10 Best Language Learning Apps for iPhone and Android

Learning a new language can be difficult, especially if you don’t have the right resources and guidance. This is where a language learning app can help. These apps simplify learning a new language by providing interactive lessons, instant feedback, and personalized content. They are also more affordable than other methods.

They break down complex language structures into bite-sized lessons that make it easier to understand and practice. Learning with digital apps like these allows for flexible learning, where we can learn anytime, anywhere.

If you are looking for the best language-learning app, this guide has listed the ten best ones. These are updated versions of the apps we listed a few years back. If you’re ready, then let’s dive in.

Top 10 Language Learning Apps

App	Languages Offered	Lesson Format	Pricing	Unique Feature
Duolingo	40+ languages	Gamified, interactive	Free; Premium (Super Duolingo)	Community feature for social learning
Babbel	14 languages, including Spanish, French, and Italian.	Structured, conversation-focused	Subscription ($89.99/year)	Live lessons and audio stories
Preply	90+ languages including French, Japanese	Tutor-based 1-on-1 lessons	Free trial; $10 per lesson	AI-powered exercises
Falou	20+ including Spanish, French	Real-life conversations	Free; Premium available	Emphasis on speaking skills
Drops	25+ including Spanish, Japanese	Interactive games	Free; Premium available	Fun, gamified learning
Lirica	Spanish, German, French, English, Welsh	Music-based lessons	Free; Premium available	Learn through music
Read Along by Google	10+ including English, Spanish	Story-based, interactive	Free	Interactive reading for kids
Busuu	14+ including English, French	Structured lessons	Free; Premium available	Personalized study plans
Language Transfer	9 including Spanish, Greek	Audio lessons	Free	Innovative, active learning method
Memrise	20+including English, French	Spaced repetition, videos	Free; Premium available	User-generated content
Cake	English, Korean	Short videos, AI checks	Free; Premium available	Daily expression clips

Duolingo

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: Learn over 40 languages, including popular ones like Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, German, and English.
• Platform Availability: Android and iOS
• Pricing: Free with in-app purchases. Premium version available as “Super Duolingo” with added benefits.

Duolingo is my favorite language learning app for beginners. It helps you learn more than 40 languages in a fun and engaging way. The app automatically adapts to your learning style and personalizes your learning experience based on your strengths and weaknesses. You can learn Spanish, French, Chinese, Italian, German, English and over 35 other languages.

The app offers various exercises and instant feedback while practicing. The major highlight of the app is its gamification feature, which makes learning a new language fun and engaging and also helps me to stay on track to learn a new language.

The app guides you through the initial setup and collects data for a personalized learning experience. Take your time and answer the questions for the best and most personalized experience. Duolingo is free. It also comes with a paid version, “Super Duolingo,” offering additional features such as ad-free and offline lessons.

Pros:

• I love how Duolingo makes learning fun and motivating.
• Gamified Learning Experience
• Support for a wide range of Languages.
• Short, Engaging Lessons.
• Free

Cons:

• As I progressed, I noticed it didn’t go very deep into advanced topics.
• The ads can be a bit annoying, but they’re not a deal-breaker.

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Babbel

Highlights:

• Languages: Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Indonesian, and English.
• Platform Availability: Android and iOS
• Pricing: The app offers various subscription plans.12-month plan: $89.99

Babbel offers structured lessons similar to traditional language courses. You get curated lessons to learn the language. You can learn Spanish, French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, and 8+ other languages.

You can choose the language you know and want to learn. The app offers cloze tests, true/false questions, word puzzles, and other exciting methods to help you learn a new language. Some of the features that I loved in this app are live lessons, audiobooks, and audio stories. These are very helpful to me personally as a newbie to improve my pronunciation and enhance my vocabulary.

The user interface is clean, simple, and minimal. The app is free, but most lessons and content are hidden behind a paywall. You can purchase a premium upgrade to unlock them and gain access to games, videos, podcasts, and more.

Pros:

• Focus on Real-Life Conversations.
• The app can be used alongside other structured language learning apps.
• Adapts your learning pace and offers personalized learning paths.

Cons:

• Limited language support.
• Requires subscription after initial lessons

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Preply

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: Learn more than 90 languages including Spanish, French, Japanese, German, and English.
• Platform Availability: Android, iOS, and Web.
• Pricing: Paid plans starting around $10 per lesson. Trial lessons available.

Preply is my top pick for learners who want fast, personalized progress and real conversation practice. Unlike most apps, Preply connects you with a live tutor who builds lessons around your specific goals – whether that’s speaking fluently, preparing for an exam, or improving your confidence.

What I like most is the flexibility. You choose your tutor, schedule, and learning focus. The lessons are 1-on-1, so you get immediate feedback and can start speaking from day one. There are also plenty of complementary resources and AI-powered exercises that help you stay motivated between classes and see how far you’ve come.

