Spanish grammar is often difficult to master, but the rewards are worth it. You can make friends around the world (and maybe even find your own personal Dirty Dancing romance). The best Spanish apps help you learn and practice with vocabulary, games and lessons, or even connect you with native speakers from all over the world. In no time you’ll have mastered greetings, asking for directions and expressing yourself in any situation. Who knows? Maybe your new second language will even get you that promotion at work!
Table of Contents
Best Apps For Learning Conversational Spanish
- Duolingo
best apps for learning spanishDuolingo Website | iOS | Android
Price: Free ($ for Duolingo Plus)
Description
Duolingo Spanish is split up into units that have a certain theme (e.g. education, work, medicine), and it’s designed so that each unit goes up in difficulty.
Units are generally divided into two types: tenses and others (e.g. nouns, adjectives, adverbs, question words, pronouns, etc.).
It’s not grammar intensive. Apart from about 10 of the most commonly used tenses, you won’t see any grammar lessons throughout the app.
Inside each unit, there are six types of exercises that teach you new words and build on what you already know:
Voice recording, where you read a Spanish sentence out loud after hearing a native recording
English to Spanish translation of a phrase
Spanish to English translation of a phrase
Matching an image to a word
Rearranging words to form a sentence
Multiple-choice questions
Duolingo was designed to be quick to use, so it has a very focused approach to distill lessons down to the bare essentials. So if you can commit about 20 minutes every day to go through three to four lessons, you’ll be able to finish all the lessons in about three to four months’ time (taking into account word loss over time).
Duolingo also features stories that allow you to practice your Spanish comprehension. Your points from the Duolingo story feature go towards your XP!
Pros
Structured to teach you the most important vocabulary of the language you choose
You can set goals to measure progress
Lessons are short enough to be finished in five minutes
Learn the 1,500 most important Spanish words
Cons
It can get very repetitive over time
Some of the sample sentences are weird
Duolingo’s owl can be a bit stressful with its reminders
How Much Do You Get?
Everything on Duolingo is and (according to its creators) will always be free, so you can just download the app and start learning!
If you can afford a small monthly charge for Duolingo Plus, you’ll get the same content and features, but now free of ads (and with many other perks as well).
- FluentU
FluentU Website | iOS | Android
Price: $$ (free trial available)
Description
FluentU is a virtual immersion program that bases its Spanish lessons on authentic videos about a variety of topics, like movie clips and inspirational talks.
FluentU makes it easier to jump from theoretical textbook learning to actually seeing the language live. Every video is equipped with subtitles that you can interact with—hover your mouse over a word to see its in-context definition, click on it for more information, text and video examples and the option to add it as a flashcard to one of your custom decks.
Personalized quizzes, multimedia transcripts, key word lists and other learning tools make it possible to consume natural Spanish regardless of level. Plus, choosing content that personally interests you from the video library can make the learning process more enjoyable and engaging.
FluentU is recommended for people who are audio-visual learners and want to learn more about Spanish or Latin American culture.
Pros
Hundreds of videos mainly made by and for native Spanish speakers
Video and flashcard contextual dictionary
Different regional Spanish accents are covered
Cons
Monthly subscription is pricy
How Much Do You Get?
The free trial gives you unlimited access to all the premium features.
- Rosetta Stone
best apps for learning spanishRosetta Stone Website | iOS | Android
Price: Free (for a demo account) $
Description
Rosetta Stone is designed very differently than most language apps that are on the market today. Instead of learning Spanish through English, it’s designed for us to learn Spanish from scratch, like a native speaker would.
It’s that immersive of an experience!
On top of its learning component, it also has a platform where you can schedule lessons with a live tutor for every other lesson. So if you enjoy practicing Spanish by talking to native speakers, this might be a great bonus feature.
Speech recognition within the platform has also been praised due to it being specifically designed to recognize the pronunciation of non-native speakers.
Overall, this is a pretty intensive method, but if you’re a language enthusiast (and a purist at that), then this might just be what you’re looking for. See more information on the official site here!
Pros
Complete Spanish immersion from the get-go
Outstanding speech-recognition system
It teaches grammar in a very non-demanding way
Cons
It can get repetitive for advanced students
The advanced material isn’t very advanced
How Much Do You Get?
The free demo account only lasts for three days and will give you just a small free bite of all you can get with the monthly, yearly and lifetime subscriptions.
If you can afford it, I recommend you buy the lifelong subscription, since it’ll give you unlimited access to all the materials for all the languages on the platform.
- MindSnacksMindSnacks-Spanish
iOS
Price: $ (free trial available up to 4 levels)
Description
Among these apps, MindSnacks is probably an app that’s most suitable for Spanish learners studying Spanish in school.
