It's time to improve our English or learn a new language, why not?
To interact with native speakers, to learn by singing, to listen to audio books, to watch videos, to learn High Valyrian, for those who only have five minutes or all the time in the world! There are no excuses to learn a new language or perfect one you already know, because you can do it from the comfort of your home sofa!
There's a perfect language app for you – and they're all free, with their respective paid premium versions.
DUOLINGO: THE MOST POPULAR
With more than 300 million users worldwide, Duolingo is undoubtedly one of the most popular apps to learn languages for free.
In fact, as they themselves point out, “there are more people learning languages on Duolingo in the United States than there are learning languages in the entire US public school system”
The tool is designed as a game in which the user levels up, competing with other users on leaderboards and unlocking new challenges as you complete reading, writing, listening, and speaking exercises.
Duolingo offers 94 language courses, from the most widely spoken in the world to endangered languages such as Hawaiian, Navajo and Scottish Gaelic.
At this moment 10 courses are available for Spanish speakers: English (27.9 million students), French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Russian, Catalan, Guarani, Esperanto and Swedish.
Hello Duo!
If you speak English, the number of courses increases considerably: Spanish (24.8 million students), French, German, Japanese, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese Arabic, Turkish, Dutch, Swedish, Hindi, Greek, Irish, Polish, Norwegian (Bokmål), Latin, Hebrew, High Valyrian (yes, as you read it), Vietnamese, Hawaiian, Danish, Romanian, Czech, Welsh, Indonesian, Swahili, Klingon, Hungarian, Ukrainian, Navajo, Esperanto and Scottish Gaelic.
Duo, a friendly green owl, It will remind you to practice and reach your daily goals (each exercise lasts about five minutes) and will encourage you during your learning.
In addition, the platform does not stop including additional resources such as the Duolingo Podcasts, the Duolingo Stories and the Duolingo Events.
The best: absolutely all Duolingo content is free.
Worst: ads, although you can remove them with Duolingo Plus which includes a 7-day trial!
Available on Android, iOS and Web.
BUSUU: TO FEEL PART OF A COMMUNITY
Busuu is an online community with more than 100 million users which offers courses 12 different languages (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Russian and Arabic) through its website and mobile application.
How does it work? Busuu –which is the name of a language spoken in Cameroon– makes available to the user over a thousand lessons created by experts in language teaching.
Users act as students and tutors, since they can correct other users' exercises and interact with native speakers from all over the world.
The learning units, developed using the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) , cover the four most important language skills – writing comprehension, listening comprehension, written expression and oral expression – from level A1 to B2.
The best: the interaction with other users and the clear structure of the courses
Worst: many features are not free
Available on Android, iOS and Web. You can register for free or purchase a Premium subscription for access to more features, such as grammar lessons, offline mode, language certificates from McGraw-Hill Education, or personalized vocabulary exercises.
Busuu: to feel part of a community
MEMRISE: TO LEARN THE LANGUAGE THAT IS REALLY SPOKEN ON THE STREET
Since its launch in 2010, this application has reached more than 40 million people in 189 countries, betting on three principles: 'authentic and useful content', 'a juicy mix of science and technology' and 'if it's not fun, you're not going to learn'.
The great attraction that Memrise boasts is that its courses teach “the language that is really spoken”, that is, the one that the locals actually speak; and offer videos of natives speaking in their language and in their localities, so that It also brings us closer to its environment and its culture.
The words are put into sentences with similar-sounding words from your mother tongue to help build a connection and remember them more easily.
Another bonus? In addition to the language courses -created by its own community-, it also offers courses in art and literature, math and science, nature, history and geography, or memory training, among others.
The best: you learn the language that you will later hear on your travels.
Worst: there are no guarantees about the content generated by the user. It can be somewhat monotonous and repetitive. Access to all courses and modes requires a Memrise subscription.
Available on Android, iOS and Web for free. It also has paid version, Memrise Pro , to enjoy the full program.
HINATIVE: QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH NATIVE SPEAKERS
HiNative is a free question and answer app in which to interact with native speakers from all over the world.
"How do you say this in English?" “What is the difference between these two words?” “Do I pronounce correctly?” You can raise any questions you have and solve those of others.
Also, allows you to post voice questions and answer through a simple app interface as well as ask questions through prepared quizzes.
The best: In addition to the language, you will learn about cultures from around the world.
Worst: if you really want to learn a language, you should complement this application with other tools.
Available for iOS and Android.
DROPS: FOR THOSE WHO ONLY HAVE 5 MINUTES
Do you only have five minutes a day? This app helps you learn new vocabulary through fun and fast mnemonic picture games.
If you already know a word, you have the option to swipe up and remove it from your lessons.
Drops offers nothing less than 35 different languages and if you want longer lessons, you can always buy the premium package.
The best: It is suitable even for the busiest and makes you daily reminders so that you do not lose the habit
Worst: in its free version it limits the time and after completing a lesson you have to wait a few hours until you can access another.
Available on Android, iOS and Web.
BABBEL: FOR THE NERDS IN THE CLASS
In the case of Babbel, the courses focus on practical dialogues on everyday topics.
Babbel lessons are 10-15 minutes long and you can choose from 14 languages : English, German, Italian, French, Portuguese, Swedish, Turkish, Dutch, Polish, Indonesian, Norwegian, Danish, and Russian.
In addition, the voice recognition system helps perfect pronunciation and smart revision system It adapts to your personal rhythm and helps you with the concepts that are more complicated for you.
The best: it's like going to class from the sofa
Worst: the teaching material that is freely available is quite limited
Available on Android, iOS and Web.
