Langotalk Review: Great for Online Immersion Practice, but No Substitute for Real Dialogue

I tend to be traditional in my views, and I've generally been doubtful about AI. However, the language learning world has been enthusiastically discussing AI tools for some time, so when I learned about Langotalk's distinctive offerings, I decided it was finally time to test it out.

For this test, I picked Spanish, a language I'm proficient in, for two main reasons: to evaluate the accuracy of the AI lessons and to see how complex they become. I must admit I was taken aback by how much Langotalk can teach—covering nearly every conceivable grammar topic and various dialects—yet I still believe it falls short of replacing genuine interactions with native speakers.

What is Langotalk and How Does it Work?

Langotalk utilizes AI to establish an "immersion" setting in your chosen language. This is achieved through various AI personas, with lessons delivered via an AI chatbot that adopts a conversational method.

It offers over 19 languages and more than 50 AI tutors for each. The languages include Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Japanese, Chinese, and others.

Since I registered for Spanish, I encountered AI characters from multiple Latin American nations and Spain.

You can select from pre-made lessons or even use the AI to design your own based on your learning needs. Lessons are labeled by level—beginner, intermediate, or advanced—and selecting one opens a chatbot where the AI tutor begins the session.

The tutor presents new vocabulary and grammar concepts through text-like exchanges. Each message is brief and introduces a new word or grammatical element. Once you grasp it, you click "Continue" to proceed.

After learning a few new words, the AI bot prompts you to formulate a response in the language based on the material covered. You select from provided response options and receive immediate feedback. If your answer is incorrect, the bot explains why.

Finishing a lesson—typically taking about five minutes—earns you points and extends your daily streak.

One aspect I appreciate about Langotalk is that lessons are almost entirely in the target language, even for beginners. The language used is straightforward enough to understand, so you never rely on English.

Langotalk’s Key Features

AI-generated chat conversations

The two primary features of Langotalk are "Lessons" and "Chats."

Lessons involve message exchanges with a chatbot that teach new vocabulary and grammar on a topic you select from the library. Chats are where you practice your learning and apply your conversational abilities.

Clicking the "Chats" menu option led me to a page with conversation topics and categories. I selected the "Dealing with Hard Emotions" category and chose the conversation titled "Opening Up About Loneliness."

After choosing the topic, an AI character named Sam began by asking about my current feelings. Your responses are entirely up to you—I replied with "I feel a little anxious."

The character responded immediately, asking if I wanted to discuss the reasons for my anxiety, and the dialogue continued from there. Langotalk also provides feedback on your responses, suggesting better phrasing or congratulating you on a good answer.

Each category contains about 10 conversations, offering a substantial amount of content. For instance, the "Dealing with Hard Emotions" category includes 10.

Premade AI characters to chat with

The "AI Characters" tab directed me to a page with several conversation categories—similar to the "Chats" tab—but this time featuring character icons.

As I was using Langotalk for Spanish, the characters were associated with country flags indicating their origin. Most characters were from Spain, Mexico, and Colombia. Some lacked flags, presumably indicating a more neutral dialect.

A feature I particularly enjoyed in this section was the "Culture" category, where you can take lessons on ancient pre-Hispanic cultures with specific AI characters. Itzcoatl from Mexico teaches Aztec history, Pachacuti from Peru covers Incan history, and Ixchel from Guatemala instructs on Mayan culture.

There are also two additional culture lessons on Latin American music and cuisine.

Selecting one of these chats takes you to a chat room with the AI character, where learning follows the same text-based format as other lessons.

Self-made lessons

A distinctive feature that caught my attention in Langotalk is the "create your own lessons" option. You can ask the AI tutor to generate a lesson on any topic you wish to learn in your target language.

This is done by going to "Lessons" and then the "Created" tab.

Once there, you click the "Create a Lesson" button. It then asks if you want to learn a topic, take a quiz, learn new vocabulary, do a grammar drill, or get speaking practice.

I loved the idea but was curious about the depth and specificity of the lessons. So, I requested a lesson on Venezuelan slang—being Venezuelan-American myself. While it didn't cover many words, the lesson was generated instantly, and I was impressed by the explanations.

After completing the lesson, it is saved in your "Created" tab for future review.

Grammar and vocabulary-themed lessons

Langotalk teaches more than just vocabulary; it also covers grammar. I took a lesson on the past imperfect tense (pretérito imperfecto) to see how it works, and it maintained the same conversational style.

The chat first taught me how to conjugate verbs in the imperfect first-person form, then moved on to using it for descriptions and storytelling. However, it didn't progress beyond that. By the end, I had only learned the first- and third-person conjugations.

