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 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. In 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 Meta Quest 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 doctor's, 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 Immersed targets speaking  and building vocabulary and structures to  

do different kinds of speaking tasks. You  practice giving commands, placing orders,  

asking questions, stating advantages, and  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 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 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. Realtime 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 and 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!

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