Duolingo: Learn Languages Free

Duolingo

- June 22, 2017

Everyone

Education Education

Contains ads

Offers in-app purchases

( 4,618,399)

Editors' Choice

Duolingo: Learn Languages Free- screenshot thumbnail

Description

Learn Spanish, French, German, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Turkish, Dutch, Irish, Danish, Swedish, Ukrainian, Esperanto, Polish, Greek, Hungarian, Norwegian, Hebrew, Welsh and English.

Totally fun and free. New! Swahili and Romanian.

Practice your speaking, reading, listening and writing skills while playing a game! You'll improve your vocabulary and grammar skills by answering questions and completing lessons. Start with basic verbs, phrases, and sentences, and learn new words daily.

• Google Play's Editor's Choice and "Best of the Best" of 2013 and 2014!

• "Far and away the best language-learning app." —The Wall Street Journal

• "Duolingo may hold the secret to the future of education." —TIME Magazine

• "Among apps for learning a language, you can't beat Duolingo." —PC Magazine.

• "The most productive means of procrastination ever discovered. The short lesson blocks are painless and peppy, and reaching the next level (and then the level after that) becomes addictive." —Slate

Duolingo is changing the way people learn languages.

• It's free, for real.

• It's fun. Advance by completing bite-sized lessons, and track your progress with shiny achievements.

• It's effective. 34 hours of Duolingo are equivalent to a semester of university-level education.

Send any feedback to android@duolingo.com

Buy Duolingo gear at https://gear.duolingo.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/duolingo

Twitter: https://twitter.com/duolingo

Google+: https://plus.google.com/+duolingo

Use Duolingo on the Web at https://www.duolingo.com

Reviews

4.7

4,618,399 total

5 3,618,782

4 772,452

3 126,171

2 38,143

1 62,851

Stephen Baxter

This is the best approach I have ever used, it's so addictive. It's like a game but you're learning a new language for me and the wife we are competing with each other and helping one another it's great fun. The whole programme is designed to to help you learn a language in what I think is the easiest way. Fantastic I have recommended this to all my family and friends and they love it too you can learn when you want and for how long you want, it's the best teacher I have ever had. Try it for yourself you won't be disappointed guaranteed

Doralee Rutledge

Finally! Japanese is here. I've been waiting for this to happen. Thank you. Now to get back to studying.

Joe Rosenfield

Sooo helpful! Very comprehensive.

Anjali Jeter

Edit 06/22: Stars deducted for the most recent update that added the timer to strength exercises. This should have been an option where people could choose what works for them. I'm probably going to look at other software to continue my studies as I find this extremely distracting, and frankly, unnecessary. This reminds me a lot of another company's expensive language software - but this is laid out in more logical lessons and it's free. I feel I've learnt a lot in a short time. I would like to see other languages added over time, even if they are premium addons.

Rich W

The timer puts me back in the lessons at school that are the reason I don't speak any other languages. I really liked this app until then. Now it's like all the times you were shamed at school. But your phone is shaming you. I have no idea what they were thinking. Avoid the shaming.

Alastair Norcross

This is without doubt the best language learning app I've ever seen. It has the compulsion & competitiveness of a game while giving you a thorough grounding in a new language. Well done Duolingo ! A little more theory would help extend the usefulness of an already excellent piece of software. Edit: still great. Would like to be able to disable duo popping up to 'encourage' during practice. Obviously aimed at younger learners, but is just an annoying distraction for me.

User reviews

Stephen Baxter June 23, 2017

Doralee Rutledge June 23, 2017

Finally! Japanese is here. I've been waiting for this to happen. Thank you. Now to get back to studying.

Joe Rosenfield June 23, 2017

Sooo helpful! Very comprehensive.

Anjali Jeter June 21, 2017

Rich W June 22, 2017

Alastair Norcross June 23, 2017

June 22, 2017

Helpful! This is an app that is suitable for all kinds of people that are interested in learning a language. One of the few apps that I would consider essential on any smartphone. It is easy to use, and the only suggestion I could offer might be different difficulty levels. Naturally, I have no idea how (or if) such a component would (or could) be added. Also, the android developers must have been working hard these past months to bring Japanese to the android version of the app. Your hard work doesn't go unnoticed; thank you very much!

