Top 10 services to learn Languages 2021

Babbel is not only one of the internationally best-known online language courses and market leader, but also the trusted test winner 2021. You can currently learn 14 languages with Babbel: English, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Russian, Polish, Turkish and Indonesian. Some courses - such as Indonesian or Russian - cover the most important basics, while in more common languages such as French and Spanish you can reach CEFR level B1, and in English even C1.

What's great about Babbel is its simplicity and flexibility. No matter where you are, how much time you have with you and on which device you want to learn; with the language learning app from Babbel, you can design your language course exactly the way you want it. The individual lessons are only a few minutes long and can therefore be completed in between lessons or on the go. If you have more time, you can complete several exercises at once, in which you can practise new vocabulary, match pictures and translations, fill in cloze texts and more.

Babbel works according to the pattern drill method, which always teaches you new vocabulary in the same way. The Babbel learning concept was developed by language teachers and scientists and aims to achieve quick learning results. Instead of scourging you with theoretical lessons and lengthy grammar exercises, the entertaining learning games are designed to enable you to have your first everyday conversations in the target language in a short time. The plan is for you to use the language you have learned; not to understand it from the ground up and down to the last nuance. Instead, new vocabulary is linked with pictures and sound so that you learn it quickly and keep it in your memory for a long time.

Babbel's online language course costs between around 6 and 10 euros per month, depending on which term you choose. Monthly subscriptions are more flexible but more expensive; annual subscriptions, on the other hand, are cheaper but have to be paid in advance and are automatically renewed without cancellation. Nice: If you log on in the browser, you can try out the first lessons of a language course for free; on mobile devices, on the other hand, you have access to a seven-day test phase with all course content.

The language course Mondly - still much less well-known in Germany than Babbel - is also one of the top performers in the current trusted comparison. This is also (but not only) due to the phenomenally large selection of possible learning languages. You can currently learn up to 41 languages with Mondly and new courses are added regularly. Similar to Babbel, the most important basics are often covered there. In addition to common languages like English, Spanish and French, there are also many exotic languages like Urdu and Vietnamese, dead languages like Latin and many more unusual courses.

In terms of the learning concept, Mondly is largely the same as Babbel's language learning app, but it is designed to be controlled via a mobile device. Here, you swipe vocabulary cards into the right place or work with the microphone - instead of the mouse and keyboard - to complete cloze texts and dialogues. Mondly likes to experiment with the possibilities of modern technology. For example, the app offers a chatbot with which you can hold virtual conversations and apply the knowledge you have learned. With MondlyAR and MondlyVR, augmented and virtual reality apps are also available, which add a completely new innovative dimension to the respective language course.

Some of the technical gadgets are still in their infancy, but they certainly promote motivation and make language learning fun and exciting. The daily challenges and weekly quizzes, with which you can deviate a little from the "normal" learning path, also create variety. Apart from that, Mondly - just like Babbel - aims primarily at quickly teaching conversational vocabulary and treats grammar exercises and language theory rather neglectfully.

Starting with Mondly is completely free. Similar to Babbel, the first lessons of each language course are free of charge and the regular challenges also cost nothing. However, if you want to continue after the first few lessons, you need a premium account for about 4 euros per month (for one language) or 40 euros per month (for all language courses).

The third language course in the current trusted top 3 is Rosetta Stone. The language learning app currently offers 24 learning languages, ranging from English, Spanish and French to Swedish, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese and Arabic. You can reach CEFR level B2 in each language, which certifies "independent language use".

What is special about Rosetta Stone is the learning concept, which the provider has developed itself and which is called "Dynamic Immersion". Instead of learning vocabulary directly with the respective translation, as with Babbel or Mondly, Rosetta deliberately does without any translation and instead links new words and sentences only with pictures and sound. In this way, you are supposed to learn the new language like a child learns its mother tongue; by perceiving it immersively and slowly understanding it through imitation. This should result in a deeper understanding of the respective language, but unlike Babbel and Mondly, it is designed for the long term, not for a quick sense of achievement.

Another nice feature is that Rosetta Stone allows you to customise your curriculum. You can choose from many different topics, which you can work on at different levels of difficulty, or opt for community interactions, learning games or optional additional courses apart from the conventional lessons. In this way, you don't follow a predefined well-trodden path, but learn exactly what you feel like at the moment; and you can do this either in the browser or via a mobile app.

The language learning app is complemented by live tutoring sessions, two of which await you in each lesson. In group sessions and via voice chat, a professional tutor guides you and a maximum of 4 other language learners through a conversation that summarises the learning content of your lesson once again. In this way, you not only learn the necessary vocabulary, but can also put it into practice directly. Individual sessions are also possible on request.

The live sessions are probably also the reason why Rosetta Stone is a little more expensive than Mondly or Babbel. Rosetta courses cost between 10 and 17 euros per month.