have a good day!

by 86script

this app makes the process of language learning so simple that you won’t even feel accomplished when you’re done.😅

by Alfonso Armesto

I always felt that the best way to learn a language was with sentences of real life examples I found Umi and I didn't doubt about buying lifetime subscription

by Spherical Balance

Umi is lit for learning Japanese! Super worth the purchase! I use this daily to boost vocabulary and see words being used contextually. Please support them, it will only improve more over time <3

by Jojolavender

Just saw this on Instagram and decided to give it a try and pick up on my Japanese again. Love it so far! I love the way they present their learning material☺️👍

by Wow Wow B

This is really an amazing TOOL to really learn , its functionality bringing your mind to focus on the language symbols as you will and recognize and think in Japanese!

by Aphrodity F.

Umi was really helpful! It’s like my own personal teacher except I can learn from them anytime I want!

by Chi.explores

I enjoy the variety of clips shown when learning vocab. It helps me understand the many contexts a word can be used in. I am also able to hear how the words are natural
spoken in the real world!

by Jrockpm

I have a hard time focusing with learning new things and I love the way it’s immersive it really helps me and I wish more people could know about Umi