HelloTalk vs Tandem: Our Experience Testing Both Of Them

HelloTalk allows users to post life updates and use the app as an all-round social platform, whereas Tandem focuses more closely on its private ... AllLanguageResourcesisanindependentreviewsite.Weearnmoneywhenyouclickonsomeofthelinksonoursite.LearnMore HelloTalkvsTandem:OurExperienceTestingBothOfThem HomeComparisonsHelloTalkvsTandem:OurExperienceTestingBothOfThem    ByNick Comparisons February25,2020 HelloTalkandTandemarepopularresourcesforlanguagelearnersinterestedinlanguageexchange.Theyhavemillionsofusersbetweenthemandusebuilt-inlanguagetoolstofacilitatecommunicationbetweennativespeakersandthoselearningtheirlanguagearoundtheworld. BothHelloTalkandTandemaresimilarintheexperienceyou’llgainfromthem,buttheydohavetheirdifferences,suchas: Asidefromlanguageexchange,Tandemoffersaseparatetutoringservice,whileHelloTalkoffersaudiolessonsin10languages. HelloTalkallowsuserstopostlifeupdatesandusetheappasanall-roundsocialplatform,whereasTandemfocusesmorecloselyonitsprivatemessagingfunction. WhileTandemhasaslick,modernfeeltoitsdesign,HelloTalkismorecartoonyandemoji-heavy. Bothresourcesareflexibleandfreetouse(althoughbothoffersubscriptionsforproversionsandadditionalservices).It’shardtorecommendoneovertheother,andinourcase,TandemcomesinslightlyhigherthanHelloTalk,simplyforaestheticpurposes.WealsohadbetterluckinfindingpartnersonTandem,butthat’ssubjectivetoeachindividualuser. HelloTalkandTandemaregreatchoicesforpeoplelookingtolearnalanguagethroughlanguageexchange.Theymakegoodcomplementaryresourcestousealongsideastructuredlanguage-learningcourse.Youcancheckoutourfavoriteresourcesbasedonthelanguageyouwanttolearninthetablebelow. MostRecommendedResourcesByLanguage Chinese Spanish German French Italian Portuguese Korean Russian Japanese Arabic WhatIlikeabouteachresource: HelloTalk: Yougettopracticewithrealnativespeakers,whichisexciting. Theappgivesyoutheflexibilitytovisitwheneveryouhavesparetime,withnopressuretosetunachievablegoals. Thebuilt-inlanguagetoolsareagreatwaytofacilitatecommunicationbetweenuserswhodon’thavemuchlanguageoverlap. Tandem: There’sagoodrangeoflanguagepartnerstochoosefrom. Theinterfaceisstylishlydesignedandeasytogettogripswith. Tandem’sfreeversionoffersagreatamountofvalue. WhatIdon’tlikeabouteachresource: HelloTalk: Itmighttakeyouawhiletofindapartnerwho’spreparedtoputinthesamelevelofcommitmenttolearningasyou. Theadditionalaudiolessonsprobablyaren’tworthpayingfor. Tandem: Otherplatforms,likeitalki,areprobablybetterforfindingtutors. Theappmakesyouwaitupto7days(ittookuslessthananhour)togetstartedaftercompletingyourprofile.Theyletyouskipthisbypayingforasubscription,whichcomesatahigherpricethanyou’reofferedlateron. LanguagesAvailable HelloTalksupportsatotalof150languagesforlanguageexchange.Asastudent,youcanmatchupwithpartnersfromaroundtheworld,ortakeadvantageoftheaudiolessonsfor10differentlanguages:English,Japanese,Korean,Chinese,French,Spanish,Italian,Russian,Arabic,andPortuguese. Therearenativespeakersofover160languagesonTandem.You’llbeabletocommunicatewithpartnersyoumatchwithorusetheapp’stutoringservice,whereyoucanlearnarangeoflanguagesviapaidlessons. Cost