EnglishClass101 Review: Lots of Content, But Only Works If You Already Know Some English

EnglishClass101 claims it is “the fastest, easiest and most fun way to learn English.”

It also says that you can “start speaking English in minutes with audio and video lessons.”

But when I tested it out, it turns out that you already need to know some English to use it.  Compared to other language-learning programs I’ve used, it’s also missing a few elements.

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What Is EnglishClass101?

EnglishClass101 is made by a company called Innovative Language, which has become one of the biggest language-learning companies since its founding in 2006. In fact, Innovative Language offers over 690 language learning apps today.

While the focus of this review is Innovative Language’s EnglishClass101, the company also creates programs for learning other languages and has options for over 40 languages.

You can read our general review of Innovative Language here.

https://www.fluentu.com/blog/reviews/innovative-language-review/

When it comes to EnglishClass101, the program claims to be a well-rounded language course, offering practice in reading, listening and writing. 

Its main strategy is to teach through audio podcasts, videos and written language tutorials. It uses all three of these methods to help learners master the English language.

There are more than 2,000 EnglishClass101 videos that are free to watch on YouTube and you don’t even need a subscription to use them as study material:

How EnglishClass101 Works

I signed up for the free trial and throughout my experience, I found EnglishClass101 very easy to use.

When you first start the program, you take a diagnostic assessment to see where your English level is at. The assessment had 40 questions, so I found that it wasn’t too tedious but just enough to give the program an idea of where you are at with your skills. The questions are mostly dialogue-based questions, so it was pretty straightforward.

The results of this test will place you on the best pathway that will help you progress on your learning journey.

The “pathways” that EnglishClass101 provides are essentially the various levels of English proficiency that you can achieve. EnglishClass101 has five of these levels: Absolute Beginner, Beginner, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate and Advanced.

For this review, I completed my assessment in a way that would place me into the “Absolute Beginner” pathway. This way I could see what the app looks like and progress even from the lower levels. 

Each “pathway” has various courses. Some courses are general courses for learning common vocabulary and useful grammar in English. Others are more specific and focus on specific topics such as business, well-being, travel or school.

After choosing a course, each lesson starts with an audio or video about a certain topic. The audio clip or video is pretty short, normally around three to five minutes. 

After the audio clip or video, a word-by-word written script of what was said in this video or audio clip is provided. This makes it easy to follow along and pick out important words and ideas.

Following the clip/video and transcript, there are notes on the lesson that include helpful tips and tricks for learning new words and using them properly. These sometimes cover both grammar and culture so you can communicate and understand native speakers. 

Finally, learners can post their comments for each lesson. I liked that this provides some interaction with other learners and allows you to seek help or leave your thoughts with those who work on the program. 

There are also assessment lessons that have multiple-choice questions. The questions focus on grammar and vocabulary that have been learned in earlier lessons. I was happy to see that the lessons build on previous ones. 

Features of EnglishClass101

Thousands of Lessons

One of EnglishClass101’s best features is that it offers so many courses and lessons for learners. 

Each pathway provided by EnglishClass101 includes dozens of courses, and each course has between 25 and 100 lessons. Further, courses focus on a specific skill and goal.

All of this means that you’ll never run out of things to learn or get bored when learning with EnglishClass101. This makes it a useful program for learning English on a long-term basis (for a long time). I’m not sure you’d get through every single lesson offered by EnglishClass101 even if you spent an entire lifetime on it!

Tools for Growing Vocabulary

EnglishClass101 doesn’t just offer lessons and courses for learning multiple levels of English, they also offer many tools to help you learn and master new vocabulary.

I noticed that there are two types of vocabulary-building tools. There are basic vocabulary tools that are for everyone, including:

• An email subscription for Word of the Day
• Vocabulary lists for new words, key phrases, 100 most common English words
• An English dictionary

Premium users can access even more cool tools like flashcards, a word bank and a list of the 2000 most common words. The flashcards use what is called a “Spaced Repetition System.” This helps your brain review new words and phrases at the right time so you don’t forget them.

Real English Speech

It was cool to discover that all of EnglishClass101’s audio and video clips feature native English speakers. As a native English speaker myself, I was relieved that this wasn’t textbook English—a formal version of English I would never use. EnglishClass101 teaches English as it is actually spoken in everyday conversations.

Best of all, you can also follow courses for both British and American English. This allows you to choose the accent and dialect of English you want to learn.

Features for Premium Users

Like many English learning programs, EnglishClass101 has different subscriptions for learners available at different prices.

 

A Basic subscription gives you access to all lessons and some of the available vocabulary building tools. 

