My favorite apps for learning a language.
I’ve now learned 2 languages to a functional level (Spanish & Portuguese), also playing with 2-3 more languages just for fun (French, Italian, Vietnamese). And have definitely tried many methods over the past 2 years.
Below are my favorite language-learning apps and why. 🙂
1. Duolingo
Easily IMO the best free language-learning app.
I understand other people might prefer Babel or other ones and yes, other apps might also be better for certain languages….for example, I think Duolingo kinda sucks for the Asian languages.
But nonetheless, I like Duolingo because it’s very easy to use and lets you play around learning in many different ways. Simple core concepts, speaking, audio, podcasts, games, quizzes, etc.
IMO, a language app’s most important job is to give you exposure. That way you’re familiarizing yourself with words and sounds of a language. And it’s in hearing it and using it in real life around native speakers that you actually “learn” the language. And for this reason, I think Duolingo is best because it exposes you to many aspects of a language. Whereas many other apps are too opinionated and expose you only to one area of a language.
If you pay for Duolingo, the premium is worth so much more since it lets you skip your way through certain components and focus more on the things you need help on. I’m a very happy user of Duolingo Premium.
2. Instagram/TikTok
Social media is a great way to learn a language.
Yes, I’m dead serious about this. Social media is so great for learning a language, since you’re being exposed to common words and expressions that are used on a daily basis. Try following many content creators of your interest, guess what they’re saying, then use the “translation” feature on the content description and comments to see if you guessed correctly.
You seriously will learn quickly over time with this. And all while finding new and interesting creators you wouldn’t have found in your native language.
3. Toucan
Toucan is a great app to install on both your desktop and mobile computers. What it does is randomly swap words on your web browser to the language of your choice. It’s an awesome way to learn by increasing your exposure to new words using the context of your native language. If you still don’t understand it, you can click on the word to see what it means.
The Toucan app works like this:
- This is a sentence that you see on a page with many [palabras].
The bracketed word above is the Spanish word “palabras” replacing its English counter-part “words”. It will happen often throughout many sentences on a page. Helping you learn through exposure and doesn’t disrupt your browser experience. I think it’s such a clever idea. I have Portuguese on my desktop and Spanish on my mobile.
4. Tandem
What a great way to meet people from all over the world. It’s kinda sorta like a Tinder/Couchsurfing of the language learning world. It’s a social network of aspiring language-learners. You make a profile putting in what languages you know well, and what languages you want to learn.
Then you can look up people who know the languages you want to learn, who want to learn yours. And you do a language exchange chatting with each other. The chat interface there is really helpful since there’s correction tools so you can help retype each others sentences for more proper spelling, grammar, etc.
I’ve even met some of the people in person when I travelled to their country and even became friends outside of the app. It’s a lot of fun!
5. Clozemaster
This is a simple Mad Libs style language-learning app where phrases are presented to you with a missing word, and you have to fill in the missing word (either manually or from multiple choice options). It’s not for beginners. It’s more for people who are intermediate speakers and looking to learn more common phrases and expressions. Very easy to use, doesn’t take much time.
6. Dating app (Tinder/Bumble)
There are few ways better for learning a language than dating or meeting people of another language. I never sped up my learning so fast than by having a whole relationship with someone in another language. Having alcohol on the meetings might make you more brave and less inhibited to speak poorly.