2025-11-08
Conscript from Duolingo
I have spent seven years in Duolingo and learned stuff I now have to forget. Babbel provides a means to relearn incorrect language skills.
Updating
-1
#25 in Top Free Apps > Education
±0
#4 in Top Grossing Apps > Education
+4
#28 in Top Grossing iPad Apps > Education
iPhone Screenshots
iPad Screenshots
Description
Millions of people are learning languages with Babbel — the language app built by language experts. Why Babbel? Our short, interactive lessons rethink old-school language education to get you speaking a new language with confidence!
BABBEL WORKS:
• Efficacy backed by researchers at Yale University:
100% of study participants improved their oral proficiency in 3 months*
• After 10 hours with Babbel, Michigan State University researchers found:
96% of learners saw better test scores on grammar and vocabulary
73% of study participants became better speakers**
====================
Our language experts build every language course tailored to your native language. This way you learn Spanish and 13 more languages quickly and effectively.
TRY BABBEL – DOWNLOAD THE APP AND TAKE A FREE LESSON
====================
LEARN 14 LANGUAGES:
It's not just a Spanish learning app! Learn French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Dutch, Indonesian, and English.
====================
Why are Americans learning languages with the Babbel language app?
SHORT, EFFECTIVE LESSONS
Easy to fit language lessons into your day
LESSONS FOR EVERY SITUATION
For travel, work, and more
LISTEN, SPEAK, WRITE
Well-rounded language practice
PERFECT YOUR PRONUNCIATION
Sophisticated speech-recognition technology
RETAIN WHAT YOU LEARN
Review feature that’s optimized to help you retain knowledge
LEARN GRAMMAR IN CONTEXT
Useful tips & tricks as you learn
OVER 5,000 LANGUAGE COURSES
Learn Spanish and 13 other languages with in-depth content, including more than 60,000 language lessons
OFFLINE MODE
Download lessons and learn anywhere
====================
Read Babbel Magazine to get tips, tricks, and interesting facts about how to learn languages:
* Babbel Magazine: https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine
Follow us on social media for tips on language learning!
* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/babbelusa
* Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Babbel.usa
====================
You will need a subscription in order to get access to the full learning materials for one language. Each subscription will be automatically renewed unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current payment period. Your iTunes account will be automatically charged at the same price for renewal within the 24-hour period prior to the end of the current payment period unless you change your subscription preferences in your iTunes Account Settings. When a subscription is canceled, access to the app’s courses and features will expire at the end of the current payment period.
You'll get access to all courses for the following durations:
1 month
3 months
6 months
12 months
Privacy policy: https://about.babbel.com/en/privacy/
Terms of use: https://about.babbel.com/en/terms/
CONTACT US:
Ideas, comments, or feedback? Email us at support-mobile@babbel.com
START YOUR LANGUAGE LEARNING JOURNEY TODAY:
Learn Spanish (Latin American or Spain)
Learn French
Learn Italian
Learn English (American or British)
Learn German
Learn Russian
Learn Polish
Learn Portuguese
Learn Turkish
Learn Norwegian
Learn Danish
Learn Swedish
Learn Dutch
Learn Indonesian
*Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Van Deusen-Scholl, N., Lubrano, M.J. (both Yale University) & Sporn, Z. (Babbel), 2019. "Measuring Babbel’s Efficacy in Developing Oral Proficiency."
**Based on a study conducted with Babbel users learning Spanish. Loewen, S., Isbell (both Michigan State University) & Sporn. Z (Babbel), 2018. “Learning Spanish with Babbel: Oral Proficiency Outcome in App-Based Foreign Language Learning”.
What's New in Version 21.87.0
Ok, these updates aren't usually super exciting, but our latest version definitely is! Go on, open the Babbel app and check out the upgrades to your favourite courses! And yes, that's right, those bugs you told us about are gone too.
Questions? Email us at support-mobile@babbel.com
Seller
Name
Babbel GmbH
Information
Developer
Categories
Version
21.87.0
Size
185 MB
Game Center
No
VPP Device Licensing
Yes
Rating
Rated 12+ for the following:
Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
Infrequent/Mild Medical/Treatment Information
Infrequent/Mild Alcohol, Tobacco, or Drug Use or References
Compatibility
iOS 15.0 or later
Devices
iPhone 5s, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone SE, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE (2nd generation), iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone SE (3rd generation), iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone 14 Pro Max, iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPhone 16e, iPhone 17, iPhone 17Pro, iPhone 17ProMax, iPhone Air, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro, iPad Pro (Cellular), iPad Pro (9.7-inch), iPad Pro (9.7-inch) (Cellular), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (10.5-inch), iPad Pro (10.5-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro (11-inch), iPad Pro (11-inch) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air, iPad Air (Cellular), iPad Air 2, iPad Air 2 (Cellular), iPad Air (3rd generation), iPad Air (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini Retina, iPad mini Retina (Cellular), iPad mini 3, iPad mini 3 (Cellular), iPad mini 4, iPad mini 4 (Cellular), iPad mini (5th Generation), iPad mini (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (7th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (2nd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi), iPad Air (4th Generation) (Wi-Fi + Cellular), iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi, iPad (8th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (9th Generation), iPad (9th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (6th Generation), iPad mini (6th Generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air (5th generation), iPad Air (5th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation), iPad Pro 11-inch (4th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation), iPad Pro 12.9-inch (6th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (10th generation), iPad (10th generation) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M2) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 11-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi, iPad Pro 13-inch (M4) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi, iPad mini (A17 Pro) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi, iPad (A16) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 11-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi, iPad Air 13-inch (M3) Wi-Fi + Cellular, iPod touch (6th Generation), iPod touch (7th generation)
Languages
English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian
App Store: Customer Ratings
Ratings & Reviews
4.7 of 5 (705,724 Ratings)
App Store: Customer Reviews
2025-11-08
Irrelevant Content
In a world where less than 2% of the population is homosexual, Babble is woke and continues to push those narratives in their lessons. I am most disappointed and will be canceling. I don’t need that stuff in my studies. Very poor content handling.
2025-11-07
Babbel
Waste of Money
2025-11-07
I like
Like i
2025-11-07
El peor curso.
El curso más aburrido, todo el tiempo es lo mismo, y lo peor cuando quieres tu devolución te ignoran, NO LO RECOMIENDO, PÉSIMO
2025-11-07
Verbal Response is off
I have Brazilians speakers responding and the app says wrong response. Please fix!