MindSnacks treats learning Spanish as a game rather than being taught entire phrases and grammar points.
When you first enter the app, you’re taken to the homepage with nine games, and each is based on content that’s centered on a certain theme, like food, home or school.
There are 50 units in the app, and they include a total of over 1,000 Spanish words and phrases.
One thing I’ll comment about MindSnacks is that the graphics are tailored for young children. If you don’t mind this, then it can still be a fun way to learn Spanish, and an effective one too.
Pros
It includes some basic grammar points that will come in handy (like Spanish conjugation)
Words and phrases include native audio to help students improve their pronunciation
Cons
There’s no content for upper-intermediate and advanced students
The Castilian Spanish accent isn’t present in the lessons
How Much Do You Get?
The free trial gives you some levels to start learning, and then you need to buy the rest of the content. However, the app hasn’t been updated since 2015, so if you decide to buy the full version, you won’t get any new material once you’re done.
- Memrisebest apps for learning spanish
Memrise Website | iOS | Android
Price: Free ($$ for pro version)
Description
Memrise is a very unique language learning app. Unlike other apps, its sole purpose is to help you memorize Spanish words (hence the name).
There are different courses in the app and many lessons in each. For example, for Spanish, there’s “Learn Basic Mexican Spanish,” “Advanced Spanish,” “Spanish Vocab by frequency” (4,650 words), “250 most commonly used Spanish words” and tons more.
One lesson in each course typically helps you learn anywhere from 10-50 words, and each word includes audio, its English translation and, very often, a video of a native person saying the word or phrase.
You learn the words by repeating and using them in different kinds of exercises like translation, choosing the right answer or flashcards.
Pros
You can choose to learn either Mexican or Castilian Spanish
Apart from the courses created by Memrise, there’s a ton of other free courses created by users
Cons
Some of the courses created by users contain mistakes, so make sure to read the comments while using them
How Much Do You Get?
Memrise is one of my favorite apps to learn languages. You get all the language candy you want for free, and it’s practically impossible to do it all and run out of content because users are continuously adding new courses.
The pro version includes a couple of extras such as learning statistics, exercises for the words you specifically struggle with and the ability to download courses from the app to work on them offline, but it doesn’t include new courses or additional content.
- FluenciaFluencia
Fluencia Website
iOS / Android: No app, but the site is mobile-friendly
Price: $$ (you get 15 lessons for free)
Description
Fluencia is an online-based platform that teaches Spanish through a highly visual method.
There are over 600 lessons in Fluencia’s premium version, and they cover conversation, vocabulary, grammar, culture and communication. After going through all the lessons, it reckons that you’ll be on par with someone who studied Spanish in college for a year.
The platform itself is very intuitive and easy to use. There are also lots of pictures and visual aids cleverly weaved into each lesson.
Fluencia actually customizes its lessons. For instance, after every unit you complete, there’s a review session. That review session is based only on words you’re weaker at, so it’s helpful for remembering tricky words in Spanish.
Pros
Over 600 lessons
Each unit tells you exactly what you’re going to learn
Great user experience for both iOS and Android devices
Cons
There’s very little free content available
It’s not a real app but an online platform
How Much Do You Get?
The free account only gives you access to a few lessons, but they’re enough to give you a good idea of how the Fluencia method works.
If you decide to unlock full access, you’ll get all lessons plus speech recognition, personalized reviews and e-mail reminders to help you stay on track.
- MosaLinguaMosalingua
MosaLingua Website | iOS | Android
Price: $ (there’s a 15-day free trial)
Description
MosaLingua is a platform that’s designed to teach Spanish using several efficient methodologies, such as SRS (which helps calculate review dates based on how difficult you find words as you learn them), focusing on 20% of the most important vocabulary and ingraining words into long term memory.
I found the fact that it focuses on 3,000 most common words and phrases to be attractive—after all, the golden ratio really holds in many situations. You really only need about 20% of the language to get through 80% of daily situations.
As with most language learning apps, there are distinct sub-categories of words and phrases, so it’s very well organized. Also, you’ll find that for all Spanish words and phrases, there are native speaker recordings, so you won’t go astray in pronunciation.
Pros
The lessons are adapted to your level and skills
The flashcard system is completely customizable
You get access to a huge multimedia library
Cons
The quality of some of the audio recordings is low
Each language offered has its own app on Android
How Much Do You Get?
The trial version gives you full access to all premium content. This will allow you to see if the MosaLingua teaching method is for you before you decide to become a full member.
