FluentU is a tool to learn a language through watching videos. It’s a great tool that can be very useful or not be right for you at all. Read about my experiences below to get a first impression.
1. Summary
My recommendation: Give the free trial a spin and see for yourself. I’ve only done the free trial myself so far and did not pay for the tool.
Positive Points:
- I immersed myself in real-life content and learned more about what Chinese watch/do day-to-day. It is especially useful when you are studying in your home country.
- Procrastinate watching something useful instead of clickbaity YouTube suggestions
- Improve your listening skills and pronunciation in context
Negative Points:
- Lack of structure – FluentU shouldn’t be your only Chinese learning resource
- FluentU makes me jump around between videos. I watch, leave and watch the next clip. Binge watching Netflix style.
- Fun, but did not capture me for a long time
2. Detailed Review
FluentU is a great resource to learn how Chinese is used in a real-life context. It curates videos from YouTube and adds subtitles. The videos are shown in an interface that support your learning.
I’ve used FluentU during several periods in my learning journey and found it motivating.
Types of content available
Content ranges from slow conversation videos for beginners, to music videos, news, trailers, grammatical explanation or cultural knowledge. There certainly will be a video that interests you. Videos can be filtered by language level, type and topic.
Start learning
Once you open a video, you will see an overview of vocabulary used in the video. You can stop, get a voiceover and translation for individual terms and continue.
If you are unsure about how a term is used, you can directly jump to additional videos which use the exact same term. Learn, rinse and repeat. Without getting bored.
What I liked
The customization options and ability to personalize learning are one of the key advantages of FluentU. You can switch between traditional or simplified Chinese characters. Show or hide English subtitles.
If there’s something you don’t understand it takes less than a second to look up the meaning. And while you are looking it up you can jump to other videos using the same term.
I also enjoy the content of the videos at FluentU. Watching advertisements for Taiwanese businesses gave me insight into the culture of the country. Conversations and examples in Chinese course books are created to cover certain vocabulary or grammatical points. They do not resemble daily spoken language.
What I did not like
The main disadvantage for me is that FluentU does not guide you through the videos. There is a main screen with literally hundreds of videos to choose from.
For me all this choice creates anxiety and overwhelm. I prefer classes with a clear learning journey, where the instructor breaks down content for me in manageable chunks.
3. List of Features
- Over 2200 videos, on different learning levels.
- Both simplified and traditional characters are supported
- Real life content instead of simulated course book conversations
- Easily look-up and repeat words, while your video is on pause.
- Automatically save words you are unsure about.
- Support for other languages
4. Pricing
A part of the videos is available for free and you can use some of the features without paying at all.
The full set of features costs US$20 per month on annual billing and US$30 per month on monthly billing. There’s a free trial available for 14 days.
5. Summary
FluentU can be a great motivation to keep on learning Chinese by giving you a fun way of immersing yourself in country and language. However it should not be your first and only learning tool.
The lack of structure and support makes it less suitable for beginners. I would recommend FluentU if you’ve gotten started with Chinese already and acquired at least basic skills.