Jiveworld — Language Learning

Jiveworld, SPC

About this app

Jiveworld fills a crucial gap for intermediate-level and above language learners who've hit the "sound barrier" — where the language you've learned in the classroom doesn't resemble what you actually hear at street level.

Jiveworld Español uses engaging stories from Radio Ambulante, an award winning podcast with interviewees from across Latin America and Spanish-speaking communities beyond.

Jiveworld English features stories from the biggest names in radio and podcasting in the United States, including This American Life, Radiolab, The Truth, and The Moth.

The stories are broken into chapters and paired with the patented Jiveworld player which provides help and guidance when you need it, and gets out of the way when you don't.

Only have a few minutes a day? Try Soundbites. These mini lessons pose a question or challenge based on an audio excerpt from a full story. When you're done listening, tap reveal to check the answer and show deeper insights into the challenge. Soundbites go far beyond the dictionary, exploring the language and culture across eight dimensions: Idioms & Sayings, Speech & Accents, Useful Patterns, Vernacular & Slang, Strategies, Grammar, Vocabulary, and History & Culture.

Jiveworld offers you help as you listen, with speed controls, vocabulary, and notes about language and the cultural context. But the real magic lies in some unique features:

• Story Scaffolding — stories organized into chapters and passages, with succinct guides that help you follow the plot

• X-Ray Script — follow the script while you listen, but only show the most difficult words

• Smart Pause — ensures you always listen in complete sentences, without stop-start in unnatural places

• Study Flow — after you complete a chapter in Study mode, re-listen in Natural Listen mode to reinforce the authentic sounds of the language

• Vocabulary Review — master the new words and phrases you encounter with a unique ears-first story-based review workflow

• Deep Insights — many stories feature Soundbite challenges, focusing on an aspect of language or culture, presented before the chapter you're about to study

• Idiom to Idiom — wherever you see a translation, you'll see the most natural expression in both languages, showing you how your target language really works.

By studying regularly with Jiveworld, you'll be able to engage in real conversations with any native speaker.

Ratings and reviews

Love it! It's fun to learn a language listening to interesting material, in this case stories from NPR's Radio Ambulante. The guided study system works well for me. Also, it contains real-life spoken Spanish with accents from all over Latin America. This can make it challenging - some accents are definitely easier to understand than others! - but it's great practice. The support is terrific, they have responded personally to my questions and given me suggestions on what to study.

I just started but it seems great so far. I like how there are different levels of assistance. For example, seeing every word in the transcript, seeing some words, or no words and just listening. I like how easy it is to get the vocab definitions of words that may not be familiar in the context that they are being used. There have been a couple of words that were not defined that I had to look up outside the app. Overall, I would reccomend it to an intermediate Spanish learner.

Fantastic app...best one I have found for listening comprehension. I can converse very comfortably with people from many different countries in Spanish but when people speak very rapidly or with a strong accent, I don't always catch every single thing that they say, and I want to understand completely. This app is a huge help and it has the best combination of useful tools for translation, speed control, and vocab that I have found. Worth every penny for the subscription.

What’s new

• Custom feed for listening to your Jiveworld stories in your favorite podcast apps
• Improved design and layout
• Bug fixes