Unlock New Horizons with Our Top 5 Favorite Free Language Apps of the Year

Check out my go-to ways to learn languages on a phone, complete with the upsides and downsides of each. Learning a language through an app is incredibly convenient—you can tackle lessons and track your progress anytime, even with just a few minutes to spare.

Whether you’re gearing up to order food on your next vacation, aiming to chat with a friend in their language of choice, or looking to enhance your resume with a new skill, these language learning apps are a fantastic tool to help you reach your goals.

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Many of these apps are also available asfree language learning websites that offer even more options. You can also use alanguage exchange website for more practice with real people, whiletranslator sites are ideal for one-off translations.

01

of 05

Duolingo

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What We Like

• User account not required.
• Supports lots of languages.
• Many ways to learn.
• Lots of free lessons.
• Affordable plans if you’re interested.

What We Don’t Like

• Lesson paths are sometimes hard to understand.

Learning a new language with Duolingo has been a breeze. When I open the app, I simply choose the language I want to learn, and I’m all set to start the course. What’s great is you don’t need an account at first, although I do suggest creating one later to track progress.

This app begins by using text, pictures, and audio to help you learn a different language. The idea is to associate the sound of the translation with the visuals of the text and pictures, and then have you manually translate the audio back into your preferred language to help reinforce the new words.

Every section you complete moves you forward to more difficult tasks, to build on your vocabulary and sentence structure. You have the option of testing out of several sections at once if you’re familiar with the language, and Duolingo will adapt the questions based on how well you do.

Languages You Can Learn : Spanish, French, Japanese, Korean, German, Hindi, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, English, Portuguese, Turkish, Vietnamese, Dutch, Greek, Polish, Swedish, Latin, Irish, Norwegian, Ukrainian, Hebrew, Indonesian, Finnish, High Valyrian, Danish, Romanian, Czech, Hawaiian, Welsh, Zulu, Swahili, Hungarian, Scottish Gaelic, Haitian Creole, Esperanto, Klingon, Navajo, Yiddish

Download For:

iOS

Android

02

of 05

Google Translate

What We Like

• Helpful translation methods.
• Great for quick translations.
• Works with lots of languages.
• Also run on the web.
• Updates frequently.

What We Don’t Like

• No step-by-step lessons.
• Not all translations can be spoken back to you.

Most of these apps teach you a language through exercises and progressive steps, while Google’s simply tells you how to write and speak anything you run through it. Still, I think it’s a great option for beginners.

I like tolearn languages with Google Translate for two main reasons: its long list of supported languages, and the several language learning methods.

You can use it to translate text, handwriting, and your voice. This means you can enter text manually, draw the text, or speak it to convert it into the target language. You can even save your favorite translations to refer to them quickly whenever you like.

Google Translate may be different, but it’s certainly a great tool if you’re stuck on a specific word or phrase, or if you prefer to target your learning to particular phrases and sentences only. It can especially prove to be beneficial if you’re speaking with someone that doesn’t know your language

Another reason I think this app is a must-have if you’re traveling is instant translations. Available for some languages, it’s a type ofaugmented reality that uses your phone camera to translate, in real time, any text you point it at, like signs and menus. You definitely need to try it out!

Languages You Can Learn : Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Greek, Bulgarian, Swahili, Swedish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Korean, Czech, English, Persian, Latin, Bosnian, and dozens more

Download For:

iOS

Android

This app can translate even when you don’t have an internet connection—just make sure you download the language pack before you go offline. SeeHow to Use Google Translate Offline for all the details.

03

of 05

Busuu

What We Like

• Great for all experience levels.
• Socialize with other learners.
• Provide feedback to other users.

What We Don’t Like

• Small language selection.
• Lots of features are not free.
• User account necessary.

Busuu’s app is user-friendly and offers flexibility in how you interact with the courses. You get to pick where you’d like to begin in the course. Depending on the language, this might be beginner, elementary, intermediate, upper intermediate, or advanced courses.

The words and phrases you’ll learn are especially helpful for beginners who might find themselves around people speaking a foreign language and need to learn words in real situations quickly.

The app teaches you vocabulary words and phrases, presenting them both on their own and within sentences. As you progress through the levels, it also evaluates your knowledge through quizzes to ensure you’re learning effectively.

Unfortunately, Busuu doesn’t support as many languages as some of these other apps, and you do need a user account to get in. Also, some quizzes and other features may require a premium account, but there are many, many words and quizzes that are absolutely free.

Languages You Can Learn : English, Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Korean

Download For:

iOS

Android

04

of 05

Memrise

What We Like

• Unique teaching methods.
• Learn several languages.
• Upgrade options.

What We Don’t Like

• Must make a user account.
• Unfriendly website design.

Memrise isn’t as smooth as Duolingo or as easy to use for quick translations as Google Translate, but it is easy to work with, supports offline courses, and lets you learn a massive number of languages. You can start off simple or skip all the way through to more advanced lessons.

I find Memrise to be unique in how it teaches new words and phrases. It incorporates words into sentences alongside words that sound similar in your language, which makes it easier to remember. You might also come across multiple images with familiar objects overlaid with foreign words, helping you make stronger connections.

Another clever method Memrise uses is mixing up translations. Instead of learning words one by one, you learn a few new words together and then keep reviewing them in a different order. This helps ensure you really grasp the words before moving on to the next round of learning.

Languages You Can Learn : Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mongolian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Yoruba

Download For:

iOS

Android

05

of 05

Rosetta Stone

What We Like

• Built for travelers.
• Unique features.
• Supports lots of languages.
• Multi-platform support.

What We Don’t Like

• User account required.
• Additional features are pricey.
• Limited lessons for free users.

Rosetta Stone is a professional-grade service for language learning, but it offers this free app meant specifically to help travelers learn basic words and phrases.

There are dozens of pictures tied to common phrases that are spoken aloud in the language you’re wanting to learn, and you have to repeat the words back to practice your pronunciation. One thing I appreciate is that it can skip forward to any lesson or let me follow through from beginning to end.

There’s also a phrasebook with basic words and words related to restaurants, hotels, and getting around—all very useful for someone traveling. If you want, you can purchase additional phrasebooks covering topics like shopping, colors, emergencies, and currency-related terms.

Languages You Can Learn : Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Dutch, English (American or British), Filipino (Tagalog), French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Persian (Farsi), Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Spanish (Latin American or Spain), Swedish, Turkish, Vietnamese

Download For:

iOS

Android

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