2025-11-07
Bable Lifetime vs Duolingo Super
So I’ll say I’ve been doing Duolingo for both Spanish and French for about 10 months now. I started doing Bable about 2-3 months ago solely for Latin America Spanish and I have the lifetime Babel and Duolingo Super. The pro with Bable is that you can pretty much learn more advanced speaking earlier on than Duolingo which is great but also bad if you don’t have a foundation for a new language for instance like Spanish. I’ve noticed that in the beginner stages of Babel they’re teaching me lessons that it took like 2 weeks to a month to learn on Duolingo which to me is bad. Duolingo starts you off with basic words to set a foundation to learn more complex verbs and other words. Bable also doesn’t have a way for you to see what the meaning of a single word in a sentence is. This is a major issue because Babel will add 3-4 words Babel hasn’t taught yet into a sentence and you have no way of knowing what the actual word means. This means you won’t understand how to use it in a sentence or know the different ways it’s changed to fit certain situations like an action verb. If it’s one thing I’d say Babel should have like Duolingo is the ability to click on words and have a definition of what it means and its use within that sentence.
Bable doesn’t do a great job of using common phrases and helping you articulate them as well. Some of the phrases Babel gives to you aren’t really what most people use on a regular bases so it should focus more on helping to structure sentences using common words instead of just throwing a phrase out and saying learn it with no foundation. I go back to foundation because Babel doesn’t really build a foundation. Babel is good if you have basic knowledge of a new language but for beginners who don’t know enough to even travel to the native countries and you can speak basic language just skip Babel and start with Duolingo then maybe after 6 months use Babel as a help for the things Duolingo may be lacking for you.
I’ll give Babel a 3.5/10 but if I had to choose between Babel or Duolingo, I am going with Duolingo. Duolingo makes learning fun because it’s like a game, you can click any word and get a definition of the word, Duolingo Super/Max breaks down what the word is and how it’s used in the sentence, and Duolingo is like a game instead of like a classroom where Babel is more like traditional classroom learning which bores me to be honest. With Babel lacking any real lessons that build a foundation of actually creating your own sentences outside of probably the first lesson(s) which those are just phrases they don’t even show you how to build a sentence Duolingo is the better choice. I would recommend maybe using both like me but if you have to choose one go Duolingo.
2025-11-06
Lives
Unlimited lives so fun right ?
2025-11-05
Ok
Im not able to
Do
These everyday and at 76 I need some repetition. However, when I do the review section it has no method of reinforcement after it corrects me.
I would like to review my mistakes
in another mode. For example the flash cards and listening review lessons should be the same words, etc.
2025-11-05
Learning Spanish
I like this app for learning. It doesn't seem to jump too fast and accepts all learning levels
2025-11-05
Why does it have subscriptions?
It’s always a subscription like every single app has a subscription. I do not want to pay just to learn a language. I’m better off just watching a video of how to speak Spanish.
2025-11-05
A return to 1993
As an 18 year old soldier in Germany I learned the basics, it’s great to have a tool to build on that foundation.
2025-11-04
Best app to learn
Love the app, both for written and spoken quizzes
2025-11-03
Great
Great
2025-11-03
Awesome
Awesome I am learning Spanish :)
2025-11-02
Lesson length
Babbel is good for learning, but I find the lessons are too long time wise and much of the content is beyond what is needed for traveling. But it is good.
2025-11-02
Fix the UI
It keeps telling me I made mistakes when it doesn’t even let me finish speaking. I’m holding the microphone button as instruction and it just ignores me holding it. Incredibly demoralizing to be told over and over that I’m getting it wrong when I said exactly what I’m supposed to.
2025-11-02
Maddy
I picked spanish but i did not know what to do there was nothing for me too do ima go try a diffrent app now
2025-11-01
I’m learning so much
I truly appreciate how the app challenges me and encourages me to log on and study every day. My Spanish speaking friends can hear a difference in my speaking. It’s a great amount of progress. Thank you!
2025-11-01
Excellent
Great combination of flexibility and rigor.
2025-10-31
Cancel your subscription when you pay for app
Hidden automatic renewal. The app is fine. But a respectable company shouldn’t hide the auto-renewal and Apple and Google shouldn’t allow a third party app to overcharge their customers. It’s not OK.
2025-10-30
My language learning app of choice
I’ve primarily used Duolingo to study Spanish, but I’ve found that its gamified approach can begin to limit meaningful progress beyond a certain point. Babbel on the other hand offers a more conversational and natural learning experience, with clearer explanations of grammar and structure that support deeper understanding.
2025-10-30
Great to Start…
Overall the app experience was as advertised - I initially found it useful in trying to learn a new language. However, as time wore on, I kept running into a technical bug where the app would forget my subscriptions and I’d regularly have to “restore purchases”. After subscribing for a bit over a year I decided to buy a lifetime subscription, and the issue has only gotten worse.
As of now I am completely unable to access my subscription as Babbel conveniently has no record of it despite it working earlier this year, almost 3+ years since my lifetime purchase. Talking with support has resulted in them telling me they have no record, and that I am to provide bank statements or receipts to prove I have said subscription. At the time the cost was closer to $130 iirc, and to say I’m angry is an understatement.
I highly recommend that instead of paying for an app like this, to find a free alternative on YouTube, take a class at a local community college, or somewhere else entirely instead of paying for these dumpster fires of apps that continue to have privacy issues, and pull the rug every which way to Sunday just to squeeze an extra penny out of every customer.
It’s just not worth it. Hope they go bankrupt.
2025-10-29
Suggestion
I really like the app overall, but I have one suggestion that might improve the experience. The predictive text bar at the bottom could be moved up a little or made slightly larger. There’s a lot of unused space, and since I have big fingers, I sometimes tap the wrong word or it doesn’t register properly. Adjusting the spacing would make typing smoother and more accurate. Hope this feedback helps improve the app!
2025-10-29
Issue resolved
To be honest, I've never used this app, but was charged for it and had previously left a one star review because of that. The matter has been resolved and I don't know how to remove a review here so instead I'm giving five stars in gratitude for the companies understanding and satisfactory response.
