What are the best apps for learning English?

Question

8

Options
Considered

34

User
Recs.

Apr 2, 2021

Last
Updated

Here’s the Deal

5 Options Considered

Best apps for learning English	Price	Platforms	Number of languages
-- Duolingo	$0-$9.99/m	iOS, Android, Windows phone, Web	~30 from English
-- Memrise	FREE	iOS, Android, Web	~50
-- HelloTalk	-	iOS, Android	150+
-- WordBrewery	$0-$9.99/m	Web	20
-- Vocabulary	-	-	-

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I Recommend...

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score 15 · Answer 1

Duolingo

Top Pro

Friendly, active community

There is a discussion board available on the site, and a really active community on reddit in r/duolingo (30k + members). Everyone is friendly and happy to help or offer support. See More

Top Con

Too easy

Duolingo uses gamification, but games are only fun if they are challenging. Duolingo's courses tend to be very easy and appropriate only for beginners. See More

Specs

Platforms:iOS, Android, Windows phone, Web

Number of languages:~30 from English

In-app purchases:Yes

Ads:Yes (Android, iOS)

See All Specs

Top Pro

Motivates through creative gamification

Progress is measured gaming-like by gaining XP, leveling up and knowing how many words are learnt. Also, lessons have a limited amount of lives, which you must preserve to pass the lesson. They use other creative gamification techniques to keep you motivated such as making wagers and improving your position on the leaderboard. See More

Top Con

Too slow-paced for some learners

If you learn vocabulary quickly, you may get bored and find the lessons to be repetitive. See More

Top Pro

Engaging learning method

Each lesson uses a variety of different learning methods to keep it interesting and fun. The lessons are short so you aren't forced to focus for long periods of time. See More

Top Con

Repetitive questions on entire lessons

Same questions all over until one section completed. See More

Top Pro

Extensive

Duolingo is exceptionally thorough when it comes to teaching the nuances of language. It has plenty of audio material, articles to translate, and a cooperative development made by users. See More

Top Con

Uses fake and unrealistic sentences

Duolingo does not use authentic sentences written by native speakers. Its sentences are unrealistic and often meaningless. Here are some examples: "Grandma is in the trunk." | "I am eating bread and crying on the floor." | "I have a knife." See More

Top Con

Little production of target language

Duolingo focuses heavily on reading comprehension and translation into one's own language rather than encouraging production of text/speech in the target language. See More

Top Con

Mobile app is less beneficial because it's too easy

Some of the games available on the mobile app are different from that on the desktop version, and are oversimplified/make it very easy to guess. See More

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score 11 · Answer 2

Memrise

Top Pro

Android app can be used offline

You can download courses to use offline with the Android app. Great for when you're traveling. See More

Top Con

Doesn't teach much grammar

Memrise is more focused on increasing your vocabulary, so has very little on grammar and sentence structure. See More

Specs

Platforms:iOS, Android, Web

Number of languages:~50

In app purchases:Yes

Ads?:No

See All Specs

Top Pro

Learn from natives

Official courses have videos of natives, recorded recently , to help you along. See More

Top Con

Courses vary in quality

Memrise courses are created by users, and some are better than others. See More

Top Pro

Helps grow your vocabulary quickly

Memrise uses "mems" to increase your vocabulary, which are a way to connect a word to its meaning. A common example is associating a word with an image. Mnemonics are another one they use to help you remember new words. For example, "le parcours" (route or course) could be remembered with the mem "People who do parkour pick their own route". See More

Top Con

Lack of uniformity

It is driven by community, that can be good, but quality isn't always the same and it misses some uniformity. See More

Top Pro

Free account without a time limit

Basic account is totally free (no time limit) and very generous. An upgrade (with more features) is available for 9 USD / month. See More

Top Con

Lack of diversity in some courses

Some courses will have a very poor diversity for vocabulary lessons. For example, a Russian reading lesson, will repeat the 5 same people names for 8 to 10 minutes. It can be annoying, or demotivating. See More

Top Pro

Foreign keyboard on screen when necessary

This saves you from having to copy/paste characters or worry about your keyboard settings. See More

Top Con

Most courses teach vocabulary out of context

It is more effective to learn vocabulary in context. However, some user-contributed mems include example phrases or sentences. See More

