Mango Languages: Learning Reviews

by Frustrated For Many

If I could give a half star rating I would. While MangoLanguages has the potential to be of great use, like other professionals whose field requires international travel, the fact that I am required to login from overseas to access lessons I have downloaded, makes this product useless to me.

For anyone who needs MangoLanguages to refresh their skills while traveling abroad DO NOT download MangoLanguages if you value your online privacy and the security of your personal data.

While MangoLanguages itself may not present a direct threat, the requirement to log on at random intervals using unreliable foreign internet providers or unsecured servers puts your device at risk and all the personal data contained on it.

I wrote this note to warn others and read your patronizing responses about protecting the product/users to others with the same complaint.

The reality is that not everyone overseas is trying to abuse or steal your IP. You could easily stop downloads from suspicious sources abroad and allow users who legitimately registered and downloaded to access what they needed.

Fix the problem or limit it to schools only. Don't make it available via libraries to the educated public or those who want to be educated on their own if you are going to deny access when needed most, while traveling.

I wrote this review after losing access to previously downloaded material while traveling to an area with a high rate of online fraud and internet abuse. Completely frustrating experience.

by Themeaningofweird

I absolutely love Mango, especially how it has the option to show both a literal and a nonliteral translation of a phrase. I also love being able to download lessons and the wide variety of languages they offer (I’ve never seen Scottish Gaelic offered on such a platform before, it’s really cool they have it!). It’s also nice to have such clear audio, though I wish sometimes they’d distinguish more what dialects they use for their audios.
I do have a suggestion in regards to the phonetic approximations for the words and phrases. I really wish there was an IPA option! Even just for the more committed linguists. It’s much better to have the IPA versions showing the exact pronunciations rather than the anglicized approximations. There are so many languages that have sounds not found in English, it doesn’t make much sense to always use the approximations. And more use of the IPA can only be a good thing in this care. For that matter, I’d love it if a mini-IPA course would someday be offered, since MangoLanguages is language focused anyway, but still, I more importantly would love if y’all added an IPA option for the phonetics!

by Xanthrick J.

If you like tradition text book style learning with “just enough “ cultural and grammar notes this is the best app. However make sure you check which content is available first as not all languages have listening and reading practices for all the units. The sheer number of basic to beginner language courses available make MangoLanguages a steal if you like to casually learn different languages.

What’s missing? Foundational pronunciation and alphabet lessons. For example there are no lessons for how the Korean or Arabic writing system works. A patient person could probably figure it out as the reading system is excellent. You can just tap any phrases and it plays the pronunciation and shows a pronunciation guide; however, for languages such as Korean, Japanese, Arabic, etc. you’ll definitely do yourself a favor by finding another resource to learning how the writing system works first.

There also aren’t any photos or short videos for learning vocabulary. It's straight traditional translation teaching method.

I think most of the shortcoming can easily be remedied with supplementary material; however, there is one very annoying issue. That’s the narration, it’s nice at first but it quickly becomes obvious what the pattern is. You can turn it off for normal use, but it does not stay off if you use auto play.

by N.Majdali

This is the first language learning app for Arabic that I’ve come across that teaches colloquial Arabic as well as MSA. Major props for that, I want to be able to speak to people! Not only that but you get started learning the Arabic by constructing sentences so you can start conversing right away. It’s much more effective than random vocabulary you MIGHT use. While you’re learning it makes you think about how the sentence needs to be constructed and you build your vocabulary in a natural way! I love being able to record myself speaking the language against the recorded language. It’s like being with a private tutor, but you get to skip around and learn what you want to instead of what a tutor thinks you should learn. It’s been very helpful for keeping me engaged. They include the short vowels in the writing as well so you’re not clueless as to how they say specific words in dialect. (WARNING: MangoLanguages doesn’t teach you how to read Arabic. Learn that quick before you jump on here, it will take at most a week for you to learn the alphabet. I have learned though how to pronounce what I’m reading in a more natural way!) MangoLanguages is well worth the money! Save your dollars on other books and apps and get MangoLanguages if you love learning languages! You aren’t limited to one language either! Good luck!

by Jenn-Jo

Great language app! I love how I can see and compare my pronunciation using the recording feature. I am trying out the French and really enjoy the simple interface. I highly recommend it if you’re starting a new language and or want to investigate multiple new languages.
Since I am familiar with and further along in other languages, I had hoped to skip levels to get to try out intermediate topics, such as in the Spanish and Mandarin courses. I noticed that they even have specialty units. I tried to skip over to them but the rigid system kept starting out at level one greetings. For the lack of flexibility, I’m giving 4 stars as I will not utilize the full scope of MangoLanguages at the cost of going through a dozen introductory courses. I really hope this is fixed in a future update.