Another issue was that it classified the past imperfect tense as an advanced lesson. In reality, it's a B1 (low intermediate) level grammar topic.

Nevertheless, there is a decent selection of grammar lessons available, though I'd advise supplementing them with another grammar resource.

Progress tracking

Langotalk awards points for completing a lesson and for accuracy—how few mistakes you make. These points contribute to your progress dashboard, and accumulating points allows you to level up.

After my last lesson on my weekly sleep routine, a pop-up with a progress bar indicated I was nearing level three. However, I couldn't find any information on the progress dashboard (or elsewhere on the site) explaining what this means or the total number of levels.

The progress dashboard does show your current streak and your points over the last seven days compared to other learners of your target language. There's no leaderboard, but this might satisfy those with a competitive streak.

At the bottom of the dashboard, you can also see the number of lessons completed and how many of those were perfect.

AI tutor

Each language includes a designated AI tutor that allows you to ask any question. The Spanish one is named "Spanish Tutor" and is located under the "Practice Tools" category within "AI Characters."

Clicking on the tutor opened a chat box where I could pose any question about Spanish. I started by asking "What is the Spanish subjunctive?" It responded with a paragraph explaining the uses of the subjunctive and provided an example sentence.

It reminded me of the "create your own lessons" feature, but the key difference is that the AI tutor doesn't generate a full lesson on a single subject. My next question was "What are the conjugations of Spanish commands?" It provided a lengthy, disjointed paragraph that fulfilled the request but was difficult to read.

I think the AI tutor is useful for quick clarifications. For more detailed explanations, the "Create a Lesson" feature is preferable.

Practice tools

Under "AI Characters," there's a tab labeled "Practice Tools." This is where the AI tutor resides, along with Roleplay Pal, Interview Prep, Grammar Drills, Deep Thoughts, and Fill in the Blanks.

Roleplay Pal is intended for conversation practice simulating real-life scenarios with AI. You don't choose the topic—it's assigned when you start. In my roleplay, I was a first-time international traveler feeling anxious. The goal was to secure a plane seat by the end.

The conversation was generally good, but at one point, after I answered the bot's question about preferring a window or aisle seat, it simply repeated my answer. I said, "Window, please" and the bot echoed it. After I replied, "Yes, I prefer the window," the conversation continued.

Interview Prep is excellent for those learning the language for career purposes. It poses common interview questions, and you respond as if in a real interview.

Grammar Drills is an exercise where you translate four sentences into the target language, aiming for accuracy. The theme is revealed upon starting. I received "asking for directions," and the bot asked me to translate sentences like, "Could you point me in the direction of the town hall?" These were quite advanced, but I assume they would be simpler if your level settings were lower.

Deep Thoughts is designed to help you construct more complex sentences and engage in meaningful conversations. The topics are profound and can resemble journaling. For example, the first question was "How do your daily habits impact your emotional and physical well-being?"

Finally, Fill in the Blasks requires you to complete sentences with the correct words. It tests both grammar knowledge and cultural understanding. My topic was "Festivals and Celebrations," which included questions about Semana Santa (Holy Week), El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead), and Carnaval de Río de Janeiro (Carnaval of Rio de Janeiro).

Pros of Langotalk

Wide array of conversation topics and formats

Langotalk boasts an extensive library of conversation topics, providing hours of learning. While there are many lessons, its strongest asset is undoubtedly the chat conversation practice.

It effectively encourages you to write in the target language and contemplate topics you might not have discussed before. I also suggest discussing the same topics with a language partner or tutor for additional practice—and real human interaction.

I also appreciate how Langotalk incorporates different accents and dialects for languages like Spanish. The self-created lessons can even teach slang, as demonstrated by my custom Venezuelan slang lesson.

Numerous unique practice features

The practice tools are distinctive and place you in unfamiliar scenarios, which is essential for skill development. You cannot choose the topics, and the bot offers tips and corrections for each response. The variety is impressive—from grammar drills to interview preparation.

Lessons are conducted almost entirely in the target language

The chatbot delivers lessons in the target language—the only instances of English I encountered were in feedback on my responses, such as corrections or congratulations.

Even at the most basic level, you are immersed in the language. I find this highly beneficial. As lessons advance, the bot uses increasingly more of the target language.

For example, beginner Spanish lessons featured simple, minimal explanations—just enough for comprehension. In contrast, the past imperfect tense lesson used more detailed explanations, akin to a native language explanation.