ThebasicfeaturesofHelloTalkarecompletelyfree.YoucanalsotrialHelloTalk’saudiolessonsforfree,buttheyrequireaseparatesubscription,costingbetween$99to$119peryeardependingonyourchosenlanguage. IfyouwanttolearnorteachmorethanthreelanguagesontheHelloTalkapp,youcanopttopayforaVIPsubscription.Otherfeaturesofthesubscriptionincludenoads,theabilitytofilterusersbygender,upto25newlanguagepartnersaday,andunlimitedtranslations.AVIPmembershipcosts$4.99permonthonamonth-by-monthbasisor$2.17permonthfora12-monthsubscription.Youcanalsopay$124.99forlifetimeaccess. LikeHelloTalk,Tandemoffersafreeversionoftheappthatmostpeopleshouldfindtobeenough.You’llstillbeabletofindagoodlanguagepartnerandpracticeyourlanguageofchoicewithoutpaying.Ifyoudowantsomeadditionalfeatures,though,youcanpayforTandemPro.Thiswillgiveyouanumberofbenefits,includingunlimitedtranslations,anad-freeexperience,andtheoptiontofindlanguagepartnersinyourcity. TandemProisavailableat$6.99permonthforamonthlysubscription,$3.99amonthforafixed3-monthsubscription,or$2.92permonthforayear’ssubscription.Youcanalsopayextrafortutoringservicesontheapp.Tutorssettheirownfees,sothepriceisdependentonyourindividualselections. HowlanguagesaretaughtwithHelloTalk HelloTalkisadownloadableappthatcanbeusedoneitheriOSorAndroid.With10million-plususers,itaimstofacilitatecommunicationbetweennativeandnon-nativespeakersviaamessagingfeature. Whenyou’remessaginganotheruseronHelloTalk,you’llbegivenarangeofoptionsfromclickingononeoftheirmessages: There’stheoptiontoviewatranslationoratransliteration.Youcanalsolistentotext-to-speechaudioofthemessage,whichgivesyouanideaofhowthelanguagewouldsoundspokenaloud.Ifyou’respeakingtosomeonewho’slearningyournativelanguage,youcanalsomakecorrectionstothemessage. Thesetoolsareveryusefulforalanguageexchangeresource,andwelikedthem.You’llbeabletolearnhowtocommunicateinyourchosenlanguagefairlyquicklyprovidingyouhaveapartnerwhoispatientandwillingtopointoutyourmistakes. Theonlyissuewefoundisthatforanabsolutebeginner,itwouldbeeasytorelyonthetranslatetoolratherthantryingtoworkthelanguageoutyourself.Yourleveloflearningiseffectivelyinyourhands. Theappisbrokendownintofourcategories:Talks,Moments,SearchandLearn. Talksisthemainconversationfeatureanditlookslikethemajorityofmessagingapps.Momentsletsyoupostpicturesorlifeupdates,orrequestquestionsandrecordyourselfspeaking.Thisisagoodwaytogetadditionallanguagelearningsupport. Momentsisbrokendownintosmallercategories,whichyoucanusetofollowandbefollowedbyotherusers,helpuserswithlanguagequeries,searchfornearbyMoments,usethevoicerecordingfunction,andfinduserslearningthesamelanguageasyou. TheSearchfunctionletsyoufindlanguagepartners.Itletsyouseenativespeakersofyourtargetlanguagewhoarelearningyournativelanguage.Ifyou’reanativeEnglishspeaker,you’llhaveplentyoflanguagepartnerstochoosefrom. Finally,HelloTalkalsooffersaLearnfeature,withaudiolessonsin10differentlanguages.You’llneedtopurchaseasubscriptionforunlimitedaccesstotheselessons. ReadourfullreviewofHelloTalk. VisitHelloTalk HowlanguagesaretaughtwithTandem