Arabic

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By Brian Alsatian Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Assamese Aymara Azeri Basque Belarusian Bengali Berber (Tamazight) Bosnian Breton Bulgarian Burmese Catalan Cebuano Chewa (Chichewa) Cornish Corsican Croatian Czech Danish Dari Dutch Dzongkha English Esperanto Faroese Fijian (ITaukei) Filipino Finnish Flemish French Frisian Galician German Greek Greenlandic Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Igbo Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Kinyarwanda Korean Kurdish Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luganda Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Mandarin Chinese Manx Maori Marathi Mongolian Navajo (Diné bizaad) Nepali Norwegian Oromo Papiamento Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Quechua Romanian Romansch Russian Sami Samoan Sardinian Scots Scottish Serbian Shona Sicilian Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Spanish Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Telugu Thai Tibetan Tigrinya Tswana Turkmen Ukrainian Urdu Uzbek Vietnamese Welsh Wolof Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Zulu

Cudoo Review — I Wouldn’t Even Use it if it Were Free

Quick Review

0.6 

Summary

Cudoo is an online learning platform that offers courses in over 160 languages. The platform also offers courses teaching soft skills and other professional development courses. Certificates are available upon course completion, and courses are provided to libraries and non-profits for free. We feel that the quality of the language courses is quite low, and that the prices are relatively high.

Quality

It’s nice to have native speaker audio, but I personally found the course to offer very little learning potential.

Thoroughness

The course didn’t cover everything listed under “Course Content” and offers no explanations.

Value

This course is way overpriced in my opinion. I wouldn’t even use it if it were free.

Languages

There are courses in over 160 languages on Cudoo. You’ll find languages as rare as Alsatian, Jerriais, and Navajo alongside more popular languages like Spanish and German.

Price

Price varies by course, from $4.99 to $24.99, with language bundles costing up to $199.

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By Brian Spanish Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Basque Belarusian Bengali Bosnian Bulgarian Cantonese Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Dari Dutch Estonian Filipino Finnish French Georgian German Greek Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Italian Japanese Kazakh Korean Kurdish Latvian Lithuanian Macedonian Malagasy Malay Maltese Mandarin Chinese Mongolian Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Serbian Shanghainese Sinhala Slovak Swahili Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Uzbek Vietnamese Wolof

17 Minute Languages Review: I Wouldn’t Recommend Using It

Quick Review

1.5 

Summary

17 Minute Languages is a language-learning program that uses spaced repetition and native-speaker audio to teach a wide variety of languages. In our opinion, the courses aren’t very engaging; the courses we tried included significant errors and didn’t offer any language-specific explanations. There are leaderboards for comparing your progress with other users and a language forum that’s available after four days of use.

Quality

Native speaker audio is the only thing that impressed me in the courses I tried; mistakes and glitches were many.

Thoroughness

Explanations are lacking, which I found made some material misleading.

Value

I think there are far better ways to spend your time and money studying a language.

Languages

There are courses in 80 languages. 

Price

The Beginner’s Course is $39.95 and the Complete Package is $97. There is a free 48-hour trial.

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By Brian Arabic

Best Apps for Learning Arabic in 2020 – We’ve Tested Dozens

Best Apps for Learning Arabic

It’s one of the world’s most widely-spoken languages, but it’s still considered mysterious by many for its right-to-left script and unique looking characters. Discovering Arabic and developing an understanding in it can be as rewarding as it is intimidating, and there are many ways to go about it.

We’ve already compiled a list of the best online courses for learning Arabic as well as a list of the best podcasts for studying the language. This time, we’ll take a look at the best apps to help you with your language learning journey.

As this list only includes resources that are available as apps, it leaves out some quality options that simply lack mobile capability.

It’s also worth noting that this list doesn’t cover every app trying to teach the language. Instead, we’ve pulled from the great many we’ve tested ourselves, plus some that are commonly recommended, and grouped them into categories based on what they do best. Hopefully, it will help narrow the field a bit and point you in the right direction.

