Clozemaster Review: Excellent for Rapid Vocabulary Acquisition, but Best Paired with Other Resources

Clozemaster employs fill-in-the-blank activities—called “cloze” exercises—for vocabulary instruction. It leverages modern technology such as AI to generate exercises aimed at helping you efficiently acquire and retain new words.

I tested Clozemaster with a language completely new to me (Afrikaans), one I have some familiarity with (Japanese), and a language I'm quite proficient in (Spanish). The result was that I learned a surprising amount, and the exercises became so engaging that I moved through them quickly.

Clozemaster Features

Effective Implementation of the “Cloze” Technique

The foundation of Clozemaster is the cloze technique. Rather than studying vocabulary with standalone flashcards, you see words used in real sentences where one word is missing. This contextual approach helps you grasp not only a word's definition but also its practical usage.

This technique also encourages you to naturally identify linguistic patterns and deduce grammatical rules.

Gamified Learning

The cloze method is inherently game-like, and Clozemaster fully embraces this with its design.

As I advanced, I accumulated points for correct responses. These points help motivate you to maintain a daily streak—you can set a daily points target—or to climb the leaderboard against other users. I appreciated that I could level up and showcase my progress in each language I was studying.

For those who enjoy data, Clozemaster provides multiple ways to track your advancement, including a line graph of your weekly activity and a seven-day sentence average. Initially, I found this data overwhelming and a bit confusing, so it wasn't my favorite aspect, but it's a valuable tool for more analytically-minded learners.

Diverse SRS-based Activities

Although Clozemaster centers on one primary teaching technique, it offers enough variety to maintain engagement. You can select from several modes—a listening mode, a reading mode with full paragraphs, and challenge sets focused on specific themes or difficulty levels.

You can also opt for the "Fluency Fast Track," where the app automatically presents words based on their frequency and difficulty.

These exercises have a compelling quality, enhanced by immediate feedback. Right and wrong answers are shown after each question, which allowed me to learn continuously, even from my errors.

The program utilizes a Spaced Repetition System (SRS) to pose questions tailored to my progress, keeping me appropriately challenged. It also prompted me to revisit words I hadn't practiced in a while and were at risk of being forgotten.

Personalized Learning Experience

During a lesson, you have multiple options for each sentence.

You can listen to the sentence at full or reduced speed, save it for later review, mark it as fully known, or choose to ignore it (so it won't appear again).

You can even modify the sentence to your preference—which I believe only alters it for your own account—view a grammatical analysis, and converse about it with fellow learners.

In the grammar section, selecting any word reveals a detailed dictionary entry with additional information, including its origin and meaning in other languages if applicable.

You can also request an "explanation" for each sentence. This appears to be AI-generated, so its accuracy, particularly for less common languages, might vary.

Lessons also offer two difficulty settings. I used the easier version for my newer languages, which provided multiple-choice answers. For Spanish, I switched to the more demanding version, which required typing the answers.

The harder mode includes visual feedback, with correct text turning green and incorrect text turning red. If I made a mistake, the app would encourage another attempt by offering a clue, such as the number of letters I was off by. This supportive approach helped me learn from errors and remember the correct answers more effectively.

Pros of Clozemaster

Learn 10,000+ High-Frequency Words

Since Clozemaster teaches vocabulary based on how often words are used, you bypass less critical topics often covered first in many courses (like animals and food). You immediately start with the words you're likely to encounter in everyday conversation.

Each "Fast Track" level includes 1,000 sentences, each representing a key word. The highest level in the Spanish course is Fast Track Level 10, covering the most common words from 9,001 to 10,000.

This varies by language; for instance, the Arabic course contains up to 50,000 sentences.

Extensive Language Selection

Clozemaster provides a remarkable range of over 50 languages, including widely-studied ones like Spanish, French, German, Japanese, and Korean, alongside less common options such as Amharic, Nahuatl, Latin, Esperanto, Welsh, and Yiddish.

More impressively, you can study many languages from a base language other than English. The available target languages depend on your chosen base language.

For example, using French as your base language lets you study 16 other languages, but with Hebrew as your base, only Russian is available. Despite these constraints, it's a fantastic resource for non-native English speakers.

You can also study multiple languages simultaneously—switching between them was straightforward, and my progress was saved individually for each language.

Memorable Sentences

I frequently refer to "sentences" because they are the core of Clozemaster, which tracks your progress by the number of sentences completed, not words learned. I'm uncertain how these sentences are chosen (they might be AI-generated), and generally, they are coherent.

However, some are as peculiar as Duolingo's famously odd and sometimes ominous practice sentences. My first Spanish fluency fast-track sentence translated to "He was a god to his people," and a later one was "I know that you know that I know"—which required a moment to process even in English.

These unusual sentences can be beneficial, as their oddity makes them more memorable. Now, when I recall the Spanish word for "people," I instinctively think of a god-like figure in a toga (apparently linking "gods" to Greek mythology in my mind). In short, learning through sentences acts as a mnemonic aid for vocabulary.

Well-Designed Mobile App

Clozemaster offers iOS and Android apps, both receiving high ratings. While the number of reviews isn't as vast as some other major language apps, the feedback for both versions is largely positive.