2025-10-29
Babble
Perfect for learning languages and traveling must try
2025-10-29
Deceptive As Most Others
The app claimed to be Free in the past, but now it’s all about trying to force users into subscriptions. I’m not having it! Too many other, great, apps are free WITHOUT a deceitful trial. Yes, you darn right; I want it FREE!! If I’m going to pay for my language learning, I’ll pay for a class or buy a book from B&N! Deleting app from my device.
2025-10-28
Amazing app
I’ve only been using it for 25 days and I already how to have a conversation in Italian. AMAZING app for learning a new language, it’s bite sized but informative lessons are just the right way to learn a new language FAST. Definitely recommend.
2025-10-28
Great app. Very engaging
Great experience. I look forward to each lesson and have incorporated it into my daily routine. Just wish they would add pronunciation to the word of the day. That would be helpful to be able to hear it.
2025-10-27
I love this app
Learning both Italian and French. Get lessons and so many opportunities to review. Highly recommended.
2025-10-27
why I do not like babble
So your app has a very bad problem because it only promotes three languages not to mention you also have to pay for something which I really don’t like because I wanna learn other languages and I decided to go to here and I tried to pick one I wanted to learn which wasn’t any of them above and I was super mad so I really want you to add other language languages
2025-10-27
me gusta
mucho
2025-10-27
Great application so far!
This application will help me lean a language to get closer to people and know the culture.
2025-10-26
Daily streak
Still not giving me hints for words that are not the lauguage im trying to learn! Now this thing won’t stick to one word, it keeps me confused by using words I’ve never heard of for thing I’m still learning what they are in Mexican, not European versions!I did go on the app yesterday only a few minutes but it did say I got a new day! This makes me not want to bother with it anymore
2025-10-25
Best app for motivated learners
The lessons are longer, but they allow you to take more time to let the material soak in. They are are also packed with detailed and effective grammar explanations. Instead of doing lessons as quick as possible, try slowing down with Babbel's longer lessons and you will be rewarded with so much more progress.
Everything about this app is designed to reward you for the time you put into it. Other apps make you translate random sentences over and over again and you only remember a handful of individual words after practice. After practicing with Babbel, you will start to remember FULL PHRASES in their entirety, which is MUCH more useful in the real world.
Babbel is a vital alternative to the status quo of gamified, speedy language learning apps that really only care about keeping you hooked long enough to take as much money from you as possible. I'll be honest, for someone with a short attention span, it's hard to get hooked on Babbel. It's not as flashy or constantly begging for my attention, but that's what I love about it.
2025-10-25
Babbel Rocks
Been using other apps for years. Babbel for six months. Babbel is soooo much better. From providing explanation of basic building blocks to a more structured approach - it works. No phony competition but rather a solid tool that enhances my learning. Thank you.
2025-10-25
I’m a speechless
I really thought it is something look like any other learning apps like Duolingo or something like this but when I started it, I’m just feeling that I do have a tutor strict serious, and to the point. Babbel is not a joke. If you’re not serious learning, it’s not a good choice. He doesn’t have any game or humor is just for a serious learners. I cannot say more than this. It’s amazing. Just amazing all with capital letter. I wish I started with them earlier, not wasting my time and money. Just believe in me it worth every single dollars you spent on this app. You wanna learn language just go for this and nothing else.
2025-10-24
Horrible
Speaking lessons are horrible AI cant understand half the words being spoken really pathetic and needs to be fixed. If you speak Italian with any accent other than standard Italian it app can’t understand and it makes the lessons about dialectics useless pathetic
2025-10-24
AI Photos
I am learning Spanish and was looking for an app that offered specifically Latin American Spanish. I used the free trial. Most questions have an AI photo attached. Do they really need to use an AI photo of people in a cafe? A woman by herself?? A man's face?? Real photos are available for the company to purchase for pennies or FREE online. These photos added NOTHING to my language learning experience. Totally turned me off. I am not interested in using an app that is trying to teach me to connect with real people that can't even bother to show me photos of real people.
2025-10-23
Mediocre
I hate this app. It is hard to navigate. I started on Spanish 2 and can’t get to Spanish 3. There is no customer service number. It looks like I have to complete the beginner courses from level 1 even though I did level 2 already.
I accidentally got it by the year instead of by the month and they won’t let me cancel the rest so I paid a hundred dollars for a month of learning and don’t want to use the app.
There are much better courses out there. I liked Pimsleur
2025-10-22
Not enough languages
Disappointed in the limited language choices. No Korean, Japanese or Chinese☹️
2025-10-22
Best language App
I tried Duo Lingo for a few years when I was trying (and failing) to learn French. I then switched to Babbel to learn Svenska and further my Español. While I still butcher both languages, I have found that my retention and understanding of languages is notably better with Babbel compared to Duo. I was impressed enough with the app to buy a lifetime subscription, which says it all.
2025-10-21
Babbel review
Great grammar, not enough practice opportunities. They teach a concept and you practice a few times and that’s it,
No additional opportunities to do more to help it sink in…. Unless you repeat the same lesson. Lack
Of repetition makes it almost impossible
To apply. The app is the BEST at explaining and teaching grammar, but unfortunately,
it has to be used with other apps and books!
2025-10-21
The program is making typing (keyboard errors) at times
The program is making typing (keyboard errors) at times
2025-10-20
restarting intermediate level
after my password was not accepted I had to try twice to reset my password and then I’ve got. An overly detailed lesson on cocktails and mixed drinks. Where I could not correctly do the written exercises because there was no way to make a space. Also, the pronunciation exercises didn’t work because there was no functioning microphone tab. Frustrating!
2025-10-20
Only for white people
There are only 2 languages that are not European: Turkish & Indonesian. How very “niche” of you, Babbel!
But… of course!
Because if you’re going to the Middle East, you need “Turkish” before you’d need, I don’t know… ARABIC?!
And in Asia, the ONE LANGUAGE you need is “Indonesian!”
Ugh!
2025-10-19
Love it!
Lessons are short & can be stopped and continued later. Good amount of variety in teaching techniques. I have almost 40h of time with the app after apx 2 months & I am pleased with my progress.
