Best educational apps in 2024, studied by zousapps

If you’re going soon to an area where you don’t speak the language well (or at all), then you’ll want to download a language study app to your smartphone before you start on your adventure. These applications may assist you whether you’re on your newest family vacation, an exceptional trip with pals or even a honeymoon.

“I always advise clients who book trips with us to use a language learning app if they don’t already know the language where they’re going. I’ve done it myself on my vacations,” says travel agent Liz Harnos, co-owner of Burr Travel, a Northport, New York-based travel agency. “These apps can help you learn enough that you’ll be able to order food, ask for directions and other basic things during your trip.”

Even if you have no trip plans in the near future and you simply want to learn a new language for your personal development, then utilizing a language learning software on your smartphone or laptop might be the appropriate decision for you. To select the best one, we tested five candidates over the period of five weeks. On our list were the premium (i.e., paid) editions of Babbel, Busuu Premium Plus, Memrise, Rosetta Stone and Super Duolingo. We assessed each of them for simplicity of setup, design and functionality.

What is the number one best learning app?

We learnt two essential things while testing: 1) some of the applications are simpler to use than others, and 2) these apps can teach you the fundamentals for up to 38 different languages, depending on the program. When all our testing was done, we determined that Rosetta Stone emerged as the victor due of its easy-to-use design and the way it presented its courses in the most logical manner.

1-Rosetta Stone

There’s a solid reason why the language study software Rosetta Stone is the gros chien (that is, the huge dog) among the applications we evaluated. It’s smartly designed, versatile and assumes you are an adult when you first log in. It performed fine on our smartphone, however it displayed in landscape mode rather than portrait style. It also worked great on our PC as a web app.

When we began testing Rosetta Stone, we were prompted to submit our email address, then we were asked to pick a language to study. In the French version we picked, we were greeted in French and then we clicked on “Get Started.” At this time, we were questioned about our degree of fluency. We were offered selections for Beginner, Intermediate and Proficient. We choose Beginner.

We were then asked about our objectives for learning the language, including travel, family, job or “basics and beyond.” We began with Travel. From there, we were provided with the basic teachings and a reminder that we had three days left in our free trial. We were given the possibility to join up immediately to obtain a discount.

When we began using the app, the first thing we were given was to pick our gender and indicate whether we were a kid or adult. This helped the speech recognition machine recognize our voice.

Next, we were requested to test our microphone by counting to five. And that’s it.

The following phase began with “Bonjour,” which we repeated into our microphone, and then we were off learning French.

Rosetta Stone began us out with a few words and a few brief phrases. The examples were combined with photographs demonstrating what each signifies, which is one of the reasons why it benefits to spend at least part of the time using the app on a big screen. Using a smartphone, we would think it may be tricky for some individuals to tell whether images of youngsters are males or girls.

Next, we were guided through conversational settings, such as what we may say in a café. We were also offered the choice to arrange a session with a tutor, study situational phrasebooks or listen to local speakers tell tales.

We found the development in Rosetta Stone to be reasonable, and better still, we discovered when we reread the courses that we had recalled the vocabulary, the grammar and the pronunciation. While we weren’t proficient by the conclusion of the testing time, we were comfortable enough with the language that we could order a coffee and lunch at a café without terrifying the waitstaff.

Rosetta Stone provides courses in 25 languages, including Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Dutch, Greek, English (American and British), French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish (Latin America and Spain), Turkish and Vietnamese. You may use Rosetta Stone as both a web software and a mobile app for Android or iOS mobile devices.

You may join up for a three-day free trial. Once you sign up for a premium account, the organization gives a 30-day money-back guarantee. The paid account option starts out at $16 per month for three months, however you’ll pay beforehand.

How we tested

During our pre-testing study, we realized there are many other language learning applications accessible. We chose our five finalists and made sure they were all subscription-based. We examined each of them with the following factors in mind: simplicity of installation and setup, convenience of use, design and functionality given.

To start testing, we first made an account with each app and commenced the sign-up procedure. We downloaded the French version of each app on our iPhone 13 Pro smartphone. We selected French since all of the language learning applications provided it and it was a language that we didn’t already know. However, each of the applications we evaluated is accessible in numerous languages; most offer English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

The applications we tried worked on our smartphone, but they also could run from a tablet or as a web app launched from a desktop or laptop computer. They all gave us some type of a free introduction session so that we could determine whether or not we liked them before committing.

While we discovered that each app is distinct in the intricacies of how it tackles language learning, we noticed that they shared key similarities. For example, they all showed us an image of an item or an activity and displayed the term linked with it. Each app showed us with the auditory form of the term, and the app’s voice recognition tool listened to our pronunciation.

Some applications requested us to spell out words in order to answer questions, while others asked us to choose from a variety of terms. They all enable us revisit a lesson to better our knowledge.

Each of these applications tries to concentrate its approach to fit our familiarity with the language being learned. When we began the app for the first time, we were asked how comfortable we were with the language, and the app put us through a brief exam to gain additional specifics on our abilities. This implies that someone who has a rudimentary grasp of a language won’t be driven through the fundamentals unless they wish to start there.

One thing we learned while testing is that a smartphone may not be the optimal platform for these applications. While handy, there are instances when a bigger screen is a significant advantage and when a strong microphone will assist the program hear you. Each of the applications relies on visuals to convey words and activities, yet the tiny screen of a smartphone made it impossible for us to detect certain crucial information.

Likewise, we observed that each app had some voice recognition errors that might be ascribed to either the quality of the microphone in our smartphone, or the fact that the microphone was being masked by how the smartphone was handled.