HELLOTALK: THE SOCIAL NETWORK TO LEARN LANGUAGES
As in HiNative and Busuu, the application Hello Talk allows the user to interact with native speakers of the language they want to learn.
With more than 12 million users, Hello Talk allows you to converse with natives of more than 150 languages through text and voice messages and make corrections to them in real time.
It also has a translation tool to support you when you don't know the right word to convey your message.
The best: It is completely free and allows you to learn in a dynamic and natural way.
Worst: It does not have a learning structure, it is limited to being a language social network.
Available for both iOS and Android.
HelloTalk: a social network to learn languages!
BEELINGUAPP: AUDIOBOOKS FOR ALL AUDIENCES
Beelinguapp puts at our disposal audio books in 13 different languages –English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, Russian, Chinese, Turkish, Portuguese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, and Arabic– both in written and audio format.
What can we read and listen to? Tales, stories, scientific articles, news and even songs.
The best : There is a lot of content that you can access for free.
Worst: it focuses only on reading and comprehension, but more than serves its purpose. You can get to hate the ads.
The app is available for both iOS and Android for free, though also offers in-app purchases to be able to access blocked content as well as a premium version with additional features such as: illustrations in literary content, access to all content and absence of advertisements.
LYRICS TRAINING: TO LEARN BY SINGING
With LyricsTraining you can learn languages through music. What exactly does it consist of? You only have to choose a song and sharpen your ears to fill in the missing words in the lyrics, which will appear below the video clip.
exist four levels of difficulty, depending on the number of words to fill in each song: 10%, 25%, 50% or all the words! You can also enjoy the full video and lyrics with the Karaoke mode.
There are songs in more than ten languages and also, you can compete with users from all over the world and challenge your friends.
The best: you will learn new vocabulary without realizing it.
Worst: it is good to learn singing, but complement it with other exercises!
Available on iOS, Android and Web for free. However, the premium mode allows you to play without limits or waiting.
"I'm in love with the shape of you"
VAUGHAN RADIO: YOUR STATION TO LEARN ENGLISH ANYWHERE
Grupo Vaughan has an application called Vaughan Radio in which it offers a varied daily program of classes in English for all audiences and levels.
Also, you can participate live in the programs through Twitter, answer in real time the challenges and questions from the announcers and earn points to classify yourself in the ranking.
You can also check the schedule for the week and listen to your favorite show as many times as you want in the podcast player.
The best: you can listen to it whenever and wherever you want.
Worst: It is a radio, not a specific course, but you will notice your progress yourself if you are constant and listen to it every day.
Available on iOS, Android and Web.
LEARNENGLISH: THE APPS OF THE BRITISH COUNCIL
LearnEnglish Grammar, LearnEnglish Podcasts, LearnEnglish Audio & Video... The British Council apps are completely free, designed for the whole family and offer games, podcasts, videos and quizzes to learn English from home.
Its apps are grouped like this: listening (Audio), Learning Tools (Learning tools), Games (games) and Kids (kids).
The Listening section offers three apps: Audio Video (to listen to podcast and watch videos), podcast (to listen to everyday conversations recorded by native English speakers) and Great Videos (to learn about UK culture)
Learning Tools offers the app LearningEnglish Grammar in two versions: British English and American English. Each level contains more than 600 grammar activities divided into 20 topics.
And if what you want to practice is pronunciation, your app is LearnEnglish Sounds Right, the British Council's pronunciation chart for students and teachers of English. Do you fancy a challenge? try the app Johnny Grammar's Word Challenge , a quiz in which you have to answer the most questions about vocabulary, spelling and grammar in 60 seconds.
The little ones can also learn English by playing with Timmy the sheep and his friends with the apps of Learning Time with Timy.
The best: all British Council apps are free.
Worst: having to download each app separately.
Available on Android and iOS.
British Council apps
ABA ENGLISH: A COMMITMENT TO AUDIOVISUAL CONTENT
ABA English is a digital English academy with offices in Barcelona where audiovisual material plays a fundamental role.
The ABA English course consists of 144 units organized in 6 levels (from A1 Beginners to C1 Business) and you can follow it from your computer, mobile or tablet.
Your method? They themselves explain it in five steps. Start each unit with an ABA Film (i.e. a short film starring native actors that stages everyday situations) and then practice with exercises and activities (writing, grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary) and learn grammar with video classes.
Also, from day one you are assigned a 'teacher' who will advise and accompany you. Oh, and upon completion of each level, you will receive an Official ABA English Certificate.
The best: its audiovisual content and having a native teacher at your disposal.
Worst: the free version is scarce.
The app is available for download on both Android and iOS and offers the possibility to try the course for free for 7 days. Afterwards, you can choose one of the following subscription plans: one, six or twelve months.
BONUS: DO THEY REALLY SERVE TO LEARN?
Are language learning apps really useful or are they just entertainment? Are they designed for all types of users, whatever their level? Can we learn with the free versions or is it worth downloading the premium mode?
Surely, you have asked yourself some of these questions while reading the article. The truth is applications can be a valuable tool to learn languages, but we must qualify several points, assessing the advantages and disadvantages.
Advantage:
First, the obvious: you can learn languages anywhere regardless of your user level. Many applications contemplate all kinds of levels, including tests to determine which one is yours.
In addition, they are also a good option for start studying a new language from scratch and gradually familiarize yourself with it.
The big advantage? Definitely, the freedom and flexibility they offer, because you can use them anywhere and they adapt to the availability of time that each user can dedicate to learning a language.
Finally, they are entertaining, you learn while having fun and the whole family can use them!
Disadvantages:
If your goals are very ambitious or you need to learn a language to carry out your work, it is advisable that you complement the applications with other types of tools and more specific courses according to your needs.