2025-10-18
Don’t get of you don’t wanna pay 💰
Look I like how they teach you but after the first lesson you have to start paying and when I got this I thought it was better than Duolingo and it it but I want to learn for free so I give this a 1
2025-10-17
Better than Duolingo
I never write reviews but I just had to for this app. I’ve only been using it for a lil while but it is so much better than other apps I’ve used especially Duolingo. Other apps really just focus on you memorizing phrases, but Babble actually helps me understand it. My biggest problem learning Spanish was that I memorized the words, but couldn’t understand when someone spoke to me. Babble has a practice section for flash cards, listening to the phrases, speaking the phrases, and even spelling/typing the phrases. Even better is that the other section you can listen to podcasts and audio recaps, and of course it shows your progress and streak and challenges you to keep practicing. I will be honest and say some of the subscription plans can be pricey. The lifetime/one time pay is about $300. I chose the 12 month plan. The renewal fee is about $107 every 12 months and every month I’m charged $9. There’s a 6 and 3 month plan as well that is cheaper. I think it’s worth it though. I’m definitely gonna upgrade to the lifetime plan though so I can learn without the monthly payments! :)
2025-10-17
Frustrating at times
I find it difficult to try to learn a new language when I'm being asked how to pronounce something before I've been taught how to pronounce it. it seems to just throw things at you, expecting you to grasp it in the beginning and I don't learn that way. I end up memorizing what they're saying so I can pass the Don test but I'm not really learning anything. The podcasts are great but I don't know if I'm gonna continue with us after my one year is over
2025-09-17
Recommend Lifetime Subscription if you can afford it.
I recently started hanging out in a Spanish speaking Latino community and decided it would be good to learn español to communicate with them better. After briefly considering a class at a community college, I decided an app would be better for learning at my own pace. I read several reviews of language apps before making a decision and Babbel came highly rated as the one with the most educational pedagogy behind it, as opposed to DuoLingo which is cartoony and gamified. Upon creating my account and selecting a membership option I noticed an option for a lifetime subscription and selected it after mathing it out. At $299 it covers the cost of the yearly plan for 3 years and then you have it for the remainder of your earthly existence, or 100 years, whichever comes first. I have been very happy with my decision so far as I feel I have made more progress in a few weeks than several quarters of Spanish 101 & 102 back in college. With the lifetime subscription I may even venture into another language once I’m comfortable with Spanish. Having native speakers to converse with is also helpful.
I have one minor complaint about the latest update. The notification badge on the practice tab used to display the number of practice items, but is now just an orange dot. Could an option to display the number be added back in please? Otherwise I am very happy with the product so far.
2025-09-02
Great app!! ⭐️🌟💫✨
This app is amazing!!! I’m learning French, which as you probably know is not the easiest language to learn. I’ve used other language apps such as Rosetta Stone and Duolingo, but Babble is by far the best!! A big factor for me especially when learning something like a language is the aesthetic of the app and/or website. I love the appearance of the Babble site! It’s a nice, calming, chill aesthetic ideal for language learning!
Babble also provides many different ways of learning the same language! You can listen, write, speak, and even use digital flash cards of words and phrases. Babble provides you with daily vocabulary reviews, and keeps you motivated by giving you a learning streak.
You can take your time with Babble. I don’t feel pressured to go fast and do a bunch of lessons. The lessons are short, the longest taking 30mins to complete. Similar to other language apps, Babble uses pictures to help you visually learn words and phrases. It divides your learning based on your knowledge of the language. For example, I started learning French a month ago, so Babble put me at Newcomer level 1. When you sign up you can select what level of learning you’re at, and let them know your goals.(learning to fluency, writing the language, grammar, speaking) Overall, Babble is a fantastic app!! I would absolutely recommend getting it! Au revoir! 🥐🇫🇷🥖
2025-04-17
Good overall but limited
I already knew a lot of Spanish going into this and I was hoping to really solidify my grammar. Overall it seems to do a good job covering the basics but I wish there was more. I wish it had more lessons available on the basic tenses. Additionally I wish there was a way to report errors when a translation makes no sense, or providing alternative translations. When it has you review you are supposed to have all these phrases memorized and sometimes I use a different word for things and I’m not sure if the translation I thought of is straight up wrong or just a different way to say it. Showing multiple translations would help a lot especially to demonstrate the difference between things like “you must do this (formal)” vs “you should do this”. They do direct comparisons at one point of the lesson but that’s usually it, and then learning the difference in isolation becomes quite difficult because the app often alternates between formal and informal (that’s just an example, same applies for other confusing aspects of grammar like pronouns and such). I think this app is a great starting point if somebody is new to the language but I don’t think I have gained much as somebody who already knows a good amount of Spanish. Also if we are comparing to Duolingo, WAY BETTER.
2025-03-31
Good app, needs to estimate learning level better
This app is one of the best for learning languages, because it actually gives you context for the phrases unlike Duolingo and gives you speaking practices and listening with native speakers. My two complains are this: it’s expensive, but it makes sense for the quality of the app. And two: it’s really bad at accessing level. I am currently at a Spanish two level, and I wanted to use babble to improve my skills. It had me answer a few questions, using concepts like ir + a + infinitve, and preterite. After I answered them, and I’m pretty sure I got them all right, it placed me in unit 1, where I was learning basic concepts that I learned a long time ago. I tried to retest, but I could not find an option to. This was quite frustrating, since I wanted to be adequately challenged based on my skill level. I have been learning Italian as well for a few months, and I am far from fluent, but I tested for my level as well, and I am fairly sure I got most questions right, but it still placed me in unit 1 lesson 1, learning things like “ciao!” . But I have given up my frustration on this one, since there is still so much I don’t know, but I will no longer be using babble for Spanish, and only for languages I know basically nothing in, since that is clearly what it does best. Fix this please.
2025-03-13
Super Intuitive!
I love that this exists. You can learn at your own pace as the app guides you through or you can do it your own way. They give you all the lessons and categories that you can skip around on depending on what you want to learn. The goal setting and tracking, helps to keep you learning. NOTE: This WILL NOT work if you don’t make an effort to do at least an exercise a day. Sometimes the tracker doesn’t always seem to update properly, which has affected my streak. That’s can be annoying, but I like that I get 2 streak freezes on Monday, so I don’t always have to learn over the weekend.
I am learning Polish, it is a super difficult language and it seems that some of the sentence structure or phrases are a little outdated.
The variety of phrases and vocabulary available to practice and sort through (make your own flash card categories) is really amazing! Very helpful to practice and use what you already know. I love that you practice listening, speaking, flashcards, and writing through each lesson, but you can also pick which category you would like to review out of the 4 to hone in whatever you’re struggling with or want to test yourself on. I like that the lessons are not very long and that this app is constantly being updated to work better and perform better for its users.
