We have now reviewed both Duolingo and Memrise on LanguagesAreEasy.com. They are both great for language learning, and I can recommend to take them a look because probably they can help you to language that you are practicing. Both of them have been at least very beneficial for me. In this “Memrise vs Duolingo, ” I will compare those two apps and what differences they have.

Let’s start what are benefits of Duolingo compared to Memrise.

Benefits of Duolingo

1.Duolingo teaches you full sentences. Most o the time you will be learning words in full sentences. There are exceptions when you are only learning individual words, but mostly Duolingo prefers teaching you complete sentences. It helps the memorization of individual words because you can somehow relate theirs to a real context.

2.Duolingo teaches you vocabulary one category at a time. Some people say that Duolingo is more thorough because it goes through different subjects one by one and explains all relevant words. Sometimes you can also choose specific topics like the vocabulary of religion or politics in Memrise but not always. In Duolingo you can find all categories in 3 seconds on the same page.

3.Duolingo teaches you the essential grammar. When I started studying German from 0, I only used Duolingo. Before that, I didn’t know anything else about German grammar that they are 3 genders (masculine, feminine and neutral). But after using Duolingo, I learned some basics principles of German grammar. Not perfectly, of course, but some most important things that one should know.

As I explained in our Duolingo review under some sections, they have short explanations of that particular grammar subject. They have tables and short text comments how grammar works.

4.You can take language tests in Duolingo. Once you have earned 25 “lingots”, you can take a language test in your target language in Duolingo. The test takes about 20 minutes. You answer the questions and then you get the score between 0-5p (5p is the best). This is a good way to track your language learning progress.

However, this only tests how well you know answers to Duolingo’s question, not necessarily your overall level in that language. Once I had a break of using Duolingo French for a year. I knew that I had made progress in French during that time because I had listened Francais Authentique a lot. But I got lower points in Duolingo test because I didn’t remember exact answers for their questions. So, language test can be a good tool but don’t take answers too literally.

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Benefits of Memrise

1.Memrise is very “fast-tempo” game. In Duolingo, you need to click “next” when you want to move to a next word. In Memrise you don’t need to click anything because the system moves you automatically forward. Or you just push “Enter” and it moves you to the next. It gives you a feeling of flow and progress, and it makes language learning very enjoyable.

I have had the same feeling of flow also with Duolingo, so I think that benefit is in both of them.

2.Memrise’s point system is more versatile than in Duolingo. Once you finish a lesson in Duolingo, you earn 10 points. But in Memrise your points depend on how many words in a row you got right and how fast you answered. In my opinion, Memrise’s point system is a little more motivating than in Duolingo.

3.Memrise’s leaderboard is more diverse. In Memrise you can see the leaderboard of all members while in Duolingo you can only see the points from those that you have followed. It takes the time to search for users in Duolingo and follow them, but in Memrise you don’t need to use the time for that. Of course, you can also follow members on Memrise and see how well you are doing compared to them but that’s not necessary if you don’t want to.

4.There are more courses available in Memrise. Anyone can add classes to Memrise, even I and you. It means that they have an enormous amount of courses (+300k today in 8.1.2017) available and they are adding all the time.

5.There is a memorization tool in Memrise. As you can see in the picture below, you just need to click “Help me remember this” and then it will open you different tricks how you could learn that word or sentence. Memrise members have added those tips themselves, and you can vote “thumbs up” if it’s helpful for you. Then the tip that has got the most thumbs up will appear first when a next person wants to see memorization tips for that word/sentence.

There are not these advice on every word if none of the members have added it. You can also add these yourself to help other language learners.

Conclusion – Memrise vs Duolingo

In this article, I have listed 3 benefits of Duolingo and 5 benefits of Memrise. It doesn’t mean that I would prefer Memrise. I have used Duolingo much more myself than Memrise. Once I had a streak of 100 days in Duolingo German, so I used it every day. It was a good habit, and I recognized a significant progress with my language skills.

I would recommend trying both of them because they have different benefits. Then you can see which one you do like more and concentrate using that one. Many times in life there are several ways to reach success. Sometimes it depends on personal preferences which path you want to take to learn languages.

But one thing is for sure. Success leaves clues. One very effective way to learn languages is to make the same things that the best language learners have made. Most likely you will achieve same results like them if you repeat their actions. That is so-called “success formula.” Want to learn what the best language learners do to learn languages faster? Find out here!

Have you used Memrise and Duolingo? Which one do you prefer and why?

Let me know in the comments below! 🙂