Jennifer's Review of Immerse - New VR Language Learning Platform

Hey there. Did you ever think about practicing your English this way? I recently took the time to become familiar with virtual reality learning on Immerse, and I'm excited to tell you more. Hi everyone. I'm Jennifer from English with Jennifer. You may already know that I have hundreds of video lessons here on YouTube. I aim to include both study and practice, but I admit studying through my videos is one way. If you want live conversation and feedback, you have to find another format. I do offer group classes on Patreon, but they're designed for advanced students B2 and higher. I also offer private lessons, but this format is best suited for upper-level students with specific needs because I customize the lessons based on the settings my students work and function in. My private students are in many different fields. Fashion, academia, medical research, real estate, just to name a few. We work on skills like business writing, academic writing, accent reduction, advanced grammar and vocabulary, and public speaking. Again, these students have specific needs, and I'm able to meet those needs in a one-on-one lesson. The majority of learners mostly want to gain fluency. They want to feel confident speaking English. So let's say you're A1 through B1. You're a beginner or intermediate student. Or maybe you're very confident reading and writing, but you need more conversation. You want to practice what you've learned and build your listening and speaking skills. You want conversation practice on a daily basis. Maybe you don't live in an English-speaking country, or maybe you do, but you don't know who to practice with. Maybe you're very busy, and it's hard to find opportunities for practice outside of your work and family schedule. This is where Immerse comes in. Immerse is a virtual world for language learning. They offer daily group classes. That's seven days a week. And community events that target speaking skills. There's plenty of opportunity for human interaction. But on top of that, Immerse offers asynchronous, AI-powered practice 24-7. What does that mean? AI means artificial intelligence. At any time of any day, you can enter practice scenes that take you into realistic settings. You get to use language that's appropriate for a doctor's office, a fast-food restaurant, and other common places. When you enter a scene, you meet AI avatars. There are male and female characters that you interact with. To guide you through the practice, you get a list of tasks. You need to interact with the avatar in order to complete all the tasks. These characters listen to you and respond appropriately. They're always friendly, patient, and helpful. The most fun is in class, where you interact with the teacher and other students. The maximum number of students is 12, but I was told the average class size is 6 to 8, and that's what I experienced. I joined my first class and found myself with five other advanced students. In my second class, I was one of four intermediate students, and yet another there were five of us. Immerse welcomes A1 through B1 learners. They let you sign up for a 14-day free trial. You can start with the desktop experience like I did, but quickly I learned that my classmates were better at moving around and interacting with the environment because they had headsets and controllers. They also seemed to be having more fun. That's when I decided to get a MetaQuest 2 headset. For those of you who care about your hair, I will tell you that wearing a headset messes up your hair, but the good news is that when you're in virtual reality, your avatar always looks good. Let me note that I am NOT a gamer. I had never used a headset before, except at the eye doctors when recently I took part of my eye exam in virtual reality. I can confirm that it's not rocket science. It's not that difficult to set up and use a VR headset. It's definitely worth learning this technology. My experience on Immerse was instantly upgraded. I admit I was a little nervous about using new technology, but it wasn't that difficult to set up. There was only one moment where I felt kind of stupid. I needed to charge the headset and I'm looking around and I could not find the port. I'm looking. I'm looking. I couldn't figure it out because when you receive a new headset, it's covered in a protective covering. It's white and thin and it looks so nice. I didn't realize it was a covering. Then I finally understood you had to peel it off, and then I found the charging port. Then I understood how to charge the headset. The creators of Immerse strongly believe that using a headset is not just a gimmick or a trendy way to learn English. Immerse means to put yourself in a situation, to be fully involved. So what does this platform give you? An immersive language experience. There's research that shows that physical movement and physical interaction with the environment can enhance learning, meaning it makes it better. It helps with engagement and retention, meaning it's interesting and it's easier to remember what you learn. The experience is highly visual. There's just so much to see and enjoy with your eyes. This creates a rich context for learning. I remember in one class a student asked what a tray was, and the teacher could simply point to a tray on the table because we were standing in a restaurant. Did you know that if you have a headset and controllers, you can experience virtual reality standing or sitting? I really enjoyed taking classes standing. I felt more engaged and it felt more real. By the way, everyone is at eye level because all the avatars are the same height. The curriculum on Immerse targets speaking and building vocabulary and structures to do different kinds of speaking tasks. You practice giving commands, placing orders, asking questions, stating advantages. In the last group class that I went to, we practiced making and accepting apologies in a work setting. Let me emphasize that Immerse is not just a virtual reality platform. It's a social virtual reality language platform. It's designed exclusively for learning languages, and the language learning takes place through interaction with others. There are actually three language levels on Immerse. When you start, you're invited to take a placement test. Beginner classes