Preply is perfect for anyone who wants a more human, tailored learning experience. It’s not free, but totally worth it for serious learners.

Pros:

• Focus on speaking skills with real conversations.
• Online library of practice exercises, courses, and conversation starters for various topics.
• Built-in tool to help you review new vocabulary between lessons
• Great value for the level of support and progress

Cons:

• Requires payment for the trial
• Live video lessons require a strong internet connection

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Falou

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app provides lessons in multiple languages, including Spanish, French, German, Korean, Chinese, English, and Russian.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iPhone
• Pricing: Freemium

Learning through practical experience is the best way to master any new language. Falou offers the opportunity to learn languages with practical, real-life conversations. I have been using the app alongside Duolingo.

The app offers real-time conversation and writing lessons so you can quickly learn and speak the language you want to learn. It supports over 20 languages, including Spanish, French, German, Korean, Chinese, English, Russian, and more. The app also gives you real-time feedback by analyzing your voice and recording your conversation to see how you pronounce words quickly.

You can engage in various real-time conversations, such as ordering food, checking in at the airport, shopping, and more. You can also learn individual words.

Pros:

• Focus on speaking skills with real conversations.
• The lessons are engaging and interactive based on real-life situations like ordering food and more.
• It provides feedback

Cons:

• Frequent ads in the free version
• Limited language selection.
• I had issues with the voice recognition feature, which can be frustrating at times.

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Drops: Language Learning Games

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app offers lessons in various languages, including Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, Chinese, German, and English.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iOS devices
• Pricing: Freemium

Drop is a language-learning game and perhaps the best option for you if you want to learn a new language in a fun and easy way. The app makes language learning engaging and fun. The app offers lessons in different languages, including Spanish, Japanese, French, Korean, Chinese, German, English and many more.

You can learn any language of your choice. During the learning process, the app prompts you to fill in gaps, type in words, match pictures to words, and much more to help you learn the language in a more fun and engaging way.

Drop is free but comes with a premium subscription that unlocks additional benefits. You can customize the settings to focus on specific exercises, such as listening or writing, and set reminders in the app to notify you when the learning time has been reached.

Pros:

• Learn a language through fun and interactive games.
• User-friendly interface.

Cons:

• Daily time limit
• No grammar instructions.
• No speaking practice.

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Lirica: Spanish and German Learning app

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: Spanish, German, French, English, Welsh
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iOS devices
• Pricing: Freemium.

If you love music and learning a new language simultaneously, Lirica might be your best choice. The app uses music to teach languages, making learning fun and engaging. It improves listening skills and pronunciation through high-quality music. It offers bilingual music-based lessons in Spanish, German, English and French.

The song options are very limited and not all the songs have the same level of quality conversation. If you are a music lover and also looking to learn a language you can try this app and check for yourself. Most of my friends loved this unique approach.

The app helps you keep track of your learning and help you to track your progress. The user-friendly experience is simple and easy to navigate even for beginners. The free version has only limited free songs.

Pros:

• Learning a new language in this unique format is fun and engaging.
• Improve listening skills and pronunciation with high-quality music.
• User-friendly interface.

Cons:

• It doesn’t provide extensive grammar explanations,
• The free version offers only a few songs and lessons.

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Read along by Google

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app offers reading materials in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Bangla, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, and Tamil.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android devices through the Google Play Store.
• Pricing: Freemium.

Read Along by Google is designed for children to improve their reading skills. The app uses Google’s text-to-speech and speech recognition technology to help children read and learn. The app supports more than 10 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, Hindi, Bangla, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi and Tamil.

The app story-based learning experience. As a parent, you can choose any story. Children can speak back, The app listens to the child’s voice and gives instant real-time feedback.

For privacy, the app’s voice data is analyzed on the device and not sent to Google’s servers. The app can be used offline, but you must connect to the internet to download new stories. In addition, no registration is required for the app, and there are no ads or in-app purchases. Readalsong by Google is only available for Android and is free to use.

Pros:

• Best language learning app for kids.
• Interactive learning with assistant diya.
• The stories are available in multiple languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Hindi.
• Free to use

Cons:

• Does not cover other aspects of language learning like writing or grammar.

Download for Android

Busuu: Language Learning

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app provides lessons in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, and Turkish.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iOS devices
• Pricing: Freemium

Busuu is the best option for people who want to learn systematically. The app offers courses in English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese and more. It offers organized learning, with lessons divided into chapters. You can complete each lesson to unlock the next chapter and continue learning. There is also a community feature where you can interact with others learning the same language and a dedicated practice area.

Each lesson consists of different questions to help you learn the language. These include matching words, filling in blocks, right or wrong, and more. You can choose different levels. Certain features, such as an exercise lesson, are only available to premium users.

Pros:

• Busuu covers reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills.
• The app offers personalized study plans.
• It comes with community support where native speakers can provide feedback.

