Best Apps by Language
Top app recommendations for the six most popular languages studied by English speakers.
Updated 27 March 2026
Spanish
600M+ speakers worldwide
Best structured grammar course for Spanish, with native speaker audio recorded in multiple dialects
Largest Spanish course by volume, gamified and free tier available
Best for spoken Spanish, with separate Latin American and Castilian tracks
Tip: Spanish is the most well-supported language across all apps. Focus on deciding between Latin American or Iberian Spanish early, as pronunciation and vocabulary differ significantly. Most apps default to Latin American Spanish.
French
280M+ speakers worldwide
Strong grammar-focused French course aligned with DELF exam preparation
Excellent free tier, regular updates, good pronunciation feedback
Strong immersive French course with native speaker content
Tip: French pronunciation is one of the trickiest aspects for English speakers. Prioritise apps with strong speech recognition like Babbel and Duolingo. French grammar genders require explicit study.
Japanese
128M+ speakers worldwide
Best app for learning hiragana, katakana, and basic kanji in a structured order
Essential for building kanji vocabulary with community decks like Core 2000
Best for spoken Japanese including keigo (polite forms)
Tip: Japanese requires learning three writing systems (hiragana, katakana, kanji). Start with hiragana and katakana before moving to kanji. Anki is almost universally recommended by serious Japanese learners for managing the kanji vocabulary load.
Mandarin Chinese
920M+ native speakers
Best structured Mandarin course with pinyin and character learning combined
Community HSK decks cover all vocabulary for HSK 1 through HSK 6 exams
Strong immersive approach using simplified characters with audio
Tip: Tones are the biggest challenge for English speakers learning Mandarin. Focus on audio-heavy apps from day one. The HSK exam framework (1 through 6) provides a structured vocabulary target to work toward.
German
135M+ speakers worldwide
German grammar including cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genitive) is taught systematically
Strong for grammar depth, covers der/die/das and case endings clearly
Good for vocabulary building and daily habit formation
Tip: German grammar is significantly more complex than French or Spanish due to three genders and four grammatical cases. Grammar-based apps like Babbel are strongly preferred over immersion methods for German.
Korean
80M+ speakers worldwide
Best Korean app for teaching Hangul systematically and covering grammar levels
Community decks for TOPIK exam vocabulary levels 1 through 6
Strong spoken Korean course covering formal and informal speech levels
Tip: Hangul (the Korean alphabet) can be learned in as little as 1 to 2 days, which is the best first step. Korean honorifics and speech levels are a unique challenge. LingoDeer's Korean course is widely regarded as the best app-based introduction.