Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world, according to the total number of speakers(Lingoda, 2021), and the fourth most spoken language in the world, according to the number of native speakers(Statista, 2021). It is the official language of Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, Spain, and sixteen other countries.
This article presents the four best apps for learning Spanish. They include:
1. Duolingo.
Duolingo is one of the most popular apps for learning languages, especially Spanish. It has a rating of 4.7/5 and over 11 million downloads on Google Playstore and about 1.3 million downloads on Applestore. It comes as both an app and a website, though. But, the app is more convenient if you want to learn a language. Duolingo is mostly free, but there is a paid version that grants you access to a wider library of language lessons.
What users love about Duolingo:
a) Learning made fun.
In Duolingo, there are fun quizzes to enable you to learn, making learning much more interesting. Plus, the fun quizzes help you apply what you’re being taught.
b) It encourages you to practice.
Duolingo doesn’t just help you learn, it helps you practice. And you know what they say, “Practice makes perfect.” Practice helps strengthen your skills.
c) Goal setting.
There are goals you are expected to reach, and by reaching those goals, you are indeed learning. These goals are there to show you how much you’ve progressed in your language-learning journey.
d) There is ample focus on the four language abilities.
With Duolingo, you learn your chosen language in speaking, writing, listening, and reading. There is an emphasis on all, not just one without the other.
e) Immediate sentence building.
It is one thing to know words, it is another to know how to string them into a reasonable sentence. With Duolingo, you can achieve this: knowing how to make reasonable sentences.
2. Memrise
Memrise is another pretty awesome language-learning app, which appears to be one of the favourites for those learning a foreign language. This is evidenced in the fact that the app has a rating of 4.7/5 and over 1 million downloads on Google Playstore, and a rating of 4.8/5 and over 180,000 downloads on Applestore.
What users love about Memrise:
a) It essentially makes use of flashcards.
Whether virtual or live, flashcards have always been a great way of studying and remembering. Its usefulness has been employed as a language-learning tool, and it has proven to be effective. Users of Memrise can testify.
b) It has a great user experience.
The content is meaningful and useful, and the design is easy to navigate. This is one thing that Memrise users particularly love about the app.
c) There are “mems” that help you memorize the words. Mnemonics, graphics, videos, memes, texts, etc are all tools that you can use to learn new Spanish words in Memrise.
3. Italki
Italki is a flexible, convenient, and easy language-learning platform that enables learners to learn their chosen language effectively. It has a rating of 3.9/5 and over 8,200 downloads on Google Playstore. On Applestore, it has a rating of 4.6 and over 1,400 downloads.
What users love about Italki:
a) Presence of lesson tutors:
There’s are a few things that compare to having a tutor who helps you learn as well as corrects your errors language-wise, and this is one distinguishing feature of Italki, which most language-learning platforms lack. You get to choose your tutor for a myriad of options.
b) Community learning:
Apart from having a tutor, there is a community of learners who are trying to learn the same language as you. You can communicate with other community members and help each other learn the language faster.
c) You can choose a learning partner.
Apart from having a community of fellow learners, you can specifically choose your preferred partner, with whom you can practice the language. How sweet is that?
d) Tools such as the notebook, the discussion forum and the answers.
These are all relevant tools that are designed to enable you to learn the language faster. For example, “the notebook” is basically where you practice what you have learned in writing. Tutors and learners from your community can come along to your notebook, commend you for your progress or correct you where you have erred.
4. FluentU
FluentU is a language-learning app that enables subscribers to learn their chosen language e.g Spanish using lots of videos, flashcards, and audio. The app has a rating of 3.7/5 as well as over 2,000 downloads on Google Playstore. On Applestore, it has a rating of 4.0/5 and has over 1,500 downloads.
What users love about FluentU:
a) It has a remarkable user experience.
The user experience on FluentU has been praised by users as being excellent. The app is easy to navigate, easy to use, and relevant.
b) There is ready information on any word you click in a video.
So, let’s say you’re watching a video(lesson) and you see a new and interesting word or a word you’re not exactly used to. If you click on that word in the transcript, you can get information on its meaning, how to pronounce it, and various contexts in which the word can be used. You will also get links to other videos where the word is used.
c) It is useful in helping you avoid context-based errors.
This is a fringe benefit that the abovementioned feature offers. Many learners of the Spanish language make the common error of using a particular word out of context, which can be embarrassing, in certain situations.
To avoid this, FluentU enables learners with ample information on how to use a particular word and in what contexts. This is a unique feature of the app, which many other apps lack.
d) The app enables you improve your reading, writing and listening skills.
Although the app doesn’t help you improve your speaking skills (which is a drawback), it helps you cover the others core parts of language abilities.
Conclusion
Spanish is a really interesting language and it is one of the most spoken words in the world today. Whether, it is conversing with a potential business partner, or looking to study in a Spanish country, or finding love(*winks*), the benefits of learning Spanish are almost endless.
It’s a good thing that technology has made it easier to learn the language from the comfort of your home. Therefore, take the opportunity. Choose an app from the above list and start learning. Gracias.