Arnika Bass June 21, 2017

I'm usually quite lazy when it comes to using apps, but DL is a great app that I'm really happy with! I feel I'm learning alot in a nice steady pace and it repeats phrases and words enough to allow you to really learn. Dutch is my first venture for this app and so far, so good! The odd sentences can be annoying though. Eg: "I am not a lemon", like whaaat?! All in all, it's VERY useful.

Kalashnikov Kartel June 21, 2017

Outstanding language app. I spent three years in Germany and did not retain a thing. But Duolingo makes it much easier since it is self paced and you can take as many refreshers as you need for practice. I don't really care about all the little points and stuff but they probably help younger users stay focused. Very easy to use a couple minutes a day so that you don't feel like you are cramming huge lessons. Another aspect that I really enjoy is that this app teaches the full spectrum of the language, speaking, writing, reading and listening. I have terrible pronunciation but having the writing portion helps greatly to at least understand. Last thing I'll say is that while there are many languages to choose from, I would recommend users only do one at a time to avoid confusion and getting burned out. Definitely recommending to everyone I know.

Mixed Angel June 21, 2017

It's a pretty good app. Have found some things missing in my chosen languages and had to look elsewhere for them; but taking into account the number of languages available and that each has a huge amount of content this is amazing for a free app. I would happily pay to remove the adverts though, please make this an option at least 😊

DeVaughn Norwood June 22, 2017

This is the absolute best language learning app and website, miles better than Rosetta Stone and LiveMocha. This app allows me to speak with both native speakers and advanced students of any language that I choose to study, all while providing an in-depth and repetitive exercise set for SEVERAL grammatical and vocabulary topics. It also helps me to keep track of my fluency! If I can offer any criticism, it would be to have a better and clearer diction with the audio clips, as well as to somehow implement some cultural and historical aspects into the lessons. For example, it would be fun to learn about Dalí and Garcia Lorca and Mexican revolutions when studying Spanish, or to discover some Eastern European art or literature when studying Ukranian. But those are just small things. Overall, GREAT JOB, DuoLingo!!

Gary D'Angelo June 23, 2017

Update 6.23.17 - Not a fan of the new timed practice exercises as a permanent change. They're fun, but it should be optional. If you don't know any basic grammar for the language you're learning, than you might not get as much out of this app as someone who does. Verb conjugation, sentence structure, and other more complex topics aren't actually explained so you'll need to find out this information on your own. They have a good amount of info in the lessons on the website. I'd recommend this to someone who's currently learning a language by some other means and using this as a supplementary practice tool. The app itself is very well done. It's aesthetically pleasing and user-friendly.

Lena Faitz June 22, 2017

Really great! PRO: The lessons aren't overwhelming, interesting, and always good to refresh your memory. Good variety and makes you feel less like a beginner and more like you're learning words you'll use every day. CON: Sometimes the pronunciations are a bit hard to understand. You also don't have an explanation of the basics like the alphabet as in-depth as you'd have in a traditional language course. Overall, I know more than I did and I wouldn't without this cute, encouraging little owl!

Dude None June 23, 2017

The app is great and i like using it. What i would like more is to have somewhere mentioned the limit still to do until the next 'level'/percenrage of fluency. I also use it because it's free and i like that. The fact that you can share your progress within various social/professional networks it also nice. Thanks for the great work! Please make the practice against time optional. For me it is annoying and does not truly reflect my level of knowledge.

Obsession Alert June 21, 2017

This app teaches very well! I've had a good experience learning Norwegian with this app, however, I'm not giving it a complete five star rating due to some glitches. It won't tell me my progress, it won't let me participate in certain activities, and it won't pronounce certain words. These glitches are very minor, though, and have not affected my learning in anyway. I recommend this app if you want to speak a language fluently, as that's the type of approach this app takes. Enjoy the app and have fun!

