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5 Best Language Learning Apps to Use on Android and iOS

1. Duo lingo


Let’s start the list with the most obvious language learning app on the market – Duo lingo. Duo lingo was one of the first apps to make learning languages cool and popular again. The app brings a fun curriculum with bite-sized lessons that are easy to digest. One of the best things about Duo lingo is that it learns and adapt to users’ learning style and provides lessons and exercises that bring the best results. I also love Duo lingo's reward system which acts as an impetus to keep me engaged. The best part is that all the courses are free. There is, however, a paid subscription that gets rid of ads and lets you access the lectures offline. If you are looking for free language learning apps, this is the best one that you can get.

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Supported languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish Dutch, Arabic, Swedish, Irish, Greek, Hindi, Polish, Norwegian, Hebrew, Latin, Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Danish, Romanian, Czech, Indonesian, Welsh, Swahili, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Navajo, Esperanto, Scottish Gaelic, High Valerian, and Klingon.

Install: Free, in-app purchase (Android / iOS)


2. Drops


Drops is a really good language-learning app for users who are short on time. By spending just 5 minutes a day on this app, you will start to grasp the intricacies of a new language. It might sound unrealistic, but by giving your 5 minutes sprints, the app ensures that you don’t get bored and progress quickly. Of course, you can do multiple sprints in a day to advance your learning timeline. It’s up to you how much time you want to spend on this app every day. One of the biggest benefits using Drops is that it gives you a beautiful illustration of all the words that you are learning so you learn easily by context.Apart from giving you these illustration-based learning sprints, Drops also brings fun games and audio-based learning.

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Drops is not an app that will help you master a language, instead, it brings an arsenal of around 2000 words that cover 90% of everyday word usage in a language. This ensures that you can quickly pick up a language and can converse in it. Drops also has character learning lessons that will help you learn the alphabet. Finally, there’s the advanced statistic that gives you access to your daily progress with a detailed report of all the words you studied. Like Duolingo, all the courses on Drops are free with in-app purchases to unlock extra features.


Supported Languages: American English / British English, Arabic, Spanish / Latin-American Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Esperanto, European Portuguese / Brazilian Portuguese, French, Finnish, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Maori, Mandarin Chinese / Cantonese, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, Swedish, Samoan, Tagalog (Filipino), Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese.

Install: Free, in-app purchase (Android / iOS)


3. Memrise


Memrise is one of the best language learning apps that you can install on your Android or iOS devices. The USP of this app is that it uses real native speakers to teach you their language. They create local video clips that you can watch on the app and learn from. This is useful as you not only get the context of the words but also hear the clear pronunciation. Memrise teaches you a new language by showing you fun video clips and playing fun quiz-type games. Most people don’t get anywhere with a new language because they are bored before they even start. Well, learning with Memrise is anything but boring. The app is free to use but you will need to pay the premium price if you want to take content offline or unlock extra features.

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Supported Languages: French, Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian, Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Polish, Turkish, Danish, Icelandic, Mongolian or Slovenian.

Install: Free, in-app purchase (Android / iOS)


4. Babbel


While apps like Duo lingo and Drops make learning fun, they don’t give you a structured course. This can be a problem for users who are accustomed to learning by following a structured class. If that’s you then you should try Babbel. Babbel is an excellent language learning app that brings an interactive and structured course that is built by language experts. Babbel aims to not only teach you the normal workings of a language but to help you master it. I also love that while Babbel brings a structured course, it’s not a boring experience. The UI is very minimalist and the app never feels overwhelming. Lessons focus on words, translations, pictures, and pronunciation.

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Babbel gives you an experience of attending an online college and in a good way. You get the fun of using a language learning app with the structure of a college class. Essentially you are getting the best of both worlds. Currently, Babbel is only offering courses in 14 languages so check below to see if your dream language is on the list or not. Also, unlike the apps above, courses on Babbel are paid. You only get one lesson for free to check out the app and then you have to buy a subscription to continue your learning.


Supported Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Indonesian, and English.

Install: Free, $12.95/month or $83.40/year (Android / iOS)


5. Lingvist


If you prefer a scientific way of learning to get the best result with the least effort, you should try Lingvist. Lingvist uses artificial intelligence to test your knowledge and then tailors the course to your needs. The app focuses on teaching you the practical vocabulary which you can use to carry out a normal conversation with a native speaker. When it comes to the learning process, Lingvist uses spaced repetition, flashcards, native sounding virtual voice, and other techniques to teach you the most prominent words of a language.

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It also asks questions as you take lessons to measure your progress and fine-tunes the course according to your performance. Overall, I find Lingvist to be a competent app for teaching people who want to have a conversational proficiency in a new language. The only drawback of this app is that it only supports five languages.


Supported Languages: Spanish, German, Russian, French, and English.

Install: Free, in-app purchase (Android / iOS)


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