Lingopie Review: A Video-based Learning Platform with Potential and Some Shortcomings

Lingopie is a language-learning platform that enables you to view foreign-language films and pick up a new language simultaneously. It incorporates language learning tools directly into a broad assortment of videos, including popular Netflix titles, to facilitate natural language acquisition.

In my view, it's a strong option for learning with contemporary hits, though it has several significant drawbacks that prevent it from reaching its full capabilities.

What Is Lingopie?

Lingopie was established in 2018 and promotes itself as "the world’s only language learning application that uses real TV shows and movies to help you learn a new language." This is a rather ambitious statement, given that platforms like Lingflix, Yabla, and several others already offer this and more.

What truly distinguishes Lingopie is its collaboration with Netflix and its extensive selection of modern shows, movies, video, and audio content. Lingopie hosts many of its own videos, but it also works alongside your Netflix subscription to transform that popular streaming service into a language-learning tool.

Lingopie operates by displaying dual-language subtitles and a target-language transcript while a video plays, allowing you to click on any word in the subtitles to see its definition. Save words from videos, and then get quizzed on them to aid memorization.

The platform is intended to be suitable for all proficiency levels, with new shows added frequently. Lingopie currently provides content in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, French, German, Russian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese.

A Breakdown of Lingopie Features: The Good and the Bad

A great selection of shows, movies and videos

The primary attraction of Lingopie, for me at least, is its impressive collection of recent shows. These aren't just English shows translated into other languages—they are original productions in their native language. For example, you can watch the mouse adventures of Geronimo Stilton in Italian or enjoy anime in Japanese.

Switching between languages is very straightforward, so if you're an aspiring polyglot, you could easily do both in one afternoon. I explored the offerings in all languages, and the show selection is quite impressive regardless of the language you're studying. This allows you to learn your target language from genuine, native-speaker content.

For Spanish learners, Lingopie also provides TV guides with special quizzes and vocabulary flashcards for each episode. This is currently only available for three Spanish shows: “Casa de Papel,” “Vis a Vis” and “Club de Cuervos.” I would like to see this feature expanded to more shows in other languages!

A variety of listening options with music, audiobooks and podcasts

If you need a break from shows and movies, you can switch to other audio content.

You can listen to music, which is paired with music videos. Songs are organized into themed playlists, such as "romantic Spanish songs," helping you find something that suits your mood. Audio-only options are excellent when you need a change, and I appreciated the ability to learn without constantly looking at a screen.

There are also some audiobooks and podcasts available, if you can locate them. I had to scroll down to find them, as the content types aren't well categorized beyond their placement on the main page, and searching for them yielded no results.

Some languages also feature a "kids" section. Once you enter it, the other content options disappear, which is ideal if you're allowing your children to learn and want to prevent them from navigating to adult content. However, it's quite simple to click "exit kids," so supervision is still necessary.

This feature is also beneficial for adults, as learning with children's content can be an effective method for easing into authentic media.

Learner-oriented playback features

So, you have access to all this excellent video and audio content. How do you actually learn from it? Lingopie provides integrated learning tools for this purpose.

Each video includes subtitles, and you can click on any word as the video plays to see its meaning. You can also slow down the playback if you need more time to comprehend it (though you cannot speed it up beyond normal speed).

During video playback, a sidebar appears with three sections: script, my vocab, and grammar.

The script tab displays the transcript. You can scroll through it freely and click on any word to see its definition or skip the video to any line directly from the transcript. Words considered at your level are marked with a star; while I found this somewhat arbitrary, it could be helpful for learners unsure which words to focus on.

When you click on a word, it is automatically added to your vocabulary list for that video (though you can easily remove it if you only wanted to check the definition). This is where the "my vocab" tab comes in, housing all the words you've collected from various videos.

Here, you can delete words, mark them as "known," or hear their pronunciation. Clicking on a word shows the last video clip where you encountered it, a record of how many times you've reviewed it, and the last review date.

Once you've saved a certain number of words, you unlock quiz mode. (This threshold appears to be six words in the browser version and three in the mobile app.) In the quiz, you see the clip where you found the word, with only the target language subtitles and the key word highlighted, and you must select the correct meaning from four options. You can start the quiz whenever you wish, allowing for a flexible learning schedule.

The final tab is for grammar, which will be discussed in more detail in the next section.

