Because you’ll essentially take what you’ve learned from the first app and put it into practice with real-life speakers. OMG I just discovered And it looks like I’m going to spend my winter vacation chatting with the French Let’s talk further, as I said, about the HelloTalk app. The final app is class-based, but we’ll come to that. On my iPhone right now, in other words, I have chat threads running within this app from Spanish speakers around the world – from Spain, Costa Rica, Argentina and elsewhere. The best part about this next app, HelloTalk, is that it lets you interact and learn with native speakers. For example, Duolingo is largely instructional. All the apps I’ve chosen work in conjunction with each other. Well, before we launch into my second pick for the best apps for language learning, let me quickly note something.
And you will be prompted, for example, to fill in a word that is missing on the screen (but which was said aloud by the speaker).ĭownload Duolingo for Android here, or for iOS here Best Language App #2: HelloTalk The app also has a “Stories” component, in which you’ll listen to a story as you read it. Make sure you also tab to the “Audio” part of Duolingo, where the app will let you listen to native speakers, and then you use your phone’s microphone to repeat what they said. Even though those tests are only a few minutes long, and are great to do when you have some free time.
Pro tip: Don’t get bogged down in just completing exercises that “close every circle” every day. If you’re new, be sure to read that screen first - it’ll help you complete each level. Or maybe you need to listen to a speaker and then answer a question about what was said.īefore each level begins, Duolingo also shows you “tips” to remember. The app does a good job of shaking up the questions thrown at you as you learn over time. On the easy levels, there are pictures with words that Duolingo asks you to guess.
Duolingo will first test your language level, and then start preparing the test accordingly.
Thus, I wanted the app’s full range of services to be available to me, as opposed to the skinnier version of the app which is available on the free tier.īasically, though, the main activity of the app consists of progress rings, much like the loops that Apple Watch users try to “close” through workouts each day. I’m on the paid version of Duolingo, I should note, because I’m serious about learning Spanish. In fact, let’s dive right into that first.
Anyone can pick them up and dive right in with a minimum of fuss.ĭuolingo is, in fact, quite game-ified, so it leaves you a little inclined to use it regularly to learn. Second, the user experience for all three of these apps is extremely smooth. Why I decided these are some of the best apps: First, you have Android and iPhone options for all of them. There are options for all of them, and no doubt there are some that offer completely different or better functionality. I want to make it clear that the apps listed below are my personal recommendations. And I’ll talk about my reasons for them below.
I would recommend the three options I settled on - Duolingo, HelloTalk, and Preply - to almost anyone who is personally trying to learn a second language outside of a classroom setting. There are lots of great options out there depending on what you’re looking for.
And so, with time on my hand during the pandemic, I started hunting around to download the best apps for learning a new language. I took Spanish classes in school, but over time I forgot most of what I learned. If you’re like me, one of them was learning a new language. Many people decided to make new discoveries during the pandemic.