Busuu Review: A Complete Guide (for 2023)

The Busuu language learning app helps you improve all language skills, from reading and writing to speaking and listening. The app sits between being a complementary study app and an online app for self-study. Although the app might not be as rigorous as Rosetta Stone or offer many languages like Mondly, the quality of its language courses is higher.

Busuu is one of the most popular languages learning apps, with over 100 million users. As a result, many people get curious about how effective the app’s language courses are for achieving fluency. So, in this Busuu review, we will dig into the overview, the prices, the strengths, and the overall learning experience. Keep reading to figure out if the language learning app is the best option for your specific learning style, goal, and budget.

What is Busuu?

Busuu is an exceptional language learning app for beginners to intermediate language learners. The language app teaches you to develop your language skills by helping you practice the target language out loud. Busuu’s goal is to help learners become fully conversational in their target language. So, if you aren’t sure of where you want to begin, you can simply take Busuu’s placement test.

Busuu helps language lovers build a solid foundation in their target language and also helps improve their communication skills. Although it is a paid language learning app, it focuses on listening to dialogues which helps learners learn the language quickly. Unfortunately, Busuu’s free version is limited to one language with restricted features.

Busuu’s learning is basically done through digital flashcards. These digital flashcards are interactive and entertaining and make you quickly learn the target language. When you use flashcards, it seems like you are progressing really quickly. Busuu has many benefits, mostly attached to the app’s premium option. Busuu’s price range depends on the type of subscription that you want.

Busuu has a friendly and easy-to-use interface which makes learning on the go easier. So, it doesn’t matter if you decide to learn German, French, Spanish, or any other language. You can always take these language lessons with you. The app also offers offline lessons, so you can download these lessons and learn anywhere and anytime.

Getting Started With Busuu

Beginning your language learning journey with Busuu is actually simple and straightforward. All you have to do is sign up for a free Busuu account by downloading the app. The language app is available and compatible with both Android and iOS devices.

Once you download the app, you proceed to set up your account. Before beginning the lessons, Busuu asks some questions about your target language(s) and why you want to learn them. Then, you can go ahead to choose your level or take the Busuu placement test. Once you finish with the placement test or choosing your level, you can begin your language lessons.

The level you choose depends on your language goals and how far you want to achieve those goals. For example, your goals could be to learn the basics like asking for directions or hold meaningful conversations about life. Once you select your level, Busuu designs a curriculum to help you achieve that goal. However, achieving your language goal depends on how much time you are willing to devote to learning. You can also select what you are interested in learning, such as travel, culture, or business.

The lessons on Busuu begin with learning the vocabulary you’ll use. The digital flashcards have the phrase already in your target language. Then, there are translations and audio clips of native speakers pronouncing the phrases and sample sentences.

Once you are familiar with the vocabulary, you will need to complete different exercises to practice using these words. These drills include pronouncing practice, word identification, filling in the blank, and other exercises. One of the most helpful exercises Busuu offers is conversational practice. Conversational practice begins once you have a solid foundation in your target language and are great for developing your listening skills.

Once you complete these drills and exercises, you will be asked an open-ended question. You can either answer this question by speaking or writing, depending on your choice. However, if you are subscribed to the premium version of Busuu, native speakers of your target language review your response and give feedback.

Busuu Price

Busuu price ranges depend on the type of subscription you want. The price ranges from $5.41 to $13.99 and depends on the length of your subscription and the features you want. However, Busuu’s price is competitive with other language learning apps like Babbel. In addition, Busuu offers a few lessons for free. These free lessons are to help you decide if you want to subscribe to Busuu or not.

In addition, if you decide to subscribe to Busuu, you can choose between the premium version and the premium plus version of Busuu. Each subscription gives you access to the complete language courses. However, premium plus offers a few extra features. Subscriptions on Busuu are monthly, every six months, and a year plan. Unlike Babbel, Busuu does not provide learners with a lifetime subscription plan.

Busuu Discount

Every Busuu subscriber automatically receives a discount once they purchase a 12 or 24-month subscription. Busuu discount ranges from 42% to 46% off the premium plan and 19% to 59% off the premium plus plan.

In addition, the language learning app offers students discounts for learners with an international student identity card. Busuu offers a 30% student discount for premium and premium plus subscriptions.