by OmegaGmaster

Wow, just wow. MangoLanguages is great. As a (wannabe) polyglot and glossophile, this is a necessity for any who wishes to learn many languages. I have learned so much about many cultures and many languages through MangoLanguages. My only real complaint is that some languages don't offer many lessons. Examples of such languages are Pashto, Shanghainese, and Uzbek. (Tuvan is another lacking language, though that might be on purpose) Aside from adding more content to lacking languages, I have a suggestion to add two languages: Adyghe and Kabardian. These are the Circassian languages (two of them, at least) that I feel should get some attention. They are languages that are disappearing from the youth of the Circassian children. Having courses for these two languages would be extremely helpful in promoting the Circassian languages, to Circassians and non-Circassians as well.

by Aabossrun

I started wanting to learn Japanese a while back and decided I would use Duolingo. Duolingo is a very popular language learning app and is considered to be a great tool, except I don't feel the same. It takes the language learning aspect into more of a quiz format and almost like a game with ranking and what not. Which seems fine at first but it makes you want to skip the learning entirely after a bit and it feels too repetitive when trying to drill things. Along with a ton of adds and a disappointing heart system I could not take it seriously.
Then I found mango through my Library. Mango feels fresh and authentic. It drills things in without feeling annoying and is very enjoyable. I like how they give you culture notes, grammar, and the different ways to review and quiz. It has a massive library of languages and takes things slowly but progressively to make for a worthwhile experience. It is easy to use and fun for all. I look forward to its future and what it will offer. Thank you very much Mango.

by Paydlover

Ok straight up, I'm bad at learning language. I live in border town Laredo, TX and couldn't learn Spanish if my life was on the line. Saw a friend using this (diehard K-Pop fan) to learn Korean and I decided, "Hey, I wonder if my library card is still somewhere in my house". I have never been more happy with using an app to learn. All those craptastic learning apps that make your brain "faster" or "stronger" and then make you pay tons of money for a game that a grade schooler gets in 2nd grade are bull. This worked. This is real. No charge. No in app purchases. No bull. If you are lucky enough to have a library card or a university that supports it get this and learn a language. At the least I can guarantee that if you ever have to speak it you will remember the hellos and goodbyes and the respectable hellos and goodbyes. I'm serious. Thanks Mango. Y'all are bad***.

by BrigitHart

I’ve been using Duolingo for almost 300 days, and it’s a great app...but with my goal of learning French in a year, I decided to add another learning method to accelerate my progress. I tried out Mango a while back but it was the laptop version at my library, and while I found it effective, it was terribly inconvenient. I got an email from Mango a few days ago which reminded to look it up to see if they had an app, and since downloading this, I’ve noticed a crazy difference in my ability to speak French.

Having to speak my answers before seeing them, or even seeing a list of the possible answers, has really challenged my brain to start thinking in French. It felt totally different from my other app, almost like I could feel my brain activating in different areas LOL. I retain the information far more and in just a couple of days I already feel far more confident conversing in French.

I’m going to use my two-prong approach for the next language I learn too (Russian) working daily on both DuoLingo and Mango.

Price: I’m not sure what the in-app purchases are, since I signed in using my library card which apparently makes it free to library members. Might be worth checking your library website to see if they have a similar deal.

by BrianKung

For adult learners, I will always suggest Mango Languages to start with over anything else. I’ve used it to learn Korean enough to tell a taxi driver how to navigate before I went to South Korea and used it to bootstrap my Mandarin Chinese, which I now use daily.

Mango Languages is a language learning app that gets you to a high degree of fluency albeit in limited situational contexts. But those contexts are really useful! It teaches you to ask for things, ask what things mean, how to get places, etc., and it really helps you feel comfortable in the language rather than just memorizing vocabulary. It’s based on the Pimsleur method, but MangoLanguages adds slides which are really helpful.

