Pronunciator can be an effective resource for motivated learners who are confident in their ability to self-guide through the learning material. However, even the most driven student needs some help and guidance when it comes to learning a new language. Transparent Language balances flexibility in learning with professionally-created courses and streamlined activities that give just enough guidance and structure to make sure words and phrases are cemented into a learner's memory.

Easily digestible content sets are key for learners to focus on the materials at hand. Each lesson in Transparent Language Online typically presents 12 to 15 vocabulary items for the learner to practice listening, speaking, reading, and writing. These more manageable lessons can be studied in one session and remembered more easily later on.

Content is not as easily digestible in Pronunciator. The "Absolutely Essential Expressions" unit, for example, contains over 50 words and phrases. If the user were to learn all of the words and phrases in this unit at one time, then go on to practice pronunciation and writing, it could require up to 4 hours of consecutive learning. Learning too much vocabulary in one sitting can also overwhelm and distract learners from focusing on the key skills in the activities.

Though Transparent Language Online does have main courses for many of its languages, each language also contains a "Quick Start" collection of 10 lessons – each teaching 10 useful words and phrases. Typically, these lessons take about 20 to 25 minutes to complete, allowing each lesson to be completed in a single, manageable session. (Other lessons containing contextual learning activities and dialogs take a little longer to complete.) The full Quick Start series contains twice as much material to be done in the same 4 hours of learning time as Pronunciator's "Absolutely Essential Phrases".

The content in Transparent Language Online is also verified by native speakers to make sure that the images, words, and phrases are authentic—something that a native speaker would say. In contrast, Pronunciator does not appear to have the same level of cultural sensitivity. For example, various lessons in the English (American) for Arabic speakers main course teach vocabulary and phrases pertaining to bars, alcohol, and homosexuality – all of which would not be discussed in Islamic cultures.

Learning a language is challenging, but the technology used to teach it should not be. With any language-learning program, it is important for the learning activities to be optimized to provide the best possible chance at remembering the content. Activities should be clear and concise, with defined learning goals and overall ease of use. Both Transparent Language Online and Pronunciator have learning activities that practice all four language skills, but create very different experiences for the user.

To start, Pronunciator does not include help overlays to guide a user through the activity at hand – a key factor in getting a new learner started using a program. Once a user does begin an activity, they will notice that they are free to click around, but without a defined goal in mind.

For example, in the "Flashcards" activity, the learner will see asterisk placeholders for the word or phrase they are trying to remember, but the characters in the word or phrase may or may not match up to the number of placeholder spaces, creating a seemingly unclear outcome. In addition, users appear to be able to click on the placeholder spaces, but nothing will happen, causing frustration. In contrast, activities in Transparent Language Online that provide placeholder spaces provide an accurate "snapshot" of how many characters are in the phrase, reducing ambiguity.

The pronunciation practice activities in both programs also have vast differences. In Pronunciator, users must continue to repeat the word or phrase until they score above a 79%. After numerous attempts that score below a 79%, the learner will ultimately be allowed to move on to the next word or phrase. However, this can prove to be infuriating for the learner, especially when prompted with negative feedback from the "coach", such as "let's just say that one never happened." Transparent Language Online's EveryVoice™ technology provides feedback compared to the native speaker audio, including specific areas for improvement, but learners can choose whether or not to continue on or try again.

The activities in Transparent Language Online have an activity flow; a sequence of activities that are optimized for remembering vocabulary. All activities in Transparent Language Online also include help overlays at the start of each activity to help the user understand the overall goal of the activity, allowing for reduced frustration.