Recommendations you can check.
Polyglot and co-founder of LingQ.
4 things
LingQSoftware
Having studied over a dozen languages in my lifetime, I can confidently say that LingQ stands out as the most effective tool for language learning.
Post on why he considers LingQ, the app he co-founded, the best language learning app.
2025-09-06·blog.thelinguist.com ↗
DuoLingoSoftware Duolingo
Duolingo is a fun, easy way into a language and good for daily contact and review, but it lacks depth and real content.
His review of Duolingo after working through its Turkish and Hindi courses.
2026-03-29·blog.thelinguist.com ↗
PimsleurCourse
My verdict: Pimsleur is a good icebreaker for a complete beginner, but not something to rely on for long-term progress.
His review of Pimsleur after working through Pimsleur Romanian as a beginner.
2025-05-08·blog.thelinguist.com ↗
AssimilCourse
Assimil is a well-made course with strength in its design and structure, but it's not a silver bullet. Use it as support, not your only tool.
His review of the Assimil courses, which he used for Russian and Korean.
2017-03-06·blog.thelinguist.com ↗
Every entry is a verbatim quote and a link to the public post it came from. Nothing is paraphrased. If it is not on record somewhere public, it is not here.
The verdict is what they actually said: loved and liked are explicit; recommended means they told others to get it; uses means they only say they use it; read is a book on their public shelf with no verdict; mixed and disliked are kept too.
A dashed affiliate link, sponsored or their own label means the post disclosed a relationship. It is shown, never hidden.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is for its kind of thing.
The shading behind a date shows how dated a recommendation is, for its kind of thing. Fully green is recent. It drains a quarter at a time as the post gets older, and is empty once it reads as dated.
What counts as old depends on the thing. A laptop praised four years ago has been replaced twice; a book loved twenty years ago is probably still loved. The shading is gone after about:
Stripes mean the post carries no date and the date shown is an estimate. No date at all, no shading.