Best Apps For Learning A New Language

Language learning is no longer confined to the classroom. The best language-learning apps can help you build a vocabulary in your target language, develop proper grammar and eventually become fluent through lessons that are easy to digest and retain. They are ideal for busy people on the go who don’t have time to attend classes or sit down with a textbook.

Best Apps For Learning A New Language

Americans have a reputation for being culturally insular, but based on 2018 data from the US Census Bureau, over 67 million people in the United States speak a language other than English at home. If that inspires you to brush up on a new language for yourself, the good news is that it has never been easier. Gone are the days when you had to go to school to try to master French, Spanish or Russian; now you can use an app and have your pick from among dozens of languages.

Hand holding smart phone with learn german concept on screen
Learning a new language is now as easy as downloading an app onto your phone. GETTY
The best language learning apps accommodate your personal learning style; some people are readers, while others prefer audio. Some folks enjoy games and drills. And for some people, speaking a language is more important than reading it. No matter what resonates with you, there’s an app to suit your needs. Most of these language apps are subscription based, so you only pay as long as you want to learn—or you can restart a subscription as needed to brush up before a trip abroad. (And don’t necessarily subscribe to any of these apps at full price. Language learning apps run deals on a regular basis, so you can usually find a discount, or wait and one will pop up. I’ve highlighted a few active deals below.)

We’ve rounded up the 10 best apps for learning a language. Read on for our recommendations to help you become fluent in your second or even third tongue.

Best Language Learning App Overall: Babbel
Best App for Learning a Language From Real Native Speakers: Memrise
Best Free Language Lessons: Duolingo
Best App Learning Accurate Pronunciation: Mondly
Best Language Learning App for Mastering Real-Life Conversations: Speakly
Best Language App for Learning on the Go: Pimsleur
Best Language Learning App for Comparing Side-By-Side with Your Native Language: Beelinguapp
Best Language App for Learning by Sound: Rosetta Stone
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Best Language Learning App Overall
Babbel
Babbel
BABBEL
Babbel
$24
BUY FROM BABBEL
Price is for a 3-month subscription

We’re living in a golden age for language learning with so many online courses and mobile apps to choose from, but Babbel is the all-around best choice for many people. It breaks lessons into short, easily digestible chunks with interactive, quiz-like elements that keep you on your toes. There’s a modest selection of languages to choose from—13 in all—and you can get started for free if you don’t want to pay for a subscription (which ranges from $8 per month if you pay month-to-month to as little as $3 per month for an annual subscription).

Rather than offering cookie-cutter lessons that teach the same vocabulary and phrases regardless of language, Babbel customizes each set of lessons for the specifics of the language, country and culture. And in addition to the standard lessons you can take in a browser or in a mobile app, a paid subscription gives you access to live classes taught by real instructors as well.

Best Language App for Learning From Real Native Speakers
Memrise
Best language apps: Memrise
GOOGLE PLAY
Memrise
$9
PER MONTH
SHOP NOW FROM MEMRISE
To help you master real-world scenarios, Memrise doesn’t limit you to flashcards, “click to hear” phrases and quizzes. Instead, Memrise lessons immerse you in videos that feature real-world situations with natives speakers using its “Learn with Locals” feature. This helps you understand words, phrases and sentences spoken by people with real accents, not speakers with flat or neutral emphasis. In addition, you’re evaluated on your own speaking skills with the Pronunciation Mode.

There are 23 languages to choose from with a free tier or a premium paid plan that’s $9 per month (or $7.50 per month for the annual plan). You can use Memrise online or using your phone’s mobile app.

Best Free Language Learning App
Duolingo
Duolingo
DUOLINGO
Duolingo
BUY FROM DUOLINGO
DuoLingo is free

If your language needs go beyond the core set supported by most language app, you should investigate Duolingo. With 37 choices, the app includes some truly unusual options. If Polish isn’t exciting enough, try your hand at Navajo, Esperanto, or even Klingon (HIja’, teH.), and you can enroll in as many languages at once as you like. Within each languages there are lessons (which you can skip if you already know the material) and there’s a built-in game mechanic that encourages you go return to older content for practice and reinforcement.

But the wealth of content isn’t even Duolingo’s best feature; it’s also completely free, which is surprising given the volume of language and overall polish to the lessons. To remain free, the website and mobile apps are ad supported, though you can opt to pay $7 per month to remove the ads.

Best Language App for Learning Accurate Pronunciation
Mondly
Mondly
MONDLY
Mondly
$40
$239
SAVE $199 (83%)
BUY FROM STACKSOCIAL
Price is for a lifetime subscription (1 language)

Mondly takes an innovative approach to language learning. Right from the start, the app’s lessons focus on phrases rather than individual words, which gives you practical tools for having conversations quickly. And if correct pronunciation is important, you’ll appreciate two aspects of the app: You get to hear native speakers, and you get to practice having real conversations with AI chatbots which use speech recognition to assess and coach your speech.

If English isn’t your first language, Mondly is particularly handy. Most language apps teach languages from English and possibly a small handful of other language options. But Mondly allows you to learn any of the languages from any of the other 33 languages in the app catalog. That can be pretty empowering.

You’ll need to sign up for Mondly’s subscription service to get more than a few free lessons, though. Pricing is $10 per month or a year for $48, however if you opt to purchase via StackSocial, there are some excellent deals you can snag now through February 23: A lifetime subscription to one language for $39.99 (usually $239); a lifetime subscription to three languages for $59.99 (normally $719); a lifetime subscription to five languages for $69.99 (normally $1,199); and a lifetime subscription to all languages offered by Mondly for $99.99 (normally $2,199).

