7 Best Mobile Apps To Pick Up A New Language For Free
- September 10, 2020
- Digital
As you browse through the web for the ideal app to help you pick up a new language, you’ll find that there’s a plethora of them – making it tricky for you to pick the right one. The various apps all serve different purposes, and it all depends on you. For instance, you may want to expand your vocabulary, familiarise yourself with speaking the language, or all of the above! Regardless, there’s surely an app for you.
From the convenience of your mobile phone, you can kickstart your language learning process in just a few taps. With that, here are the seven best apps to learn languages for free.
Note: This list is strictly not in order.
1. Duolingo – Game-like learning experience
With over 300 million active users worldwide, it’s no surprise that Duolingo is one of the best online language apps! It’s free, has an excellent user interface, and is accessible for both Android and iOS users. To spice up the language learning process, Duolingo adopted a gamified approach to their system to help you stay motivated with awards. And to help you stay on track, you’ll receive frequent reminders so you get to continue learning your chosen language each day in pockets of time.
As fun as the experience is, the learning process isn’t compromised at all. Designed by linguistic experts, Duolingo employs a science-based approach that is proven to foster long-term retention. So, the next time you travel overseas, you might find yourself fluent as you speak in a new tongue. With a wealth of languages available, all that’s left for you to do, is to take the first step!
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
2. Beelinguapp – Read as you learn
One of the most effective ways to develop your language proficiency is by reading. And lucky for you, Beelinguapp supports this! By offering a variety of your favourite stories on the app, you can read the story in your first language and the one you are learning simultaneously on the screen. It might seem complicated, but it’s really not. In fact, you have the option of reading along with the audiobook reader as the words are highlighted accordingly.
Sometimes, learning to pronounce words based on what you read, versus what you hear, can make a significant difference. With this feature in the Beelinguapp, it’ll help you pick up the right way to pronounce certain words. Besides, you’ll definitely have fun reading the classics like The Three Musketeers, or an enchanting fairytale like Cinderella. All in all, this two-in-one app allows you to immerse yourself in a story while learning a new language.
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
3. LingoDeer – Retain new information learnt
In just 10 minutes a day, LingoDeer aims to help you improve your reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. Following a structured course, it gives you a crash course into the essential vocabulary and grammar from beginner up to immediate! With recordings by native speakers themselves, you get to mimic and enhance your pronunciation during your time spent learning the language!
And of course, the fun doesn’t stop just because you close the app. With review activities in the form of flashcards, quizzes and more, it’ll help you retain and process the new information you’ve learnt! LingoDeer focuses on delivering Chinese, Japanese and Korean language lessons. But up until recently, they’ve included courses for Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, and Vietnamese! Most lessons here are free, but if you’d like to take it up a notch, then you can check out the all-new LingoDeer Plus app!
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
4. Babbel – Speak with confidence
As one of the best free language learning apps, Babbel is designed to give you the most out of every bite-sized lesson of 10 or 15 minutes. With their library of over 60,000 language learning lessons, all of them are meticulously designed and tailored to your native language. Not to mention, as you progress, you’ll learn more conversational starters and grammar rules. This way, it helps speed up your language development so you can converse with confidence.
But how effective is Babbel in helping you learn a new language? Well, Babbel has garnered hard data to answer your question! Based on research at Yale University, all the participants who used Babbel found that their proficiency improved in just three months. With over 14 languages available, such as Spanish, French, Norwegian, Indonesian, you can get the in-depth information to enhance your language learning experience with Babbel.
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
5. Memrise – Expand your vocabulary
In preparation for your examinations, do you find yourself preparing some flashcards to help you practise? In that case, Memrise adopts a similar approach! By utilising proven memory-retention techniques, it aims to cement lessons into your brain faster. And thanks to home videos of native speakers, you can get a gist of how each language sounds. Of course, the bulk of the lesson lies in the memorisation of words and phrases to aid in your learning experience.
Primarily, Memrise acts as a vocabulary builder. To make your learning more effective, you can consider combining it with conversation and grammar lessons! This way, you can see that Memrise takes on a more targetted approach in helping you learn. It’s also designed to help you converse with locals confidently by recording yourself. Then, their smart technology will let you know if you’re all set, or if you need to try again.
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
6. HelloTalk – Connect with like-minded individuals
Connect with those who speak the same language you’re learning on HelloTalk! In return, they’ll share some tricks of the trade of learning their language. In other words, HelloTalk lets you communicate with native speakers to help you get an immersive learning experience. Since everyone is on the app for the same reason, you get to be both a teacher and student while meeting new people! With over 150 languages, HelloTalk is one of the largest language learning communities.
Learning a new language helps overcome any existing barriers you have between those from different countries – and this is what HelloTalk does, making it one of the best free language learning apps out there. As a result, you learn beyond languages; you’re getting a glimpse into what different cultures are like. To summarise, you get to learn as you talk with HelloTalk!
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
7. Mondly – Learn from your native language
What sets Mondly apart from other apps, is that it enables you to learn any language from your first language, rather than requiring everyone to learn from English. And not only is it easy to navigate, but it’s also designed to get you speaking fluently as fast as possible. Consequently, you can memorise core words, form sentences, learn phrases and engage in conversations in just a few minutes!
Mondly encapsulates many aspects of the language learning process, making it one of the most comprehensive apps. Not only can you learn pronunciations from native speakers, but you also get to say it out loud so the app can verify if you’re saying it right. At the same time, you learn new vocabulary through phrases so you can get a better understanding of its context. With many other features, all that’s left for you is to discover what Mondly has in store for you!
Price: | Free; Offers In-App Purchases |
Available On: | App Store & Google Play |
Conclusion
Speaking more than one language has its set of benefits, such as improving your memory, enhancing your perception and more. With so many best free language learning apps out there, you can pick up a new language without having to step foot in any classroom.