Top Pro

Easy to use

You will understand quickly what you should do, and you will begin to learn in less than a minute. See More

Top Con

Too slow-paced for some learners

Top Pro

Real voice

Top Pro

Huge vocabulary

The courses can teach you a very large vocabulary (for example, the first level Spanish course has 1705 words). See More

Top Pro

Awesome community made courses

Top Pro

It makes you write the words

If you choose this option, writing is a very efficient way of memorization. See More

Top Pro

Courses available using Tim Ferriss' method

See All

score 1 · Answer 3

HelloTalk

Top Pro

Native speakers

It is easy to find native speakers and practice language. See More

Specs

Platforms:iOS, Android

Number of languages:150+

In app purchases:Yes

score 1 · Answer 4

WordBrewery

Top Pro

High-frequency vocabulary

WordBrewery focuses on high-frequency vocabulary to help you learn as efficiently as possible. Its sentences are selected because they contain many high-frequency words within a particular level. See More

Top Con

Does not yet have native iOS or Android apps

Specs

Platforms:Web

Number of languages:20

In app purchases:No

Ads?:No

See All Specs

Top Pro

Short lessons

You can learn vocabulary and grammar even if you only have a few minutes to study each day. See More

Top Pro

Great for intermediate and advanced learners

WordBrewery finds new sentences to teach every day so you can never run out of content to study. Its Master level teaches you the 30,000 most common words in English. See More

Top Pro

Automatically create lists of example sentences

Whenever you find a word you want to study, you can automatically create a list of sentences containing that word. You can then print these sentences, export them to a flash card program, or study them on the website. See More

Top Pro

Read sentences about your areas of interest

You can focus on your areas of interest by choosing to read sentences about specific topics. This makes it easier and more fun to read and study the sentences. See More

Top Pro

No rote memorization or boring drills

WordBrewery teaches vocabulary and grammar in context, not rote memorization. See More

Top Pro

Personalized courses that adapt to your current knowledge

WordBrewery's English courses select different sentences for you based on your current word knowledge. The courses are different for everyone. See More

Top Pro

Real, relevant, accurate sentences

WordBrewery uses real sentences from recent news articles written by native speakers. This means the content you study is interesting, relevant, and accurate. See More

See All

Answer 5

Vocabulary

Mobile App:iOS, Android

score 1 · Answer 6

Barden Linguistics - Language Exchange (@bardenapp)

score 1 · Answer 7

Learn English words with Smart-Teacher

score 1 · Answer 8

5 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Duolingo

My Recommendation for Duolingo

Friendly, active community

Too easy

Motivates through creative gamification

Too slow-paced for some learners

Engaging learning method

Repetitive questions on entire lessons

Extensive

Uses fake and unrealistic sentences

Little production of target language

Mobile app is less beneficial because it's too easy

My Recommendation for Memrise

My Recommendation for Memrise

Android app can be used offline

Doesn't teach much grammar

Learn from natives

Courses vary in quality

Helps grow your vocabulary quickly

Lack of uniformity

Free account without a time limit

Lack of diversity in some courses

Foreign keyboard on screen when necessary

Most courses teach vocabulary out of context

Easy to use

Too slow-paced for some learners

Real voice

Huge vocabulary

Awesome community made courses

It makes you write the words

Courses available using Tim Ferriss' method

My Recommendation for HelloTalk

My Recommendation for HelloTalk

Native speakers

My Recommendation for WordBrewery

My Recommendation for WordBrewery

High-frequency vocabulary

Does not yet have native iOS or Android apps

Short lessons

Great for intermediate and advanced learners

Automatically create lists of example sentences

Read sentences about your areas of interest

No rote memorization or boring drills

Personalized courses that adapt to your current knowledge

Real, relevant, accurate sentences

My Recommendation for Vocabulary

My Recommendation for Vocabulary

Don't see your favorite option? Add it.

My Recommendation for Barden Linguistics - Language Exchange (@bardenapp)

My Recommendation for Barden Linguistics - Language Exchange (@bardenapp)

My Recommendation for Learn English words with Smart-Teacher

My Recommendation for Learn English words with Smart-Teacher

My Recommendation for Vocabulary Miner

My Recommendation for Vocabulary Miner

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