I have not used any other language app. I bought the life subscription when it was on sale. Best purchase I could have ever made!
2025-02-19
Cancelled Duolingo
I love this app. I originally started learning Spanish with Duolingo, But there was a glitch in my app causing it to freeze up during this one particular lesson. No matter how many times I tried (and passed the level) it would just freeze and I would have to exit the app to restart. After three attempts to contact someone for over a week I requested a refund which I recieved so I am not complaining (just letting you know this was not my first choice app). I still wanted to learn Spanish though so I ended up getting Babel. It was just a little bit more expensive but honestly, it was definitely worth it. They really are actually trying to teach another language versus making it like a memorization game where you're constantly being bombarded with in app purchases and weird little games and things that I'm not interested in. There is NONE of that with Babel and I appreciate that. I also definitely feel like I'm learning and retaining more information. 10/10 recommend
2024-10-19
Good product/poor customer service
I bought a yearly subscription last year. I have enjoyed the app and it is user friendly. A few months ago I decided to do the monthly live online courses. I found these challenging given that I was starting from near rock bottom. I tried two group lessons and one private lesson. The instructors were nice but spoke very little English which made it hard when I didn’t understand things. The instructors would explain things in Spanish and when I didn’t understand, the instructors would continue to explain in Spanish. I would say these classes would be really nice if you speak some Spanish going in or just need to brush up on your Spanish. After two weeks I cancelled my monthly live subscription. The following month, Babbel charged my card. I thought I had made a mistake but when I opened my account it showed I had indeed cancelled my monthly live subscription. After weeks of back and forth with Babbel they finally agreed to give me half of my money back. If not for the customer service I probably would have continued to use the app. But after that experience with Babbel’s customer service I will never use this company again.
2024-10-18
Great app but a couple of bugs
I must say that the content and style of learning is the absolute best of any language app that I’ve ever used! I’ve been studying Spanish using licensed pc software and personal device apps for over 10 years and Babbel is clearly the most effective and enjoyable product I’ve experienced!
However, there are 2 annoying issues that I’m experiencing. One is that while spelling words and phrases using the letter blocks along the bottom of the screen the interface sometimes does not register the letters that I touch. The other is when speaking, the talk button intermittently does not appear to activate the microphone, therefore the system records it as a wrong answer. The speaking issue always happens during the first time a speaking question occurs, usually during a lesson review. The issues occur on both my phone and tablet, both are iOS devices. I was unable to find a place in the app to report issues, which is why I reported them in my review. I suppose that they’re minor issues, however I feel that the designers of such a great product would like to know!
2024-07-27
Too complicated
I don’t even know many of the grammar rules with my native language, so being taught a foreign language by learning the rules of grammar and no immersion is both difficult and boring. I want very badly to learn French, but this teaching method is horrible. I’ve been using Babbel for two months now and I can’t reteach what I have “learned”, which is all the proof I need that this app has taught me nothing. I find myself frustrated more often than not because Babbel, so far at least, has not done a very good job teaching much in regards to which words, if not all, are masculine and which once are feminine, or how to spot the difference in text. I had to refer to google to understand and learn that it is only nouns that have a gender. I don’t know why Babbel wasn’t straight forward with that since they’re teaching method is all about grammar. This app also misses the mark on explaining formal and informal words. Instead, in the same exercise, you’ll find mixed in it both formal and informal words, both of which have the same meaning (although that’s not explained well) being used, with no explanation regarding the formality of each. I want to like this app, but I do not. If grammar is your thing, then you may enjoy this app, but otherwise you’ll find yourself bored and confused.
2024-06-20
Room for Improvement
I’m editing my review since I felt I was a bit too harsh the first time. I purchased a lifetime subscription and I’m a little let down that more effort hasn’t been put into the Babbel app. Their UI is a little clunky making it confusing to navigate. Your progress and the next lesson is presented in a way that’s kind of confusing and doesn’t make me feel accomplished. I moved to Babble from Duolingo and I really like that it has toned down gamification- especially that guilt tripping green owl. But I want some of that polish and well thought out UX back. Babble’s widget is boring on my Home Screen. The lessons could use more engaging mechanics and I feel the bland stock photography inserted to “help you remember” plays heavily into my aversion; stock photos aren’t effective and actually comes off as low effort and frustrating as it never relates well in the lesson. Overall, I think the groundwork is solid, it’s no frills which may be effective for some people, and you will learn a language doing the lessons while using other learning sources. I have ADHD and want to be engaged a bit more to keep me coming back. I think adding more/ better learning mechanisms would help the repetitiveness. Video, animations, back and forth conversation talking rather than just writing in answers. I’m glad I have babble to use as an extra tool for learning.
2024-06-04
Actually, don’t like it, but maybe it’s just me.
This app uses a very traditional teaching model. Grammatical rules followed by exercises. It is more or less like a digital text book. I much prefer and believe that intuitive learning through immersion is much better. Here there is far too much explanation and technical grammar. If that is your thing, great, you will love this. But, if you are like me and find this far too boring and confusing because you don’t even know the nomenclature for grammatical concepts in your native language - and most people who have learned just by speaking don’t know the nomenclature - you will not like doing these exercises. Do you know what the subjunctive is? I don’t and I have a law degree and a masters in education. Consequently, I think a more intuitive, immersive, non-explanatory, game like system will do a better job of teaching you a language. If you are a grammar nerd, go for it. On the good side, I do like the Babbel podcast and stories. They are great for listening and assimilating the language. The speaking and listening practice are decent but too limited in that they do not involve dialogue. All in all, for what you get, this app is way too expensive. I unless there are major improvement to make it engaging and fun, I will be dropping it when my subscription expires. Instead, I will be talking to my Chat GPT friend and using the competing D app. Sorry, I really wanted to like it.
2024-03-28
It’s great but..
A few weeks ago, I downloaded Babbel. The lessons are great. I took the German course in hopes of learning German because I find it a very cool language. The login and setup was perfect and I started to like it because I was excited to learn to fluently speak German. I did ONE lesson. I finished it very quickly and then when I was done, all the other lessons were locked. I clicked on the lesson 2 and it said, “You need to buy a subscription to continue.” And it wouldn’t let me click out of the thing. So I just pressed my phones home button, took it out of my recent tabs, and didn’t play it for a week. I think I’d like it better if at least a bit more lessons were free. It allows one lesson, and a review and that’s it. I don’t really think I can commit to subscribing to an app I just got. I don’t want to come off as harsh. I would love this app if the subscription was needed later on or optional. I’ve deleted the app now since my parents didn’t want to buy me lessons. I don’t mind it since I wasn’t very invested in the app. I recommend this if you can pay for lessons. I love the way it teaches you and if you can pay, its wonderful. But thank you for reading this and this is just my honest opinion and no hate here was intended.