Cons:

• Limited free version.
• The quality of courses can vary depending on the language.
• Intrusive ads in the free version.

Download for Android |Download for iOS

Language Transfer

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app provides courses in multiple languages, including Spanish, Greek, Swahili, German, Arabic, Turkish, Italian, French, and English for Spanish speakers.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iOS devices
• Pricing: Freemium.

Language Transfer is a simple app for beginners who want to learn with audio-based lessons. The app offers courses in Spanish, Greek, Swahili, German, Arabic, Turkish, Italian, French, and English to learn a new language. There are subdivided audio lessons for each course, which you can join and listen to.

The app allows you to download the tracks in advance and use them offline. It automatically saves your progress and lets you pick up where you left off. The app offers a simple and easy-to-use interface with a minimalist look. It is also ad-free and requires no registration to use the app.

However, I wish the lessons had more descriptive names instead of being labeled “1,” “2,” and so on. More detailed lesson descriptions would be a welcome improvement.

Pros:

• Free high-quality courses.
• Innovative and straightforward teaching method
• Audio-based learning.
• Easy navigation, minimal user interface.
• Focus on active participation.

Cons:

• Limited language options
• No native speaker recordings
• No progress tracking
• Non-linear learning

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Memrise

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: The app provides lessons in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, and Turkish.
• Platform Availability: Available on Android and iOS devices
• Pricing: Freemium.

Memrise offers both video and audio-based interactive language learning lessons. The app offers lessons in multiple languages, including English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, Arabic, Dutch, Turkish and more.

You can track your learning progress. The app also lists videos sourced from platforms like YouTube in the video tab. I found this helpful. Another feature that I like is the communication feature, which allows you to chat with the bot, improve your language skills, and complete missions.

You can also download the lessons offline, and the MemBot will help you practice speaking. The app is available for free with optional premium.

Pros:

• The app uses spaced repetition to help you retain vocabulary over the long term.
• Video content with native speakers.
• Wide range of user-generated content
• Engaging and interactive which makes learning fun

Cons:

• Limited access to the free version
• Quality variability in user-generated content
• Repetitive exercises in some areas.
• Lack of in-depth grammar instruction

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Cake: English and Korean Learning App

Highlights:

• Languages Offered: Learn both English and Korean.
• Platform Availability: Android and iOS
• Pricing: Freemium

Cake was originally launched as a browser but has evolved into a language-learning app. You can learn and improve your English with the help of small video clips. Similar to TikTok, you can watch short learning videos from various authors and cake insiders.

The app also offers a learning path where you can keep track of your learning and guidance if you want a structured approach. Cake also offers live lessons with native English and Korean speakers. You can participate in live sessions and interact with speakers.

There are also pre-recorded videos on most topics, categorized into different levels, such as beginner, basic, intermediate, and more. You can choose any level and improve your English.

Pros:

• Short video content, Interactive vertical short video format.
• Daily Expression Clips taught by cake insiders, as well as the community.
• Step-by-Step Classes for better linear learning.

Cons:

• Ads in the free version
• AI pronunciation feedback can be better.
• No offline mode in the free version

Download for Android | Download for iOS

Bonus: Learn English through Google Search

You can also learn and improve your language through Google Search. Google has announced a new Google Search feature that helps you practice speaking and improve your language skills with simple, short, practical lessons and exercises. You speak in response to real-life situations, and the tool gives you feedback on how well you’ve done.

It’s free to use. You can practice anytime, anywhere, and in short sessions. The tool tells you whether your answer makes sense and identifies grammatical errors. It also helps you understand words by showing their meaning in the given context, and it’s good at spotting grammar mistakes, even if you have an accent. The Google Search learning tool is available on your Android device via the Google app. When you open the app, you will see an area where you can speak English. You can click on it to start learning.

Pros:

• Learn English without directly from Google search.
• Simple and easy
• Supports multiple languages
• Free

Cons:

• Not for advanced learners
• Think of it as complementary whenever you are using the search.

How to Choose the Best Language Learning App

• Easy to Use: The app should be simple and easy to use to learn a new language. Most apps initially offer English as the setup language; you can change it to your language later.
• Languages it offers: Make sure the app offers the language you want to learn and the language you want to learn from.
• Levels: The app should be flexible enough to allow you to choose lessons for beginners, intermediate and advanced learners.
• Practice Options: The app should allow you to practice speaking, listening, reading, and writing, which will help you learn better.
• Feedback: Feedback can be very useful, especially when learning something new. It’s good if the app tells you when you make mistakes and how you can fix them.
• Price: Most language learning apps are free to use. However, some offer premium versions and additional benefits.
• Offline Use: Look for an app that supports offline functions. This allows you to learn a language without having an active internet connection.

Note: The earlier version of this article was authored by Ionut Nedelcu.