34 Great Apps and Resources to Help You Learn a Language

Did you know that there are over 7000 languages spoken by people around the world? That number might seem extreme, but some have fewer than 1,000 people left that still speak them.

There are around 23 languages that most people speak (more than half the world), all of which can be learned online and through language apps.

While you might think that it’s hard to learn more than a single language, you’ll be surprised to know that people in countries like Papua New Guinea or India have dozens of languages that they can learn just within their individual countries.

Learning a new language helps you connect to other cultures and learn more about the people who don’t speak the same way you do. Learning a language is a great way to improve the likelihood of getting hired (most employers love having multilingual staff members) and expanding your horizons.

In this article, you’ll find a list of resources, including apps and websites, that can help you learn a new language. With them, you can explore many new languages from the comfort of your own home.

34 Great Apps and Resources to Help You Learn a Language

Get ready to learn a new language with one of these apps

Price: Free to $3.99 with in-app purchases

Languages covered: Multiple languages including Spanish, French, Greek, Arabic, Mandarin, and others.

Description: Gus On the Go is a series of apps that teach languages to children between the ages of 3 and 7. The language-loving owl teaches through stories that are familiar to children, helping with pronunciation and reading in the target languages. There are mini-games, too, to make learning fun.

Price: $9.99 a month or $69.99 annually

Languages covered: 12 languages covered, including Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, English, Russian, Korean, and others.

Description: Little Pim was developed by language teachers, moms, neuroscientists, and others to create an immersion method of learning languages, Videos teach vocabulary through a theme, and children play to learn.

Who’s it for: Babies, toddlers, pre-K, beginners.

Price: Free to download on iOS or Android

Languages covered: Spanish, French

Description: Users build language skills through playing games (there are nine in total) using Mindsnacks. You learn through saying the word and listening to the word you want to learn, helping convert them to memory.

Who’s it for: Children, Beginners

Price: $14.99 monthly, $79.99 annually, $159.99 lifetime

Languages covered: Mandarin Chinese

Description: Chinese Skill improves users’ skills in the Chinese language by teaching reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Who’s it for: Beginners, intermediates looking to refresh their skills

Price: $20.95 a month

Languages covered: French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Italian, and over 50 others

Description: The Pimsleur Method helps people learn to become conversational in another language quickly. It offers digital flashcards, core lessons, speaking challenges, lightbulb moments, speed rounds, and more.

Who’s it for: Anyone who needs to become conversational as quickly as 30 days from starting the program. Beginners and intermediate students of all ages.

Price: Free

Languages covered: English and Spanish

Description: Rosetta Stone Kids Lingo Letter Sounds is designed to help enhance the reading skills of children between the ages of 3 and 6. It includes two hours of gameplay that mix both English and Spanish.

Who’s it for: Children between the ages of 3 and 6.

Price: Free to try, in-app purchases may be available

Languages covered: English, French, and Mandarin

Description: Penyo Pal helps children practice reading by going over common stories and playing games. It is available in three languages and is still being expanded today.

Who’s it for: Children and beginners. Games have 40 words per level, and children can listen to native speakers, too.

8. Babbel

Price: $12.65 for three months, $7.45 for 12 months, $249 for lifetime access. Babbel live starts at $99 per month, $70 per month for three months, $60 a month for six months or $50 a month for 12 months.

Languages covered: 14+ languages, including French, English, German, Swedish, Turkish, Danish, Italian, and others.

Description: Babbel helps you progress in a language from whatever starting point you’re at. Take a quick placement quiz to figure out which level is right for you, and begin working through the coursework in just a few minutes.

Who’s it for: All language learners

Price: Free to download, in-app purchases available

Languages covered: Spanish

Description: The Endless Spanish app teaches Spanish to younger children with the Endless monsters. Kids play to learn on the Endless Spanish app. It has both immersion and Spanish with English options.

Who’s it for: Beginners/Children

Price: Free to Download

Languages covered: Mandarin Chinese

Description: Kids Learn Mandarin teaches Chinese through educational games that help them read, speak, and write in Mandarin. Lessons are progressive, and there are over 240 Mandarin words taught through the different games and activities.

Who’s it for: Children or beginners of any age

11. Busuu

Price: $9.99 monthly for subscription plans. $69.96 for an annual plan, or $129.84 for a two-year plan.

Languages covered: 13+ languages, including French, English, Russian, Chinese, Turkish, and others.

