A Handy Tool - the Best Free Spanish Learning App
Get Some Extra Learning Mileage With The Best Free Spanish Learning App
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed in this article are based on personal experience of use of the app as well as on supporting extensive research and comparative data online done on the subject matter.
The Spanish language comes only second to English as the most spoken language in the world, with close to 460 million Spanish native speakers, and counting…
So, hop on to the Spanish-speaking wagon.
👉 One of the easiest ways to complement a language learning course or to make the optimal use of your free time before that long time coming planned trip to Spain is to sign up to a good, user-friendly and – ideally free – learning app.
And speaking of the best free Spanish learning app…
Which one is it? Hands down, the best free Spanish learning app to date is Duolingo, which currently boasts having more than 500 million registered users worldwide, offering full courses in more than 40 languages – Spanish included, obviously!
So what makes Duolingo so great? Go on, read and find out.
Best Free Spanish Learning App || Practice Makes Perfect
Best Free Spanish Learning App || Pros of the Basic Duolingo Version (Free)
Best Free Spanish Learning App || Cons of the Basic Duolingo Version (Free)
Best Free Spanish Learning App || FAQs
Best Free Spanish Learning App ||
Practice Makes Perfect
Practice makes perfect, right? Absolutely!
And that’s what you get first and foremost with the learning app Duolingo, loads and loads of practice time.
With the basic free version of Duolingo, you get start-to-finish access to complete levels and courses
In contrast to most other apps, wherein shortly after a trial period you are forced to upgrade to a premium paid version to further access the learning material.
The free Duolingo basic version does not sacrifice the comprehensiveness of the material and the effectiveness of the teaching tools.
So whether you are a beginner or have an intermediate or more advanced Spanish level, the basic Duolingo version already allows you the full learning experience by accessing all language courses and lessons.
Basically, the basic Duolingo version allows you to practice Spanish to your heart’s content, free through and through. Pretty neat!
Best Free Spanish Learning App ||
Pros of the Basic Duolingo Version (Free)
Game-like experience
For those of you who are on the journey of learning a new language, we all know that motivation is key. Keeping the learning momentum and habit going is no easy task and it looks like Duolingo picked up on that nicely.
The Duolingo interface gives a user experience that is entertaining, engaging and that resembles a video game of sorts. It really is quite fun, for a learning app…
🌟 Overall, Duolingo is a comprehensive language app with a game-like learning system, with features such as leveling-up, lives (called hearts in the app), top rankings, rewards and perks gained with progress that can be exchanged for bonus learning material, etc.
Full access to learning material from the get-go
👉 For a beginner to have access from day one to a full-fledged language course and not have to upgrade and pay a subscription shortly after, makes all the difference. And this is what you get with Duolingo. For real.
With the Duolingo basic (free) version you are given access from the get-go to a full-fledged course, lessons and levels from beginning to end. Also, learning techniques are all-around, with multidisciplinary reading, listening, speaking and writing exercises.
It is an ideal introductory tool since the basic free version already offers a strong focus on vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling and practical phrases and conversational skills.
Of course, the premium version gives you a better ad-free user experience and some additional benefits and perks (like being able to access the learning material offline, etc.) but that is not in detriment to the quality of the basic free one.
Needless to say though, you are good to go and have ample learning material with the basic version, which even has a mileage feature that upon accrual of several lessons, gives you bonus access to quirky short stories, fun idioms and proverbs and even pick-up lines!
Tailor your learning to your agenda
Another interesting feature of the Duolingo app is that you create your own learning schedule, ideally a few minutes a day, like 15 minutes or so, and the lessons will cater to that time slot you decide to commit to.
It is a very pragmatic and comfortable approach from the user’s standpoint wherein the app allows the users to customize the time they regularly wish to spend learning, according to their availability.
The lessons will adapt to you and not vice-versa.
Podcast
👉 Duolingo has a great extension learning arm in the form of a podcast. Yes, yet another (free) app but really a great complement in the form of short stories narrated in Spanish – with peppered English narrations for context.
This audio form of learning, not only provides more cultural and historical insights as well as information on current-day events but familiarizes you with the Spanish spoken language.
It’s like giving your ears training wheels, making it easier to pick up the language when faced with a real-life conversation.
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Best Free Spanish Learning App ||
Cons of the Basic Duolingo Version (Free)
And now for the downside of Duolingo…
Cons to the Duolingo app in general
⁉️ The most significant downside applies to the Duolingo app in general and not just to the basic free version, which you will probably notice by the very first lesson.
While it is an optimal introductory tool for beginners and is an ideal complement to a traditional Spanish learning course, from a grammatical standpoint the app is very lacking, offering hardly or no insight or explanations on grammar rules.
👉 So learning Spanish with Duolingo is really by repetition and intuition and not through a proper understanding of grammar, which can be limiting and lacking for more serious or ambitious learners.
Cons to the basic Duolingo free version
The expected flip side of a free app is that users have regular ad interruptions at some point. Once you’ve factored that in and especially considering that the free version really does give you access to a full-fledged course and lessons, you mostly learn to disregard the ads.
👉 Also, the basic version gives you a limited number of hearts (lives), which with each mistake are lessened. So if you make way too many mistakes in a given lesson, you might be locked out of that one. Seriously though, the likelihood of that occurring is slim.
Lastly, with the basic version, the tracking of your learning progress is more limited
(not completely devoid though), in comparison to the premium version.
The basic version still gives you visuals that allow you to track your progress, although with no statistical analysis on your progress and areas that might need improvement and your attention.
Overall, the pluses of the basic version of the app considerably outweigh the minuses. In the end, one tends to be more forgiving, disregarding the cons. Duolingo is a sturdy and well-rounded app, making it, if not, one the best free-leaning apps you will encounter today.
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Best Free Spanish Learning App || FAQs
What is the best free learning language app?
Directly and according to the sources, Apple App Store and Google Play App Store, Duolingo is not only the world’s most downloaded learning app but it is also consistently ranked as among the top Education apps, with over 25M ratings across both platforms with an average a score of 4.8/5.
Is there a 100% free Spanish learning app?
Yes, one of the preferred and most popular free Spanish learning apps is Duolingo. It boasts having more than 500 million users, which is roughly 6.16% of the current world population!
The reason why Duolingo gets such a huge chunk of learners is surely due to the fact that the app offers, completely free, more than 40 full-fledged language courses from beginning to end, without having to upgrade and pay to complete the program.
Is Duolingo better than paid apps?
Placed side-by-side to paid language learning apps, Duolingo still fares better as it consistently ranks among, not just the top language learning apps, but the top Education apps as well, across both the Apple App Store and the Google Play App Store platforms.
What is the difference between Duolingo Basic (Free) and Duolingo Plus?
The main difference between the Duolingo Basic (free) version and the Plus (with a subscription fee) version is that the latter offers users an ad-free experience and allows offline access.
Also, the Plus version gives you an unlimited amount of hearts (equivalent to a gaming “life”) as well as a more advanced tracking system of your progress, allowing you to determine and fine-tune the areas you need improvement on.
The Plus version likewise gives access to more extensive quizzes that test and give you a more comprehensive view of the level you are at, again as a progress meter of your learning.
How much time should I spend on Duolingo a day?
With Duolingo having more than half a billion users, they seem to have sufficient user learning data to conduct significant studies to test out the ideal learning times.
In the end, the “standard” time recommended by the app based on the studies done on the macro data it has gathered over the years on the users and their behaviors, is 15 minutes a day.
Users spending at least 15 minutes a day on the app seemed to have the highest optimized learning. Bottom line, the more the better – the longer you spend learning and practicing a language, well, the better you’ll get at it.
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