2024-02-14
Last update ruined the replay feature
Please fix your last update. 1of4: When I do the daily vocabulary, most of the time the choices cover up the replay button so I can’t replay the sound. 2of4: Second problem, there’s a 50/50 chance that after I select the word that I think I heard, it shifts the screen so you can’t see the correct answer. These terrible problems didn’t exist before your last update. Reenable the listening section to allow us to have access to the replay button and reenable the feature that allows us to see the correct answers everytime after a selection is made. Also please make vocabulary drills accessible at any time. Right now, you get 10 words a day then you can’t practice anymore until the following day. // 3of4 I would like unlimited vocabulary practice because I use Babbel on mass transit where I can’t speak. The lessons should also have a feature for when you can’t talk, for example on mass transit, dr’s office, on a work break, etc. 4of4: Please provide us non-speaking lessons like Duolingo in which you can select , “cannot speak for 15min” then you get no speaking lesson material. I switched to Babbel because it has more realistic sentences than Duolingo, but I don’t like how Babbel limits my practice to only when I can speak. //
2024-01-08
Very bad experience.
I would have reviewed the product negatively if only for the bad user experience of the voice recognition software. But now I’m primarily reviewing it badly because of their ridiculous financial practices.
I tried the app for a couple of weeks, but the voice recognition software didn’t work for me. Somehow it couldn’t recognize the way I was saying words in Spanish, so I couldn’t pass those portions of the lessons. And because there was no way to simply skip that portion of the lesson, I was stuck. It rendered the app unusable. I thought that I canceled my subscription, until my wife told me a couple of days ago that I’ve been charged three more times in the last two years. Apparently I didn’t cancel when I thought I did. That’s obviously my fault, and I’m cool not getting a refund for most of that time. But then when I requested a refund for the six months that they just charged me for a week ago, they told me it’s their policy to not refund auto charges. That’s absurd. I haven’t used the app in two years, they can easily refund money to someone who has found no value in their product. I know lots of people have found value in this app. I am not one of them.
Update to say that the company offered me a voucher for more of their products rather than refunding me for the next six months that I haven’t used and don’t intend to use.
2023-12-07
Good course. Language is Hard
I wish that I had paid more attention in Spanish class. I did not value learning a language as much as I do now. this course is comprehensive and difficult. I think anyone who says learning a language is easy is shining you on. I practice every day and use the app about 30 to 45 minutes, I have been using it for a couple months now and making grinding, slow progress, but progress. My intention is to travel internationally and be able to effectively communicate. As far as other apps go, I think Babbel is among the top five any of these would be subjective and results are definitely determined by how much effort you put in there’s no shortcuts so make commitment and you’ll get something out of it. It is funny to see all these other language learning “shortcuts “being offered and marketed now that I’ve signed up for Babbel. I guess I’ll have to check back in a year in a couple trips to South America to see how I’m doing also, it was suggested to watch Spanish television and movies and music I watch the Spanish with captions on and it is very helpful
2023-07-09
Good format but be VERY sure of lamguage
Be sure what language you would like to practice bc you are locked into that language. I paid for a 1 month subscription and wanted to study 2 languages. You cannot toggle languages and must pay for 1 subscription per language. It’s my own fault for not carefully reading the terms and conditions. Had I done so I would have gone with Rosetta Stone, which offers more flexibility in choosing languages. Its an excellent app otherwise and would have rated it 5 stars had I not been asked to pay for 2 subscriptions. I suggest using Duolingo to try out languages before subscribing to this app, unless you know for sure what language you wish to learn. I must learn French AND German for work and knew this from the get go, but was under the impression I could switch back and forth for my study regimen (MWFSu-Fr, TThSa-Gr). However, on my second day using the app I was prompted to resubscribe. I personally like Rosetta Stone as a viable alternative and would have gone with them, just bc you have more flexibility. Altho, the functionality and quality of the Babbel app is superior, in my opinion. If you need to study one language and are positive on what language you want to commit to, I recommend Babbel. If you aren’t sure or need to study more than one language, I definitely recommend another app, unless you are willing to pay for 2 subscriptions.
2023-02-24
Babbel paid version after 6 months
Babbel does cover much more than probably what you’re looking to learn. I chose Mexican Spanish but Babbel forces me to learn Spain Spanish, Chilean food, Argentinian food, and other unrelated topics which you cannot skip over. It also does not properly introduce new words or grammar conjugations in sentences. It will force you to fill in a words in a back and forth dialogue between characters but the dialogue will use words never seen before and you cannot click on the word to find out why it was used or conjugated in a certain way. The inability to skip lessons that don’t relate to what I’m trying to learn is beyond infuriating considering they are 40-80 questions per lesson. There is not enough repetition of words or phrases so lessons are easily forgotten. My wife is a fluent Spanish speaker and agrees not explaining conjugation up front will lead to difficult to overcome mistake corrections later. The lessons are too vague, don’t have deep enough explanation, and there’s zero grammar explanation built in; coupled with lessons I don’t care about, I wish I hadn’t spent the money for this app. There are audio lessons with books which are much more effective in a shorter amount of time.
2023-01-05
My favorite way to learn a new language!
I absolutely love the Babbel app!
I have tried a few different apps and programs to learn a new language, most of which didn’t work for me. I always grew bored or irritated pretty quickly and stopped.
The Babbel app breaks the language down in an easy to absorb way and then reiterates each lesson multiple times and in many different fun ways. The app also tracks all the words you’ve learned and organizes them in your Review module for you. Then it will remind you to review your vocabulary regularly, offer at least four different fun ways to review it, and once you have correctly defined a word so many times, it takes it out of rotation for a while.
Also, the different formats they use to reiterate the lesson ensures you can not only Understand the Spoken language but also Speak it well and Read and Write it too! It’s actually Fun learning with Babbel and feels like I’m playing a game!
If you learn with Babbel for 15 minutes a day every day, you will be speaking a new language in 6 months! I’m going to try to learn Spanish and French this year. I should be trilingual by the end of 2023!!!
