Pimsleur

Pimsleur is an old-school course that began long before apps were even a thing. 

My favorite thing about the course is that it gets you speaking Spanish right away. The lessons mostly ignore the written language and grammar, focusing on listening and speaking instead.

This means that students who use Pimsleur’s courses will almost certainly develop oral language skills more quickly than with other resources. Considering most people studying Spanish want to be able to use it in conversations right away, that makes it pretty appealing.

See our Super-Detailed Pimsleur Review

SpanishPod101

SpanishPod101 could potentially belong in the general courses category because it offers practice in a variety of skills. I’ve put it here because the lessons are mostly audio and the course structure isn’t completely linear.

The app contains a ton of content — there are nearly 2000 lessons ranging from absolute beginner to advanced levels, though the majority of content is designed for learners at a lower level.

Lessons are presented in a podcast-style format. Two hosts discuss and translate a dialogue, providing plenty of grammar notes and cultural information. There’s quite a bit of English happening at the lower levels, but this phases out as you progress to more advanced material. 

Save 25% on a subscription by using the coupon code ‘ALLLANGUAGERESOURCES‘.

See our Super-Detailed SpanishPod101 Review

FluentU

FluentU is a language-learning platform that uses real-world videos and interactive subtitles to create an immersive learning experience. The videos take on a variety of forms, including commercials, music videos, interviews, and more. Accompanying quizzes give users the chance to practice language used in videos.

FluentU offers videos in nine different languages and is available for iOS, Android, and on the web. Most of its content is beyond the beginner level, but it has videos for learners at all levels. 

See our Super-Detailed FluentU Review

italki

italki is the most flexible and affordable place to find a tutor for the language you’re learning. They have a huge number of teachers offering classes to students of over 100 different languages. As a learner, you’ll be able to find a tutor that best fits your learning style, schedule, and personality. Teachers are able to set their own prices and make their own schedule. 

See our Super-Detailed italki Review

Babbel

Babbel is pretty similar to Duolingo, Lingodeer, and a few other courses, but less gamified. It will have more of an appeal to learners looking for a no-nonsense study resource.

While their courses aren’t exactly unique, they’re well-structured and generally solid. What they lack in flash, they make up for with the quality of their courses.

It’s affordable, teaches useful Spanish that you’ll need in real life, and explains grammar very clearly.

See our Super-Detailed Babbel Review

Lingodeer

Lingodeer is one of several closely-related apps, newer than most in its class. I’ve listed it before the others because it’s the one I tend to recommend the most for new students getting started with Spanish.

The app structures its lessons around a variety of themes and offers practice opportunities in a variety of exercises, testing your understanding in multiple ways.

There are several reasons I prefer Lingodeer over similar apps. It’s got better audio quality, informative grammar explanations, and a greater variety of exercise types, which keeps things interesting. It’s also offered at a comparable price, some of the content free. 

See our Super-Detailed Lingodeer Review

Duolingo

Duolingo is an insanely popular app, among the most famous language learning platforms in the game. Launched in 2011, it’s a free program that has opened up language learning to people all over the world (over 100 million downloads in the Google Play Store).

It teaches Spanish, among many other languages, in short, easy, gamified lessons. This approach makes learning Spanish much less intimidating, and it’s especially good for those who may struggle with motivation.

Here are a few things I don’t love: the audio recordings for many sentences don’t sound natural (which can be a huge problem for new learners), there are lots of nonsensical sentences that you would never say, and their grammar tips aren’t included in the app. Still, it’s not a bad way to get started with Spanish.

See our Super-Detailed Duolingo Review

Language Transfer

The Language Transfer project has been in development since 2011, but 2020 saw the first app launch for the program on both iOS and Android – available for free. The LT Spanish course is made up of 90 audio lessons that help learners build a foundation in the language by teaching a method for thinking your way through it.

The course is best for English speakers, as the instruction draws heavily on the similarities between English and Spanish. It’s also better for learners that don’t need to be visually stimulated as they learn – this isn’t a fancy app with animations or pictures. As far as quality of instruction and learning potential, it’s hard to beat the value of a free app like Language Transfer.

