I’ve tried quite a few language learning apps over time. Below are my personal impressions of which ones I actually stuck with, and which ones didn’t last.
Apps I used for a while
Duolingo
Short lessons and instant feedback made it easy to open, even on low-energy days. Over time, though, it started to feel repetitive and a bit shallow.
Busuu
Feels more like a real course with clear structure and progression, plus writing feedback from native speakers. It does require more focus, so I didn’t always come back when tired.
Lingvist
Very efficient for vocabulary building, especially since it skips words you already know. Mostly focused on reading and typing, with limited speaking practice.
Memrise
The video and audio content from real speakers made the language feel more natural and alive. Course structure can feel a bit fragmented rather than systematic.
Drops
Extremely quick and easy to fit into a busy day. Great for topical vocabulary, but it mostly teaches isolated words.
CapWords
You take photos of things around you and learn what they’re called with example sentences, which then turn into reviewable stickers. There’s no fixed curriculum, but curiosity alone kept me coming back.
Apps that didn’t stick
Babbel
No Chinese, Japanese, or Korean,and the lessons felt too long for me to stay consistent.
Pimsleur
Audio-only wasn’t for me,I need to see the words.
HelloTalk
Finding the right people to talk to already took more energy than the actual practice.
That’s just my experience,I’m curious what worked (or didn’t) for you, so feel free to share 🙂
Capwords sounded fun but they use a different name, Snapwords in the Android Playstore.
Oh weird, maybe they rebranded or it's region specific? I've definitely seen apps with different names on iOS vs Android before
What I paid and tried: Vocabuo - space repetitions program, not only words but the whole sentences. Pictures, audio, speech recognitions.Great for vocabulary. AI for speaking with. Very satisfied after several months of use DuoCards - space repetitions but only words. AI for speaking very good after last updates BeeSpeaker - small lectures about different topics. Structure of lectures repeats again and again. Sometimes echo during pone speech.
I have been using all these programs for several months. Most useful for me is Vocabuo.
I do a lot of input. And I use Bubblz AI for most of my speaking practice (plus occasional language exchange, but it’s hard to get enough speaking practice with that). I used to use QuizIQ (it’s a website, not an app) for grammar, but I stopped focusing on grammar once I reached a certain point.
a total mix of I suppose everything but still not fluent. Literally moved to the country I'm learning the language of and that helps immensely. I use post its for vocab, taught myself to read phonetically, still working on fluency, Netflix for listening and then I try to translate on my own before subtitles confirm, and Ling to practice on the go a mess really but it's working!
I've been using LingQ for exercises, books, and music. With videos, you need two screens: one to watch and the app to follow along. I've found it very good!
Natulang has been great for me
I tried duolingo, busuu, memrise and drops, along with a few other small apps along the years.
At the moment, I'm using Glossa to learn Greek, and I am also looking for more beta-testers to try it out.
So if you're interested, Glossa is currently available on iOS Testflight (beta): https://testflight.apple.com/join/FcXmkfKE
If you have any questions/comments/feedback, let me know!