General Courses as Apps

Best for Developing Communication Skills: Pimsleur

Best Free Way to Get Started: Madinah Arabic

Best Free Gamified Course: Duolingo

Apps for Learning Vocabulary

Most Fun Way to Learn Vocabulary: Memrise

Most Customizable Way to Practice Vocabulary: Anki

Best Way to Learn Vocabulary From Context: Clozemaster

Best Dictionary App: Hans Wehr

Apps for Practicing Reading and Listening

Best Podcast-Style Lessons: ArabicPod101

Best Reading Content: LingQ

Best for Reading Alongside Your Native Language: Beelinguapp

Best Radio App: Radio Arabic

Best for Learning the Arabic Alphabet: Arabic Alphabet

Apps for Practicing Speaking and Writing

Best for Feedback on Writing: italki

Apps for Tutors and Language Exchange

Best for Online Tutors: italki

Best for Language Exchange Partners: Tandem and HelloTalk

Best for Help with Random Questions: HiNative

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By Brian Arabic English French German Hindi Italian Japanese Korean Mandarin Chinese Portuguese Russian Sign Language Spanish

Rocket Languages Review: Some Courses Are Ok, Others Are Bad

Quick Review

3.2 

Summary

Rocket Languages is a comprehensive resource offering courses in several commonly learned languages. There’s a range of quality between the different language options. Some aren’t very good, some are worth looking at, but none of them are truly outstanding. While the material is often well-structured and full of practice opportunities, uninteresting content and repetitive exercises often keep the experience mediocre.

Quality

The platform is well-designed and easy to use, but the content is often uninteresting.

Thoroughness

There are lots of explanations and practice opportunities, but exercises are repetitive.

Value

The price is on the high side for what competing resources offer.

Languages

Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, English, and Sign Language

Price

The price seems to change semi-regularly with frequent discounts. At the time of writing, they are:

$99.95 for Level 1 

$249.90 for Level 1 and 2

$259.95 for Level 1, 2, and 3

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By Brian Arabic Afrikaans Albanian Armenian Azeri Basque Belarusian Bengali Berber (Tamazight) Bosnian Bulgarian Burmese Catalan Cebuano Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Dzongkha English Esperanto Estonian Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Greek Gujarati Haitian Creole Hausa Hawaiian Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Javanese Kannada Kazakh Khmer (Cambodian) Kinyarwanda Korean Kurdish Kyrgyz Lao Latin Latvian Lithuanian Luo Luxembourgish Macedonian Malagasy Malay Malayalam Maltese Mandarin Chinese Maori Marathi Mongolian Nahuatl Nepali Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Quechua Rohingya Romanian Russian Samoan Sanskrit Scottish Serbian Sindhi Sinhala Slovak Slovenian Somali Spanish Sundanese Swahili Swedish Tajik Tamil Tatar Telugu Thai Tibetan Turkish Turkmen Twi Ukrainian Urdu Uyghur Uzbek Vietnamese Welsh Xhosa Yiddish Yoruba Yucatec Maya Zhuang Zulu

Speaky Review: Better Than Other Language Exchange Apps?

Quick Review

3.7 

Summary

Speaky is a social language-learning app for people interested in language exchange. It’s available for iOS, Android, and the web. Users can chat with other language learners, share photos, leave voice messages or even have voice calls. The basic features on Speaky are free to use, but access to more than five translations per day requires a subscription.

Community

There are some dedicated language learners on Speaky but not as many as similar apps.

Features

The platform is easy to use but lacks advanced features.

Value

Speaky is mostly free to use, extra features are available for a subscription.

Languages

There are over 100 languages on Speaky. These include popular languages like Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Portuguese, Italian, Arabic, etc.

Price

The basic features on Speaky are free to use. A premium membership is available for a subscription.

1-month Subscription$5.99/month
6-month Subscription$4.83/month
12-month Subscription$3.91/month

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By Brian Arabic English French German Italian Japanese Mandarin Chinese Portuguese Russian Spanish

Rype App Review: I Wouldn’t Recommend It To Anybody

Quick Review

1.8 

Summary

Rype is a resource that provides language learners with access to one-on-one lessons with teachers. According to its advertising, you’ll be able to “Learn anytime, anywhere, on-the-go.” Users purchase a subscription package that contains a certain number of lessons per month. The lessons are 30-minutes long and are easy to schedule.

Platform

The platform is very easy to use, but there aren’t many teacher details and lessons take place on Skype.

Teachers

There seems to be a range of experience levels on Rype and a very small number of teachers.

Value

The hourly rates are higher than similar online tutor options and you have to commit to a subscription.

Price

The price varies per subscription package and number of lessons each month.

Number of Lessons Six-Month Subscription Monthly Subscription
8 Lessons/month$59.99/month$79.99
12 Lessons/month$84.99/month$99.99
20 Lessons/month$159.99/month$179.99
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By Brian English Arabic French German Italian Japanese Korean Mandarin Chinese Portuguese Russian Spanish

Live Lingua Review: My Experience With Their Lessons

Quick Review

3.8 

Summary

Live Lingua is an online language school that pairs students with certified teachers for one-on-one online classes. The platform aims to provide a more personalized service than online tutor directories by assigning a personal class coordinator and a customized curriculum for each student. Certificates are available in 11 different popular languages and for a variety of different courses.

