My Epic Video Review Of Grammar Hero: Pros And Cons

  • Donovan Nagel
    Written byDonovan Nagel
    Donovan NagelTeacher, translator, polyglot
    🎓 B.A., Theology, Australian College of Theology, NSW
    🎓 M.A., Applied Linguistics, University of New England, NSW

    Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator. Founder of The Mezzofanti Guild and Talk In Arabic.
  • Read time1 mins
  • Comments2
Grammar Hero would potentially be a perfect course style for literary and classical languages that aren’t spoken.
My Epic Video Review Of Grammar Hero: Pros And Cons

Grammar Hero
Grammar Hero
Pricing: $197
Positives
  • Unique concept
  • Focuses on grammar concepts that people tend to struggle with
  • Good resource for literary skills
Negatives
  • Too grammar heavy in my opinion
  • Expensive

Summary

Grammar Hero is basically a condensed version of the popular Short Stories books by Olly Richards, with simplified grammar explanations of the most problematic grammatical issues. It does a good job at explaining them but is still quite grammar heavy, despite claiming otherwise.

It would be a perfect resource for literary language learners.

Depth
DepthThis is 'content' richness. How comprehensive is Grammar Hero and does it take you far in terms of levels, or is it more suited to low level/tourist learners?
Uniqueness
UniquenessIs Grammar Hero innovative or is it just an imitation? Does it have a unique selling proposition (USP) that makes it stand out among competitors?
Quality
QualityOverall product quality indicator that covers everything from video/dialogue clarity, authenticity, explanations, and effectiveness.
Cost
CostIs Grammar Hero acceptably priced and how does its pricing compare to market competition?

No blog post today! 🙂

Today I have a video screencast instead where I review a series called Grammar Hero by Olly Richards (StoryLearning/I Will Teach You A Language).

I was particularly interested in looking at this series because I’ve often talked about grammar on this blog and the way most language education gets it so wrong. I have a mixed response to Olly’s approach as I outline in the video.

If you want to find out more about my approach to grammar, see here, here and here.

A few bullet points to summarize:

  • Great concept overall
  • Offers a condensed version of the Short Stories books with stories that focus on key target grammar
  • Still too much explicit grammar instruction despite insisting otherwise
  • Covers the topics that most learners struggle with
  • Stories and audio are excellent as learning material
  • Would potentially be a perfect course style for literary and classical languages that aren’t spoken (e.g. Koine Greek)

Find out more here.


Used Grammar Hero before?

Comment below.

Grammar Hero
Pricing: $197

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Donovan Nagel
Donovan Nagel - B. Th, MA AppLing
I'm an Applied Linguistics graduate, teacher and translator with a passion for language learning (especially Arabic).
Currently learning: Greek
Greek

2 COMMENTS

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Doven

Doven

It is basically the Assimil-approach: Read story, repeat story, do exercises. Assimil is cheaper and maybe less interactive, but you’ll find it online or in thrift stores.

vimipa

vimipa

I like the approach but it’s quite expensive and seems to be no way to try it out or even see it in action, so won’t be buying.

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