Skip to main content
All CollectionsFAQsA bit more about Glossika
Is Glossika suitable for absolute beginners?
Is Glossika suitable for absolute beginners?

We generally don't recommend Glossika for beginners.

Sheena Chen avatar
Written by Sheena Chen
Updated over 4 months ago

Generally speaking, we do not recommend Glossika to absolute beginners unless you (a) have a background in linguistics, (b) already speak a similar language to the one you want to learn, or (c) are very independent and don't mind looking stuff up as you go.

The reason we don't recommend Glossika to beginners is that we don't teach grammar. (Here's why.) Our experience working with tens of thousands of students is that a lot of the big-picture grammar stuff falls into place with time, exposure, and plenty of input in your target language. As such, our goal is to expose you to as many difficult-but-understandable sentences per ~6-8 minute session as possible. To make a metaphor, we think you'll learn more about swimming by swimming than you will by reading a textbook on biomechanics.

The "catch" is that, for this to work well, it's important that you're able to look at a sentence and understand (however loosely) how the words of that sentence work together. If you can do that, you'll latch onto useful "chunks" or sentences and develop an intuitive feel for the "big picture" behind how sentences fit together. (See this article for a more detailed look at the milestones you'll pass through with Glossika.)

How to decide if you're ready for Glossika or not

It's pretty straightforward:

1. Simply sign up for a 7-day trial. It's free, and you don't need to enter your credit card information or anything like that.

2. Once you're set, skim our article on the most effective way to use Glossika

3. Give 20 minutes to Glossika each day for a week

4. Once the trial ends, assess how you're feeling

If you feel like you were able to get your mouth around the sentences, and you were able to make some useful observations about how your language works, and ideally were able to pick out some useful chunks like "Can I..." or "I want to...", then that's great! You're ready to use Glossika.

If the experience was frustrating, or if you feel like you were wasting your time parroting random sentences like a fool, then leave Glossika on the shelf for now. Take a few months to do a crash course in your target language. Skim a textbook, run through the first few units of Duolingo, or work with a tutor. You don't need to master this information — just get a rough idea of how your target language works. Afterwards, send us an email via [email protected], and we'll be happy to give you another week to try Glossika.

For a more detailed look at who Glossika is and isn't for, please see section two of The Glossika Method.

Did this answer your question?