The Best Language Learning Apps for Travelers in 2024
If you’re wondering what the best language learning apps for 2023 are, keep on reading for my review on some of the most popular apps!
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My hunt for the best language learning apps came when I was wondering how to learn Danish online. I grew up in a Danish home and my family is Danish, however I haven’t practiced much since I moved to Halifax.
Halifax does have a lot of people who speak French however, so I also began wondering how to learn French online? It is easier to find places here that teach French in person vs. trying to find someone who can teach Danish in person. I had looked up some local in person French classes, but decided I wanted to know how to learn a language at home, so began my deeper dive of language apps.
When looking up how to learn a language on your own, it can feel a bit overwhelming, but luckily there are so many amazing resources waiting at our fingertips these days! Check out the list below to see my language app reviews to help decide which is the best one for you to try!
Duolingo Review
Duolingo is probably one of the most well known of the language apps on this list. It’s a free language app to help you learn, and there are a lot of language options. I’ve been playing with Duolingo for years, and they’ve added many more languages than were available when I began. Part of why I like Duolingo is because they offer Danish, which I find a lot of apps don’t, and I like to brush up on my Danish language skills from time to time because my family is Danish.
Babbel Review
Babbel is another very popular app, but a big difference with Babbel is it’s paid. From my experience with Babbel, it reminds me of an old Rosetta Stone computer cd that I used to use for Danish. Babbel offers sales a lot, so if you’re considering trying out a membership, I would wait until one is on offer. I like that this app is great at teaching you how to communicate by having you participate in mock conversations. It also helps with spelling in these conversations because you have to type out the words you want to use. You can pay monthly, or if you choose a longer commitment period, you can save some money.
Drops Review
I have loved my time using the Drops app, I actually paid to use it for a few months and found it really strengthened my vocabulary. I was originally practicing with it for French, but I also switched to Danish occasionally to learn some new words there as well. Some people don’t love the idea of just learning vocabulary words because it doesn’t teach you about the grammar, but I actually found it useful. Since it’s just words it’s not great for learning vocabulary but I was using a really handy grammar book for that. I found it great for reading and listening though. I found that since I was able to recognize more words, I was able to follow along better. That, plus using the grammar book together I found very helpful!
Memrise Review
Memrise is also a great app to help you learn a language. I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but it works similarly to other language apps. You learn words individually, then you practice hearing it and matching it with words on the screen. You’re then given opportunities to learn how to spell out the words. You’re able to use it for free to get a feel for it to see if you like it, then you can choose if you’d like to sign up for a monthly fee, or save a bit of money by choosing an annual membership.
Busuu Review
Busuu is a language app that you can also try out for free to see how you like it. What I really like about this app, is it separates your learning into the language levels. In case you don’t know what that means, the way you are measured in fluency is on a scale of letters and numbers. For example A1 = Beginner. So you’re able to get an idea of what level you’re on in the language you’re studying. As of the time I’m writing this, Busuu only has 12 languages available, but it’s a great option if the language you’re wanting to learn is on there.
Tinycards Review
Tinycards is an app made by Duolingo. You can actually connect your two accounts together so that each app knows where you stand with your vocabulary. Tinycards is basically a flashcard system to help you with memorizing the vocabulary that you’re learning with Duolingo. If you find flashcards helpful for learning, then this is definitely an app you’ll want to try along with Duolingo.
Quizlet Review
If you want to quiz yourself on your language learning, you can take different quizzes on the Quizlet app. You can try out quizzes that other users have made, or you can make one for yourself full of the words that you are currently learning. Just say you’re struggling with a few words, it can be helpful to try to learn them in quiz form. Plus this way of taking a quiz is a lot less stressful than what you would have ever experienced in school. There are multiple ways to quiz yourself in this app such as flashcards, writing, matching etc.
I hope that you found these language app reviews helpful. These are some of the best language learning apps that can help you kickstart your language learning journey!
If you want to know how to learn a language at home, or how to learn a foreign language on your own, I hope you enjoyed this list on learning a language with free apps. If you want to know how to learn a language fast and fluently in the new year, this is a good place to start!
Tell me, have you ever learned a language before? What tips can you give us to help our learning journeys?
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