Custom lessons are generated very quickly

I was certainly impressed with the self-made lessons—first, by their ability to cover highly specific topics like a country's slang, and second, by their speed of creation. My "Venezuelan slang" lesson was generated in under 30 seconds, with accurate explanations.

Ability to save words to a personal list

During conversations with the chatbots, you can click on any word to translate it, get a detailed usage explanation, and save it to your "personal collection."

For instance, when I clicked on the word día in a sentence, here's what occurred:

Clicking "Learn about word" took me to a slide with the meaning, noun gender, plural form, pronunciation, usage, and example phrases.

Your collection is accessible under the "Profile tab," with separate sections for phrases and words. Once you've saved nine words, you can take a quiz.

Cons of Langotalk

The app displays lessons outside your proficiency level

Despite inquiring about your goals and current level, Langotalk shows lessons for all three levels—and they are not organized in any particular order.

I set my level as fluent. However, as shown, it continues to display beginner and intermediate lessons. I find this somewhat frustrating, as I must filter through all lessons to find something appropriate for my level.

No quizzes or follow-up exercises after lessons

You can quiz yourself on saved words, but I would prefer to see some form of exercise or quiz at the end of lessons to reinforce learning.

Currently, the closest feature is Grammar Drills in the practice tools. But even then, you cannot select the grammar topic—Langotalk assigns a scenario, and you must translate sentences as best you can.

Therefore, I strongly recommend using a flashcard app and taking notes during lessons. Then, create your own "quizzes" using platforms like Anki or Quizlet.

AI cannot fully replicate human conversation

This is a principle I firmly uphold—AI will never replace genuine conversations with native speakers, no matter how advanced it becomes.

Although Langotalk excels at generating engaging topics and mimicking spontaneous interaction, it's not the same. You still select the topic and remain in your comfort zone, aware you're not speaking to a real person—a factor that often makes language learners anxious.

So, avoid using Langotalk as a safety net. It's excellent for initial practice, and I agree it prepares you for real-world conversations. But eventually, you need to connect with native-speaking friends or use a language exchange app to converse with real people.

Canceling a subscription is a complex process

In my experience with Langotalk, this was the most significant drawback.

Cancellation is not straightforward. The number provided in their cancellation policy was ineffective, so I emailed them about five days before my free trial ended to cancel. Yet, when the trial concluded, I was charged $79.99.

I eventually received a refund, but customer service was lacking: The representative was unresponsive, ignoring my initial email and only replying after multiple follow-ups.

How Much Does Langotalk Cost?

Langotalk provides a one-week free trial when you sign up for the annual plan, priced at $79.99 per year. The monthly subscription is $19.99 with no free trial, and there is a one-time purchase option for lifetime access at $149.99.

Langotalk Alternatives

Lingoda

Lingoda is an online language school offering German, English, Business English, French, Spanish, and Italian.

It provides individual classes but is best known for group classes. Both individual and group classes follow a structured curriculum designed by expert language teachers. Tutors conduct classes based on this curriculum. You choose your CEFR level and then book classes to progress to the next level.

There is an option to request alternative content during one-on-one classes. Overall, Lingoda is ideal for those who want a non-AI tutor to guide them through a step-by-step program, similar to a traditional language school but at a more affordable price.

For more information, you can read our full Lingoda review here.

Lingflix

Rocket Languages

Rocket Languages has been a prominent name in language learning for over two decades. The courses combine text and audio with numerous practice exercises.

Lessons begin with a podcast-style audio recording, typically 15 to 30 minutes long. Two hosts converse in the target language, then explain the new vocabulary and grammar concepts used. It's not a listen-and-repeat format but rather like eavesdropping on a conversation between friends.

After the lesson, notes recap the material, and various practice drills are available at the bottom. These include flashcards, listening practice, speaking practice, roleplay, writing practice, quizzes, and more.

The course follows a predefined structure and integrates standard lessons with Rocket Language's "Language & Culture Lessons," which offer insights into how native speakers use the language.

Currently offered languages include Portuguese, Spanish, Hindi, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and others.

If Rocket Languages seems interesting, you can read our detailed review here.

Final Thoughts: Should You Use Langotalk to Learn a Language?

In summary, I believe Langotalk is an excellent tool for initially developing conversation skills from home. It also offers several impressive, innovative features, such as creating custom lessons.

However, AI cannot replace human interaction, their customer service requires significant improvement, and subscription cancellation should not be so difficult.

Overall, I would recommend Langotalk if you already have a structured course and need supplementary practice. If you're too hesitant to start speaking with native speakers, it's a great way to build confidence. Just don't use it as a substitute for real-world conversations.