Best Apps to Learn English

If you don’t have the time, money, or ability to travel overseas to study in English classes, technology is now available to help you! There are now apps and websites, some free and some that cost money, which can help you improve your English. Of course, nothing is better than living and studying overseas, but there is now help to build your English vocabulary, grammar, and comfort in communication. Below, you will find what we think are some of the best apps to help you learn and practice English. Each of them has strengths and weaknesses, so you may find that using two or three of these can give you a variety of different English skills.

When you are trying to decide which are the best apps to learn English, you want to think about what your needs are.

– Are you a new English learner with only very basic skills, or are you an advanced English student who is looking to ‘fine-tune’ your fluency? 

– Do you want to learn many English words, or do you want to focus more on getting comfortable just speaking and pronouncing English? 

– Also, you want to think about your purpose for learning English. Are you studying for a test like IELTS, TOEFL, or TOEIC?

– Lastly, you want to consider your ‘learning style’. Do you enjoy learning by watching videos or do you prefer text-based learning?

– Do you learn best when reading or listening to stories, or do you prefer a more ‘classroom-style’ way of learning?

When trying out the apps below, think about the questions above. In the descriptions below, we have looked for apps that can help you in a variety of ways to learn English in the way that is best for you.

One quick note: because apps are constantly being updated and improved, the information below may be out-of-date by the time you read this article. Be sure to visit the app’s home page to see what changes have been made recently. The apps below were chosen because they are both good learning tools but also because they have a strong record of good service. So, prices may be different, but the quality of them is likely even better!

Best Apps to Learn English

The following apps are great for different reasons. So, think about your preferred style of learning or what you want to focus on, and try out some of these apps!

App with the most traditional style of instruction! – Babbel

Babbel is one of the best apps for learning English if you enjoy a ‘classroom-like’ learning environment. It focuses on both vocabulary and grammar, helping English language learners acquire basic conversational skills. Babbel also lets users learn a new language by completing and repeating phrases, which is a very traditional style of classroom instruction. The app uses four different approaches–Sound Recognition, Picture Recognition, Spelling, and Fill in the blanks—to teach you English. With Babbel, you can customize the goals you wish to achieve, allowing you to monitor your progress. If your goal is to learn new vocabulary effectively, then Babbel is the app for you! Lessons focus on real-world topics and situations. This means there are sections that teach you how to introduce yourself, order food, and make travel arrangements; thus, it focuses on similar topics that an English class would focus on. Babbel’s goal is to ensure that students can start having real, meaningful conversations as soon as possible. It is free, but you can also purchase three-month, six-month, and one-year subscriptions that provide more learning material.

Best app for reading skills! – Beelinguapp

If you want to focus on your English reading skills, then Beelinguapp might the app for you! This story-telling app is excellent for practicing your English reading ability. One of its most unusual features is to tell a story in two different languages side by side. First, you read the story in English, and then you can check your comprehension of the story by reading it in your native language. It also has a “karaoke-style” audio reading that will help you listen and read at the same time—this is a valuable skill to increase your reading speed and begin to ‘think’ in English. And there’s lots of interesting stories to choose from including children’s classics and popular tales to articles on science and technology. Beelinguapp has a great free version that focuses on reading and reading comprehension specifically. The stories are available in 10 languages, so you will want to check if your native language is one of them!

App with the most fun and games! – Duolingo

Duolingo is probably the world’s most popular English learning app today, with over 300 million registered users and about 42 million monthly active users. It can be a great way for English beginners to start their English learning. It is free to use, and many English students find it fun and addictive. Duolingo is a good resource for practicing English Speaking, Listening, and Grammar. Its lessons use a variety of activities, and it even can adapt to your preferred learning style. It is a ‘gamified’ learning system, meaning that you do short, game-like activities and track your progress like you would in a computer game. This kind of learning system lets you learn English quickly even if you only have twenty minutes a day to study. Duolingo, however, comes with two drawbacks. One, it is not very useful for more advanced English learners. So, if you have been studying English in school already for a couple of years, you may not get many benefits from using Duolingo. And two, because Duolingo is free, it operates much like Google Translate. What does this mean? Duolingo keeps track of your answers and responses to sell them to other corporations. Like Facebook, you are the ‘product’, because you are creating information that Duolingo then sells to others—not your personal data, but your English language knowledge.

Most multimedia-focused App! – FluentU

FluentU is an app that uses authentic English-language videos from the real world — including news, music videos, and commercials — to help you learn English. FluentU has interactive captions that allow you to tap any word and see more information about it. If you enjoy watching YouTube to learn English, this might be a great app for you! You can download it and get a free trial period to see if you like it. To continue using it, you need to pay a monthly subscription.

Most conversational App! – HelloTalk

One of the best apps for practicing English conversation is HelloTalk. This free app lets you have conversations with native English speakers. Chat with English speakers from around the world by text, voice recording, voice call, video call, and even drawings. You can also ask questions to the community and get feedback from native speakers. It is probably the most relaxed app for building your confidence in communicating in English.

