Author’s Introduction
- Learning the Thai language with Mondly for going from A2 to B1 with fun by earning exactly 55555 points during the challenge
- This article has three main sections.
- The first part is about Mondly and why I chose to learn Thai with the app.
- The second part is more enjoyable than the first one because it focuses on the process of completing the challenge.
- Finally, In the third section of the article, you might read my conclusions.
Author’s Conclusion
- So, how do I assess my Thai language proficiency now?
- Well, it’s not so easy to evaluate. First of all, I’ve significantly increased my vocabulary and perception of Thai speech, as well as improved my reading skills. Yet, I cannot claim that my speaking ability is B1 due to insufficient practice and the lack of a feature that would allow me to select individual words and phrases for further practice.
- I realize that I need to polish what I already have in my brain, and I believe that having a larger vocabulary will help me become fluent faster. In other words, I haven’t achieved B1 status in speaking, but I do have that level of language in front of me.
- Nonetheless, I believe that Mondly is the best app for learning Thai, and 50$ for one year sounds attractive to me. I have not tried other languages, but I believe the approach is the same everywhere: very effective and playful.
- I also like the design, though Mondly requires additional work on some content. I found some mistakes, and I always smiled when a female voice said Khrap, which is common among men, but these are minor issues.
- I feel that Mondly should try to implement this approach and app in education around the world. I believe that it would be better for children to compete in these points and leaderboards, which provide real knowledge in addition to entertainment, and companies would make millions, right?
- I think it’s not hard to set up half booths in the auditorium and give everyone noise-canceling headphones. The entire society would benefit.
- Mondly is great but there are issues to work on.
Notes
- The author is an English-teacher located in Thailand. I got the impression that he’s not a native English speaker.
- His aim was two-fold as indicated above, but to do this in a month while working full-time. He seems to have packed 155 hours in during February 2024.
- I get the impression that the author was conflicted between playing a game – and succeeding in his (rather silly) challenge – and actually learning Thai. Studying 5 hours a day isn’t recommended as an efficient method. I doubt whatever he’s learnt will stay put for long. All these Apps can only take you so far.
- Really, the only way to learn a language is by immersion with native speakers. As he says, his ‘set’ speak English, so he doesn’t get the opportunity even in Thailand. The same goes for my family, who have spouses who are native speakers of Portuguese, Thai and Turkish respectively, but they always speak English at home.
- Anyway, I decided to subscribe to Mondly. There was a ‘spring offer’ with a countdown of a few hours offering a lifetime subscription for £90, reduced from £2,000 (allegedly) – with a further £9 off when I dithered over the payment. So, £81, and I went for it. I doubt this is anything other than a marketing ploy, as the offer was on again today (counting down again). I initially thought I’d only got the (deprecated) iPhone App, but it seems that I’ve also got the desktop App (Mondly Desktop), which I log in to and it seems to sync with the iPhone App. Early days so far, but it seems fun. The iPhone App seems to work fine, but maybe it’ll crash in due course. The Ling iPhone App (Ling Language Learning) did that on occasion, and needed an iPhone reboot to sort it as it locked the screen. I’ve now cancelled my Ling subscription – which is £45 / year – but am ‘scraping’ their data into my database (Languages on Ling: Comparative Database Summary Page). Hopefully by the end of April, when my subscription expires (24 languages!).
- See:-
→ Wikipedia: Mondly
→ TestPrepInsight: Mondly Review
- The review above says that Mondly is good for the price but doesn’t go very far. Maybe it’ll improve. Also, If I use it for all my 24 languages I’ve tried on Ling, I won’t have time to go far!
- The above review says Rocket Languages or Pimsleur are needed for more advanced study. See their further review:-
→ TestPrepInsight: Rocket Languages vs Pimsleur Review
- While Rocket Languages has a slight edge it only covers 14 languages (and not Thai). Also, while the discounted ‘lifetime licence’ can be cheap ($60), this is only for ‘Level 1’; Level 3 is £$180 even after the discount. And it looks like you have to buy each language individually.
- Pimsleur covers 50 languages and is £13 / month subscription (for them all).
Comment:
Text Colour Conventions (see disclaimer)
- Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025
- Mauve: Text by correspondent(s) or other author(s); © the author(s)