I had never heard of the Promova app until a friend turned me onto it. They raved about how cool and modern the app was, so I knew I had to try it out. Now, after purchasing and using Promova for a few weeks, I share my thoughts on whether I think this app is worth it to learn a new language.
In the video above, John from the Test Prep Insight team covers the pros and cons of using Promova to learn a new language. For more detail, continue reading our full, written review below.
Let’s begin this review by discussing how the Promova app works. To start, when you first sign up, they ask you a few questions. This includes questions about why you want to learn, what your current fluency level is, how much time per day you have to learn, and a couple of other things.
With this information, they’ll then generate a custom study plan for you. However, calling it “custom” is a bit generous. This questionnaire is mostly used to determine where you should start in the program (i.e. how far along into their lessons).
In any event, it all begins with the main tab on the dashboard called “My Plan.” This is where you’ll see your daily assignments.
Basically, the “My Plan” tab presents you with a certain number of daily lessons to do based on how much time you have available. If you have 10 minutes per day, then you get two lessons a day. If you have 20 minutes, you’ll do four lessons per day. You get it.
Each lesson is bite-sized, and maybe takes 5 minutes to complete. That’s why you get assigned multiple lessons per day under “My Plan.”
Additionally, how the lessons play out is pretty simple. Each one has three steps. Step 1 starts with a review of some new vocabulary – perhaps 5 or 6 new phrases. You also get a little context on how the phrase is typically used (called “how to use it”).
In Step 2, after you learn your new vocab, you then dive into some practice. This step generally consists of choosing the correct phrase (from a list) based on a picture. It goes really fast.
Finally, Step 3 is more practice, but with a more diverse set of drills. This includes:
That’s about it for Step 3. When the lesson is complete, you see a quick end screen, and then the program sends you back to the dashboard. That’s it. It’s honestly pretty straightforward progression.
After you complete your daily assignment, you’re technically done for the day, but you can work additional lessons under the “Course” section at the top anytime. This tab essentially presents all of Promova’s lessons in order of difficulty and level. You’re free to continue working through as many 5-minute lessons as you want.
That is the main self-paced language learning program from Promova. You can also opt for live lessons as an add-on. However, as of right now, those live sessions are ESL lessons for English learners only. There are no live lessons currently available for Spanish learners, Italian learners, French learners, etc. Perhaps soon they’ll add live lessons for additional languages, but not yet.
Anyway, that’s it. The Promova app is not super complicated. In fact, it’s one of the more straightforward apps that I’ve used and reviewed. Now, before we get to what I like and don’t like about Promova, let’s actually talk about the cost of the Promova app.
To begin, Promova does have a free version. Just like with Duolingo, you can sign up without putting any money down and get access to most of their content.
While that’s nice, there are two big drawbacks with the Promova free plan in my eyes. For one, you can’t access all of their content. Some lessons are restricted to paid premium users.
Second, you get hit with ads during lessons. They don’t bombard you with ads like I’ve seen with other apps, but honestly, they ads are kind of annoying. So, you may want to upgrade to the paid premium version.
The premium membership costs $30 per month under the month-to-month subscription. Or if you prefer to lock in your premium membership for 12 weeks (i.e. three months), that will cost you $50 total (a little over $16 per month).
As such, Promova isn’t the cheapest program that I’ve used and reviewed, but it’s not the most expensive either.
Do note, however, that those are just the full retail prices, and Promova is always running sales and special promotions where you can lock in lower rates, so make sure to check for that.
Their typical sale is usually for 50% off, making the true price of the app closer to $8 per month on the 12-week plan. From a cost perspective, that puts them right in line with Babbel, Rosetta Stone, and others.
Thus far I’ve outlined how the Promova app works and what it costs. Now, let’s turn to the pros and cons of this program, starting with the pros.
My first positive is that the lessons are fast moving. As noted above, each lesson takes maybe 5 minutes. This is great for keeping you engaged, working lessons in around busy schedules, and general learning flexibility. Quick-hit lessons like this offer a lot of benefits.
My next pro is how Promova focuses on the casual, conversational form of the language you’re learning. For example, I’ve been using Promova for German, and it focuses on the “du” form of “you,” as opposed to the more formal “Sie” form of “you.”