Hazel Galloway June 21, 2017

I have learned more words and grammar in German in two months (of using Duolingo everyday, or almost everyday) than I did in the two years of German I took in high school. This app makes it super easy to learn a language (there's a huge selection to choose from too)! The ONLY, VERY small thing I would add is a button that let's you practice words from a bunch of different categories at the same time. That way you can see how well you remember words without being given a category. The button you do have like this seems to give you just one or maybe two categories, but, while it doesn't tell you what subjects it's taking from, it's usually pretty simple to get things from context clues. All in all, this is a FANTASTIC app and I will continue to use it for a very long time. 10/10 would recommend :)

Adrianna Martin June 23, 2017

My only complaints are that grammar is only explained in user comments and some of the answer choices are a bit confusing. For example, sometimes words are broken into parts. I think this is to force you to know the correct answer instead of recognizing is from the answer choices. Otherwise, the interface is set up well, Duo is adorable and supportive, and it is a great free resource!

David Newell June 22, 2017

Really enjoying the newly added Japanese. It starts off teaching Hiragana and then delves more into vocabulary and phrases. Also it is really cool to be able to learn languages such as Irish as well as more traditionally learned languages such as French. Free version of app does contain ads, but they are minimal and not intrusive. Great app to learn languages with!

Trevor Ortalli June 22, 2017

Great app! My Spanish speaking girlfriend is impressed at how much I've learned. I just wish there were Japanese and Korean language packs.. So I can impress my other girlfriends. Just kidding! But for real, excellent app. 5 stars.

Trishana Thomas June 22, 2017

I already loved this app before when I had gotten out of practice with Spanish for a few years. Well, I really needed Japanese and requested it when I first downloaded the app about 3 years ago. I hadn't had anyone to speak to or practice with because it's not a common language. Now, I am practicing 日本語 and I remembered more than I thought! It's better than I could have imagined. It uses katakana, hiragana, romaji, AND kanji! It also gives alternate meanings for different characters! It's PERFECT!

Nahin Ahmed June 21, 2017

The most excellent language learning application that I have ever encountered. It helps to learn new languages in a very interesting way.It is easy to understand and also fun to learn with all its graphics and pictures. It is very useful and one can learn almost everything in a language from here and also easily. So I recommend it to anyone who has the curiosity to explore and learn new languages. Thank you. Nahin Ahmed.

Lynda Parks June 21, 2017

Loving this app. Wanted to learn Italian for ages and now I am! It's very easy to use. I do just do 10 minutes a day and it suits my needs. I do find it frustrating sometimes that it takes me right back to some of the basics and my % doesn't seem to be going up although I'm halfway through. It would also be nice to be able to listen back to your voice on the oral bit so you can hear how your accent is coming along. It would also be useful if you could remove a language if you no longer want to study it.

Joshua Lewis June 22, 2017

Been using this for months to learn Esperanto and enjoying it so far. Now that the strength exercises have been replaced with time trials, I just find using the app to be tedious and infuriating. It doesn't help me to have a time limit, it just makes me feel stressed and causes me to make simple mistakes that I don't even get a chance to correct. On top of the that, the further you get into a language, the longer and more difficult the sentences will get, which makes it even harder to get more than a few points. You simply don't have enough time to even type the answers. Loved the app before. I hope you change it back.

Joanna P June 22, 2017

Great app, only as good as the user. Daily email reminders are the only thing that keeps me going. But learning a lot! Picking up more and more Spanish when I am out. Can't wait to see how good I can get just using this app (have not ventured to the Website yet, my husband says it is even better)

Gary Mitchell June 23, 2017

I have been using the app intensively for a month to learn French. I am enjoying it and I am learning. One criticism would be that it doesn't force me to retest my previous learning. Without constant review how does it ensure I still know the stuff I learnt last week? I recommend the app as a very useful language learning tool. But it shouldn't be the only tool you use.

Juliana Starling June 17, 2017

This app is great! It has allowed me to pursue my learning of French even though I am a busy stay-at-home mom. The simplicity and portability of it make it possible for me to stay in constant touch with the language and keeps it fresh in my memory. The only reason I'm not giving it five stars is that there's some room for improvement in the speech recognition functionality.

