HiNative - Language Learning Reviews

by ErinM31

You can answer questions and help all you want for free — and I do like to help people — but you cannot post any sort of question without paying money, regardless of your contributions. This was not made clear up front nor even when selecting any of several post types; instead, it let’s you type out what you want to ask or say and only when you click to post it does it tell you must pay.

I realize that the companies that make these apps need to make money, of course, and so I would expect added value for money — prioritized questions, extra features or helpful templates, things like that.

HiNative is very good at encouraging you to contribute your time and expertise to it while obfuscating that you won’t be able to ask for anything yourself until you cough up $$$. Again, I really enjoy helping people with editing and language but now knowing everyone paid this company for every question they asked while the help was from my own freely provided time and expertise. I feel used.

by Small Hobbit

So I haven’t actually asked anything on here yet, but I have tried to answer a few of the questions for English myself since on studying a few languages I do know a fair bit about grammar and how to point out and explain things. What I’ve noticed immediately is others who claim to be native level may not actually know what they’re talking about or give accurate solutions. Yes, English can be hard, but the amount of errors that can be spotted in “native” level solutions makes me hesitant to ever ask anything in another language on here.
Yes, English is my native language and there are things that I second guess myself on constantly (it doesn’t help that I’m dyslexic) but giving somebody just starting out a solution not only riddled with errors but also with WRONG information as to why it’s done that way can set them back YEARS in learning (I know that can sound hyperbolic, but it’s true in many cases) I’ve seen SO much of this littered in HiNative. I really don’t trust it, and the fact that I see so many people suggest using it is just disheartening.

by Yakov Ariyeh Ben-Yonatan

I used to love HiNative, but unfortunately a while ago I had to delete my account because I was being harassed by some users, but recently I decided I wanted to use it again.

When I got it back, I realized many features like the question templates that once used to be completely free, are now only available in premium. This seems very frustrating to force us to pay for something basic that was originally free. I am not very wealthy and I do not have enough money to spend on an app (especially one that requires monthly payment)

This is very upsetting to me and I would at least like to know why they did this.

by EmpressOfFabulousness

This may just be a personal failing on my part, but when I first got HiNative , I was immediately overwhelmed. Even with the filters, there was too much going on both organization-wise and color scheme-wise. The orange and banners and all these options that don’t have anything to do with my goal— very congested. I kinda didn’t wanna use it, which is bad because it’s a great app! But I still feel stressed out when I use it.

Furthermore, the filtering/notification systems don’t work. I can’t toggle off other people answering a question I’ve answered; I don’t need to know. And in the unanswered questions bit, even though I’m only really looking at questions to or from French and Japanese speakers, I get stuff about Arabic??

by Mmmt567

A key flaw in HiNative is not understanding what some people are saying. If someone is writing a question in another language about English, how am I meant to understand and answer their question? I know there are the 4 uses of google translate and a subscription to translate infinitely but 1) not everyone has the financial means for that and 2) that feature is crucial for HiNative to be useful. Theres also a flaw in the “how do you say this” section because if a user is asking in their foreign language and the reader doesn’t speak it, then there’s no understanding there. At that point the google translate feature can be used by the reader but that almost defeats the whole purpose of asking a question to a native speaker when the reader is just giving them what the asker could have put in google translate themselves.

This is an amazing app that has huge potential if it was developed a bit more.

by Watermarksucks

Fun app. Really. I enjoyed the bits where people actually try to help one another. But the problem is that there’s no way to verify the legitimacy of the language level of someone claiming to be native. There’s no peer review system for answers (with the ability to add notes to someone’s answer or rate it) by other native speakers to ensure the quality of the answers. HiNative is riddled with people who claim to be native and blatantly give out wrong answers that range from “not native sounding” to straight up not grammatical. It’s the downside of HiNative. You just gotta have blind faith in people who answer your questions if it’s not in a language you’re familiar with.

by Laya.