I tried the Android version and was equally pleased. The app provides a slightly better introduction to the program (I discovered you "master" a sentence after four consecutive correct answers) before diving into the lessons. I liked receiving a summary after each round, with a chance to review every sentence I had just encountered.

After reviewing and proceeding, the app immediately started the next round. This seamless transition reminded me of the endless scrolling on social media platforms like Instagram. Here, however, I found myself drawn into a productive language-learning session, far better than spending hours on short videos.

If you need a study nudge, the app allows you to set daily reminders. A Pro account also enables offline access to your collections, giving you no excuse to skip studying, wherever you are.

Active Community

Clozemaster boasts a feature many language programs don't: a community of learners who support one another. The Clozemaster Forum hosts comments on sentences, which anyone can browse, but contributing requires a Pro account. You can also view other learners' profiles to gain inspiration from their progress, badges, and forum discussions.

The official Clozemaster subreddit hosts even more discussion, with active users offering encouragement, sharing advice, and openly discussing their experiences with the app. It's a very supportive environment and a great reminder that you're learning as part of a community.

Cons of Clozemaster

Cluttered User Interface

Upon first login, I was directed to the main learning dashboard. Clozemaster uses a minimalist, almost retro style with dated fonts and layout. To me, the dashboard seemed messy. I found it initially overwhelming, and the simplistic icons were not immediately intuitive.

The main account page displays a comprehensive overview of your language progress, including a timeline, detailed score breakdown, current streak, leaderboard position, and much more. Parsing all this information requires some effort initially, and I mostly overlooked it when I started.

Lessons have a similar presentation: Sentences are prominently displayed in the center to reduce distractions, but the accompanying icons need some exploration. I had to hover my mouse over each icon to understand its function, and I'm still not entirely clear on the distinction between marking a sentence as "mastered" versus "known," or if it's preferable to "ignore" it entirely.

Not Suitable for Absolute Beginners

You cannot start Clozemaster as a total beginner in your target language. My Spanish studies went smoothly, but with Afrikaans, I was essentially guessing every answer. Eventually, through repeated exposure, I began to recognize certain words.

This was only feasible because I could read the sentences. I had more difficulty with Japanese, despite being at an intermediate level—I couldn't read most of the kanji, so I sometimes had to guess even for words I knew.

In summary, while beginners can attempt to use Clozemaster, it works best for those with some foundational knowledge of the target language, ideally at an intermediate level or higher. You also need to be able to read the language's writing system.

How Much Does Clozemaster Cost?

Clozemaster offers both a free membership and a paid Premium membership ("Clozemaster Pro").

A free account grants access to all available languages, numerous statistics, and the basic features needed for regular study. However, you are limited to 10 sentences per round and 30 sentences per day.

The Premium plan lifts these restrictions. It is priced at $12.99 monthly, $69.99 annually, or $159.99 for a lifetime subscription.

What Is Clozemaster Pro?

Clozemaster Pro offers extra features like sentence search, the ability to add sentences to a review queue, favorite sentences, and more. It also provides listening practice in over 30 languages, instant translations for any sentence, additional statistics, and offline access.

You can also tailor your study sessions by deciding how many words to review per session and setting the review frequency for each word.

Clozemaster Alternatives

Lingflix

Lingflix offers 10 languages and adopts a comprehensive immersion-based method. It uses real-world videos—such as music videos, commercials, and movie clips—to teach the language according to your proficiency.

There are playlists for beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners. Each video comes with a vocabulary and grammar list, and if you encounter unfamiliar words not on the list, you can tap the subtitles to see definitions, pronunciations, example sentences, and add them to flashcard sets.

Each video concludes with a quiz featuring fill-in-the-blank exercises similar to Clozemaster. The review system also employs spaced repetition.

Memrise

Similar to Clozemaster, Memrise concentrates on vocabulary and is a great tool for quickly learning new words.

It provides structured courses in 23 languages, including Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Korean, Swedish, Turkish, Mongolian, and others.

Each language features different courses organized by topic and level. For example, the Indonesian course includes a General Course, Opinions Course, Relationships Course, Social Life Course, Health Course, and more.

Memrise doesn't use Cloze exercises, but it incorporates translation activities and a spaced repetition system.

LingoDeer

LingoDeer provides a structured curriculum for 16 languages. It uses a mix of matching, translation, and listening exercises to introduce new vocabulary.

Each level contains various topic-based units. Unlike Clozemaster, it introduces grammar concepts early, interspersed between vocabulary units to prevent overload.

The native speaker audio is high-quality, an area where many language apps fall short. LingoDeer is particularly recognized for its Asian language courses, including Thai and Vietnamese.

Overall Thoughts About Clozemaster

Clozemaster excels at its primary function: teaching new vocabulary through an enjoyable and compelling fill-in-the-blank system. I frequently got absorbed, planning to do "just one more round," only to find myself several rounds later, still engaged.

It's most beneficial when you utilize all its features, like the grammar breakdown and integrated dictionary. The statistics are also highly motivating, helping to maintain your study momentum.

However, Clozemaster has its limits. It's an outstanding tool for vocabulary building and understanding basic sentence patterns. For a more comprehensive learning journey, it should be supplemented with other resources that offer detailed grammar instruction and exposure to authentic media.