When it comes to learning English, few can beat the convenience and power of mobile apps. These digital learning tools make it easy to study English “on the go” in lots of unique and interesting ways.
Let’s delve into this list of the 20 best apps for learning English, all tried and tested by the team at FluentU.
Bright is a simple and efficient app that promises to teach you 500 essential words in two months.
If you’ve got only 10 minutes a day to pick up new vocabulary, Bright will teach you eight new words within those 10 minutes. And they’re not just any words: they’re some of the most common ones used in English, so you can be sure you’ll be using them in real life from the get-go.
For every level, the word sets are thematically arranged and voiced by both male and female native speakers. Moreover, the app will ensure that you’re constantly reviewing so that you don’t forget the words you’ve already learned.
Mondly is a well-known app that does a great job teaching conversational phrases you can use in real life, from shopping to going on a date.
The app has a world map that you can scroll through to select lessons. Lessons are categorized by theme, such as travel, public transportation, grammar and pets. There are also interactive quizzes, where you’ll have to fill in the blanks, rearrange words to form a sentence and do other activities that target all of the main language skills.
Visuals are constantly used to reinforce words and exercises involve a lot of repetition, so new words stick naturally as long as you use the app often. The app also has an AR (augmented reality) function, so you can turn on your phone camera and see a 3D teacher displayed as if they were actually there with you.
Mondly lets you use AR, robots and other nifty tech to learn languages. But does it work? We tested the program to find out. Click here to read this in-depth review to see…
Knudge.me app uses English games to test out your English skills.
The lesson section includes a vocabulary builder, English idioms, phrasal verbs and common confusing words. The vocabulary builder has three levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced. The intermediate and advanced levels are designed to help you get a good score on exams like the IELTS, TOEFL, GRE and so on.
In the games section, you have vocabulary games, reading games and writing games. For example, “Echo” is a unique dictation game where you have to write down words spoken aloud. It mainly helps you improve your spelling.
The app also has other important features like tests that match your skill level, progress tracking and flashcards. (Check out this list of other English flashcard apps to consider.)
Lingodeer takes a gamified approach to language learning with a goal-oriented curriculum consisting of structured lessons and regular reviews.
Lingodeer’s lessons are arranged according to themes, such as sports, weather, parts of the body and shopping, with more lessons on grammar topics such as passive verbs, conditionals and gerunds as you get more advanced.
The app keeps track of vocabulary and grammar that you’ve learned, and you can do personalized practice sessions with these.
My honest LingoDeer review for 2024 is based on trying to learn Japanese on LingoDeer in one week! I give all my honest impressions of the LingoDeer program and discuss…
LingQ is here to help you practice English with more than 1,000 hours of audio files, including podcasts and audiobooks.
You can keep track of your learning progress and listening time and even use the app offline. Their paid option also allows you to import unlimited content from the web and use it as learning material.
The app’s founder, Steve Kaufmann, has reportedly learned over 15 languages using this unique learning approach. So, that should inspire you to get started!
We review LingQ to find out if it can teach you a language through authentic content. In this totally honest and unbiased LingQ review, I’ll dive into the strengths and…
If you prefer music and audiobooks, Beelinguapp is for you. You can choose your reading material from a number of short stories and novels and learn at your own pace.
With the text and audio being presented simultaneously (at the same time), you aren’t likely to get confused or lost. Also, the audio comes with a karaoke-style animation to keep you engaged.
There are also quizzes available to test how much you remember from and understand a story.
Can you really get fluent from reading? Beelinguapp thinks so! Check out our Beelinguapp review to see everything this reading-focused app does right, and where it could…
Lingbe connects you with native speakers for language conversation practice. To contact native speakers on Lingbe, all you have to do is press the call button. The app will immediately match you with someone who will patiently help you learn the language.
After the call, you will receive feedback on your grammar, fluency and pronunciation. You can also “like” the person you chatted with, and if it’s mutual, you’ll be able to talk to them again and even become friends!
Moreover, the app encourages you to give back to the community. You can do this by teaching your own mother tongue to whoever is interested, all while building confidence in expressing yourself.
Usually, an English app teaches you English with explanations in your native language, but Rosetta Stone teaches you English with English.
Rosetta Stone is completely immersive and has exercises designed to help you learn basic words before forming phrases and longer sentences, but they will all be in English.
The idea is that you will be learning English as if you were a child learning it as your first language. With this method, you’ll be able to learn the language naturally and start thinking in it immediately.
Our full Rosetta Stone for 2024 is here. Read this review to find out whether Rosetta Stone is worth using and how it compares to its competitors! Rosetta Stone once…
ELSA Speak is an AI-powered app that claims to improve your English pronunciation through personalized feedback and exercises. Click here to find out how it works–and…
FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
It uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the English language and culture over time. You’ll learn English as it’s spoken in real life.
FluentU has a variety of engaging content from popular talk shows, nature documentaries and funny commercials, as you can see here:
FluentU makes it really easy to watch English videos. There are captions that are interactive. That means you can tap on any word to see an image, definition and useful examples.