All in all, if you decide to go premium, you’ll be getting hundreds of hours of content (including grammar), a superb flashcard system and a massive multimedia library you can use any time you want.
- Busuubest apps for learning spanish
Busuu Website | iOS | Android
Price: Free ($ for premium)
Description
Busuu is an app that has a big speaking component, so be prepared for a lot of oral practice.
In a nutshell, Busuu is an online Spanish learning platform and it divides up levels according to the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference for Languages).
Inside each lesson, it takes you through the lesson material in a well-paced sequence:
You start off with learning some key vocabulary
This prepares you for the lesson dialog
After the lesson dialog, you practice writing on the topic for other members to see (and hopefully edit)
Then you arrive at the speaking practice session with native speakers in the community
Next, you record the phrases indicated on the screen
Finally, there’s a lesson review
In other words, you’ll be covered in all four areas of language learning (reading, writing, speaking, listening)—but I feel like this is a platform best used to learn spoken Spanish.
One really cool feature is that you can do a mock conversation.
At the end of a lesson, you’ll be taken to a dialog with two people. One person’s part is already recorded, and then you have to record your part. At the end of it, the app combines all the parts together and plays the conversation as a whole, which I think is pretty neat.
Pros
It has a strong community of very active users
It includes native Spanish audio recordings
All major language skills are covered
Cons
Some of the speakers aren’t native
The free version of the app isn’t personalizable and doesn’t include much grammar
How Much Do You Get?
With the free version, you get a Spanish course that will help you reach the advanced level. However, this free option doesn’t include many interesting features such as personalizing your lesson plan, in-depth grammar lessons or the possibility to use the app offline.
There are two different premium options: Premium and Premium Plus.
The Premium Plus version includes everything Busuu has to offer in the 12 languages available in the app, while the Premium version only gives you access to one language.
The price difference is literally around a dollar, so if you decide to go premium, opt for the Premium Plus version.
- LingualiaLingualia
Lingualia Website | iOS | Android
Price: Five free minutes a day ($$ for premium)
Description
Similar to Busuu, Lingualia is a complete platform that takes you through Spanish lessons in a well-designed sequence based on your level.
Lingualia offers units that range from the A1-B2 levels of the CEFR, and there are about 50 units per level, so there’s quite some material to comb through.
Each unit is based around a theme, very much like how we learn Spanish as a foreign language in school.
Each lesson has a few components to it: the dialog, vocabulary concepts, grammar points, similar words and checkpoint exercises.
The dialog is where it all begins, really. You’ll hear the audios spoken out loud, which are all recorded by native speakers.
After seeing the dialog, you’ll go through the vocabulary. This is where new words and some colloquial phrases are introduced as key words to learn for the lesson.
Of course, as with a traditionally presented course, the lesson doesn’t end without a bit of grammar.
The grammar topics are highly relevant to the level you’re at, which can be concepts like indirect pronouns and the preterite tense for beginner levels, and the imperfect preterite tense for intermediate levels.
Before the review of the lesson, there’s also an interesting section where two similar words are presented, and examples are given to show you how to distinguish between them.
Outside the lesson, there are also several other features: the challenge section, where you can “fight” either with the computer or another user in a quiz-like test and an activities section, where you can practice your Spanish writing.
Pros
The material included in the lessons will help you practice all major language skills
The native audio of the dialogs will really help you improve your pronunciation
When you learn the new vocabulary of a lesson, you get synonyms and sample sentences for every word
Cons
There’s no content for C1 and C2 students
Only Castilian Spanish is included
How Much Do You Get?
It’s a pity that such an amazing app comes with time restrictions for non-premium users, because Lingualia is so engaging and has been so well created that you’ll want to use it for hours.
If you use the free account and feel you want more, you can always go premium and get not only unlimited learning time, but also other cool features such as downloadable PDF files of the lessons, more dialogs and sample audio, a review tool and even a diploma when you finish all the lessons!
- SpeakEasySpeakEasy
iOS
Price: $
Description
SpeakEasy is essentially a travel-friendly phrasebook to take with you.
Most phrasebooks you’ve bought probably had something like “ke as dee-cho” as a pronunciation aid for “¿Qué has dicho?”. But SpeakEasy actually offers native recordings for most phrases and words, so you’ll be able to copy these native recordings easily.
Another cool feature it has is the slow playback feature—if you hear a phrase and it’s too fast, you can play it back at a slower speed to listen to it more carefully.
Last but not least, SpeakEasy includes flashcards. So if you want to really learn Spanish, and not just for emergency travel use, it’s a great way to review learned phrases and words.