Busuu Refund and Free Trial

The platform doesn’t really offer a free trial for their language courses. However, there are ways you can experience the language learning app and decide if you want to proceed with the subscriptions. Anyone who wants to pick up a new language can access the first few lessons for free on Busuu. After that, the language lessons on the app are consistent throughout the course. So, you will have a clear idea about the language course on Busuu.

In addition, if you wish to try out the additional features on Busuu to confirm if a premium or premium plus subscription is a good fit, you can proceed to subscribe. This will give you full access to the courses and features. However, if you decide that you don’t like the app and wish to discontinue, Busuu offers a 14-day money-back guarantee. You can get your money back as long as you notify Busuu that you want to cancel your subscription. This notification has to be done within 14 days of purchase.

Busuu Free version

The question of whether to pay or not to pay for a language learning app is always a tricky one to answer. Busuu app offers a free version but with limited features and is more of a free trial of its lessons. You can always try a few lessons in your target language to get a feel of the Busuu learning structure. However, if you want to access the entire language course, you will need to subscribe to the premium version. Both free and premium versions offer different features and different benefits. Here are some benefits of the Busuu free trial to decide which is best for you.

• Busuu’s free version provides different interactive and engaging flashcards to learn new languages.
• Busuu free trial offers dialogues to display words in their natural context. Although this is a free trial, you still get to enjoy native speakers featuring transcripts that allow you to fill in the gaps. For example, when you hear how native speakers use the terms, you will better understand how you can use the words.
• Busuu’s free trial gives insights into the culture of your target language. For example, on Busuu’s free trial, you get an explanation of how the words work. You also get cultural facts that help you contextualize the structure of your target language.

Although Busuu’s free trial features are limited, it still offers a lot to language lovers. The engaging drills are enough to get beginners to become fluent in their target language.

Busuu Premium Version

Premium subscription offers language learners everything you need to learn one language. The premium subscription costs about $6.85, and you will gain full access to plenty of helpful features. These features include the following:

• Busuu premium offers an offline mode. If you subscribe to the premium version of Busuu, you can download language lessons to your device. This way, you can study anywhere, regardless of internet availability.
• Busuu premium unlocks grammar lessons of your target language to become available for learning. All you need are simple explanations of these grammatical forms and usage, and you will be able to construct sentences in no time.
• Busuu Premium offers AI vocabulary assessment. Busuu’s AI will evaluate your answers on quizzes and exercises and will be able to grade your strength on words and phrases. With the review, Busuu will be able to feature the terms that you need more lessons and review.
• Busuu premium offer quizzes to measure your understanding. After every lesson, the quiz section is unlocked to test your knowledge of what you just learned.

When you subscribe to Busuu premium, you get feedback from the Busuu community. Busuu’s community is a social community filled with different knowledgeable speakers of different languages. So when you speak or write in your target language, you can get feedback on how to improve your language skills.

Busuu Premium Plus Plan

The premium pls plan gives you access to the full world of Busuu. You can get this plan for $7.85 monthly, and it includes everything you get on both free and premium plans. In addition, you also enjoy the following:

Premium plus unlocks all 12 languages. This is the most outstanding feature for aspiring linguists. In addition, a premium plus subscription will allow you to learn multiple languages at the same time.

You can personalize your study plan with Busuu premium plus a subscription. For example, you can input your fluency goals and how much time you can commit each day, and Busuu will create a study plan that fits you. You also get notified when you can achieve your goal.

Premium Plus plan offers official certification. Since Busuu has partnered with a leading education company, language learners can now take the official CEFR test. When you pass this test, you will be awarded a certificate that counts as proof of language ability. However, this test is only available for English, German, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Busuu Overall Learning Experience

Learning with the Busuu language learning app is a great and exciting experience. The app’s interface is smooth and easy to use. The language lessons are useful, helpful, and practical. The lessons are short and take about 30 minutes to complete. The short lessons help you focus on mastering the topics quickly and efficiently.

In addition, the social community of Busuu users is another helpful feature that makes Busuu outstanding. For example, every time you complete a speaking or writing exercise, you get a review and feedback from a native speaker of your target language. Busuu also incorporates videos of native speakers to help learners see native speakers actually speaking the language.