June 23, 2017

Used to be good but they just recently changed the 'strengthen' function so that it's a times practice and there's no option to do it untimed. This is not what 8m trying to achieve. Would be great as an option but not forced on you. I'm still trying to improve understanding and familiarity and the high pressure test just makes me not want to practice at all. As a result I haven't used the app all week. I think I'll stop using it now

Celine Martinez June 23, 2017

It has a function where teachers can track your progress that I actually use it to track myself, which I like. You can follow friends, which I just learned about and keeps me motivated. I love that I can go at my own pace. I used to breeze through Brazilian Portuguese but now I'm happily inching along in Japanese. I did buy a workbook to go along with it, but I just started learning so I don't know if that's necessary.

Chance Rothwell June 19, 2017

Fun easy and great way to learn. I wish there were more explanations on the grammar/syntax behind some things instead of me just guessing through trial and error/looking it up on line. But I guess that's to be expected with a free app. Definitely a very useful tool. Also I wish there were more "translate this from English to Whatever language" exercises.

Michelle Wood June 19, 2017

I love Duolingo! It's been so personally gratifying to spend my time learning another language rather than continuing to play my Family Guy Quest For Fun game. No offense FG, I love you to pieces. I recommend Duolingo to almost everyone I know! Thank you so much for providing a wonderful FREE service!

Eleanor Goldsmith June 18, 2017

I'm having so much fun studying Russian & Welsh with this. The gamification of language learning encourages you to do a little every day, which is the key to progress. I've heard good things from friends using it to study French, German, and Japanese as well. Would definitely recommend giving this a try!

Gabby Smith June 20, 2017

Overall it works pretty great. Repetitive use of the app does help learn the language you want, it takes self dicipline. The only small issue I have is that some of the sentences they have you practice with make no sense, like it's nothing you would say. If they had you practice with more practical phrases first, I think it would be better.

Christina Wilson June 22, 2017

No response to 4 emails. Sent 2 screenshots showing the app telling me an answer is wrong and I googled the answer it gave and it's wrong. Now I am in a loop. I put the answer it gave me and it says it's wrong. Put the answer shown and it marks it wrong showing the first answer again. Had to quit and start over. I really liked this app, as I was actually learning, even with my memory issues. But this is frustrating. No response is even worse.

Ooi-Yan Chong June 23, 2017

It's so good, honestly. At the moment I'm learning two languages Spanish and German. It's a fun way to learn and it's so easy to use. I recommend it to everyone who wants to learn another language for free! You can also do a test to see how much you already know.

Naomi North June 19, 2017

I'm studying Polish, and I'm very happy to have such an easy-to-use (and free!) app to learn this language. You can really sense the community and eagerness to communicate and share knowledge and ideas behind Duolingo. It's a powerful tool to keep in your pocket and a gentle reminder that the majority of our fellow humans are fluent in more than one language.

Emily Elizabeth June 22, 2017

Oh my Smiling God, I love Duolingo! I've been able to study diligently, or just dabble, in pretty much every language I've really wanted to learn. German, Norwegian, and Japanese (new addition, I almost died when it alerted me to the update ❤) are my favorites so far, but I haven't tried them all yet. I've also been working on German on here for some two-three years now, and am proud to say that I am semi-fluent and get compliments from native speakers. 😁

Toe-Knee Karate June 21, 2017

The best language learning I've ever found. It has adorable graphics and the UI is mostly good. I do have trouble with it stalling and closing out sometimes, but overall, it's a great app. Good job 💓

T Miles June 20, 2017

Ive got to admit this is by far the easiest and the cheapest way to be introduced to a new language, so easy and its interface and revision prompts helps what you have learnt stay fresh. But whilst the community comments are helpful this app falls short on its ability to explain the rules of new words and structures of sentences, i mean it does its best to guide you through the first lesson of certain subject matters but that is Duolingo's ultimate fail. Use this app as a starting block, but be prepared with dictionaries and other sources when you become stuck.

June 20, 2017

I love this app! It easy and fun to use! The only reason im not giving it 5 stars is because I wish I could customize how im learning. For example, I would like to have more listening comprehension exercises and less matching exercises. Maybe on the next update!

Fred Duval June 23, 2017

This app used to be awesome. It is probably still the best around but as soon as I find a better way to learn languages, I will uninstall Duolingo. Way too many changes recently, and none of them are improvement for my personal needs. I hope that I am only one of few people to feel this way because I feel the developers and volunteers work very hard to make this a good language learning tool.