So this morning my buddy Dave texts me about some language learning app called Drops Nepal. Never heard of it, but Dave swears it’s genius for Nepali beginners. Figured hey, why not give it a spin? Grabbed my coffee and fired up the laptop.
The “Getting Started” Struggle
First things first – googled “Drops Nepal”. Website loaded slower than my grandma dialing AOL. Finally saw the signup button blinking at me like it owed me money. Typed my email, hit enter… crickets. Tried again three times before the stupid confirmation email finally landed in spam.
Here’s what went down after I verified:
- The app asked for 17 permissions before even showing me a single Nepali word
- Profile setup wanted my birthday, favorite color, and blood type – felt like applying for a mortgage
- Three different “START LEARNING” buttons popped up – all went to different places
Actually Using The Damn Thing
Smashed the least confusing button. Suddenly staring at floating vegetables. Potatoes said “alu”, tomatoes were “golbheda”. Swiped right like Tinder for veggies. The app went BING! every correct answer – my cat nearly jumped out the window.
Tried the matching game next. Nepali words on one side, pictures on the other. Dragged “simal” to what looked like a tree… got hit with a buzzing red X. Turns out “simal” means cotton tree specifically? My bad.
The Ugly Bits Nobody Tells You
Got cocky after ten minutes. Hit the “Speak This” challenge. Microphone icon glowed red. Yelled “PANIPURI” into my headset like a maniac. Progress bar died at 99%. Did it six times until I realized my mic was muted the whole damn time.
Free version cuts you off after five minutes. Paid option popped up so aggressively it covered half the screen. Almost threw my coffee cup at “ONLY $9.99/MONTH”.
Final Takeaway After Two Hours
Actually learned maybe 30 words? Alu, golbheda, simal, panipuri… that sorta sticks. But holy hell the app feels like it was built during an earthquake:
- Animations stutter like a 90s cartoon
- Some icons look like they were drawn in MS Paint
- The five-minute timer gives you anxiety sweats
Anyway, if you wanna scream Nepali veggies at your phone while getting nickel-and-dimed? Two thumbs up. Me? I’ll probably forget everything by tomorrow morning.