2-Babbel

Other language learning applications we tested Babbel $13 per month (for 6 months) @ Babbel.

The language learning app Babbel is another one of the leading contenders in this market. While its method is comparable to Rosetta Stone in some aspects, Babbel began us out at a quicker rate, sometimes with terms that weren’t previously covered in the course.

In addition, we observed minor difficulties with both its mobile app and its online version. The online app would lose touch with our microphone following screen changes at times, and the smartphone app didn’t appear exact in speech recognition. What we mean by that is, we would purposefully utter a word inaccurately, but the smartphone app would still accept it.

Babbel claims it tailors its course according to the language with which you’re beginning, so a natural English speaker would have a different experience than a native Spanish speaker while using the app to learn French.

Babbel begins out with simply a few words, repeated repeatedly in basic settings. This may be a useful strategy for someone who hasn’t studied a foreign language previously or who has trouble acquiring languages. Babbel also provides classes with live professors in a group environment.

Babbel provides classes in 14 languages, namely Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Russian, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. You may use Babbel as both a web app and a mobile app for Android or iOS mobile devices.

You may register with Babbel for free, and the first lesson in any course is free to try. If you sign up for the premium version, then the firm gives a 20-day money-back guarantee. After that, it costs $14 each month (for 6 months).

3-Busuu Premium Plus

$14 per month (paid monthly) at Busuu

The language study software Busuu Premium Plus was recently bought by Chegg, Inc. Initially, you may enjoy a free week of learning with Busuu Premium Plus, while studying in what the firm terms “bite-sized lessons.”

During testing, we experienced Busuu’s method to learning, which was to have us speak simple words and phrases — such as “Excuse me” in French — followed by completing a brief exam where we answered a question regarding the phrase.

But there was no explanation supplied to us as to what the actual French phrases we were speaking meant. We also got no actual explanation of verbs or gender. As a consequence, we concluded it’s an app that depends primarily on rote memorization, without much comprehension on the user’s side.

One example of this was when we performed a fill-in-the-blanks exercise of a discussion; we didn’t get much teaching regarding the language. It seems to us that this strategy may be bewildering to a fresh French student without much exposure to the language. Adding to the uncertainty, it wasn’t simple for us to go back a bit earlier in our class to explain anything or to review anything.

Busuu Premium Plus is undoubtedly a wonderful strategy for learners who have some previous exposure to the language, but generally, using it felt to us to be like learning to swim by starting out at the deep end.

Busuu Premium Plus provides classes in 13 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish. You may use Busuu Premium Plus as both a web app and a mobile app for Android or iOS mobile devices.

You may join up for the basic version of Busuu, which is free. The firm gives a 14-day money-back guarantee. After that, Busuu Premium Plus costs $14 per month (paid monthly).

4-Memrise

$15 per month (paid monthly) at Memrise

The language learning software Memrise employs words and phrases uttered in short films that we then had to choose from a list. The selection of words and phrases was more sophisticated than it was in some of the other language learning applications we examined. If you’re going to travel to France and apply the French that you learned via an app, then Memrise’s method could be superior.

However, this software required more effort for us to use than with, say, Super Duolingo. Memrise asserts that their technology employs “scientific memory techniques.” like may be the truth, but we believe this is one program where it looks like it will only offer dividends if you take it carefully and with considerable focus.

It’s also worth mentioning that several of the activities in Memrise required us to actually write in the answer rather than select out an answer from a multiple choice list. Because (like us) you’re presumably using an American English keyboard, Memrise gives the extra characters from the French alphabet for you to chose.

Overall, we felt this is a well-intentioned and well-designed tool, but it took more effort on our side to comprehend and utilize.

Memrise provides courses in 23 languages, including Arabic, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (US and UK), French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazil and Portugal), Russian and Spanish (Mexico and Spain). You may use Memrise as both a web app and a mobile app for Android or iOS mobile devices.

Memrise is partially free, which means the fundamental teaching is provided, but most of the truly helpful instruction costs an upgraded account. The firm provides four subscription plans: Monthly, Annual, Quarterly and Lifetime. We tried the monthly version, which costs $15 per month (paid monthly).

5-Super Duolingo

Super Duolingo $10 per month (paid monthly) at Duolingo.

With the language study program Super Duolingo (previously Duolingo Plus), we began out on our smartphone, learning with cartoons. Most of the lectures started with single words or brief phrases, each with English translations. Testing proceeded successfully throughout this time.

However, when we utilized the online app, we found difficulty with the voice recognition aspect of several classes. There were instances when even basic words we uttered weren’t recognized, but at other times they were.

Beyond that, Super Duolingo took things in very modest stages, both in terms of vocabulary and in terms of sentence difficulty. The outcome of Super Duolingo’s strategy was that our learning proceeded forward steadily, although in modest stages. But the software is built such that these very little stages go very rapidly.

The program also provided us trumpets and virtual confetti and the like if we got a right answer; there were plenty of celebrations when we finished a job. We believed this was something that may appeal to younger learners but probably not to most older folks.

Overall, we believed learning using Super Duolingo was quick and simple. It’s the type of thing you can do day after day without feeling like you’re working, which is a huge bonus when it comes to learning a language.

Super Duolingo provides courses in 38 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Polish, Romanian and Spanish. You may use Super Duolingo as both a web app and a mobile app for Android or iOS mobile devices.

The basic edition of Duolingo is free. Super Duolingo – the improved version that we evaluated — may be tried for free for two weeks. After that, it costs $10 per month (paid monthly).