Just 20 years ago, to learn a foreign language, we needed to pay for a course in all cases. Now classes are still necessary, but we can reinforce them with the best language learning apps.
The big problem faced by many students of any language is the lack of practice once they leave high school or online classes. But the solution lies in technology: language learning apps are ideal for reinforcing what you have learned.
Of course, among so many options currently available in the Apple and Android app stores, it’s hard to know which ones to choose.
Therefore, in this article we will offer a guide to find the best language learning apps.
Are language learning apps useful?
Although language learning apps offer useful and fun tools to advance in a language, they should be understood as a supplement to learning.
Some students use them to prepare before starting a classroom or online course, and thus avoid arriving to class lost. And that is a good option, as well as using them to reinforce what they have learned and to see how much progress they have made in their courses.
That said: English classes will always be important because they include something that apps can’t give you: a multisensory experience.
At Lingua Language Center, we focus on having students learn languages through all of their senses, so that a word in that language comes to their minds when they touch, smell and taste it, not just when they hear or see it.
But yes, apps can help students a lot to accelerate their learning process, and in this article we will show you which ones we think are the best ones out there.
Best language learning applications
When reviewing the best applications for learning languages, we made a selection of some that are unavoidable due to their weight in the world and the number of active users per month. They are as follows…
Duolingo
This is a language learning app and website created in 2011 by Guatemalan Luis Von Ahn.
If a Spanish speaker downloads it, he/she will have access to courses in English, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Guarani, Swedish, Russian and even Esperanto (an artificial language of great popularity worldwide).
But English speakers also have the opportunity to learn Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Korean, Norwegian, Turkish, Hebrew, Irish, Ukrainian, Thai, Navajo, Hawaiian, Hindi, Czech, Yell, Polish, Indonesian, Hungarian, Romanian, Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Haitian Creole, Swahili, Finnish, Yiddish and even Klingon (the language of Klingon), Indonesian, Hungarian, Romanian, Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Haitian Creole, Swahili, Finnish, Yiddish, and even Klingon (a language created for Paramount Pictures studios as part of the Star Trek universe).
It is easy and intuitive to use. That’s why it is one of the most used language apps in the world. In addition, it provides its own certification to those who learn English.
It has both a free version with ads and a premium version without ads.
Busuu
It is a social network that has enormous appeal because it allows users to practice English with native speakers of other languages.
It also has quite entertaining exercises and is available for IOS and Android.
Memrise
This tool was created by a memory expert and a neuroscientist. Both were convinced that they could create a program that would help people remember words and grammatical structures in other languages.
Today it also works for learning academic and non-academic subjects.
Mondly
It is a free platform that provides the opportunity to learn more than 40 languages.
Its method is based on the combination of learning phrases and vocabulary with voice recognition and chatbot technologies.
Their vision as a company is to help students speak a new language with confidence.
HelloTalk
This app is a creation of polyglotclub.com. It offers more than 100 languages to learn with the help of teachers who are native speakers in that language, and it is completely free.
In addition, it has intuitive tools and an interesting experience that can be very entertaining.
Its greatest value is being able to converse with native speakers.
Drops
It is a language learning app created in Estonia in 2015.
In 2019, Drops was ranked as one of the fifty most innovative companies in the world. That may have been because their approach to teaching a language is to focus on the words and phrases most commonly used by travelers, and then move on to more vocabulary.
HiNative
HiNative is a global application that allows you to clarify your doubts in a language with native speakers of that language.
You can be in contact with people from anywhere in the world and, in a free and simple way, ask them questions about their culture and language.
For example, if you want to know what is really eaten in a certain part of the world, you can ask a person from that place. In the same way, you can ask him or her how an expression is really said, what is the way they normally use in the street or how it sounds more natural.
How far will I get with the best language learning apps?
Whichever of these apps you choose, it will work to reinforce what you are learning in a course.
Taking language classes will really make a difference on your way to being able to communicate effectively in a language, and these apps will be a great complement so that you don’t miss a day of practice.
If you want to take language courses, write to us. Lingua Language Center is one of the most prestigious language schools in South Florida, offering first class classes both in person and online.