Watching videos adds a different dimension to learning your target language. In the videos, you actually see the native speaker speaking, and you can pick up their body language, facial expressions, and hand gestures. This nonverbal way of communication also helps you pick up the language you are learning quicker.

Busuu also does a great job of integrating grammar instruction and cultural insights into the language course. Every language lesson on Busuu focuses on important grammar principles followed by examples, drills, and exercises to ensure you fully grasp the language concept.

Languages Available on Busuu

Busuu language app offers about 12 popular languages. These languages include English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Italian, Arabic, Turkish, Russian, Japanese, and Polish. However, in the free and premium versions of Busuu, you have access to only one language course. But, on the premium plus version, you gain access to all the language courses. Moreover, depending on your strength and time, you can also study multiple languages simultaneously. In addition, not all language course has the same structure, so here’s a quick review of some of the languages.

Spanish

Spanish is one of the most famous spoken languages in the world. Therefore, the Busuu Spanish course is extensive, with many valuable and practical content to study. Spanish lessons take you from beginning to being fully conversational with the language. As you study the course, you will also practice speaking, reading, listening, and writing. Although the lessons are exercises are pretty similar, the quality of Spanish content makes it outstanding.

French

Like Spanish, French is another top spoken language in the world. Learning French with Busuu helps you gain a deeper knowledge of the language and develop your communication skills. Different French lessons in Busuu cover almost everything you need to know to handle the everyday situation. In addition, Busuu offers various courses in French. These courses include the fundamentals, French pronunciation, French for travel, and French for business.

Chinese

Unlike other language courses on Busuu, the Chinese course is quite limited. The course doesn’t offer many supplementary lessons compared to other language courses. However, the complete course will teach you Chinese basics. You can also pick a thing or two from the Chinese travel course, which is also limited. In addition, you won’t learn to write Chinese characters on Busuu, and there are about 9 lessons that cover basic phrases.

	Busuu	Duolingo	Rosetta Stone	Pimsleur	Babbel
Price	$13.95/month	$6.99/month	$35.97- $44.97 for three months	$19.95/month.	$13.95/month
Free trial	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Learning structure	Users learn with three to four mini lessons	Uses engaging and gamified methods to impact learners.	Takes learners on new phrases, vocabularies and topics to improve speaking skills.	Mainly an audio course that helps improve speaking abilities.	Uses speech and real voice recognition software to teach users
Languages	14	30	25	50	12
Oral learning	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Avaliable on devices	Android, Apple, and Windows	iOS, Android, Windows	Mac, iPhone, Windows, Android	Android, PC, and Apple users	Android, iPhone, Windows, and Apple
Ranking	#2	#1	#4	#3	#5
Recommended for	Learners who fall under beginners, intermediate and advanced levels	Perfect for learners at different levels	Suitable for learners across all levels.	Works for beginners and intermediate learners.	Suitable for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners

Busuu is a widely used and recognized language-learning app. It has unique features that make it stand out from its competitors. Busuu offers diverse lessons that help users gain fluency.

Additionally, its grammar lessons are well-detailed compared to other apps such as Duolingo and Babbel. Also, it includes video clips from native speakers. Hence, it exposes learners to see how words are properly pronounced. If you are a learner who is big on getting feedback, Busuu sends your exercises to the community. Moreover, the phrases and sentences on the app are more natural, especially when compared to Duolingo. Above all, the translations are usually correct.

Conclusion

In the end, the free version of Busuu offers you only a tiny taste of all the services and features Busuu has to offer. However, a premium subscription has more to offer and is absolutely worth the price. The language content on Busuu is accurate and well structured. Busuu is an excellent option to become conversational with any language of your choice. The app creates a comprehensive learning experience with a combination of writing, listening, reading, and speaking skills.

Busuu Review – FAQ

Is Duolingo better than Busuu?

Busuu and Duolingo are language learning apps with different learning techniques. While Duolingo also offers free version like Busuu, Duolingo have more content in the free version. On the other hand, the Busuu learning experience and course structure are different. So, both apps will teach the basics of your target language, depending on your language goals.

Is Busuu Free?

You can access a few lessons in any language for free. However, to access the entire course of your target language, you must subscribe to premium or premium plus.

Is Busuu worth it?

If you take advantage of all the features and lessons on Busuu, it is definitely worth paying for. However, you should know that the quality of the lessons you get from Busuu depends on your target language.