If you haven't yet started language learning by way of computer software, well, welcome to the future. Gone are the days of sitting through boring grammatical lectures and forcing yourself to remember hablo, hablas, habla, hablamos, and so on by sheer force of will. Instead, Spanish software is built on the principle that learning a language should be fun and interactive, which will not only help you learn but also keep you from giving up out of tedium. You can expect games, videos, challenges, animations, speech recognition, and much more, all created to keep you engaged and focused — an important requirement for learning. Of course, there's more going on under the surface; just playing games and repeating random phrases now and then probably wouldn't make you fluent. A quality piece of language learning software should harness methodology built upon the principles of second language acquisition and language education, two ever-evolving subfields of linguistics. Rosetta Stone, for example, uses what they call 'Dynamic Immersion,' which attempts to recreate for users an experience that is similar to how children learn a language. Users build meanings from input in the form of pictures and text, much as a child would, instead of undergoing explicit grammatical instruction. Such a methodology attempts to take advantage of the way your brain is already wired to learn a language and can ensure that your Spanish is tied to real-world meaning and context from the start. Rosetta Stone's methods are not your only choice. Just as there are various theories about how we learn languages, there are various types of Spanish software, each with its own methodology and user experience. To select the one that will work best for you, you'll want to consider a few factors. First, do you have a lot of time to invest or are you looking for conversational skills quickly? Do you prefer lots of pictures and videos, or does audio capture your focus? What about explanations — do you expect highly detailed help, or are intuition and deduction more your style? Finally, will you enjoy using speech recognition? Think about these questions as you select your Spanish software. Look for the versions that match your expectations, and you'll have the fastest and most enjoyable learning experience. Why pay for expensive language software when you can use dozens of language learning websites for free? These websites use lessons, videos, images, games, and interactions to help you learn a new language or brush up an existing one, just as expensive programs do. You can learn dozens of languages for free, including Spanish, English, German, Greek, French, Italian, Hebrew, Chinese, and many others. In addition to these websites, there are free mobile language learning apps, which are great for learning a new language while you're away from your computer. Some of the websites below have their own free app. If you're looking for a more interactive way to learn a new language, free language exchange programs allow you to practice with someone who actually knows the language.
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DuolingoWhat We Like
What We Don't Like
Duolingo is one of the best places you can visit for learning a new language for free. Duolingo also offers an 'Immersion' section where you are given real websites that either need to be translated or are already translated to practice your reading and translating skills. At any time, you can switch to a different language to learn more than one at once without losing your place. Languages you can learn: Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, French, German, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, High Valyrian, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Klingon, Korean, Navajo, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, Welsh
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busuuWhat We Like
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Featuring beginner, elementary, and intermediate sections, busuu also lets you chat with native speakers of the language you're learning, ![]() Busuu offers both free lessons and paid ones through a premium plan. Languages you can learn: Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Turkish
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Mango LanguagesWhat We Like
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Mango Languages lets you learn over 60 languages for free, but only if your public library offers a subscription to the website. Otherwise, there's a monthly fee. The website and mobile apps are simple to use, offering interactive lessons where you can listen to particular words of a sentence over and over until you get it right. With a microphone plugged in, you can test your pronunciation with a side-by-side comparison of your voice versus the one spoken in the lesson. Languages you can learn: Arabic, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Bengali, Cherokee, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Ancient Greek, Koine Greek, Haitian Creole, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Biblical Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Irish, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Latin, Malayalam, Norwegian, and others
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MemriseWhat We Like
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Since Memrise's courses are created by users, some languages have many different free courses available. Memrise provides techniques for remembering each and every concept you run across. You collect points as you complete courses. Some options require a paid membership. Languages you can learn: English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Norwegian, Danish, Japanese, Korean, Icelandic, Slovenian, Arabic, Turkish, German, Swedish, Polish, Italian, Chinese, Russian, and Mongolian
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123TeachMeWhat We Like
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123TeamMe lets you learn only Spanish, with games, quizzes, lessons, and audio files that assume varying degrees of skill. There's also a sentence maker, verb conjugator, and Spanish-English translator. A placement test can tell you where you should start learning if you're unsure. There are lots of free resources, but also you can buy a premium subscription.
