Tandem vs HelloTalk: Yea or Nay?
There’s no better way to boost speaking skills than communicating with natives.
We’d all like to learn the language immersively: living in the language environment, making friends with locals, and breathing in the culture. Unfortunately, that’s not always an option. But fortunately, we’re living in the digital era.
When I was learning my first foreign language, I had no internet access. So, I did a writing exchange – I corresponded with a few native speakers. We sent each other enveloped letters, sometimes with holiday cards.
Today, native language apps come to the rescue. You can now get in touch with people to exchange language knowledge.
Disclaimer: I’ve been using Tandem, on and off, for years.
Are They Dating Apps or Learning Apps?
Hello, HelloTalk!
HelloTalk, located in Hong Kong, China, has been around since 2012. It lists 30+ million users from 200+ countries and supports 150+ languages. The company’s founder, Zackery Ngai, positions the app as a language exchange platform facilitated by the AI tools of translation, transcription, and transliteration.
Hello, Tandem!
Launched in 2015 in Hannover, Berlin, the app also supports 150+ languages and operates as a language exchange platform. Its founders – Tobias Dickmeis, Arnd Aschentrup, and Matthias Kleimann already had some community app experience before they created Tandem. Their mobile-only video-chat platform, Vive, saw the world a year earlier.
Both language learning apps operate as mobile tools (for IOS and Android).
Their web versions are limited, so I wouldn’t recommend them.
Pros:
- Free to use (with an alternative paid plan)
- A social media feel
- Multiple messaging perks
- Audio messages, phone calls & video calls
- Learning materials in 19 languages
- Makes your profile invisible to new visitors
- Keeps frequent conversation partners on top
- Allows for a voice-over intro
- Bans users who violate community rules
Cons:
- Little value for paid audio lessons
- Can't practice multiple languages in the free plan
- Can't set the region preference in the free plan
- Limited use of translation in the free plan
- Many bugs and quickly drains your battery
Pros:
- Free to use (with an alternative paid version)
- Much value in the free version
- Attractive and user-friendly interface
- Audio messaging, voice calls & video calls
- Language tutors (as part of a separate subscription)
- Allows for learning many languages simultaneously
- Has an active community of native speakers
- Has useful search filters
- Allows for giving references
Cons:
- A long verification process
- Limited use of translation in the free plan
- No automatic tracking of preferred chat partners
- A Tinder-ish feel
FAQ: What kind of app is HelloTalk?
HelloTalk is a learning app that works on the premises of language exchange. As every user is a native speaker of at least one language, two individuals may come together to talk and correct each other's mistakes. You become someone’s teacher and student simultaneously.
HelloTalk vs Tandem: Face-to-Face
The Cost: Tandem🏆
Hellotalk’s price tag. The language app is free to use, but it has a VIP plan (I hate the "buy me" tab that haunts me in the free version).
Anyway, what perks does the VIP subscription offer? The key features are unlimited translations, profile exposure, an ad-free experience, a chance to learn three languages simultaneously, and an option to see who viewed your profile.
The price varies depending on whether you buy a one-month, one-year, or lifetime access: $6.99/month, $3.83/month, or $175/one-time.
There’s no trial for the VIP plan.
But there’s a 20% discount for new users.
Tandem’s price tag. The app is completely free, and I see little reason to upgrade my plan. If you're a complete beginner, you might want to get that upgraded unlimited translation offer (you can just use Google Translate, though).
To be fair, the paid plan also puts you on top of the community list (you’ll be contacted more often), lets you find nearby partners (it makes the experience Tinder-ish, though), and enables you to enjoy an ad-free experience (the app isn’t ad-saturated, anyway).
The pricing policy is similar to HelloTalk’s.
You can buy a monthly, quarterly, or annual subscription for $6.99/month, $3.99/month, and $2.92/month respectively.
There’s also a "skip the line" offer, where you pay to not have to wait for verification (I guess that’s where Tinder-like guys jump in).
Disclaimer: I only upgraded my free plan for the sake of this review.
User Experience – Tandem🏆
HelloTalk. The app offers a nice user experience. You sign up to create a HelloTalk account, upload a profile picture, and add personal details & language goals. Overall, the procedure resembles Facebook registration.
That barely takes a minute and it’s not rocket science.
My only point of critique is the design. You experience that Chinese touch to the layout with bright colors, excessive animation, and cartoony icons.
This AliExpress-kind app just isn’t my cup of tea. Believe it or not, it’s the design that made me abandon HelloTalk a few hours after I first logged in.
Tandem. You take longer to register on this platform. There are multiple layers to prove you won't misuse the app (Ironically, that’s what lots of people do).
The system warns you might need to wait for seven days before you’re verified. However, it barely took 20 minutes in my case (It might vary from country to country).
The app has a more structured, adult feel to it. I love the color scheme and minimalist layout (but that’s a matter of preference).
All in all, HelloTalk vs Tandem is an AliExpress vs Tinder (not giving justice to either).
Community – HelloTalk🏆
Community is a great feature that allows you to find language-exchange partners on both apps.