See our Super-Detailed Language Transfer Review

Coursera

Coursera offers online courses from universities around the world, open for registration at any time, and self-paced. Advanced learners can take courses on many different subjects taught in Spanish, and others will be able to find courses teaching the language. Courses are free, and most offer a certification upon completion if you’re willing to pay.

edX

edX is an online learning platform that offers free university courses. A certificate is usually available upon completion for a fee. The platform offers the structure and quality you can expect from a university course while allowing learners to progress at their own pace. Course topics vary widely; take one of the various Spanish language courses or one on another topic that’s taught in Spanish.

Rocket Spanish

Rocket Spanish is… just OK. It’s got lessons that focus on teaching useful language through a variety of practice methods and grammar explanations, but it never goes above and beyond. 

See our Super-Detailed Rocket Spanish Review

Busuu

Busuu is another very popular app and its Spanish course is pretty good. Although it may not do as well with grammar as Babbel, the incorporation of writing and speech corrections from other users is a stand out feature.

See our Super-Detailed Busuu Review

Udemy

Udemy is an online platform where users can create and sell their own courses on any subject. The majority of Spanish courses are aimed at beginners, but there are some options for learners at all levels. Keep in mind that quality will vary from course to course and that courses are frequently offered at major discounts.

Mango Languages

This app is available in a ton of different languages and has some nifty features, but it doesn’t stand out over similar apps. 

See our Super-Detailed Mango Languages Review

Mondly

This one takes a similar approach to other popular options, but it underperforms in pretty much every area. The lessons aren’t well-structured, the design isn’t as good as other apps, and they don’t explain important things like conjugation rules, among other issues.

See our Super-Detailed Mondly Review

Rosetta Stone

One of the more famous resources, Rosetta Stone avoids explanations in favor of teaching language purely through exposure. The lessons are repetitive, boring, and not worth the cost. 

See our Super-Detailed Rosetta Stone Review

Synergy Spanish

Synergy Spanish teaches the language through sentence repetition. Unfortunately, the instruction isn’t thorough and the app feels outdated.

See our Super-Detailed Synergy Spanish Review

Newsdle

Newsdle is one of my favorite resources for improving Spanish. Every day, Newsdle adds 3 brand new news-based lessons so you will always have super fresh content to study. They have two variations, one which teaches Spanish from Spain and one that teaches Latin American Spanish; proficiency grade levels are from Beginner to Advanced Higher, total of 6 levels, so you can see how you are progressing quite easily.  

They release weekly podcast episodes focusing on current events and culture, while also teaching some grammar and expressions. I love their teaching methodology as it’s both effective and a lot of fun. 

Lupa

This podcast-style app works in partnership with NPR’s Radio Ambulante, a Spanish-language podcast that produces stories about Latin America. Via the Lupa app, learners are able to use several features to make these stories easier to understand, such as variable speeds, transcripts, translations, and definitions.

Some limitations of Lupa are that you’ll need an upper-intermediate or advanced level of Spanish to make the most of it and that it’s squarely focused on improving listening skills — little else. That said, the stories are extremely well done and engaging, even if they tend to be on the serious side of things.

Learners looking to get exposure to authentic Spanish as it’s spoken in a variety of different Latin American countries will likely find what they’re looking for with Lupa.

See our Super-Detailed Lupa Review

LingQ

LingQ is a very useful app where you can find interesting material to practice reading and listening, regardless of your Spanish level. Much of the content has actually been added by users, so you may already be familiar with some of the sources. For example, there are podcasts from Radio Ambulante, textbook passages, news stories, and much more. You can also add your own material to read.

As you read, the words you don’t need to look up are marked “known.” This gives you a very broad measure of how many words you know. There are a bunch of other features that I think are either pointless or bad value such as their avatars, points, and tutors. A subscription costs $12.99 per month.

Readlang, a browser extension, can actually do many of the same things as LingQ for free.

See our Super-Detailed LingQ Review

Manga Method

Manga Method is a community-driven project that leverages user contributions to provide translations and audio recordings of manga stories in many different languages. The stories themselves are highly engaging and come with high-quality illustrations, making for enjoyable study time.

This resource is a good option for learners looking to get entertaining, free practice. Translations will help you improve your reading skills, and native-speaker recordings will help you develop an ear for Spanish.