Not enough detail and potential errors in grammar info

The grammar section of the Lingopie playback sidebar allows you to see a grammatical breakdown of any line from the transcript. This could be a very useful feature if it were created or reviewed by a language expert, but it appears to be AI-generated.

As someone who often uses AI for language assistance, I am aware of its potential inaccuracies with language and grammar explanations, particularly with German. Therefore, I would advise treating the grammar breakdown with caution, as not everything stated there may be correct.

The grammatical information for each vocabulary word is also insufficiently detailed. For example, for "viviermos," the program only indicates it's a plural verb, omitting crucial details like its tense.

That said, the grammar section can still be helpful. It assists in deconstructing sentences to understand how components fit together. The "grammar index" feature enhances this by color-coding parts of speech in the subtitles for visual identification. (This can be disabled in the browser version).

Review features get repetitive and lack context

When reviewing words you've saved from videos, Lingopie offers several features to assist you. You can record yourself saying the sentence and listen to a machine voice pronunciation if the native speech in the video is too fast or unclear. I found this a valuable addition, as many language programs overlook speaking practice.

You can also review saved words with three activities: flashcards review, pop quiz, and word master, though all are quite similar, just presented differently. All three involve showing you a word and having you choose its meaning from four options. While this is a valid learning method, presenting them as distinct activities seems redundant.

I also encountered an issue due to a lack of context during quizzes. The review doesn't account for words with multiple meanings. In one case, I was shown "grande" in Spanish, which I know means "big," but since the instance I saved from a video meant "great," that was considered the "correct" answer.

The flashcard review doesn't have this problem because it shows the clip where you found the word. I wish all review modes included this context. In flashcard review, you can mark words as "no idea," "not sure," or "I know," and Lingopie likely adjusts the frequency of review based on your confidence level.

Lingopie Phrasebook shows words as they appear in media

When using Lingopie, all the words you learn must originate from the videos themselves. You cannot look up specific words you want to study and find videos containing them.

However, the Lingopie Phrasebook effectively addresses this. It's a video dictionary that lets you "learn any word as it appears in TV scenes," and it's accessible without an account. The phrasebook allows you to look up words in select languages, see their definitions, and view short clips from TV shows and movies where the word is used.

This isn't integrated into the main program—you would need to have the phrasebook open in a separate tab to find videos containing your target vocabulary. I found this incredibly useful for seeing words in context and wish it were part of the core platform.

Private and group lessons (but only in some languages)

Lingopie appears to be currently testing classes and lessons. Classes are only available for a small selection of languages, and the concept is that you can join a group lesson or schedule a one-on-one session with a tutor.

The group classes are listed alongside other videos without a dedicated section. It's unclear from their presentation whether these are included in your subscription or if they are interactive or livestreamed. I was unable to search for them within the program for more details.

I also found some pre-recorded lessons for beginners, but these were very limited and seemed to be available only in Spanish.

Private lessons have their own section and clearly state that you can book four 45-minute private lessons for $80. Unsure if it's right for you? You can try a free class with a teacher.

Active community and developer support on Discord

I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lingopie has a Discord server that is quite active. This serves as a space to chat with other learners and, more importantly, a direct line to the developers.

And they are very responsive! The developers are active on Discord, addressing issues like correcting typos (which you can also report directly from the program) and answering questions.

They frequently implement suggestions from the community. When I logged in, I saw a developer personally informing a user that their suggestion had been added to the program.

With this level of community engagement and transparency, I am confident the platform will continue to evolve and hopefully resolve the issues highlighted in this review.

Learning with Netflix is promising but buggy

One of Lingopie's main attractions is its Netflix integration, but this is also one of its least refined aspects.

To use Lingopie with Netflix, you need a Netflix subscription. Once everything is configured, your Netflix interface incorporates Lingopie's learning sidebar, including the script, vocab, and grammar tabs.

However, when I attempted to use this feature, I encountered numerous problems that made it impractical.

Clicking on a line in the script did not navigate to it; in fact, it did nothing. I could not check individual word meanings from the script, though I could still check them in the currently playing subtitles.

Performance was somewhat better on mobile, but given the Lingopie mobile app's own issues (discussed next), its usefulness is limited.

Based on extension reviews, I am not alone in experiencing these problems. However, given the developers' responsiveness on Discord, I expect these issues to be addressed and improved upon soon.