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Internet PolyglotWhat We Like
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Internet Polyglot is more of a massive flashcard game. After selecting the language you want to learn, you can browse through a number of lessons that teach you a handful of words and phrases. To test what you've been taught, you can go through the lessons again, but this time in the form of picture games, guessing games, typing games, and matching games. Languages you can learn: Amharic, Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Esperanto, Farsi, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Tagalog, Tamil, Thai, Turkish, Ukranian
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LearnALanguage.comWhat We Like
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This website supports a good handful of languages, but it's not nearly as comprehensive as some other websites here. Some languages only feature a list of basic words and phrases with pronunciation help, while others have full courses with flash cards, slang, greetings, and more. LearnALanguage.com is best for brushing up on basic and common words only after you have a good introductory feel for the language. Languages you can learn: Arabic, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latin, Norwegian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish
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NativlangWhat We Like
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Nativlang includes unique languages some of these other websites may not support. Not all of the languages have the same learning structure, but most all of them will teach you pronunciation, grammar, alphabet, writing, and phrases. Videos show you how to write and speak the language. Languages you can learn: Portuguese, Icelandic, Aramaic, Italian, German, Middle English, Spanish, Modern Greek, Ancient and Koine Greek, Sardinian
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Foreign Services Institute (FSI) Languages CoursesWhat We Like
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The resources at FSI Languages Courses were developed by the U.S. government and are now freely available in the public domain. Everything on the website is ordered by units, featuring an MP3 file for every tape within each unit. You can follow along with the audio tapes using the attached PDF files, and some of the units also include a workbook for practice. Languages you can learn: Amharic, Arabic, Bulgarian, Cambodian, Cantonese, Chinese, Chinyanja, Czech, Finnish, French, Fula, General, German, Greek, Hausa, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Igbo, Italian, Japanese, Kirundi, Kituba, Korean, Lao, Lingala, Luganda, Moré, Norwegian, Polish, Persian, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Shona, Sinhala, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Thai, Turkish, Twi, Vietnamese, Yoruba
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Living LanguageWhat We Like
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Living Language doesn't have free lessons that walk you through different skill sets. Instead, you're given free PDFs that have thousands of essential words and phrases. All the PDF files are meant for beginners and can be downloaded without a user account. Languages you can learn: Arabic, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese
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Speak7What We Like
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Speak7 is entirely text-based, so there aren't any videos or interactive lessons, but its very useful how-to samples help with common sentences, like asking for directions, writing letters, making a phone call, creating a reservation, dealing with law enforcement, and seeking medical help. Not all of the resources are the same for each language, but some of them also have vocabulary lists, pronunciation help, and grammar instructions. Languages you can learn: Arabic, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Spanish
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Effective Language LearningWhat We Like
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Effective Language Learning has over 35 free lessons for French and several for Spanish, Italian, and German. You can learn numbers, greetings, dates, telling time, accent marks, grammar, shopping, dining, and several other topics. All of the lessons here are in text form, so you won't get pronunciation practice through audio files. Languages you can learn: French, German, Italian, Spanish
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MIT Global Studies and LanguagesWhat We Like
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MIT's list of language courses isn't well organized, making it rather difficult to identify resources. The website also doesn't have a consistent set of lessons, which means some languages may have only audio files, others just PDFs, only videos for some, and maybe even assignments without answers. Consider it if you've exhausted all the other websites in this list and are still looking to learn more about the two available languages.
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StudyStackWhat We Like
What We Don't LikeFree Language Learning Software
StudyStack is a simple language learning website that offers flashcards and other games to help you study a new language. You can also learn a set of words through crossword puzzles, quizzes, matching, word scrambles, and other games. Since each game uses the same set of words, you can test yourself numerous ways. Best Free Online Language CoursesLanguages you can learn: Arabic, Cantonese, Chinese, French, Spanish, Latin, German, Dutch, Russian, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Irish, Italian, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Japanese, Esperanto, Sanskrit, Slovak, Finnish, Swahili, Swedish, Czech, Dene, Kazakh, Turkish, Welsh, Yiddish Comments are closed.
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