2022-08-22
Where’s the customer service.
First off, this language app is far superior to any other language app out there. I used it for three years while living in Germany and had a yearly plan for German.
I just moved back to the states and hadn’t been using the app for awhile due to the move preparations and process. Today I tried to use the app and consider switching to Spanish but all my German data was gone and it said my access was only limited. However, when I look at my subscriptions in my phone settings, I still have my annual German language subscription; yet when I go into the app and try to restore purchases there are none to be found.
Tried to find a way to contact a human through the app and their website, but couldn’t find anything. I suspect the problem lay in the fact when I moved back to the States and got a new phone and US number it messed with my subscription somehow. But if I am unable to contact a customer service person, how am I able to troubleshoot on my own. My annual subscription was set to renew in 3 days so there’s not much time to figure it out before I get hit with another annual charge for something that doesn’t work. So i cancelled my (non-functioning) subscription via Apple, deleted the app and came straight here to review. So take my fresh emotions tirade for what it’s worth. This app was great while it worked, but todays prices for the subscription I already had is now twice the price.
2022-07-30
The results speak for themselves
I have tried many language learning apps (Rosetta stone, Duolingo, Memrise, etc). Babbel is the only app that adequately prepared me to begin conversational practice in a completely new language. It is my firm belief that language apps cannot teach you another language to proficiency. The only way to do this is to actually speak with native speakers. Thus, a language app’s primary goal should be to prepare beginners to start having conversations. Babbel does exactly that! Babbel teaches important vocabulary and basic grammar without expecting you to memorize huge amounts of information at once. It taught me grammar, the alphabet, and culture gradually as I learned conversational phrases. When I began conversing with native speakers, I was frequently complimented on my good pronunciation. This is because Babbel incorporates pronunciation practice as a feature and provides helpful pronunciation guides. This is the only language app that has demonstrably improved my progression in a foreign language. I would recommend it above all others, especially considering the relatively low price and the wide variety of languages offered.
2022-04-18
Dit is GOED....
I’ve been studying the Dutch/Flemish language for years, and after using almost useless books, tapes & CDs that evidently don’t teach the way I learn best, I bit the bullet & went with some serious interactive programs. Learning a language by yourself that is not spoken within several thousands of miles of you is challenge enough, but you can do it with the right type of help. I just started using Babble last night, and I’m learning things I did not learn on my expensive Rosetta Stone computer programs. One advantage is that I’m using Babble on my iPad... another is that Babble seems to be a more conversational style of Dutch than Rosetta Stone, and probably closer to what I’ll need the next time I’m in Amsterdam, Bruxelles (they speak Flemish), or CapeTown (Afrikaans is one of the official languages in SA), where different dialects of Nederlands are spoken. While Rosetta Stone provided me with a strong foundation in the language and is making Babbel easier for me, I honestly believe Babbel’s program is making me a better Dutch speaker.
2021-12-03
Good-but could be better. Here is how.
I’ve been using the Babble app for almost a year now, so my thoughts come with some validity. My thoughts are that generally it is pretty good. There are a few minor improvements that could be made here and there with the user interface but no two designers would agree.
Here is my biggest peeve. Babble asks that you listen to the dialogue between two speakers, and then asks you questions regarding the conversation. Fine. But here is the problem. First, Babble introduces new vocabulary in the conversation-not helpful. Second, the speakers are speaking at full speed street level Italian. My brain does not translate Italian that fast Babble! Slow it down. Finally, there is no way that you are able to see the English translation of the conversation. I get it, Babble is testing your comprehension. However, AFTER you answer the questions about the conversation we should be able to display the conversation in English. Some of the Babble exercises do allow the display of English, but not the conversation exercise.
I find Babble very frustrating at times and am thinking about ending my subscription to Babble and finding another app that is more to my liking and learning style.
2021-11-15
A little too pedantic when it comes to pronunciations
Overall I think this is a good app and I’m learning Spanish and recognizing new words and phrases. I think I need to immerse myself in the language more for it to really come together in my head, but the app is serving me well. My issue with it, though, is how it handles pronunciation and that it sometimes requires you to mimic the speaker in weird ways. Often it will say I’m not doing it right, but I can pass if I mimic the pitch of the speaker while saying the same phrase. If it’s a woman, I as a man will have to speak in a falsetto and only then will I get the green box and happy chirp saying I correctly pronounced it. The teacher sounds laconic and, yes, a little sleepy? Don’t try to speak it in an upbeat tone. Lean back into your seat, slump into your chair and talk as if roused from slumber. Victory! So, yeah, sometimes it’s frustrating and you have to be more of a mimic than speak in your own tone and cadence—even when your pronunciation is the same. Oh, yeah, and I’ve bobbled some words but, as long as I’m trying to do an impression of the original, I’ll get a passing grade. So, yes, AI has a way to go before it’s ready but, for the price, this is a heck of a lot cheaper than taking a live class and I can go at my own pace.
2021-11-10
The Best Language-Learning App
I have been using this app to learn Italian for just over a year and I can’t recommend it enough! I have tried a few methods to learn Italian over the years, including Duolingo and self-guided workbooks, but neither of those worked for me. The major benefit of Babbel is that you learn by completing lessons, which are structured as if you were doing exercises from a class. This was the biggest help for me because I felt like I was taking a class. Along the way, each lesson offers grammar tips and small snippets on culture, so you’re learning much more than just the language.
There many ways to review the vocabulary you’ve learned as well, which is great to test your comprehension in a variety of ways (e.g., writing and listening). Babbel also offers live classes where you can actually sign up for a lesson with an instructor. I have yet to try it, but there are a ton of lessons to choose from depending on your skill level.
Overall, Babbel is a standout app that helps you speak and understand a new language very quickly!
2021-10-23
Trying to Learn French
Not really beginner friendly. I’m learning French, with no prior knowledge and I believe It’s best for those already with some knowledge, I found it to be difficult and due to that difficulty, I started lacking the motivation to learn. Unlike Duolingo, where I used the app consistently for an entire month and I couldn’t make it a week with Babbel. Key differences between the two: Duolingo introduces new words and how to pronounce them throughout the lesson, gives you the chance to master those words, how to pronounce the words, what it similar to more accurately, you can individually click on a word for the speaker to repeat. Whereas with Babbel, it starts of with you learning sentences and speaking it with no background which can be frustrating, the speaker repeats the entire sentence, in the middle of the lesson there’s an “school vibe” telling you the different conjugates forms, love the memory page aesthetic and give you different options, there’s no order to learn. It’s just personal preference, I paid for both apps. For some reason, Babbel audio started giving me problems when my phone volume was turned down, Babbel audio was loud and I even reset my phone thrice. Hopefully they fix it because it’s annoying.