Great for natural learning! – Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone is the powerhouse of language-learning programs, having been around for 30 years. But, even though it is a large corporation, the Rosetta Stone app is a simple English learning app designed very differently than most English learning apps. Rosetta Stone is designed to teach you English the way you learned your native language when you were a child. Using simple exercises, Rosetta Stone helps you learn many new English words and phrases without using your native language translation—you use context clues to understand grammar and vocabulary. Both beginners and advanced English language learners will find this app excellent in helping you build your English skills. Rosetta Stone, however, has one big drawback that some students like and some students hate: the app does not give you translations of words. So, you have to ‘figure out’ the meaning of words and sentences based on images and videos. Many times, you just have to trust that what is not understandable in one lesson will become understandable in a later lesson. This can be frustrating for many students, but it is actually a more natural way to learn a language. 

Apps for English: Our Top Picks

While the above apps are really good, the following apps are great!

Great for beginners! – Memrise

If you are an English language beginner, then Memrise might be the best app for you to start your English language journey! This completely free app has an easy-to-learn system of teaching English grammar and vocabulary, making studying English fun, casual, and addictive. This is a great app that is becoming more and more popular among English learners. Their basic English course combines practical vocabulary, grammar lessons, and useful phrases in a meaningful way so you can learn conversational English that you can use in the real world. Because it gives you the speaking practice that so many need, its English lessons will help you to speak English quickly and confidently.  English courses are divided into short sessions which you can access on your phone, tablet, or computer, so you can always find time for some practice either at home or on the go. 

Great for everyone! – Xeropan

If you are looking for the most well-rounded, English language learning app, then you need to check out Xeropan. It is one of the more interesting, interactive English learning apps, progressively guiding the user through language study using a ‘time travel’ story. This time travel storyline lets Xeropan use games and real-world videos and situations to teach you English vocabulary and grammar in an engaging, entertaining way. More than any other language learning app, Xeropan emphasizes the value of a playful approach to learning a language. The app teaches English with videos, audio tracks, and interactive activities, and there are instructions available in 14 different languages! One big benefit of Xeropan is the fact that it’s useful no matter your age or current level of English ability. For instance, this can be a fun app for younger children who already have some English proficiency, but older users can also access the app to improve their knowledge of grammar and writing. There is a free version of Xeropan, but there is also a monthly subscription option that removes the time and use limits that you have if you only use the free version. 

Best App to Learn English Grammar

If you want to focus on improving your knowledge of English grammar, English Grammar in Use is probably one of the most complete grammar apps you can find. It was created by the same company that published the world’s best-selling grammar reference book series for English. This grammar app is perfect for self-study. The app comes with interactive exercises and audio to help with listening and pronunciation skills.

One drawback is that the free version of English Grammar in Use is not as useful as the full-price version. However, right now the full-price app only costs about $16, which is a lot less expensive than most English textbooks! Another drawback is that it is not as much fun as other apps like Duolingo, Xeropan, or FluentU.

Other English Learning Tools

If you have done any kind of search for online English material, you know there are so many websites that can provide you with free or inexpensive English learning tools. However, there are also ways to use ‘real world’ websites, like YouTube or Netflix, to build your English!

If you want to improve your English reading and vocabulary skills (especially if you are trying to prepare for the IELTS or TOEFL), check out our “Top 5 tips to Improve your IELTS Reading Skills” blog post. There you will learn about some free websites that let you build your English skills and expand your knowledge about issues related to the environment, politics, medicine, technology, and art. You will also learn how to expand your vocabulary using an online thesaurus, as well as how to use videos and podcasts to improve listening and reading at the same time!

Another free resource for learning English online is podcasts! Podcasts are like YouTube, but they are mostly audio (sometimes video) recordings you can listen to on a computer, tablet, or smartphone. Each recording of a podcast is called an ‘episode‘. Also, you can subscribe to podcasts, which means new episodes will automatically download onto your phone or tablet. To find out how to use podcasts to help you with English listening and comprehension, check out our “The Best Podcasts to Improve Listening Skills” blog post.

Lastly, you will definitely want to use our 3×3 Method for building your English skills the natural way! Read about this method in our “3×3 Method to learn English at home“ blog post. 

English Learning Apps vs. Live English Classes

Are language learning apps (like the ones above) just as good as a live English class? Apps are definitely cheaper, and they give you the flexibility of learning when, how, and what you want. However, there is one critical thing that all language learning apps don’t have: immediate personal feedback from an English expert. While apps like Duolingo and HelloTalk can connect you with native English speakers, you don’t really know if the person you are talking with knows all the complexities of the English language. You also may be talking with someone who can speak English but doesn’t know how to clearly explain English. Thus, if you ask them “Why do you say it this way and not a different way?” they might just respond by saying, “I don’t know. That’s just how we say it in English.”

This is what makes live English classes, whether they are in-person or online, so much better than any app. When you are in a live English class, you are being taught by someone who has been trained to know how to explain grammar, word use, and pronunciation. An English teacher has experience in identifying your errors, and their job is to help you to improve your English by telling you what you are doing wrong and why—the average native speaker will not do this for you, because that isn’t something they want to do or think about doing.

So, if you can afford to study English overseas, then consider joining the Portland English Language Academy, located in the heart of one of the friendliest cities in the United States. However, if you find it impossible to study overseas, check out some of the English language learning apps above. No matter your situation, there is always a way to improve your English!