Description: With Busuu, you can learn languages online at any time. It has at least 13 languages available, and you can get started immediately and join live lessons, too. It’s available for students and adults. Over 120 million people already learn with Busuu.

12. Drops

Price: $13 monthly, $69.99 yearly, $159.99 one-time purchase

Languages covered: 45+ languages, including Hebrew, Korean, Japanese, German, and others.

Description: Drops teaches language by going through “drops” of lessons. These short lessons introduce you to vocabulary and phrases while focusing on memorization. Vocabulary is produced with illustrations, making it easier to remember the new terminology.

Who’s it for: Language learners of all ages and skill levels

13. Memrise

Price: $8.49 per month, $59.99 yearly, $119.99 lifetime

Languages covered: 23 languages covered, including Spanish, Japanese, Mandarin, and others.

Description: Memrise uses spaced repetition and mnemonics to help people learn new words and phrases quickly. There are courses on all of the major languages, and it uses memes and games to make learning fun.

Who’s it for: People of all ages, beginners, intermediate learners or advanced learners looking to review.

14. VIPKiD

Price: Get a free trial class, then buy credits as needed

Languages covered: English

Description: Live English lessons are available at VIPKiD. Teachers based in the U.S. and some select countries abroad teach live combined with videos and games to help children learn English quickly.

Who’s it for: Speakers of other languages trying to learn English, children between the ages of 4 and 16 years of age.

15. Duolingo

Price: Duolingo is free, but Duolingo Plus is $6.99 a month for 12 months or $9.99 per month for 12 months on a family plan. You can also purchase Duolingo monthly for $12.99.

Languages covered: 38 languages, including Dutch, Japanese, Spanish, French, and Italian.

Description: Duolingo helps students of all ages learn a language of their choice. There are over 100 total courses in at least 38 languages (that list is always expanding). Duolingo uses games and activities to make learning fun.

Who’s it for: Learners of all ages and levels

16. Mango

Price: $7.99 a month for a single language or $17.99 for all languages.

Languages covered: 70+ languages, including German, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, and others.

Description: Mango Languages offers access to over 70 different programs to learn languages spoken all over the world. It includes unique endangered and indigenous languages (this isn’t common on apps) as well as bonus language courses. Take an assessment or placement test to start, and you’ll start at your level.

Who’s it for: Language learners of all ages and skill levels.

17. Mondly

Price: $89.99 (a one-time payment)

Languages covered: 41 languages, including German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, and others.

Description: Learning with Mondly makes it easy to learn a new language. It uses neural science to figure out the best ways to teach students so they absorb new lessons quickly and easily. Gamification helps students learn rapidly.

Who’s it for: People of all ages and skill levels.

Price: $0.99

Languages covered: Spanish

Description: Pacca Alpaca takes kids around the world with fun videos and games that entertain them as they learn new languages.

Who’s it for: Children (pre-school) between the ages of 2 and 6

Price: $14.99 monthly

Languages covered: English, Spanish, Chinese, French, German

Description: Studycat makes it fun to learn a language and build speaking, listening, reading, and writing skills. It uses gamification to make learning fun for children, and it is 100% ad-free and certified by kidSAFE.

Who’s it for: Children and beginners learning a new language

Price: $39.99

Languages covered: 14 languages including English, German, Korean, and others.

Description: Beelinguapp focuses on teaching language through listening activities. It helps with reading comprehension skills, showing two texts side by side in two different languages. There are fun options like Karaoke reading and new books each week.

Who’s it for: Beginner or intermediate learners looking to read in another language

21. Lingo Bus

Price: Get a free trial lesson, then each lesson is $20

Languages covered: Mandarin Chinese

Description: Lingo Bus is a subsidiary of VIPKiD and offers live Mandarin lessons for English-speaking children between the ages of 4 and 16.

Who’s it for: Children between the ages of 4 and 16

22. LingQ

Price: $12.99 per month for one month, $11.99 per month for six months, $8.99 per month for 12 months, $7.99 per month for 24 months.

Languages covered: 24 languages, including Russian, Mandarin Chinese, Czech, German, and Polish.

Description: LingQ is an online resource with lessons for 24 different languages. It hosts a library of immersive content, such as books, podcasts, news, and more.

Who’s it for: Any ages or learning levels, though those with some background may do better.

23. Lingvist

Price: $79.99 annually or $9.99 per month

Languages covered: German, French, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Italian

Description: Lingvist works to make language learning faster by incorporating big data and AI. The company suggests learning words and vocabulary on its app for 30 minutes or more a day.