A Premium subscription gives you access to flashcards with a “Spaced Repetition System,” a list of the 2000 most common words and line-by-line lesson dialogues. It also gives you “Premium Lesson Tracks.”

A Premium PLUS subscription offers even more. For starters, you get a “Professional Assessment” in which a real English teacher will test your English to find out your level. After that, you get a “Personalized Learning Plan” that will tell you what to learn based on what you already know. Best of all, you get 1-on-1 instruction with a real English teacher or tutor who can personalize your learning and give you feedback on what you need to work on.

It is worth mentioning that other users have found Premium PLUS to be false advertising. Many have said that the “Professional Assessment” is not by a teacher, but rather a computer. Further, the 1-on-1 instruction is a text conversation with someone, not interactive speaking.

What EnglishClass101 Does Well

There are quite a few highlights of the EnglishClass101 learning program.

Authentic English

To start, I was delighted to see that the program uses real English speech. Often programs use automated or computer voices—or no English speech at all—so it was nice to see that EnglishClass101 uses audio and video of real English speakers. This will be helpful for all English learners so they can hear how English really sounds.

Useful Vocabulary Tools

I also thought that the vocabulary tools were well-made. The flashcards with Spaced Repetition System technology are fantastic for retaining new vocabulary. The word lists, dictionary and word-of-the-day feature are also useful for learners.

Huge Number of Lessons

In my opinion, the biggest highlight is that there is so much included in EnglishClass101. There are thousands of lessons across hundreds of courses. You will never run out of things to learn and lessons cover a wide range of topics.

Where English101 Can Still Improve

Even though there are good things about EnglishClass101, there are some things that need improvement.

Not for Beginners

Most importantly, it seems to me that you need to know some English to start using EnglishClass101. It starts off with complete English sentences and there are no translation tools to change between English and your native language. I recommend that learners build a bit of a basis for English before starting to learn EnglishClass101.  

I would suggest that you start with a program that actually has content for complete beginners. This way you can figure out the basic vocabulary and grammar structures and then use EnglishClass101 to further your skill level.

Lacks Speaking or Writing Practice

I also noticed that EnglishClass101 lacks real writing or speaking practice. Sure, you get to fill-in-the-blank with multiple-choice words, but that’s not practicing how to write in English. Even the “Comments” section at the end of each lesson is disappointing and doesn’t really help you practice these skills in the way you need to.

Also, there is no way to speak out loud with anyone—not even with the 1-on-1 instruction in Premium PLUS. The best way to learn English is by having real-time conversations, but this is not a feature that is included in this program. 

Speaking of Premium PLUS: it is not worth it. It seems that what is being offered is not what EnglishClass101 is advertising. I don’t recommend spending money on the plan as you can get the best parts of this app with the other plans.

Alternatives to EnglishClass101

With so many options for English learning programs available, it is easy to find other resources that compete with EnglishClass101.

One thing that EnglishClass101 does that really boosts their performance is use more video and audio tools. I noticed that EnglishClass101 uses more video and audio than Rosetta Stone, Babbel and Busuu. EnglishClass101 also has more written tutorials than these programs.

When looking at apps, I found that EnglishClass101 has more information than Duolingo and Memrise. Those programs might give you words and sentences to translate, but they don’t really explain as much why certain grammar rules are in place. EnglishClass101 provides a little bit more detail and context as to why things are the way they are.

While the extra detail can be great, it may also make it more difficult to use EnglishClass101. If you are an absolute beginner, the full English videos, audio and written tutorials may be hard to follow.

In this case, you could pair with or use another program that is designed specifically for this. For example, FluentU English has videos for those with zero knowledge of English.

Using a program like this will expose you to native English and get you started on your learning journey. Even once you have learned enough to start using EnglishClass101, you can continue to use FluentU in conjunction with EnglishClass101 as their content is extremely helpful at all points of the learning journey.

The Verdict: Should You Use EnglishClass101?

In short, yes. I believe that you should use EnglishClass101 if you already have a little bit of English knowledge. The app is incredibly thorough, making it a great tool for learners; however, learners first need to build a base in English elsewhere. 

The English is authentic, the vocabulary tools are helpful, and the vast amount of content is incredible. I think that you can learn a lot from EnglishClass101, even if there are some things that the program could improve upon.

With that said, I don’t recommend paying for Premium PLUS. Many users have suggested that Premium PLUS is a lie, and that you shouldn’t spend the money on it. I think you can get a lot from this app’s basic or premium plan when it comes to writing and vocabulary practice, but I would look to another resource to practice your speaking and writing.

 

EnglishClass101 may not be the starting point for learning English, but it can be a great resource for those who already have some knowledge to work with. Its native-speaking content is a great asset and the great amount of content gives you plenty of options to study whatever you want to.