The HelloTalk app community is very active.
The platform offers filters to sort users according to their hobbies, language learning interests, etc.
It takes a few minutes to find the first partner and start a chat.
They say it isn't always easy to find language partners if you're not a native English speaker or can't speak Spanish and Chinese.
The Tandem community at first appears sleek and posh. When I first logged in, I got the feeling I was on Tinder.
Members try to show off and even use professional photoshoot pics.
The community is just as active as on HelloTalk, but the users' motives aren’t always crystal clear.
I’m not sure whether it was my "well"-selected profile image or the fact I added six languages I spoke that attracted 20+ male partners and tons of new messages within 30 minutes.
Group Events – Tandem🏆
Apart from a one-on-one chat, you can join a group event on both platforms.
On HelloTalk, this feature is called "Live". A community member just organizes the event and invites other users to join for discussions. It resembles Lingoda group classes, albeit non-academic.
You can also host a "Live" discussion.
Among other features, HelloTalk offers "Voice’" It’s a live session you can join on the spot to enjoy small talks.
Tandem has Language Parties. You can search parties by language, topic, and time, for example. Although the idea resembles HelloTalk’s, these are more exclusive. The organizers often make it clear who may join and what level they expect.
This filtering option makes the parties more poignant, in my experience.
Translation Features – HelloTalk 🏆
Both tools have translation integrated into the messages. It’s cool, but you’re limited in the free version.
What I like about HelloTalk is that the app also offers transliteration (helpful for pronunciation) and text-over (voice notes for messages). These features improve your listening skill at the stage when you’re still shy about talking.
While Tandem doesn’t have the same extra features, it boasts of an overall cleaner messaging experience. You’re not bothered by pop-up ads and upsells.
FAQ: Is Tandem a good way to learn a language?
Yes. Finding a communication partner who's a native speaker of your target language is a great way to boost listening and speaking skills, acquire cultural competence, and work on sentence structure. Don't expect to reach fluency with this app. You need additional tools to work on writing and reading, for example.
Unique Features: Tandem🏆
The ultimate treat of both platforms is communication with native speakers. There are still a few more features worth mentioning.
HelloTalk focuses on entertainment.
- The "Moments" wall. It allows you to read people’s thoughts, like posts, bookmark posts, engage in discussions, post pictures, and follow users from other countries. That’s like being on Facebook but learning languages instead of procrastinating.
- Fun message extras. You can doodle, use emoticons, send voice messages, share a YouTube channel or Wikipedia article, and do much more when you chat with another user. It makes the app interesting for young language learners and social media lovers.
- The "Words" feature. HelloTalk offers a flashcard type of drill that helps you memorize phrases by categories. This extra isn't a big deal for me, but it’s a nice bonus for some.
Tandem highlights the partner selection aspect.
- More pictures. The app allows you to share photos (six pictures against HelloTalk’s one). I find it useful to learn something about my potential language exchange partners. Is this person a traveler, a cat lover, or a mother/father? Disclaimer: I hate that many people misuse this feature to post sexualized pics to hook up.
- The "References" feature. It’s the one that eventually let me enjoy this learning app and stop focusing on the annoying flirting thing. When someone contacts me, I check their profile and see what others have to say. The references are 99% correct in my experience.
- Partner settings. That's another feature aimed to minimize the Tinderish feel of the app: you can choose to be contacted only by members with references or representatives of your gender. Disclaimer: The idea is nice, but the implementation is poor. Many people hide behind someone else’s identity.
Bottom Line: As these are language-exchange apps, filtering communication partners holds the upper hand over the other bells and whistles.
FAQ: Is Tandem a hookup site?
It's not a dating app. It is a platform for language exchange. Although there's a verification process, some people ignore language learning and instead send inappropriate messages. You can contact the app moderators to report such people.
So, Which Is a Better Language Exchange App?
I have my complaints about both, but I prefer Tandem. You'll enjoy it if you don't mind fighting off unwanted solicitors who mixed up two platforms with similar-sounding names.
Here’s the list of final arguments for both language apps:
Bottom Line
With the right mindset, both apps will facilitate learning languages and will help you find friends all over the world.
I won’t lie: the struggle with Tandem is real, and every conversation partner is hit or miss. I had a 50%-50% experience, where half of the people harbored some tainted motives. I eventually settled with a few partners and set my profile to the offline mode (not to accept other people).
Are you ready to roll up your sleeves and do the same? Then go with Tandem. It’s worth the hype in the long run
Have you had enough of Tinder? Then get HelloTalk and try to ignore the cheesy interface and bouncing emoticons.
P.S.: Even better – wait for our Flying Languages app. It’ll be released soon. There won’t be any unwanted solicitors and anime emojis. Pinky swear!
FAQ: Are there any other apps like HelloTalk?
If you mean specifically language-exchange apps that let you search for users of other languages, these are MyLanguageExchange and Bilingua. You may want to check language learning apps like Duolingo, Babbel, or FluentU for a more comprehensive lesson-type approach and then use the language-exchange ones to boost the speaking part.