Who’s it for: Students who want to learn rapidly for conversation. Beginner through Advanced.

24. Preply

Price: Varies by tutor

Languages covered: Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and many others.

Description: Preply connects you with a teacher speaking the language you want to learn. As a private tutoring service, you speak naturally in the other language from the start. Take lessons at any time and practice structured learning.

Who’s it for: Best for adults, though any age or skill level may use Preply.

25. HelloTalk

Price: Free

Languages covered: 150+ languages covered

Description: Learn to speak any language by chatting with people who are native speakers all over the world. There are over 30 million people online that you can talk to using built-in aids.

Who’s it for: Teens or adults interested in chatting via text, voice, or video in a foreign language. Intermediate to advanced learners may do best with this program.

Price: One lesson free, then $25 an hour up to 9 hours, $24 an hour for up to 19 hours, $23 an hour for up to 29 hours, $22 per hour for up to 39 hours, $21 per hour for up to 49 hours and $19.99 an hour for 50 or more hours.

Languages covered: Spanish, English, German, Italian, French, and Japanese

Description: Live Lingua makes private tutoring more affordable and convenient. Select your preferred program from Standard, Exam Prep, or Specialized, and get started with a live tutor.

Price: 1 live lesson: €20, 4 live lessons, €75, 8 live lessons, €140, 31 live lessons, €400.

Languages covered: Spanish, German, English, and French

Description: Learn languages online with Chatterbug, a great way to learn Spanish, German, French, or English from home. There are online lessons with flexible learning as well as certified results.

Who’s it for: Beginners through advanced students looking to obtain the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) certificate.

Price: $12.99 to $19.99 monthly, depending on the subscription

Languages covered: Spanish, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, and French

Description: LinguaLift uses the LinguaLift Method to offer tutor support, a customized study plan, tailored reviews, and 10-to-15-minute lessons so you can study at any time, anywhere.

Who’s it for: All ages and all language levels.

29. Speakly

Price: 7 days free, €10.99 monthly for a single language, €9.00 per month for one language for three months, €8.33 per month for six months, €5.83 per month for 12 months.

Languages covered: Russian, English, Estonian, Spanish, French, Italian, Finnish, and German.

Description: Speakly claims it is the fastest way to learn another language. The unique method teaches relevant words first, so you can speak in real-life conversations in a few months of studies.

Who’s it for: Beginner to advanced students.

Price: 10 free sentences daily. $8 a month, $60 annually, or $140 lifetime for additional sentences.

Languages covered: 67+ languages including Spanish, Japanese, Maori, and others

Description: Learn language in context when you learn with Clozemaster. The program helps you rapidly expand your vocabulary in another language with mass exposure. Play 19,999 sentences with 19,999 unique words.

Who’s it for: Beginner through advanced students who enjoy learning vocabulary through gaming.

31. BaseLang

Price: $149 per month

Languages covered: Spanish

Description: BaseLang teaches Spanish in an intensive, 80-hour program that is accelerated for serious learners. Students can work with a dedicated teacher on a fixed schedule for up to four hours daily.

Who’s it for: Beginners through advanced students who want to be conversational in just a few months.

32. italki

Price: Varies based on the teacher chosen

Languages covered: Over 150 languages

Description: italki helps you become fluent in any language using 1-on-1 lessons and free practice with the italki community. Find a teacher you want to learn from, and you’ll pay their hourly rate.

Who’s it for: Beginner through advanced learners.

Price: $99.95 for Level 1, $249.90 for Levels 1 and 2, $259.90 for Level 1, 2, and 3.

Languages covered: 14 languages including Spanish, English, Mandarin, Japanese, German, and others.

Description: Rocket Languages helps you learn a preferred language quickly and easily. You choose the methods that work best for you to learn, helping you boost your language-learning results. The program is broken down into different levels, from beginner to advanced.

Who’s it for: Learners of all ages and skill levels

Price: $4.99 a month when you pay $59.90 for the year.

Languages covered: German, Mandarin Chinese, Russian, Spanish, and others.

Description: Mosalingua uses the MosaLearning method that helps maximize language learning. Students learn independently and focus on the 20% of the common language they need to handle up to 80% of the situations they would encounter.

Who’s it for: Beginners, intermediate learners, and advanced learners comfortable with learning independently.