I get it, apps want money. Offering a premium upgrade is a good way to make that money, however, taking a function that was most commonly used and so helpful for so long and suddenly making it unavailable without paying for premium is really upsetting. I’m referring to the “does this sound natural” feature. HiNative is really being milked for money now. Upgrades should just enhance the experience of HiNative , not make you pay for the basic, most enjoyed features. I really do not like that they have taken that feature away after making it available for so long. Love HiNative , not happy with the update.

by Morciego

So far I’ve used HiNative for 3 days and it is doing wonders. I like how I always get a rely to my questions within the same day. There are two things I would like to see changed though, the biggest being the bouncing effect that a reply has. It doesn’t let me read the message clearly until it goes away and it even makes me dizzy. Maybe implement a “new message icon” on top of the message or some other indicator. The second is the fact that there is a limited selection to the Spanish language. It little confusing to see Spanish from other countries when In fact they are all pretty similar except for informal situation. Maybe just keep one label that says “Spanish.” Other than these small issues HiNative is really great.

by Brisenal

Overall this is a good app. I love how you can talk to people who are native to the language you are learning. And how you can also talk with people who are also learning the same language. There are a few suggestions i have though. Personally I think you shouldn’t have to have premium to lisent to other people voice recordings. Also (I don’t know if this already being done or not) I think you should have something to talk to people directly on HiNative . And also have group chats with multiple people, and maybe even have something to add people so you can talk to them. But like I said even with out these things It a good app and ill continue to use if these things are added or not😊

by Pixelated_Prophecies

HiNative has been very useful for asking questions about the languages I’m learning. But there are a lot of notifications, so it’s necessary to turn some notifications off. For example, you’ll get about 3 or 4 notifications every time someone likes/responds to an answer you give them if you have all notifications on. I’ve gotten a notification for a question about Japan that was posted in 2016, despite the fact that I don’t live in Japan, study Japanese, or have Japan listed as a region of interest. I don’t know how to turn off these notifications without turning off all notifications for HiNative .

by RanOutOfNames555

I used to love HiNative and use it every day, now I have to pay to use everything. I literally don’t have the option to use HiNative unless I pay. I payed one time , but , do to only paid members being able to use it . Unlike the 3 minute response it took before, now it takes 1 full day to finally get a reply . This used to be my most recommended and loved app, now it’s something I can never use again.

by SunFlourShwrs🌻

🌻This place is great! Everyone is super nice and straight forward. Be sure to spend time giving answers as much as you do asking them! And pay attention to when someone is a beginner or advanced learner.
🌻I do NOT have premium, but you don’t need it to have good interactions and a solid learning experience.
🌻Something awesome to add would be some sort of, “Let’s have a conversation!” Where someone can ask a question and everyone can practice conversing in that language!

by Jamesavery98

HiNative is spectacular. I’m a veteran user if you will, I’ve been using this app for about 5 years now and I couldn’t recommend it enough! It is a great way to get tailored feedback to any question you may want to know about a language/culture. I use it mostly to answer questions by other users, but I do use it to learn Spanish and Japanese. It’s free too... if you don’t like it you can always uninstall it. 10/10 from me

by Cmgbax

I’m loving HiNative so far. The only thing that got me confused was the moment of selecting my native language. I speak Spanish from birth, and it’s my main language, but I speak neither of the dialects you offer. I understand there’s too many Spanish speaking countries whatsoever, so if you could, please, include something like Spanish(other) or just Spanish and then you add from what country is your dialect, that be less misleading for people seeking answers. I also speak on behalf of other languages that can have the same situation.

by Shizuoっか？！

The system of and concept behind HiNative are great. After graduating college and not being in Japanese classes anymore, it’s a great resource for checking in with native speakers without the need for a teacher.

Compared to other apps like HelloTalk, which is more suited for socialization and meeting other language learners, HiNative is great for getting reliable feedback from actual native speakers. The “does this sound natural” feature is especially helpful because if it sounds natural, natives will vote it as natural very quickly.

And it has a system where the more you help others, the more your reputation goes up, and the more likely it is that your questions will show up at the top and get more answers. In fact, I’ve never had any of my questions ignored before. Just be helpful to others and ask well-worded questions and someone will help you out. It’s really a great little community.

The amount of free features in HiNative is great as well, and there are almost no ads. But even if I had to pay some fee, HiNative would still be worth it, because it helps me so much as a solo learner. It seems like HiNative is being improved a lot recently, so I think they have big plans ahead.

by Bsbmteam

I like the interface and audio functionality, I just wish you could listen to recordings under other people’s questions, I feel that’s the whole point of HiNative . I realize your company needs to make money, but this is too much, it might be better to make unpaid users watch a 5 second ad sometimes when they click on an audio file, or there are more ads around audio answers.