If you’re not a German learner, don’t worry. The point I’m making is simply that Promova focuses on the more modern form of the language, which is more practical for holding real conversations.
Other apps I’ve used, like Pimsleur, focus on a more formal, academic method, which is fine. However, I like this more modern, casual, and practical approach.
Their AI conversation tool for speaking practice is also great for helping you learn the way normal people actually talk. Like many other apps, they grade your pronunciation with software so you know exactly where you need to improve.
My next pro is the interface. Promova is full of cool, modern graphics and font, and uses a bunch of haptic feedback, which I love. Essentially, the Promova app looks and feels very sleek, and it’s incredibly fast.
I’m also a fan of all the cool tools it lets you easily access. The pronunciation guide lets you plug in any word and instantly hear it spoken correctly, and the confusing words tool identifies the spots in the language where most learners get mixed up. Other nice resources include a past tense identifier, part of speech identifier, and tools for synonyms and antonyms (words with opposite meanings).
My fourth pro for this program is how the mobile app mirrors the website version of the course. Some language learning programs have completely different desktop and mobile interfaces, and it can be a pain trading off between devices. However, Promova is seamless between the two.
In fact, I would guess that Promova actually made this program for the mobile app. The desktop version of the program is vertically oriented and looks just like a phone screen. And honestly, that’s how I prefer it. It’s just very clean and seamless between devices.
Lastly, I think Promova is a great way to quickly build out vocab. As discussed below, Promova is light on grammar, but big on vocab.
Thus, if you’re trying to build out your base of vocabulary before a move or big trip, it is the perfect app for that.
Now that we’ve touched on the pros of using Promova, let’s discuss some of the negatives I found.
So, the first drawback I noticed with Promova is that there is very limited grammar instruction. There are only a few dedicated grammar lessons, and even at that, they’re somewhat cursory.
These lessons don’t get too deep, which can be an issue for some language learning newbies. This is definitely a vocab-heavy app, and if you need in-depth grammar coverage, you will not find that here.
In the same vein, my third negative is that there is no video in the Promova program, as well as very little audio. There are some drills that speak a phrase aloud and you match it to a written phrase, but that’s it. I wish there was some video clips in the program, and definitely more audio.
Lastly, my final complaint is that the typing drills are a little annoying, especially on desktop. I understand that spelling is important, but typing out words one letter at a time from a random selection of letters is a little irritating.
All of the other exercises in the app are highly engaging, but the typing drills just slowed me down and bugged me. This is kind of a personal complaint, but thought it had to be noted.
So, is Promova effective for language learning? If you just want to jump into learning the basics of a new language with some speaking and conversation practice thrown in, my answer is yes.
They offer a really cool, sleek app with short lessons that really keep you engaged. I love how Promova spoon-feeds you practical, casual phrases and vocab that you can start using in conversations right away.
Obviously, I think it would be great if they would add in some more dedicated grammar lessons, and they may not be the best fit for anyone who learns best through lots of video instruction. But if you like fun, quick lessons, cool language tools, and AI conversation practice, this app should work great for you. Overall, I think Promova is a great app for building out practical vocabulary and improving your fluency level.
Promova is a language learning company. They offer a self-paced language learning app that you can download and use to learn multiple languages, and they also have live classes for English learners.
Promova does have a free version of their app. However, we noted a couple issues with the free version when using and reviewing this program. The free version had limited content, and you are forced to watch ads.
I really like the Promova self-paced app. With short and engaging lessons, and a focus on truly practical vocabulary, I found it very useful. I wish they offered more grammar instruction, but overall, it was effective for me.
The Promova Spanish program is good. I particularly liked how they focused on the more modern and casual way of speaking Spanish. This helped get me conversational more quickly. Some other apps focus on content that is too academic and formal.
Promova’s app costs $30 per month if you do the month-to-month subscription, or $16 per month if you sign up for the 12-week plan. Also, you can regularly find discounts for 50% off.
Promova offers programs for 12 languages. These include English, Chinese, Spanish, Spanish (LATAM), Arabic, German, Ukrainian, French, Korean, Portuguese, Italian, and American Sign Language.