The last few years have seen language apps rise dramatically in terms of popularity, with more and more of us looking to study a new language.
Learning a new language gives people the opportunity to travel around the world, develop their mind and potentially even create a new career too.
The satisfaction you can get when you learn a new language can also lead to a dramatic increase in confidence, both for kids and for adults.
Learning a new language is a marathon, not a sprint. Here’s a few great apps that can make that journey a little bit easier.
Best language learning apps
The best app for learning languages is not necessarily the app with an enormous variety of languages – different apps are better for certain foreign languages, which is something worth keeping in mind.
Also: language learning apps can help you improve your knowledge, and some apps help you develop specialised knowledge in a structured way – but they won’t do everything for you.
You’ll still need to dedicate some time to studying hard, speaking practice, and preferably some real life conversations if possible too. But either way – here’s our favourites when it comes to language learning apps.
Babbel
Babbel offers a complete online education system in their app, and is highly geared to new language learners that are practicing for the first time.
The lessons were enjoyable and you can make fast progress by logging into the app every day.
This app is easy to use and contains an extensive set of teaching courses – from basic vocabulary and grammar lessons to full discussions and grammar lessons – again, heavily geared towards beginners.
The grammar tips that the app gives are useful as they explain tricky concepts in a simple manner, such as verb form tenses. This is super effective, and you’ll only really appreciate it once you come to speaking practice.
Activities in Babbel are broken down into 10-15 minutes so they can fit easily into a busy schedule.
Babbel also has access to live lessons with language teachers in the app too, which can really help you taken your language learning to another level. This is as close to classroom learning as you’ll get from an app, and it’s ideal for improvong conversation skills.
Overall, Babbel is one of the best language learning apps that you can download – you’ll need the premium paid version of the app if you’re serious about learning different languages.
Check: Full Babbel Review
Busuuu
Busuu is an app for learning in 12 major languages, and it ranges in helping those from beginners all the way through to higher levels.
There are lots of interactive activities which follow vocabulary explanations, and we found phrases and vocabulary highly relevant.
Simple actions like putting words in pictures or filling in blanks can be extremely helpful, though it may feel a little basic if you already have some practice speaking in the language.
Even for very fluent learners, they can probably learn something new by using the Busuu app. There are various language options, however Busuu only has 13 languages within the app – better to focus on quality rather than quantity.
To get the more in-depth language lessons and access to unlimited languages, you’ll need to use the premium version. This can be worth it, as unlimited access can give you everything you need to know when taking on new words in a new language.
Full: Busuu Review
Memrise
Memrise is another one of the most popular language learning apps, and it’s one of the best apps to choose if you want bite sized lessons to improve your speaking skills.
On the downside, leanring via Memrise doesn’t feel as smooth as other apps like Babbel, which are specifically designed to help you with
Plus, Memrise is really for complete beginners, so it’s quite easy to outgrow the language learning app when you’ve improved your language skills to a certain level.
All in all, we like Memrise as a quick way to learn a new foreign language, and much of your experience will probably depend on your learning style.
For visual learners that like video and audio based learning, it’s a solid choice.
Full: Memrise review
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone has long been considered the most reliable choice for when it comes to learning a new language.
The app can feel a little repetitive, but realistically this is necessary when learning new words and improving your conversational skills.
It’s a good program that can easily be used to home your language skills. It uses target words to help increases pronunciation, fluency and accuracy – this enables you to learn more quickly.
One thing that makes the app tough is that you only have access to your desired language without an English translation. This means that if you don’t already have a little experience, it can be tough to follow.
Anki
Although probably not enough to teach you everything you need to know about a new language, Anki is a minimalist flashcard application that allows you to create and review a vocabulary learning cards.
The user experience of Anki isn’t great, but once you get the hang of it the app can be great for language practice and the digital flashcards can help you to memorise new words.
The app uses statistically relevant words to help you really hammer them into your brain, so if you struggle to remember things, Anki can help. You can take things at your own pace – the app is completely free for Android users, but paid for iOS devices.
Anki has a flexible flash card application that will teach you a lot, and it’s best used in tandem with another one of the mobile apps suggested.
Common Questions about Language Learning Apps
What is the best app to learn a language?
There are many different options, so it’s hard to pick just one best language learning app. We like Babbel, which is why we’ve recommended it as the number one pick here – however, realistically any of the apps in our list will work if you’re looking to learn vocabulary words from another language.
Is Babbel or Duolingo better?
After evaluating the programs thoroughly we believe Babbel to be the better alternative to Duolingo. Babbel’s strong curriculum and teaching methodis awesome, as well as its teaching delivery. We consider this to be a better app than Duolingo.
What language app can make you fluent?
There are various different apps that let you learn everything from English to Korean, and they can definitely help when you want to become fluent in a language. However, if you truly want to become fluent in a new language, you may also want to book some one-on-one language tutorials, as well as potentially living in that country too.
What app is better than Duolingo?
We’ve gone through a whole list of language learning apps above that can be used if you’re trying to improve your target language and don’t want to choose Duolingo – this includes Babbel and Busuu, both of which we prefer.
Conclusion
Hopefully, our guide to the best language learning apps has helped you decide which one you want to use. The most popular apps generally have a variety of different features, from flashcards through to full tutorials.
Now, you can go ahead and study vocabulary to improve your language with the information and suggestions listed.