Here are some suggestions I hope to see in future updates:
1) A function to hide users or report users for spam
2) Make it impossible to ask too many of the same question in too short a span of time
3) when users ask a question, automatically search for already existing questions and display them, this’ll reduce the amount of redundant questions
4)Being able to filter questions by question type

by Cai13

Ok I never write reviews, but HiNative is so amazing. I am studying Japanese and HiNative allows you to ask Native speakers how to say or probounce certain words, prases, etc. You can also ask questions about the country itself, culture etc. And people reply FAST. Im serious, its like a race who will answer your question first. It's also been even more fun helping other people with their english, I've had HiNative for only a few days and have answered almost 100 questions. I've also made friends in Korea, Japan, and spain so thats really cool. And it's only been 3 days!!! Get HiNative you wont regret it👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

by Amarilys Castro

I’ve been using HiNative for years off and on and I love it so much. Being able to speak to natives when you’re not able to travel to their country at a given time, or simply being able to ask them questions is so incredibly helpful. There’s a premium feature in order to boost your question using tickets but in reality it isn’t needed if you don’t want to purchase or subscribe. I’m able to use HiNative without making any purchases. You’re also able to help other people with the languages you know! I love it and really helps.

by Sbnach

First I should say HiNative works better than any other language learning app! Who can help better than natives?
I was enjoying HiNative so much but now I’m receiving less and less answers. New people come and start asking basic questions like how do you say hello how do you say how are you?? So every time my question is buried under so many already-answers questions and now I hardly get an answer!
So I’m asking for a solution. Maybe more emphasise on searching the questions first? A manual of how to use HiNative that pops up every time you want to publish your question? Haha. Anyways it’s still so helpful I’m using it alongside with dictionaries! Thank you for this wonderful app and Idea.

by MicaelaDixon31

As the title says, I love HiNative! It works smoothly for me and even though I'm not paying monthly (I'm considering it), I stil have access to a lot of great featured! Answers and replies are quick and it's a joy to learn other languages as I help others learn as well! One suggestion I think a lot of users could benefit from is a this app chatroom and the ability to add friends. I'm meeting a lot of great people from around the world that I would love to add as friends and keep in touch with (without having to whip out social media). A chatroom could be a bunch of public chatrooms made for users to practice chatting in the languages they want to learn without having to do it under asked questions. I know some users who simply want to work on speaking and writing to others in conversation. Keep up the good work on HiNative !

by Xinniiii

I really love HiNative and the idea behind it. It’s really impressive what it can do and how. However, there are two things I’m having issues with.
One, the question templates are limited. Only Premium members can access certain templates. This makes it much more difficult for me to ask my questions. At the very least, please allow the free questions option.
Two, audio is limited to Premium members as well. Since language is based almost entirely of audio, this would definitely hinder the language learning process.
I hope you can do something about this!

by Dauntless305

A key flaw in HiNative is not understanding what some people are saying. If someone is writing a question in another language about English, how am I meant to understand and answer their question? I know there are the 4 uses of google translate and a subscription to translate infinitely but 1) not everyone has the financial means for that and 2) that feature is crucial for HiNative to be useful. Theres also a flaw in the “how do you say this” section because if a user is asking in their foreign language and the reader doesn’t speak it, then there’s no understanding there. At that point the google translate feature can be used by the reader but that almost defeats the whole purpose of asking a question to a native speaker when the reader is just giving them what the asker could have put in google translate themselves.

This is an amazing app that has huge potential if it was developed a bit more.

by L'anana

this app is a great way to learn about language and culture through our peers around the world. Even if you don't have any questions to ask others for an extended period of time, or you aren't even learning a language, HiNative can be a great way to learn about things you never would have know about otherwise. Not to mention you can meet interesting people through it as well.
(I live in the U.S, and the other day I talked with someone in South Korea through this app which I thought that was pretty cool).

There are two things I'm not crazy about with HiNative. One, is that you are unable to hear other people's vocal answers to questions that are not your own, unless you pay money for HiNative . (I mean, language is a spoken thing, c'mon). The second thing I don't necessarily like is that this app has an annoying habit of sending notifications at night while I'm trying to sleep. You can just turn off notifications for that, but then I don't get the occasional interesting question from HiNative . They just need a better idea of time zones for they're users I think.