For example, when you tap on the word "searching," you'll see this:
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with quizzes. Swipe left or right to see more examples for the word you’re learning.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It even reminds you when it’s time to review! Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Duolingo is designed to help you learn English quickly, so you can use it even if you’re just a beginner.
In each lesson, Duolingo teaches you new words based on a topic—like education, school or science—and has you complete exercises to retain the new vocabulary.
For example, you might have to match new words with a picture, translate an English phrase back to your native language or repeat an English phrase.
Does Duolingo work? The answer is yes, if you use it right and stick with it. Duolingo is great for jumpstarting serious language learning, quick vocab lessons, developing…
Babbel teaches you English through 15-minute lessons that feature realistic conversations on topics that you’re interested in. You can also take optional live classes.
Lessons are short and consist of written and audio versions of the vocabulary featured in the lessons. Then, you complete practice exercises to solidify your understanding. You can practice English with all kinds of topics that matter to your life, from business to travel.
With the program being so conversation-based, Babbel offers a speech recognition feature that listens to your pronunciation and corrects your mistakes. Babbel also offers reviews of topics you’ve already learned so that you don’t forget any information.
Read our Babbel review to see whether the popular language learning program delivers on its promises! See all the ins and outs of Babbel and its main features, what we…
Can you master a foreign language with Memrise? In this review, we’ll investigate how the Memrise program teaches languages and whether it’s worth the cost of a…
Mosalingua is focused on two things: teaching you the 1,500 most important words and phrases that you should have in your English word bank, and solving the problem of forgetting what you’ve learned over time.
Not only will MosaLingua teach you the most important words through flashcards and audio of native speakers, but it will use SRS to ensure you review the material you’ve learned regularly. SRS stands for Spaced Repetition Software, and it’s designed to help you review words just before you forget them.
Our full and honest MosaLingua review for 2024 is here! Check out this post to hear about my experience using MosaLingua for two weeks to find out if it delivers on its…
Busuu is a little bit different from many of the apps we’ve mentioned here. With Busuu, you can talk with native English speakers to practice your conversational skills.
Each Busuu lesson includes key vocabulary, a lesson dialogue, a writing practice session, a recording session, a lesson review and a practice conversation with an English speaker.
Busuu is a popular language learning program that offers 14 languages. Click here to read our in-depth review. We’ll look at where Busuu wins, what could be improved, who…
Pimsleur started out as a series of audio lessons on cassette and is now available as an app on your phone!
Pimsleur’s structured curriculum is based on the idea that you will listen to one 30-minute lesson a day centered around English dialogue with explanations from the narrator. The audio has plenty of pauses where you’ll be prompted to talk out loud or repeat what the narrator said.
The app also includes interactive exercises like flashcards, quizzes and conversation activities to round out each lesson. Each lesson also repeats words from the previous lessons so you’ll have some review.
Is Pimsleur’s popular, audio-based language learning program right for you? I’ve put together an in-depth Pimsleur review to help you decide. Discover the pros and cons of…
Innovative Language’s video and audio lessons cover a wide range of topics from grammar to culture. For instance, they have videos about American traditions such as Groundhog Day along with introductions to celebrities and actors. Resources like this provide you with general knowledge to help you talk about specific topics with native speakers.
It also has notes for each lesson that you can use to review and remember the content better. The lessons are divided according to learning levels, and you can also download specific lessons for offline use.
There are other features such as free email vocabulary tutorials delivered to you every day. It also has certain premium services that you can pay for, including personal tutors, line-by-line audio reading of texts and learning programs tailored for you.
Innovative Language’s Pod101 courses are very popular in the language learning community. Find out if they’re worth subscribing to with our detailed review and discover…
ABA English offers more than 100 grammar videos on American and British English for your daily lessons. It also gives you access to short and full-length films designed to teach expressions, vocabulary and other things.
It has a special feature called “ABA Moments,” where users can play games related to a specific topic of daily life to learn 10 words in one minute. You receive a new game five days a week.
The app can also provide you with online tutors. These tutors can help you in specific areas according to your needs and interests. You can also test your progress in the app after each lesson, and you get a certificate after you complete each level.
The Andy chatbot uses a question-and-answer format to help you learn more things about English conversation. It also reads out the messages so you can practice English listening and pronunciation along with reading and texting.
The app can hold discussions about specific topics like movies, travel, art and so on. It tests your English knowledge by giving you tests within the chat. You can also ask for further clarification about tricky words or grammatical rules.
There’s even a reminder feature for practicing the words you’ve recently learned. Andy corrects any mistakes you make in conversation, too.
LearnEnglish Grammar was created by the British Council to help English language learners improve their understanding of the English language.
What’s great about LearnEnglish Grammar is that it incorporates activities into every lesson to help make grammar easier to learn. Each section is divided into skill levels—Beginner, Elementary, Intermediate and Advanced—so finding the right level for you shouldn’t be a problem.
And for low-level beginners out there, the instructions on the app can be presented in a number of languages including Spanish, Traditional and Simplified Chinese, Japanese and other widely spoken languages.
If you’re looking for a great way to learn English that’s effective but also fun, I highly recommend these apps for learning English.
Everyone will have their own take on what makes the best English learning app, so find what works best for you!