Tips for Learning a Language

Tips and Tricks to get started with a new language

Tips for Learning a Language

Learning a language can be tricky even when you follow your study plan. We’ve put together 20 helpful tips that will get you understanding and speaking a new language in almost no time at all.

  1. Set Your Language Goals

The first thing you need to do is set your language goals. Do you want to speak fluently in two years? You can take your time and learn at your own page. Do you want to be fluent in a month? You may need a crash course to get you proficient.

  1. Get to Know Common Vocabulary Words and Phrases

Getting to know the most common vocabulary words and phrases gives you a headstart on recognizing what people are saying when they ask you questions or speak with you. That means you can quickly learn how to respond to others.

  1. Talk, Talk, Talk

Many people can read other languages proficiently, but they may have trouble with listening or speaking. Help yourself by saying the other language’s words out loud as often as possible.

  1. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Mistakes

You can’t be afraid to make mistakes when you’re learning a new language. Others will be respectful of you trying your best, so speak up as often as you can.

  1. Practice Every Day

To retain as much knowledge as you can, it is helpful if you practice the new language every day. Even if you only review for five or ten minutes, you’ll be helping ingest the language faster.

  1. Make Friends In a New Language

The best way to learn a new language is to use it. Making friends in a new language is a great way to use it more often. On the plus side, your new friends may also help you learn new words and phrases faster since they may use them often.

  1. Immerse Yourself

Immersion teaches language very quickly because students have no other option except to learn. If you can go somewhere where the other language is spoken, you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can learn the new language to make sure you can get by.

  1. Keep a Dictionary On Hand

No one can know every word, and even skilled speakers of a second language make mistakes. Keep a dictionary with you, whether it’s digital or physical, so you can look up words you don’t know.

  1. Use New Words Regularly

Following up on the new word you just found in the dictionary, remember that you need to use a word to retain it. Use new words as often as you can, so you can add them to your internal lexicon.

  1. Develop an Understanding of Grammar

When you don’t have a good grip on a language’s grammar patterns, you may find it harder to speak, read, or understand it. Study grammar regularly to get those patterns ingrained in your mind.

  1. Read Full Sentences Before Translating Text

Why read a full sentence? You may be able to work out what’s being said with context clues, even if you don’t understand everything.

  1. Convert to a Multilingual Thought Process

When you learn a new language, it can be helpful to start thinking in it. If someone calls you, you can answer in another language to start using it. Maybe you can think about going to the pool, for example, and also repeat that internally in the other language, too.

  1. Expect Days When You’re Going to Be Overwhelmed

Languages have thousands of words and phrases. There is no way to learn them all in a short amount of time. You may feel a little overwhelmed at times, but with persistence, you can keep retaining more and improve your skills.

  1. Stay Organized While You Study

Another great tip is to stay organized while you study. Keep your vocabulary words and worksheets together in one place and your necessary homework with the correct lessons. Then, if you need to look back, you’ll find what you’re looking for faster.

  1. Consider Hiring a 1-on-1 Tutor

If you don’t have friends that speak another language, you have another option. That option is to hire a 1-on-1 tutor. A 1-on-1 tutor will help you with specific issues you’re running into, so you can have conversations in the other language in a safe space.

  1. Don’t Try to Speak Too Quickly

While you may want to speak as quickly as friends in a foreign language, doing so could lead to mistakes or poor pronunciation. Get the basics right first, and then speed up your speech.

  1. Watch TV or Movies in a Foreign Language

Watching your favorite TV or movies in a foreign language is helpful if you want to hear it in use. You can put on closed captions to help with reading, too, if you want.

  1. Shore Up Your Skill Gaps

If you keep running into phrases or words you don’t know, look them up. If you have a poor vocabulary when you talk about food but are great at business terms, focus for a while on kitchen and grocery words. Don’t let a gap get too big, or you may feel that you can’t communicate when the reality is that your vocabulary is just lopsided.

  1. Pronounce Phrases Correctly From the Start

From the beginning of learning a new language, you need to pronounce phrases correctly. Focus on good pronunciation. No matter how much you know, if someone can’t understand you, it’s not going to be enough to get by.

  1. Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Learning Techniques

Some people learn best visually. Others need to hear languages more often. Change up how you study so you get the best of all learning opportunities.

Learning a Language Is Possible – Get Started

Now that you have all these excellent options for learning a new language, know that you can learn one in as little as 30 days. A new language is at your fingertips, whether you’re a beginner or want to refresh your language skills as an advanced learner.