If you have a solid grasp of a language but want to learn new vocabulary, Clozemaster is an excellent tool for you. The app uses simple ‘fill in the blank’ style exercises in addition to listening exercises and speaking exercises.
My Clozemaster review explains why this app helps me to improve my Italian and how it can help you to learn the language you are studying.
The best vocabulary resource for lower-intermediate learners and above
I think B1 level and beyond is when Clozemaster becomes the best app for improving your vocabulary.
Apps such as Duolingo and Busuu are ideal for beginners but neither of those apps offer the extensive exposure to vocabulary that Clozemaster offers.
When you get an exercise wrong, the app offers a detailed explanation of the correct answer, however, it does not teach grammar in the way that beginner apps do.
Rapid vocabulary learning
There is no ‘owl’ offering motivation and gamification but instead, Clozemaster has minimal distractions. You will learn new vocabulary quickly with rapid-fire exercises. The speed means you can practice a lot of vocabulary in a short amount of time.
Spaced repetition reinforces newly learnt vocabulary
Exercises are presented one sentence at a time, usually in rounds of 10. If you get an exercise wrong, it will be shown to you again at the end of the round. In my experience, this has helped me to spell correctly in my target language.
Words are then shown to you again periodically for the following weeks or months in ‘review’ sessions until you have mastered the word. The app is also great for reinforcing grammar tenses you have learnt because you will see these tenses used many times in natural Italian.
Clozemaster works well alongside native resources
At the B1 level and beyond, it is important to consume native resources such as books and films. Clozemaster combines well with native level books because the vocabulary you see in the app will also feature in books.
I am learning Italian and whilst reading fiction books in Italian, there are some words that I don’t understand but skip over. When I see these same words in Clozemaster with the English translation, something clicks and the word becomes engrained in my memory.
Features of Clozemaster
Easily find vocabulary collections that suit your goals
Words and sentences are sorted into collections based on goal, grammar topic or subject.
Depending on the language, collections could include travel essentials, 1000 most common words, fluency fast track, pronouns, future tense, everyday life, restaurant vocabulary and idioms.
From my personal experience using Clozemaster to learn Italian, there is a huge range of collections and each has many sentences. For example, the legacy fast track collection has more than 18,000 sentences.
Practice and improve active listening skills
I was surprised to find such a good listening skills tool within the app. You can change the mode of the exercises to ‘listening’, where after listening to a phrase, you have to write what was said.
I choose to do easier phrases for this mode since the emphasis is more on listening skills than learning vocabulary. It is rare to find a flashcard style app for listening skills so I was pleased to find this feature in the app.
Improving pronunciation and speaking skills
In this mode you are presented with a phrase in your target language with one word missing and the full English phrase below it. The app requires you to speak out-loud the whole phrase in your target language, including the missing word.
With minimal distractions or breaks in the app, you can practice speaking a lot of phrases in a short amount of time. I’ve found that recalling words in this way is more effective than tapping a multiple choice answer on an app. The words stay in my memory for longer.
A free version without ads
Unlike many other apps, Clozemaster does not feature ad breaks in the app. Instead, on the free plan there is a daily limit on the number of sentences you can complete. If you only use the app for 5 – 10 minutes per day then this might be enough for you.
In my opinion, the premium version is worth it if you are at a lower intermediate level or above and you are actively trying to expand your vocabulary in your target language.
Depending on the language, you could also get access to pro features such as specialised grammar collections.
You can find the up to date pricing of Pro on the official Clozemaster app here.
You can learn the following languages on the Clozemaster app:
- Afrikaans
- Albanian
- Amharic
- Arabic
- Armenian
- Azerbaijani
- Basque
- Belarusian
- Bengali
- Brazilian Portuguese
- Breton
- Bulgarian
- Cantonese
- Catalan
- Cornish
- Croatian
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- Esperanto
- Estonian
- European Portuguese
- Finnish
- French
- Galician
- Georgian
- German
- Greek
- Guarani
- Hebrew
- Hindi
- Hungarian
- Icelandic
- Indonesian
- Interlingue
- Irish
- Italian
- Japanese
- Kazakh
- Korean
- Latin
- Latvian
- Lithuanian
- Lojban
- Macedonian
- Mandarin Chinese
- Mandarin Chinese Traditional
- Maori
- Nahuatl
- Norwegian Bokmal
- Occitan
- Persian Farsi
- Piedmontese
- Polish
- Romanian
- Russian
- Scottish Gaelic
- Serbian
- Slovak
- Slovenian
- Spanish
- Swahili
- Swedish
- Tagalog
- Thai
- Toki Pona
- Turkish
- Ukrainian
- Vietnamese
- Welsh
- Yiddish
Tips for getting the most out of Clozemaster
I’ve found that the Clozemaster app is improving quickly and I love the hands-free radio style addition to the app. Without even holding your phone, the app can play audio of sentences you’ve already practiced, leaving a gap for you to think about the phrase.
It can be configured so that you hear the English first or your target language first therefore Clozemaster Radio can be used to practice your listening skills or your speaking skills.
I like to play the English first then during the pause I say out loud the same sentence in my target language. After the pause, I listen to the correct pronunciation of the sentence in the target language.
The app is full of surprising features like that. I recommend exploring the app because it can be used to practice all four key skills of learning a language – speaking, listening, reading and writing.
Clozemaster review: Final verdict
The Clozemaster is one of the best secrets in the language learning world. It is not as well known as apps such as Duolingo and Busuu but it serves a distinct advantage for some language learners.
If you already have a good understanding of your target language, Clozemaster is a fantastic tool to expand your vocabulary. Through speaking, listening, reading and writing, this app will help you on your journey to fluency.
It helps me to learn Italian and it is my favourite way to learn vocabulary. I use it in the gym, on the sofa or whenever I have free time. I use it alongside books so I can see newly learnt words used naturally in Italian. The same principle applies to the language you are learning.
The app forces hard recall of vocabulary and words are shown in context in phrases therefore you memorise the words effectively. The lack of gamification or distractions makes this app a gem for language learners.
