Best Apps to Help You Learn A New Language Abroad

Traveling abroad can easily turn an exciting adventure into a complete communication failure and nightmare. English isn’t spoken all over the world, and even if you’re in a place where it’s widely used, why not challenge yourself and learn the language of the culture? Simply knowing small phrases can make all the difference during your time abroad. Here are the top-rated apps to help you along in learning a new language.

DuoLingo

The worst thing about Rosetta Stone is its cost — it’s expensive. The best thing about DuoLingo is it’s free! It’s been consistently rated among the top language learning apps since its launch in 2011. Its investors include big names like Tim Ferris (author of 4-Hour Work Week), Ashton Kutcher and Google Capital. It’s available on Android, iOS and Windows operating systems. So far, you can choose from 16 different languages to learn.

Babbel

Babbel was one of the first language learning apps to come onto the market in 2007. Since it’s launch, it has won multiple awards and recognitions for quality and successful implementation of language learning techniques. It’s available for iOS and Android systems and it can be used web based through a desktop. The app is free to download, but comes with a monthly subscription of $11 per month. It has more than 20,000,000 users in more than 190 countries learning 14 different languages.

Busuu

Busuu is a bit on the pricier end with a monthly subscription of $14.99 per month, though what users like most about this app is that it offers the ability to interact with one another while learning the same language to practice having conversations. It also puts the user in mock conversation at the end of each lesson.