Pros
It includes both the Latin American and Castillian accents, as well as native audio recordings
All of the content of the app can be used offline
Cons
It has been specifically created for English speakers, so there are no other languages supported
The app just teaches you how to say certain phrases in specific situations, but it doesn’t teach you grammar nor does it include any other learning content
How Much Do You Get?
This super useful phrasebook is all you need if you’re planning a trip to any Spanish-speaking country. There’s no free trial or free content. Instead, you buy the app and get all 900 phrases together with their native pronunciation in both Latin American and Castilian Spanish.
Best apps to learn spanish free
- Duolingo – Learn Languages for Free
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
Duolingo is one of the best free Spanish learning app available on the App Store and Google Play Store. Duolingo app allows you to learn Spanish in just 5 minutes a day with their game-like lessons making it one of the best apps to learn Spanish. Duolingo is a popular language-learning app for beginners who wants to learn Spanish. The Spanish course is the most popular on Duolingo and it’s all formatted to play like a game so that you can enjoy yourself while you learn. Beginners can earn points for correct answers, race against the clock, and level up.
Learning Spanish with Duolingo is fun and addictive. Before you start, you identify your learning goals. For instance, you set how many minutes per day you plan to dedicate to learning Spanish. In Duolingo, you follow a prescribed, linear learning path. You can jump off that path a bit within each lesson unit to do the exercises you want to complete, but you can’t move on to harder levels without completing beginner courses. Its interactive exercises provide instant feedback to help you improve your Spanish skills on the spot. Duolingo manages to teach Spanish in a simply way by honing in on the 1500 most important words that are most commonly used in daily situations. You can download it for free from the App Store and Google Play.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Duolingo
LingQ – Language Learning
- LingQ – Language Learning
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
LingQ is one of the best way to learn Spanish online and on mobile that progressively guides the user through language study in real-world, immersive contexts. The app allows you to learn new Spanish vocabulary in context or review using their SRS (Spaced Repetition System). LingQ learn Spanish app have over 1000’s of hours of Spanish Audio Lessons with matching transcripts. It also comes with an offline mode so you can keep practicing even with no Internet connection.
This learn Spanish app centres on purposefully-designed and authentic texts and podcasts, which the users can read and/or listen to at their own pace and according to their own ability level making it one of the best apps to learn Spanish. Considering the user’s ability level, key words are made to stand out and referenced to an in-app lexicon sourced from online dictionaries. Spanish learners will be able to import their own content and convert it instantly into interactive Spanish lessons.
Other fun ways to learn Spanish for beginners is LingQ’s Spanish Mini stories that you can read and listen to. These stories have been recorded by native-Spanish speakers and each story comes with translations too. By completing these stories, you’ll start to recognize grammar patterns and learn the most common Spanish vocabulary.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download LingQ
IXL
Learn Spanish with MosaLingua
- Learn Spanish with MosaLingua
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
MosaLingua is a fantastic learn Spanish app that is designed to teach Spanish using several efficient methodologies. You will learn the vocabulary and phrases in bite-sized chunks in flashcard form. Then, the app reminds you of what you have learnt and asks you to review the flashcards again in a format that tests your knowledge. Users can learn useful words and phrases in Spanish through consistent, frequent practice.
MosaLingua Spanish will help you quickly learn vocabulary and phrases to quickly communicate and make yourself understood in a wide number of subjects and situations. Practice lets users interact with Spanish in a number of ways including listening, speaking, and reading making it one of the best apps to learn Spanish.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Learn Spanish with MosaLingua
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Hand-picked educational apps by teachers that will improve your child’s learning.
Babbel – Learn Spanish
- Babbel – Learn Spanish
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
Babbel is one of the most popular options for learning Spanish. There are standard style lessons for grammar, conversational Spanish, and vocabulary. The format of this learn Spanish app is curriculum-based with pre-recorded content and there is no live interaction involved. Babbel is primarily focused on helping you learn new words, improve your language grammar skills, and sentence structures.
Given that their content is unique per each language, Babbel may have varied quality/quantity of content. For example, Babbel Spanish may have better quality and quantity of lessons versus a less popular language like Italian. Babbel offers various Spanish courses according to your level (beginner, intermediate and advanced) and interests such as business Spanish, countries and traditions.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Babbel – Learn Spanish
Learn Spanish: Language Course
- Learn Spanish: Language Course
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
Mondly is a fun, easy way to learn and practice Spanish regardless of what level you’re at. Mondly focuses on using basic sentences and conversations to help you learn Spanish online through free daily lessons. Using rapid learning techniques, Mondly will teach you the Spanish language quickly, effectively and in a fun way. This learn Spanish app will help you to explore the Spanish language through common phrases, not individual words.