Teacher Quality

All teachers are native speakers and receive additional training through Live Lingua.

Platform

Lots of extra free material, but with mistakes. There are specialized course options, and video lessons happen on Skype.

Value

More expensive than other online classes and less flexible, but more personalized.

Price

The hourly rate for classes on Live Lingua ranges from $11 – $39 depending on the certificate, language, and number of classes you purchase. The first lesson is free.

Languages

English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Korean, Japanese, Mandarin Chinese

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By Brian Arabic English French German Italian Japanese Korean Mandarin Chinese Polish Portuguese Russian Spanish Turkish

Busuu Review: Some Courses Are Better Than Others

Quick Review

3.3 

Summary:

Busuu is a digital language-learning app with over 90 million registered users. The resource offers vocabulary and grammar practice through short, self-paced study exercises. It also has a social aspect that allows users to get writing and pronunciation feedback from native speakers. It is available on the web, iOS, and Android.

Quality

The layout is great, and the quality for non-Asian languages is decent, but there were significant errors in the Chinese course.

Thoroughness

It has some good explanations but doesn’t often offer much in the way of in-depth explanations.

Value

Busuu is relatively inexpensive, but there are more thorough and efficient resources out there.

Price

Subscription LengthPremiumPremium Plus
One month$9.99$13.99
Three months$8.33/month ($24.99)$9.66 ($28.98)
Six months$5.82/month ($34.92)$6.66  ($39.96)
12 months$5.41/month ($64.92)$5.74  ($68.88)

Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, Polish, Turkish, Russian, and Arabic

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By Brian Afrikaans Albanian Arabic Armenian Azerbaijani Belarusian Bengali Bulgarian Cantonese Catalan Croatian Czech Danish Dutch English Filipino Finnish French German Greek Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hungarian Icelandic Indonesian Irish Italian Japanese Korean Kurdish Latin Latvian Lithuanian Malay Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Pashto Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Spanish Swahili Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese

HiNative Review: Useful But Not Exceptional Q&A App

Quick Review

3.7 

Summary

HiNative is a Q&A app for language learners that want to have questions answered by native speakers. It’s available for iOS, Android and desktop, and it has over three million registered users. A free version is available that offers the basic features of the app.

Features

The app is pretty basic, but it works.

Features

Many users are very helpful, but not all questions receive intelligent responses.

Value

The basic functions of the app are available for free, but you’ll need to pay for audio or video features.

Price

The basic features of HiNative are free to use. A premium subscription is available for $5.68/month paid monthly, or $4.96/month paid annually (a $59.63 payment).

Languages

HiNative supports just about any language.

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By Brian Afrikaans Ainu Albanian Arabic Armenian Assamese Austrian German Avar Aymara Azerbaijani Balinese Bavarian Belarusian Bengali Berber (Tamazight) Bhojpuri Brazilian Sign Language (LIBRAS) Breton Bulgarian Burmese Cantonese Catalan Cebuano Chavacano Chechen Cherokee Chewa (Chichewa) Choctaw Cornish Corsican Cree Croatian Czech Danish Dutch Dzongkha English Esperanto Estonian Ewe Faroese Fijian (ITaukei) Filipino Finnish French Galician Georgian German Greek Greenlandic Guarani Gujarati Haitian Creole Hebrew Hindi Hmong Hokkien (Taiwanese) Hungarian Icelandic Ido Igbo Indonesian Ingush Irish Italian Japanese Korean Kurdish Latin Latvian Lithuanian Malay Mandarin Chinese Norwegian Pashto Persian Polish Portuguese Punjabi Romanian Russian Serbian Slovak Spanish Swahili Swedish Tamil Thai Turkish Twi Ukrainian Urdu Vietnamese

Tandem Review: A Tinder-esque Language Exchange App?

Quick Review

4.7 

Summary

Tandem is a popular language exchange app with over one million active users. It’s available for iOS and Android and aims to bring language learners from all over the world together. It’s largely centered around its chat capabilities and language tools that facilitate communication, but there is also a tutoring service offered in the app.

Community 

There are lots of active language learners, especially those looking to pair with native English speakers.

Features 

The interface is intuitive and the language tools are simple and effective, though you’ll quickly run out of free translations.

Value

The free version is all most people will need. Tandem Pro doesn’t add a ton of extra value.

Price

There is a limited free version of Tandem and a pro version available at $6.99 for one month, $3.99/month for three months, and $2.92/month for a year’s subscription.

Languages

There are over 160 languages offered on Tandem.

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