Memrise

What is Memrise?

Memrise is an online language learning platform focused on teaching languages as they’re actually used in everyday life. Lessons feature videos of native speakers, helping learners quickly get a feel for speaking and understanding a language. The approach is built on memory techniques, insights from neuroscience, and modern language learning methods, with the goal of making it simpler and faster to pick up a new language. Memrise is a research-backed organization with a team from over 20 different countries.

Who created Memrise?

Memrise was founded by three friends — Ed Cooke, Ben Whately, and Greg Detre — who met while studying neuroscience and psychology at Oxford University. Their shared interest in how humans learn, and how technology could improve that process, led them to create the platform. Since launching, Memrise has welcomed over 65 million learners from 189 countries.

What is Memrise used for?

Memrise is designed for practical, real-world language learning:

• Learn what you want: Choose wordlists based on your goals, and create personal wordlists of vocabulary that’s useful to you.
• Speak like a local: Start with words and phrases people actually use every day, including local lingo.
• Native speaker videos: Lessons include video clips of native speakers using phrases in real situations, building listening and comprehension skills.
• AI conversation practice: Chat with Membot to practice conversations and build speaking confidence.
• Practical skills: Lessons develop listening, speaking, reading, and writing through interactive, gamified practice.
• Personalized learning: Review sessions are tailored to your progress, and the experience adapts to individual needs.
• Combine with other media: Memrise can be used alongside your favorite books and YouTube videos as part of a broader learning setup.

Memrise Free Plan

The Free Plan includes:

• Official courses for 23 languages
• Video clips of real-life phrases in actual situations
• Gamified tests and personalized review sessions
• Sync across all your devices

Key takeaways

Memrise emphasizes authentic, everyday language over textbook phrases. Its combination of native speaker videos, memory-based techniques, and AI conversation practice makes it a solid option for learners who want to start speaking and understanding a language quickly, with a genuinely immersive and personalized experience.