Missing key features on Lingopie mobile

I wanted to evaluate Lingopie's mobile experience, so I downloaded the app and tested it. My mobile session began with a daily challenge, which involved matching some of my saved vocabulary words to their meanings.

After completing the quick challenge, I started a video. Videos are displayed with the video player on top and a transcript only in the target language below. The subtitles for the current scene are shown in the video player with an English translation (which, like in the browser version, can be toggled off).

You can pause to see word translations in the subtitles. Clicking on a word adds it to your word bank, and after saving a few words, you can take a quiz. You can also practice saying each line, skip to any line in the transcript, and adjust the playback speed. So far, so good—these features were familiar from the browser version.

However, I noticed several key features were absent. For instance, clicking a word for its definition adds it to your vocabulary list, and there seems to be no straightforward way to remove it. I found this frustrating, as I prefer the choice to save a word or simply check its definition without saving.

The grammar tab is also notably missing, along with the option to highlight parts of speech, identify words at my level, and most customization settings for quizzes and video playback.

On a positive note, Netflix videos are directly integrated into the Lingopie app, requiring only a Netflix login to watch.

Pricing inconsistencies across devices

While examining the app and browser platform, I also looked at the pricing structure, and what I found was confusing. There are some strange discrepancies between platforms.

On the website, the least expensive plan is $12 per month for a three-month plan, which includes only one language, and a seven-day free trial is mentioned. On the app, the lowest option is $11.99 for a monthly plan, with no mention of a language limit or free trial.

Interestingly, the language limit doesn't seem to exist in practice. I signed up for the lowest-priced plan and was given full access to all languages offered by the platform.

On mobile, you also get eight free minutes of watch time, though it's unclear if this is a daily or total limit.

It's also important to note that there is no true monthly plan, only a quarterly one. So, if you choose the $12 per month plan, you are actually charged $36 every three months.

These inconsistencies would have deterred me from signing up if I weren't reviewing the platform, so I hope Lingopie clarifies its pricing details.

Lack of organization makes it hard to find features

I've mentioned this several times, but it warrants reiteration: Locating some features and content required significant effort.

For example, when initially exploring the content, I noted audiobooks. But when I returned later, I couldn't find them. A search yielded nothing, and I wasn't sure if they would be under "TV catalogue" or "Music," as they fit neither. I eventually found the audiobooks by scrolling far down on the main page. I discovered the podcasts purely by accident as well.

This problem is worsened by the fact that not all languages have all features. Does Japanese include audiobooks and podcasts? I couldn't find them by scrolling, so perhaps not—but it's impossible to be sure!

I encountered the same issue with lessons. While you can click on "private lessons" to see those options, you cannot navigate to the group lessons. I still don't know if these lessons are always free or if only the first class is free. There seems to be no way to view upcoming lessons, and since the feature block is missing for other languages, I assume this feature is currently only available in Spanish and French.

Lingopie in a Nutshell

So, is Lingopie worth it?

Despite some obvious flaws, Lingopie is a valuable resource for learning a language through authentic media. It boasts an extensive content library and useful learning tools to begin with.

However, it is not as well organized as many other platforms I've used, and its features aren't as developed as I'd prefer. For instance, vocabulary learning is central to the platform, but the reviews and flashcards lack sufficient information to effectively build a foundation in the target language.

That said, the active Discord community indicates the Lingopie team is diligently working on refining and enhancing their platform. Despite its current shortcomings, Lingopie is certainly a platform to keep an eye on!

Alternatives to Lingopie

Lingflix

Yabla

Yabla is one of the original platforms for learning languages by watching authentic videos. It includes all the features found in Lingopie, but with video content and an interface that feels somewhat dated.

Due to its longevity (Yabla was founded in 2005), it offers a vast video library for its six languages. Similar to Lingflix, it uses embedded video clips in its learning features and provides a dictionary with more detailed grammar information than Lingopie.

Where Yabla truly stands out is in its diverse and practical practice activities. These involve practicing in various formats, including transcription, fill-in-the-blank exercises, multiple choice, translation tasks, and even comprehension questions.

Unlike Lingopie and Lingflix, a separate subscription is required for each language you wish to learn.

Despite its imperfections, Lingopie is an enjoyable learning platform that teaches languages through full-length videos like movies and TV shows. And now, thanks to this comprehensive review, you are fully informed about its offerings!