Memrise is Doing Away with User-Generated Content… Now What?
I have been a religious Memrise user for more than a decade The company, however, is making big changes. Here’s why I’m leaving the platform and what I’m using instead.
I Was a Memrise Power User
I started using Memrise on Dec 27, 2013 and joined Pro in 2018. It’s been the one tool I’ve used most consistently throughout my language learning journey for quite literally every language I’ve learned.
I started out using the app to work on French, Chinese, and even geography. Memrise became more than just a tool; it became my trusted companion, accompanying me through the twists and turns of mastering languages, one word at a time.
Fast forward to today, as I write these words, my journey on Memrise has accumulated a staggering 61.6 million points, a testament to the countless hours poured into mastering 34,441 words across multiple languages. I’ve created numerous courses on the platform and up until only a couple of weeks ago, had a 1500+ day streak in the app.
But now that Memrise is doing away with user-generated content, it’s time the tool and I go our separate ways.
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Memrise Says Goodbye User-Generated Content
Memrise recently made waves in its decision to discontinue support for custom courses, a move that has elicited mixed reactions among its user base.
As a learner and coach, I’ve celebrated Memrise for offering learners the ability to create custom, curated language learning content. It’s SRS system was well-designed and I favored it over the countless other comparable tools available. It was my #1 recommendation, and not for it’s courses and built-in content.
Custom courses have long been a cornerstone of Memrise’s appeal, allowing users to personalize their language learning experience in ways that traditional courses may not accommodate. Whether it’s mastering vocabulary related to a niche hobby or delving into specialized terminology for professional purposes, custom courses have empowered learners to take ownership of their learning journey. This flexibility has fostered a vibrant ecosystem of user-generated content, with passionate contributors sharing their expertise and insights with fellow learners around the globe.
The decision to phase out custom courses signals a significant shift in the company’s strategy, and yes, I understand the reasons behind the company making this decision. Yet, the decision to sunset custom courses as they pivot towards standardization and quality control eliminates what made them my favored tool.
It just becomes another pre-formed learning tool, eliminating the learner’s power to develop their own personalized learning content.
Custom courses offered a level of personalization and authenticity that official courses might struggle to replicate, catering to individual learning styles and interests in a way that standardized content cannot always match. Losing access to these user-generated resources may feel like a loss of autonomy and community-driven learning opportunities for some members of the Memrise community.
As of right now, the community courses have been moved away from the main Memrise site and will only continue to be supported through the end of this year (2024).
In the meantime, I’ve been on the hunt for an alternative so I’ll share a few of the options available to you and detail what resource I’ve landed on and why.
4 Alternatives to Memrise if You Want to Create Custom Content
1 Anki
Anki is an open-source flashcard app that utilizes spaced repetition to help users memorize vocabulary and concepts efficiently. It allows users to create their own decks or download pre-made decks from the Anki community. It’s free to use on your desktop or laptop and there is an app you can download as well.
2 Quizlet
Quizlet offers a user-friendly interface for creating and studying flashcards. It includes various study modes, such as games and quizzes, and allows users to collaborate on decks with classmates or friends.
3 Brainscape
Brainscape employs a scientifically optimized algorithm to maximize learning efficiency through spaced repetition. It offers pre-made decks for various subjects and allows users to create their own decks as well.
4 Flashcards Deluxe
Flashcards Deluxe offers a robust set of features for creating and studying flashcards, including support for text, images, and audio. It includes customizable options for card appearance and study settings.
Why I’m Moving My Personal Content to LingQ
For a time, I considered moving to one of the above recommendations for my own learning but ended up going another route. I’m already heavily invested in LingQ and pay for an annual membership, so it made more sense for me to more fully convert my learning over to the app.
Plus, working through the content in LingQ will boost my learning stats and be a good opportunity for review.
LingQ has highly robust import features — for both vocabulary and courses. And while they didn’t support several languages I was learning a few years back (like Hungarian and Croatian), they’ve since added them which gives me hope they’ll one day add the one language I’m learning that they still don’t support — Scottish Gaelic. Until then, I’ve found a workaround but can still dive deep with my other languages.
Would I Still Recommend Memrise?
After all is said and done and the community courses are done away with, you might be wondering if I would still recommend Memrise.
My answer is yes, but not for the same reasons as I recommended it in the past and it no longer falls in my top resource recommendations.
I would now recommend Memrise as a supplemental tool much in the same way I might recommend Drops or Duolingo. I do enjoy Memrise’s courses, but I’ve just always found more power and progress in learning the vocabulary, phrases, and notes I’ve pulled together myself over learning content put together for me in an app.
Conclusion
Thankfully my learning content didn’t exist solely within Memrise. I’ve kept a spreadsheet with all of my vocabulary and update it on a weekly basis. Because I took this step first before importing my content into Memrise, I had a useful backup for just such an occasion.
Having this spreadsheet made it easy for me to take my content and bring it over to any other new platform and I’m glad it’s a step I’ve been taking over the last many years.
Memrise doing away with its user-generated courses is the end of an era. I’m sad to see it go. Even disappointed. But refreshing your learning tools and tactics can have a big impact and it’ll be interesting to see what switching my daily tool over from Memrise to LingQ does for my learning.
It may be possible that LingQ doesn’t quite do what I’m looking for a Memrise replacement to do, but since I was already using LingQ and building a vocabulary reference on the app, I imagine it’ll actually do more to consolidate my learning and offer a lot of positive outcomes.
FAQ
When did Memrise stop supporting custom courses in the app?
Memrise stopped supporting Community Courses in the Memrise App on March 31st 2024.
Where can I access my custom Memrise Courses?
Your custom Memrise courses are available here until the end of 2024.
When will Memrise get rid of custom courses entirely?
It is expected that the custom courses will be shut down at the end of 2024.
Can I still study my custom Memrise content on my mobile device?
Yes, you can access the Memrise community site through the browser on your mobile device. Just note that if the page refreshes or your leave the page before exiting the course, your progress will not be saved.
Can I still create or modify courses in Memrise?
Yes, the community site still supports course creation and changes.
Where can I learn more about these changes?
Memrise has shared more about this transition on their website.