I highly recommend checking your local library to see if they have it as an electronic resource!

by Helleritsrich

您好！我叫 Rich, haha. I’ve had Mango for almost a year now but didn’t actually use it until a couple of weeks ago when I started learning Mandarin! It has definitely helped me a lot and I’ve picked up on words/phrases and will periodically talk to my friend who speaks fluently just to show her my progress. The new update however kind of threw me off, because Chapters I had completed prior were now placed in different units and there were new things added to chapters instead of just having it as it’s own separate chapter, it discouraged me from wanting to go back and relearn the new phrases/words because I had already completed the chapters prior. I do however like the new listening/reading reviews! Very helpful. Hopefully I will be able to speak somewhat fluently in a couple of months! 谢谢你睡过，hahahaha.

by Holy Crap It's Great

I rarely write reviews. I’m Hispanic, wasn’t talk to speak Spanish at home a lot but I still can understand most of what I hear. That’s when I decided to become closer to my culture and start relearning Spanish, and while I used another free app (ahem, duolingo) it wasn’t something that really worked with me. That’s when I discovered MangoLanguages through my local library, downloaded to try it and haven’t stopped using it. My Spanish is improving and every now and then I fact check words with my parents to see if what I am learning is genuine. I’ve abandoned other apps and started using this one to learn German and French and soon, hopefully, a few others. I’ve learned quicker, retained more, thought more in other languages than what I’ve used before. Whenever someone says they want to learn a language or practice what they know, I recommend MangoLanguages. I’ll recommend this to anyone.

by Ncknamrty

I use MangoLanguages everyday and I’ve had a surprising amount of success with it. The first experience I ever had with a language app was with a certain green owl and it nearly put me off language apps entirely.

Luckily I found this one! MangoLanguages is simple to use and has really helpful features that make it easy to copy pronunciation. It really makes me feel like I’m making progress. I also really appreciate the review section, it really helps me keep track of what I need to work on and make note of.

It’s also incredible that it’s free to use through a library system. I don’t have a ton of money and can’t afford to take a class or pay a subscription. It always feels like those who are serious about learning a second or third language have a ton of money to travel around the world at their leisure, but MangoLanguages makes me feel like maybe I could have a chance as well!

by Alvallah

It is SO hard to find materials for Bengali and I am impressed that Mango supports it. It’s a polished app that’s good for learning commonly used phrases as well as familiarizing you with sentence structure (Subject-Object-Verb order). They also provide romanizations for languages that don’t use the Latin alphabet (you may want to study the alphabet elsewhere though because Mango doesn’t appear to have a separate unit just for letters). I love that they also have recorded native/proficient speakers instead of a robot (at least for bengali). Also, for Arabic and Chinese learners, Mango differentiates between different major dialects so you can learn what’s most relevant to you! Hopefully they do this for Bengali someday because of east and West Bengal differences.

If you can’t afford to pay to unlock, USE YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY. You can gain access to Mango as long as a library somewhere in your library network has Mango —just punch in your library ID and you can use it whenever!

Overall, a lovely beginner’s app!

by Radiophile

I am using Mango to learn Spanish. It is a very good supplement to other language lessons. Mango uses what appears to be real voices with excellent diction and pronunciation. Some other popular programs use computer voices that are distracting and at times very difficult to comprehend. Mango also progresses by teaching vocabulary based on realistic discussions you may have. It also explains grammar and provides i sight into sentence structure and gender. The program also frequently breaks up lessons and interjects tidbits of information about Latin American culture and customs, making it more interesting. As the lessons progress Mango will start many lessons with review cards from several lessons, to increase the possibility you’ll remember what you’ve been learning.

Unlike Duolingo, Mango dos not include written responses. It is solely verbal, which some students may consider a shortcoming. That said, Mango encourages students to write on paper what they’ve learned.

by Choosinganicknameistoohard

Mango is one of two apps I use daily for learning a language. M has a different approach which helps my learning. Specifically, it is making me speak more. I like that it lets me decide if I spoke the phrase correctly, but if you are not diligent enough to demand excellence of yourself, you could sabotage your learning. I like that it isn’t game-like, i.e., you don’t lose points or some such—it’s pure learning. One challenge for me has been to remember the details of a dialogue well enough to answer questions. The system is testing my memory instead of my comprehension. Other than me getting a new brain with more RAM, I don’t know what to suggest except putting the question right after the spoken phrase instead of at the end of the whole dialogue. I also very much enjoy the cultural facts and information interspersed here and there. Some photos would be great! The speakers have beautiful, clear, enthusiastic voices. Thanks!

by David S - داود

I have been studying Arabic for 4.5 years without taking any formal classes. Often, I’ve noticed books or applications will teach either very formalized Arabic in a dry and clinical manner or conversational Arabic but teaching only with transliterated Roman characters. Both of these produce less than ideal results.

I love Mango because it offers both Modern Standard Arabic and multiple regional dialects in an approachable way without watering down the language. Improvements have been made to the application over the last few years and each step has built it up and resulted in a better product.