Best free language apps

1
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Duolingo
Duolingo Android app
What We Like
User account not required.

Supports lots of languages.

Many ways to learn.

Lots of free lessons.

What We Don’t Like
Lesson paths are sometimes hard to understand.

Our Review of Duolingo
It’s really easy to get started learning a new language with Duolingo. Just open the app and then choose what language you’d like to learn to immediately begin the course. You don’t even have to create an account to start, but if you do, you can save and track your progress.

This app begins by using text, pictures, and audio to help you learn a different language. The idea is to associate the sound of the translation with the visuals of the text and pictures, and then have you manually translate the audio back into your preferred language to help reinforce the new words.

Every section you complete moves you forward to more difficult tasks, to build on your vocabulary and sentence structure. You have the option of testing out of several sections at once if you’re familiar with the language, and Duolingo will adapt the questions based on how well you do.

Languages You Can Learn: Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, English, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Portuguese, Hindi, Turkish, Dutch, Latin, Swedish, Greek, Irish, Polish, Norwegian, Hebrew, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, High Valyrian, Danish, Indonesian, Romanian, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Czech, Swahili, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Klingon, Navajo, Esperanto, Finnish

Duolingo works online through the website, as well as via the app for Android, iPhone, iPad, and Windows 11/10.

Download For:

iOS

Android

Windows
02
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Google Translate
Google Translate Android app
What We Like
Helpful translation methods.

Great for quick translations.

Works with lots of languages.

Also run on the web.

Updates frequently.

What We Don’t Like
No step-by-step lessons.

How to Use Google Translate
Most of these apps teach you a language through exercises and progressive steps, while Google’s simply tells you how to write and speak anything you run through it.

You can use it to translate text, handwriting, and your voice. This means you can enter text manually, draw the text, or speak it to convert it into the target language. You can even save your favorite translations to refer to them quickly whenever you like.

Google Translate may be different, but it’s certainly a great tool if you’re stuck on a specific word or phrase, or if you prefer to target your learning to particular phrases and sentences only. It can especially prove to be beneficial if you’re speaking with someone that doesn’t know your language

It can also translate even when you don’t have an internet connection—just make sure you download the language pack before you go offline.

Another feature that makes this app a must-have if you’re traveling is instant translations. Available for only some languages, it’s a type of augmented reality that uses the camera on your phone to translate, in real time, any text you point your camera at, including foreign text displayed in a menu, written on a sign, etc.

Not all translations can be spoken back to you, but all translations can be displayed as text.

Languages You Can Learn: Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Greek, Bulgarian, Swahili, Swedish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Korean, Czech, English, Persian, Latin, Bosnian, and dozens more

Google Translate runs online and from iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Download For:

iOS

Android
03
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Memrise
Memrise Android app
What We Like
Unique teaching methods.

Learn several languages.

Upgrade options.

What We Don’t Like
Must make a user account.

Unfriendly website design.

Our Review of Memrise
Memrise is another free language learning app. It’s not as smooth as Duolingo, but it is easy to work with, supports offline courses, and lets you learn a massive number of languages. You can start off simple or skip all the way through to more advanced lessons.

Something unique about Memrise is how it teaches you new words and phrases. Words are put into sentences with similar sounding words from your preferred language to help build the connection for remembering them. You’ll also sometimes see multiple images that you can scroll through that overlay the foreign text with a recognizable image for added association.

Another method it uses is to teach a language is by mixing up the translations. This way you learn a few new words at once, and then you keep learning them over and over again in a different order to ensure you know them before moving you through to the next round.

Languages You Can Learn: English, French, Spanish (Spain and Mexico), German, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Japanese (no script), Turkish, Chinese (Simplified), Dutch, Italian, Swedish, Portuguese (Portugal and Brazil), Russian, Norwegian, Polish, Danish, Icelandic, Mongolian, Slovenian, Yoruba

You can use Memrise from the Android, iPhone, or iPad app, as well as online through a web browser.

Download For:

iOS

Android
04
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busuu
busuu android app
What We Like
Great for all experience levels.

Socialize with other learners.

Provide feedback to other users.

What We Don’t Like
Small language selection.

Lots of features are not free.

User account necessary.

busuu provides an app that’s easy to use and is flexible in how you work with the courses. Just choose a supported language you’d like to learn, log in, and then decide where in the course you’d like to start—Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate, Upper Intermediate, or Travel.

The best feature of busuu is that the words and phrases you’ll learn are very helpful for beginners who may already be around foreign speakers and need to learn words in context quickly.

The app teaches you vocabulary words and phrases, both isolated and in sentences, and then quizzes you as you move forward through the levels to test your knowledge.

Some quizzes and other features may require a premium account, but there are many, many words and quizzes that are absolutely free.

Languages You Can Learn: German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, English, Italian, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Polish

The busuu language learning service is available from the web, iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

Download For:

iOS

Android
05
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AccellaStudy Essential Apps
AccellaStudy Korean app
What We Like
Language-specific apps.

Several learning modes.

Includes a driving feature.

What We Don’t Like
Infrequent app updates.

Fewer languages than similar apps.

No Android apps.

AccellaStudy has a separate mobile app for each language you’d like to learn. Each app is extremely simple to use, supports offline use, and varies only in the words they give you—all the features are the same.

Different methods of learning are included in these apps, such as flash cards, audio quizzes, spaced repetition, and others. A hands-free mode is perfect if you’re driving so you can learn without ever looking at your device.

These apps let you build your own study sets so you decide which words you focus on. This is great if you’re having trouble learning a handful of words—just put them in the same study set and learn them separately from all the rest of the words.

Languages You Can Learn: Spanish, French, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish

iPhone and iPad users can install these apps.

Conclusion

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