on Immerse are for those who studied the language before and are able to have basic conversations. They use a mixture of memorized phrases and simple sentences. Intermediate classes are for those who've been studying the language for a while. They just need to build their fluency. And advanced classes are for those who can have conversations. They're just looking for more practice, more opportunities. So beginner on Immerse means that you already understand some basic English. Advanced on Immerse is around B1. I wouldn't say it's higher than B2. Each day there is a new topic for each level. Beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Group classes at the different levels are held at different times of the day from early morning to late evening. Classes are 35 minutes long. Time flies. They're very fun and engaging. There's always a topic and a set of expressions to learn and practice. You also get a set of notes to keep after class. I love that after class you can hang out a little and chat with your classmates. I found that part fun and interesting. Everyone I met on Immerse is friendly and eager to practice. So I tried the 14-day free trial. I went to a few classes. I did some practice scenes, played some games. I met quite a number of people during the trial. I met people from Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Ukraine, Russia. The list goes on. It's really fun. Members have the option to connect on Discord. That's a place where you can ask questions and coordinate class times with other learners that you've met. Communication is good. You get plenty of notifications on Immerse. You get booking confirmation before class and then a congratulatory message after class, as well as the class notes. You're also invited to rate the teacher and leave feedback. I think that's important. Between classes, what can you do? There are practice scenes and language games, and these are available 24-7, meaning anytime, any day. The use of AI allows instant feedback. Your progress is tracked by the platform. At first, I wanted to become comfortable with the virtual world, and there are tutorials that help you get started if you don't know how to move around or pick up and manipulate objects. On my second day on Immerse, I went from private to public practice. I found out that it was easy to strike up conversation with other learners. Of course, they quickly discovered that I was a native speaker, and we had fun chatting. Maybe it's actually easier to talk through avatars, especially with new people. No one was shy. People approached me and wanted to talk. Did I feel comfortable on Immerse? As a woman, yes, I did. I felt very comfortable in the class and in all the practice areas. I probably met more men than women, but I felt very safe. Everyone was friendly, polite, respectful, and helpful. I really enjoyed my interaction with other learners on Immerse. I appreciate the safety features that are in place. You can report a member if there's any inappropriate behavior, but again, I didn't have to use this feature. The Commons is a place where you can casually interact with others and play language games. I met Michael from Peru in the Commons. We played a few games together. He helped me get better at picking up and using objects. Then we went to the cafe area in the Commons. Michael figured out how to use the beverage machine, and he served me a cold drink. We chatted about our countries, our travels, and other stuff. It was random. It was fun. It was real conversation. After I got my headset, I returned to the Commons, and this time I was the experienced veteran. I met a new student there, and I was able to get cold drinks for the both of us at the beverage machine, and we chatted for a little while. Here are the main benefits on Immerse. Teacher-led classes are held daily. The teachers are all Native American English speakers, and they hold either certification or a degree in the field. Practice is available 24-7. Real-time feedback is made possible through AI. The learning experience is social through the classes and beyond if you want it to be. You can sign up if your level is A1 through B1. Also, if you know someone who wants to learn English, they have zero English at the present. There's a Foundations program to get started. Would I personally use Immerse for language learning in the future? Yes, I believe I would. I'm actually thinking about learning Spanish this way as a beginner, a true beginner, but I can tell you as an advanced speaker of Russian, I would also consider this platform if they made Russian available. I love working with my tutor. I love the relationship we have, but would I welcome more speaking practice with others? Yes. In a friendly, engaging, supportive environment? Yes, I would welcome more speaking practice in Russian. Here's what you need to keep in mind. There's a 14 day free trial. You need to give a credit card, but you won't be charged until the trial is over. You'll save if you sign up for a longer period of time. And don't forget, I'm going to give you a coupon code. The minimum age on Immerse is 18. I understand that Immerse will be launching a juniors program for younger learners in the future. You can use the platform through your desktop, but you'll gain a lot more from the experience, and it will be more fun if you access Immerse through a VR headset. No, the headset is not free, and it's not cheap, but see it as an investment. It's a tool to enhance your learning. The curriculum on Immerse targets speaking practice. If your goal is gaining confidence and fluency in conversation, this platform will help. You'll need to combine your studies on Immerse with other resources if you want to focus on reading, writing, grammar, and pronunciation skills. Thank you for giving me the chance to tell you about this new learning platform. It's exciting to see how education is developing along with technology. Companies like Immerse are leading the way. Humans aren't being replaced by technology. Our instruction is being supported, and learning is expanding. That's all for now. Please like and share this video with others learning English. As always, thanks for watching and happy studies! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Patreon. And don't forget to subscribe here on YouTube. Turn on those notifications.