You can easily master Spanish by listening to native speakers with flawless pronunciations and accents. This Spanish app allows you to explore reading, listening, writing and speaking exercises enhanced with an extensive Spanish dictionary, verb conjugator. It provides instant feedback every step of the way until you get it right. Following this approach, you will be ready for real life Spanish conversations in no time. It’s an incredibly effective way to learn Spanish free of charge.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Mondly Spanish
ConjuGato – Spanish Verbs
- ConjuGato – Spanish Verbs
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
Conjugato is one of the better Spanish learning apps. It enables learners to see, practise, interact with and, subsequently, understand 1000 of the most commonly used Spanish verbs across all tenses and moods. The verbal content can be customised to complement the extent of the user’s understanding of Spanish verbs: by refining the tenses, moods, verb forms, and indeed the verbs to be studied themselves. It is a personalised Spanish verb chart that is comprehensive in its content and, through repetition of use, will be an asset for any linguist.
Learn Spanish verbs and their conjugations with these handy drills and quizzes with the Best Spanish conjugation apps list.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Conjugato Spanish Verbs
Learn Spanish with busuu.com!
- Learn Spanish with busuu.com!
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
From a basic to an intermediate level. choose where you want to start and busuu will help you learn Spanish at your own pace. With 80 units in their Spanish course, they cover all the content every competent speaker of Spanish needs to know. The lessons were made to be easy and understandable with an appropriate level of difficulty for each learner.
This learn Spanish app helps you to learn the most popular Spanish expressions that are often used in Spain and Latin America. Learn Spanish at a time that’s convenient for you, whether you’re commuting to work or going on holiday. Just download the lessons onto your mobile in advance and learn anytime, anywhere with the Offline Mode.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Learn Spanish with busuu
Learn Spanish – MindSnacks
- Learn Spanish – MindSnacks
(iPhone, iPad)
MindSnacks is often a widely praised iOS Spanish app that treats learning Spanish as a game rather than being taught entire phrases and grammar points. It is most suitable for the kids to learn basic Spanish vocabulary and simple sentences in school.
The key metric of the Learn Spanish – Mindsnacks are the rich and engaging games designed to build vocabulary and boost conversation skills. The spanish lessons will go beyond memorization and teach things like word gender, pronoun usage and the conjugation of -AR, -ER and -IR verbs. Since the name of the game is speed, this learn Spanish app is great for kids who like fast-thinking learning games.
With 1000+ words to learn, 50 levels to master and 40+ hours of addictive content, this is the go-to Spanish app for adults, kids, students and travelers. Whether you’re a beginner or an intermediate learner, it’s time to give your vocab a total body workout, Spanish style making it one of the best apps to learn Spanish.
Devices: iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Learn Spanish by MindSnacks
Memrise: Learn Languages Free
- Memrise: Learn Languages Free
(Android, iPhone, iPad)
Memrise is the best app to learn Spanish words and basic grammar all the way through to advanced phrases and vocabulary, you can advance in Spanish all the way from beginner to pro. The Memrise Spanish app is designed to get you speaking basic Spanish language as quickly and confidently as possible, with all words and phrases.
The Memrise Spanish course, meticulously curated by our in-house Spanish experts, is specifically designed so that you learn Spanish in a manageable way and gradually build on the basics.
Memrise learn Spanish app is available offline except Learn with Locals so you can immerse yourself in Spanish at a time and place that suits you. Download the Memrise app or register online for free, for the best way to learn Spanish whenever, wherever.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download Memrise
Busuu: Language Learning
- Busuu: Language Learning
Busuu is a complete spanish language course app with over a hundred units in their online Spanish course. Beginners can choose the topics they’re most interested in, whether it’s culture, food, history or travel.
You can learn how to speak proper Spanish with a combination of their AI powered pronunciation exercises and dialogues made by the Spanish experts. You can also try their conversation exercises and practice speaking with Spanish speakers from their online community.
Spanish learners can improve their Spanish vocabulary with Busuu’s Vocabulary Trainer. It helps them to learn new Spanish words or revise the ones they learnt.
Devices: Android, iPhone and iPad
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Download busuu
The above apps will help you to learn how to speak Spanish confidently in only a few months. Some of these apps allow you to practice while driving or going for a run around the block. To learn Spanish fast, you will need to build a sizeable vocabulary, understand spoken Spanish and master elementary Spanish grammar.
All of these Spanish apps have many similarities, each one of them is designed with a slightly different purpose in mind. Some might be better at teaching words, some might be better at teaching Spanish grammar and vocabulary, while others might be great for practising your speaking.
Conclusion
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