Apps & Programs

Tools I actually use alongside the guides — honest, first-person reviews. These are the site author's personal opinions, not sponsored placements. Where a factual detail (platforms, pricing, languages) is stated, it has been checked; the verdicts and preferences are subjective.

A good workflow: use an input/gamified app to find useful sentences, then move those sentences into a real spaced-repetition system (SRS) like Anki — ideally with audio via HyperTTS.

Duolingo (opens in a new tab)
Habit tool, not a main method
iOS · Android · Web
- Gamified
- Sentence mining
- Daily habit
Duolingo is good at gamifying the process, but I don't treat it as a main study method — and I don't think it's worth paying for.
Where it earns its place is as a daily check-in habit. One trap: it makes it very easy to dabble in a dozen languages at once — don't. Instead, use it for sentence mining: pull the useful sentences out and turn them into cards in a real SRS tool. And don't rush the lessons.
Personally, I don't strongly recommend it as more than a habit-builder.
Ling (opens in a new tab)
Better than Duolingo
iOS · Android · Web
- Practice
- Sentence mining
In my experience, better than Duolingo — with a larger language selection and a stronger focus on actual practice.
It's much better for practice and sentence mining, with higher-quality lessons and fewer distractions pulling you toward languages you aren't studying.
Offers a large selection of languages, including many under-served Asian languages. (High confidence)
Pleco (opens in a new tab)
Essential for Chinese
iOS · Android
- Chinese
- Dictionary
- SRS
If you're learning Chinese, this is essential. It's the #1 Chinese dictionary app, with a deep, customizable flashcard system, tap-to-look-up reading inside documents, and accessibility support including screen readers.
iOS and Android. Flashcards/bookmarks can be exported and imported into Anki (via export, not a one-tap native sync). (High confidence)
Renshuu (opens in a new tab)
The Japanese app
iOS · Android · Web
- Japanese
- SRS
- Free tier
For Japanese, this is the definitive app — it basically has everything you need in one place. (The correct name is “Renshuu,” at renshuu.org.)
SRS-based and ad-free with a free tier; native-audio vocabulary, 160,000+ example sentences, and kanji/grammar paths tied to major textbooks and the JLPT. (High confidence)
Seedlang (opens in a new tab)
A better Memrise (3 languages)
iOS · Android · Web
- German
- French
- Spanish
- Video
- SRS
Basically a better Memrise — but more expensive, and only for German, French, and Spanish.
Video-flashcard app built with the Easy German team; currently covers German, French, and Spanish. (High confidence)
Memrise (opens in a new tab)
Great videos, shrunken feature set
iOS · Android · Web
- Video
- SRS
I haven't used it heavily, but the flashcards with short native-speaker videos are genuinely great.
The big downside for me was always the community (user-made) decks — they weren't usable on mobile.
Update (2024): Memrise removed user-created “community” courses from its apps entirely. They now live only on a separate community-courses site, not in the mobile app, so the community decks are no longer available in-app at all; the app now centers on its own official content. (High confidence)
Mango Languages (opens in a new tab)
Often free via your library
iOS · Android · Web
- Library access
- Structured lessons
Lots of variety, and high-quality lessons that feel different from other platforms — think the Rosetta-Stone era, but much better executed.
Best of all, it's often free with a library card.
Free for cardholders at many public libraries; 70+ language courses. (High confidence)
LingQ (opens in a new tab)
Great for reading input (B1+)
iOS · Android · Web
- Comprehensible input
- Reading
- B1+
Great in theory, and a really cool app — though the interface isn't my personal favorite.
It's best on an iPad, and most useful once you're around B1 or above, when you can dive into large amounts of reading input.
[Language]Class101 (opens in a new tab)
All-in-one, but ad-heavy
iOS · Android · Web
- Podcast
- Comprehensive
The “[Language]Class101” family (e.g., CantoneseClass101) is expensive and packed with ads, but genuinely comprehensive. If you want one big all-in-one system, it's a reasonable choice.
I used CantoneseClass101 and found it good — despite constant “premium” banners even after I'd already bought premium.
Olly Richards (StoryLearning) (opens in a new tab)
Online courses beat the books
Books · Web
- Comprehensible input
- Reading
- Stories
His published books are fairly stale to me — largely the same story translated across languages.
His purchasable online content is more worth it. Example: CantoneseConversations, which I bought and liked — the video transcriptions don't always line up perfectly, but they're more or less okay, with lots of content and included Anki decks.
HyperTTS (opens in a new tab)
A must with Anki
Anki add-on
- SRS
- Audio
- Anki
A must if you use Anki. It automatically adds text-to-speech (or human-recorded) audio to your cards, so every sentence you mine comes with sound — with almost no manual work.
Free Anki add-on; pulls audio from services like Google, Azure, Amazon, OpenAI and ElevenLabs, or human audio from Forvo. Official site: vocab.ai/hypertts. (High confidence)
Easy Languages (YouTube) (opens in a new tab)
Must-watch for input
YouTube
- Sentence mining
- Comprehensible input
- Culture
Amazing content for sentence mining, daily comprehensible input, and cultural knowledge — real people interviewed on the street, usually with dual subtitles.
One of the best free resources out there, and a natural feeder for your SRS.