Althoughitisasocialappatheart,Tandemusesbuilt-inlanguagetoolsandastrongfocusonlanguagelearningtofacilitatecommunicationbetweenspeakersofdifferentlanguages.Withover1millionusers,you’reguaranteedtofindalearningpartnerwho’sagoodmatchforyou. WhenyougetstartedonTandem,you’llbeaskedtosetupaprofilewithaphotoandsomebasicinformation.You’llthenneedtowaitforyourapplicationtobeapproved.Theysaythatthiscantakeupto7daysandyou’reofferedtheopportunitytoskipthewaitingperiodbypayingforasubscription.Wefeltlikeitwasamarketingtactictogetuserstopayforasubscriptionandsureenough,withinthehourourprofilewasapproved. Therearefivesectionsthatmakeuptheapp:Community,Tutors,Chats,GoalsandPro. Communityletsyousearchforlanguagepartnersbasedonwhichusersarenativespeakersofthelanguageyou’relearningandarelearningyournativelanguage. Newprofilescropupatthetopofthecommunitysection,whichiswhy,asanewuser,you’llbecontactedbyquiteafewotherusersatthebeginning.Youcanselectaprofiletofindoutmoreaboutauser,includingreferencesgivenbyotherusers. Tandem’sTutorfeatureconnectsuserswithlanguagetutors.Wedidn’tpersonallyusethisfeature,butitseemstobesimilartoothertutoringappslikeitalki,Preply,andVerbling. OntheChatsfeature,you’llbeabletocommunicatewithotherusers.Inadditiontoleavingwrittenmessages,youcanalsoexperimentwithvoicemessagesoreveninitiateavoiceorvideocall.Thereareafewtoolstomakemessagingeasier,includingCorrectandTranslate,whichletyoutranslatearesponseorseewhereyoumadeamistakeandhowtofixit. Goalsisanotherwaytopairupwithlanguagepartners.Itletsyoupostapersonalgoalorbrowseothergoalsasawaytostartanewconversation.Thisfeatureismorelikelytobeusefulwhenyou’vebeenusingtheappforseveralmonthsandwanttofindnewuserstotalkto. Finally,Proisthepaidversionoftheappthatprovidesafewadditionalbenefits.Ifyoureallyliketheapporwanttheextrafeatures,youcouldtryitout.Butformostusers,thefreeversionwillbeplenty. ReadourfullreviewofTandem. VisitTandem Finalthoughts Overall,TandemandHelloTalkareverysimilarresources.Theybothofferalotoffunctionalityforfree,andtheyonlyreallydifferintheiroverallfeel. WefeltthatTandemisatrendierversionofHelloTalk,butthisisdowntopersonalpreference.It’sworthbeingawarethatpeopleapparentlyusebothappsfordatingpurposes.Wedidn’tcomeacrossthisourselves,butit’salwaysgoodtokeepinmind. Bothappsofferacoolwaytopracticealanguageonadailybasiswithoutitfeelinglikestudy.Ifyou’rereallyintosocialmessagingapps,you’llenjoyHelloTalkandTandem.They’regreatforsupplementingstudy,butyouwon’tbeabletorelyonthemsolelytolearnalanguage. Forlanguagelearningresourcesthatwilloffermoredepthtoyourlearningexperience,we’vecoveredthetopcoursesbasedonthelanguageyouwanttolearnbelow. MOSTRECOMMENDRESOURCESBYLANGUAGE Chinese Spanish German French Italian Portuguese Korean Russian Japanese Arabic Learningalanguagedoesn’thavetocostmoney. Sign-uptogetahugelistoffreeresourcestailoredtothelanguageyou’restudying. [contact-form-7id=”11784″] Wewon’tsendyouspam.Unsubscribeatanytime. Nick/AboutAuthor I'mNickDahlhoff,thecreatorofAllLanguageResources.I'mnotasuperpolyglotwhospeaks20languages.I'mnotheretoteachyouhowtolearnalanguage-countlesspeoplearemorequalifiedtodothatthanme.But,Ihavetriedoutaninsanenumberoflanguagelearningresources.Thissiteaimstobethemostcomprehensiveandleastbiasedplacetofigureoutwhichlanguagelearningresourcesareworthusing.Tolearnmoreaboutmyself,thesite,orourreviewingprocess,checkoutouraboutpage.  MorepostsbyNick SubscribetoOurYouTubeChannel MOSTPOPULARLANGUAGES ×