By no means am I fluent in the language, but thanks to Mango languages I have learned important aspects of the language, especially everyday conversation and how to identify different regional dialects, which results in great interactions. People tend to respond well if you know their language, but an even better response is when you can say things in their dialect. Keep up the good work, Mango! 👍🏼

by Soccerpro 35

I have been wanting to learn Portuguese for AT LEAST 6 years and I have always been passively lazy. I’d tell myself that I would start when I had more time, when I knew someone that spoke that language, I would say- tomorrow. Then one morning, a notification from Mango popped up saying something along the lines of, “imagine what you could do if you conquered your fears.”... this hit me like a splash of cold water and opened my eyes to the universal wisdom we all know, only I control my future. I jumped out of bed opened MangoLanguages and began to learn. I am about a month in and I’m loving it. I love that I am beginning to control how many languages I speak, how many cultures will open up to me, and how I will get to enjoy beautiful Brazilian music and people.
Apart from that, the content of MangoLanguages is entertaining, promotes proper pronunciation, and relies on repetition and good
explanations to teach. Great overall, but I do wish there was a word bank that lists all the words/phrase that I cover

by The Curious Mind

I finally found the best language program to learn a foreign language, right now, I am learning Spanish and French, this Mango program can teach you to learn a foreign language in your own pace, if you are talented, you can master a second language very quick, if not, learn it at your own pace. If you forgot something, you can always go back to learn it again.

This Mango program is amazing, it teaches you to learn each French word precisely, how to say and pronounce it just like a native French, so you can learn how to speak each word precisely, how to spell each word exactly, you also learned why some special word is related to the French and Spanish culture. And finally, the best way to learn a foreign language is to study it everyday until you master it! There is no short cut! Once you master this Mango program, you will have a solid base to speak French, Spanish, or another language faster and better and you will surprise your family and friends, also when you travel, you will appreciate the Mango program!

by Tabbycat45

I love MangoLanguages and I’ve been using it for years. It’s super helpful for supplemental Spanish practice outside of class. I’m also really thankful that it has such a wonderful variety of languages, because I am able to use it to learn Dari, which is the language that my father speaks. I am learning it so I can speak to my relatives on my father’s side and also connect more with his culture. I only wish there was more content for the language!! I would absolutely LOVE it if you could add more units for Dari because I’d like to learn more than what is currently available. However, I’m still thankful you even have Dari on there and I understand that it’s probably not easy to create resources for the language since it’s not very popular in other parts of the world. Moreover, I love how it’s free if you have a library card! I think that’s absolutely wonderful :) Thanks for such a great language learning app!

by Shesheshopper85

I have tried everything from Pimsleur, Rocket Language, Rosetta Stone, Fluentu, and everything in between. I am learning Spanish and French and this is the most engaging program I’ve found. I absolutely love it. The only thing that I wish is that it was cheaper a month, but unlike other subscriptions where you only get access to one language you get access to them all here. So it really is a great bang for your buck as far as learning a new language, but still wish it was cheaper. I have learned so much. I can now greet people in French and have a basic good conversation in Spanish. MangoLanguages truly is remarkable and this is coming from somebody who has paid a pretty penny for other programs out there, still none as good in my opinion. Very well done!

by Makakilo23

My experience: I was a beginner level Japanese when I started. Never even finished chapter one (out of two at the time). This was before the new SRS. I came back to it in Jan 2019 for Urdu as it was one of the few apps that offered Urdu. I finished all 79 lessons. I was already at an advanced level, but it definitely helped improve my speaking abilities.

Some of the good stuff: Has a lot of language options, even some of the less popular ones. Recent update added more content to the more popular languages. Awesome SRS for flashcard reviews. Teaches sentences not just phrases. Native speakers. Grammar points explained.

Changes I would make: No option on app to review flashcards. It waits until you start your next lesson before giving the option. If you are done with all the lessons then you have to go to the Mango website for flashcard reviews. Also, unlike other apps, you cannot reset your progress. You can remove a language but if you decide to add it back, it will pick up where you left off.

Further advice: Check with your library or organization. You can get an account through there. Also, it’s helpful to already know the script of the language you intended to study.

by Ayetrey_

Wow, about 8hrs into the Japanese course and I’m picking up phrases and sentences so well! I’m lucky enough to be living in Japan for the next two years, so I’m taking initiative to learn. Luckily my library has allowed me the opportunity to use the full program under their organization. I’m able to communicate slightly with the local Japanese for just learning the rudimentary phrases and beginning lessons! You get out what you put in, most definitely. This is better than Duolingo, to me, because this makes you speak and actively listen to conversations to progress. You train your mind to speak and analyse the language. I love it. Excited to become fluent in the next year or so of repeatedly using this.