EWA: Learn Languages reviews
What users love and hate, from real reviews
A language-learning app built around movie clips, memes and simplified books — many genuinely enjoy the method, but almost every paying user hits a hidden cancellation flow, extra charges on top of "premium", and a content ceiling around A2.
What users love
The movie-clip-and-books method genuinely hooks people
For those who get to actually learn, the mix of real-show video clips, narrated simplified books and games clicks — the language comes in context, it's not boring, and many report faster progress than with other apps.
I really like how the course is built around authentic video clips.
The books are fantastic for training one's ear. I love it.
it's helpful that they use clips from shows that most people know, but with the Spanish dub. This helps not get an AI voice or text to speech reading at you, and instead you can hear how the language is actually supposed to sound.
What users hate
You can't cancel from inside the app — there's no button
There's no subscription management in the app itself: you're pushed to the website or to the third-party Paddle billing you also can't reach. People spend weeks emailing, get only bots back, and end up blocking their card.
No option within the EWA app to manage subscription. Only get automated/bot responses from EWA that they need to direct my request over to the outside billing service, Paddle
the app doesn't allow you to cancel the subscription !!!!
they deliberately do not put a "cancel subscription" button in the actual app and make you complete extra steps to cancel so you'll give up and just keep paying
They keep charging after you cancel and delete the account
A textbook dark pattern: you delete the account inside the app while billing quietly continues. People cancelled months ago and are still being charged, sometimes two or three times in a month.
I stopped subscribing to them a long time ago, but they still continue to charge me.
I deleted my account, but my subscription is still active and they continue to charge me.
This company allows a user to completely delete their account using the App while silently keeping their billing cycle active which is a textbook dark pattern designed to trap consumer funds.
Support runs you in circles and refuses refunds
Refund requests get template replies, stalling, or silence the moment you send screenshots. Almost no one gets money back — most have to dispute the charge through their bank.
They lie about giving you a refund. Customer support refuses to comply with my request. They just stall and stall and stall with irrelevant emails.
Customer service was rude, unhelpful, refused refund, and stopped replying after I sent screenshots and screen recordings.
Asked for refund in chat, chat gets sent as an email, you get an email that asks you to login (where?!?), sending you in circles. DISHONEST BUSINESS.
"Premium" is still limited — you pay, then they ask for more
After paying for a subscription you find out it's the basic tier, and the AI tutor and "unlimited" cost extra. The app bombards you with upgrade screens before you even open the first lesson.
I paid for the Ultimate Annual Access subscription, but the app only provides basic access and keeps asking for additional payments for features that are supposed to be included.
I paid $40 for 3 months only to be constantly bombarded with in app messages asking for more money. I haven't even been able to open the first lesson and I've been redirected to upgrade subscription screens 7 times.
I payed for subscription only to find out it's the limited version and you have to pay again to get the "pro" version which was not made clear by the app in the beginning TOTAL SCAM
Content stops at A2 — the promised B/C levels aren't there
The listing promises "Rookie to Advanced", but the actual courses (Spanish, Italian, German, French) end around A1–A2. No new lessons appear for months, and the answer is just "read the books".
EWA’s listing claims Spanish from “Rookie to Advanced,” but the Spanish course seems to stop around A2.
only covered A1 Italian and messaged support to see if there's any way to progress to A2 or B1 content several times and never responded.
German is only available to A1 level
The test rates your level, but the app starts you from zero anyway
A long placement test rates you intermediate or advanced, yet inside the app you're dropped into the most basic "me gusta" lessons you can't skip. Spending an hour testing out of levels doesn't help.
I took the "pre-assessment" on the website and got upper intermediate, which seemed reflective of my ability. When I got into the app, it started from beginner
when the app started, it took no obvious notice of my existing abilities and started me at the beginning
I spent over an hour testing out of levels, only to find out there are no intermediate levels right now!
An endless "take the test" loop blocks all progress
You press Continue, pass the test, get congratulated — and land back on the same screen. Ten times over; neither reinstalling nor support fixes it, and the app you paid for simply won't let you move on.
I passed this but it took me back to the same spot of CONTINUE. I have done the Test about 10 times now.
Got into a loop that made me keep repeating the same test, despite being congratulated for passing it.
I could not move to the next level even after completing the lessons, and the problem continued after contacting support.
Setup and sign-up die on a false "network error"
Plenty of users can't get past onboarding: "network error" / "server error" with working internet, across different networks and devices. Some delete the app without ever opening a single lesson.
After I signed up, the app keeps telling me there's no network connection, even though that's not true!
I have tried to sign up more than 5x and every time there is "server error." Different networks, different time of day, everything different but same result.
I've installed the app twice in the past few months, and both times I can't make it past the setup page due to a false network error.
Create an account after paying — and lose the subscription you just bought
The flow is broken: you pay, then tap "create account" — your email switches to a different one, premium vanishes, and the "14-day money-back guarantee" no longer applies.
4. found button to create an account 5. pressed the button 6. lost my subscription which I just bought Worst experience ever.
paid for annual premium but when register email it changed to another id and premium disappeared
I paid but the subscription doesn't appear on the app. paid for nothing
Broken translations and AI audio read other languages as English
Spanish words are pronounced by English rules, translations give the wrong meaning out of context, and the AI voice sounds like a twenty-year-old machine translator. You can't trust the learning material.
the reading audio pronunciation of words is broken, reading spanish words as english pronunciation, terrible, possibly vibe coded app
it gave "integers" as a translation for "entero", which means "whole". So you have to be careful and keep checking and rechecking everything
instead of the translation for "si", meaning "yes", it says in a terrible AI voice "sanitation enquires" instead of saying "si".
Energy limits push you to buy instead of letting you learn
Free and even on the basic plan you get about twenty minutes a day: energy runs out, a timer ticks, and when it ends you get a subscription screen instead of a lesson. Tests burn your energy for nothing.
They make you pay additionally to use it more than 5 minutes a dau. It's a scam.
when I opened the app, it showed another waiting timer and immediately pushed me to buy a subscription again. It feels like the app is designed to pressure users into paying
it kept asking me for energy and I was pressing yes each time and no test unlocked and it just took all my energy.
An onboarding wall of dozens of questions scares people off
Before you start there's a long sensory-overload questionnaire, and the price only shows up at the very end. People quit before the first lesson and suspect it's there to harvest personal data.
I couldn't get past the 5 million clicks of SUPER irrelevant questions set up in a sensory overload messaging format.
Ridiculous onboarding.. way too many unnecessary questions. You guys think people will not drop out after answering so many questions?
The app doesn't tell you that have to pay for it until you're already done their questionnaire.
Video and audio buffer, stutter and cut out
Books stop loading after chapter eight or ten, story audio breaks after five minutes, and clip sound is either muffled or too quiet even at the phone's max volume.
it's always buffering every time I read chapter 8,with any books.
Cannot listen to stories for more than five minutes. Then the sound starts to break and the app freezes completely.
most of your books are not loading starting from page 10 books are not working 😕