2021-09-18
Useful but frustrating at times
Overall I like the app. It has taught me things I didn’t know before and I continue to learn from it. I’ve been learning German every day for two years now and started this a few months ago. I like the speaking part, though I’m not sure why I have to hold my finger on the screen the whole time I’m talking. The word and phrase reviews are helpful. I’m not sure I’m a fan but the word scramble is OK. I love the stories. What frustrates me the most is that I am expected to remember perfect spelling of words I just learned and there is no room for any sort of mistake. Imagine visiting the home of someone that speaks a foreign language and you missed the slightest thing and get slapped with a ruler. Wrong. Any wonder why you might want to stop talking? I mean I spelled Waschmaschine as Waschmachine. Wrong? Yes. And the app is happy to tell you that. Pretty discouraging. I also don’t know that I agree with them using a non-Apple keyboard input because many mistakes I find are due to that keyboard versus Apple’s. I like the app and continue to use it. I just disagree with the beat down and I am frustrated enough to write about it. Babel tells me I’m supposed to go to Babbel wish board for any suggestions yet clicking on go to wish board does nothing. Makes sense.
2021-06-14
Great service, decent app
UPDATE: They’ve just addressed my biggest complaint from below—no more custom keyboard. It switches to the stock keyboard of the language you’re learning, and my frustrating typos are gone. Love it! Updated the design too, and it’s look cleaner and more legible. Nearly perfect now!
Five stars for Babbel the service, three stars for the app. I’ve been using Duolingo for a couple years and started Babbel a couple months ago. The lessons feel both more natural and in-depth compared to Duo. They dig deep into the mechanics of the grammar in a super helpful—and approachable—way. And I can’t overstate how much more useful the audio is here, with actual human, natural-sounding voices, in contrast to Duo’s robo voices. The app could use a little love though. My biggest gripe is the custom keyboard. Please just let us use the system keyboard. I’m prone to so many more errors with the custom board, and it leads to incorrect answers due to typos. Less urgently, the design just feels a little dated overall. A dark mode feels overdue as well. But overall, highly, highly recommend Babbel!
2021-03-16
Great app But not for conversation in Spanish
rHi everyone at Babbel. I think that this is really a great app to help people learn Spanish. But the one issue that I have is that I am a black African American woman and I am a native English speaker. I have spoken English for most of my life, no other languages. But now I have just met a guy that I am seeing and he speaks Spanish, he knows English but he does not know a lot of English. So I have to learn his language so that he and I can be able to talk to each other and get to know each other. But it’s alittle difficult with this app because they teach you basic phrases but not enough to have a full everyday conversation and form sentences. Also some of the phrases that they teach are Stuff that you wouldn’t use in regular conversation. Like people being from Germany or France. I understand they are trying to make sure we get a well rounded education and that’s good. But I don’t want to be a pro at Spanish, I want to be fluent enough so that I can talk to my guy. I know i just started a few days ago and I know I am not gonna be fluent fast. But I am just saying teach me how to form sentences with the phrases I am learning. Other than this, I think Babbel is a great app for people who already know the language and just need to brush up on their skills, not really for a beginner.
2021-03-02
Seems, great but I don't really know
I finished the first lesson and learned a few words! I am doing french just to pass the time, its not like i am going to france or anything and need to learn it. Since there is no true NEED for me to learn french and i was just doing it for fun, my mom would not let me pay for lessons. In ads or commercials i have seen, it says it is free. I did the first lesson, didn't have any problem with anything, and I really love the way it teaches you! The only thing is I wont be able to learn anything beside, hello, goodbye, and how are you? Since im not aloud to buy anything. At first i thought it was an add, but then i clicked away from it and tried to re enter the lesson, and it still didnt work! It really is a great app, but maybe you could give like the first tenn lessons free or something, and then you can give the option to buy the next ten lessons with money, and every time you get a question right you could get like stars or something and buy a lesson with stars. Im just saying this for people like me who dont want to spend their money on this app if they are not using it for anything, they should still have the option to learn! Also, you should add a few more languages. I was signing up and noticed thst there was only like six. The real reason I downloaded it was so i could learn greek. Definetly would be the best app ive ever tried to learn a language with if not for the price! God bless!
2021-02-20
Immediately goes into conversation. Voice recognition is horrible
I am using Babbel to learn conversational Spanish. I can see why this will quickly help you get conversational in a language because it jumps right into it. For someone who is a true beginner, this is too difficult and will make you frustrated because it spends almost no time teaching about things that make Spanish so different from English like sentence structure, word order, verb variations and masculine vs feminine structure, adverbs and adjectives. I should’ve bought this after doing Duolingo for a 3-6 months. That program is pretty elementary but for someone learning a new language for the very first time, you need the elementary lessons first.
Also, the voice recognition is absolutely horrendous. I get so frustrated with it that I just skip that part which then just launches the whole learning conversation so I have to go back and review it bit by bit. It truly is that horrible. Even when I say it perfectly, it doesn’t recognize.
Overall, yes it’ll help you get conversational quickly. However if you are learning a second language for the very first time, I would suggest a simpler program and then jump into Babbel.
2021-01-17
Great app but,
My only thing so far is I feel like you should be able to purchase a longer subscription but be able to make monthly payments towards it. For example: someone may want to commit to a year or even two, but it’s much more doable to spend a few dollars monthly, than to pay hundreds at once. I get that you can pay for a monthly subscription that re-ups each month, but that comes a higher rate as well, which in the end really adds up and may make it feel less worth it, especially since you may not know what you’re really getting for that money in the first place.
I just feel like this really cuts out a lot of potential customers and is borderline discrimination, financially. I completely understand needing to make a profit, but I think it could be done in a more fair way- and if anything you’d likely be making more money as opposed to losing money over it.
But, I just personally believe educational tools should be accessible to everyone.
Anyhow, it is a great app from what I’ve seen so far, and seems like it really guides you in how to have real conversation, rather than just being able to pick up on some random vocabulary, which is the case with some of the other tools/apps out there.
2020-11-21
Love this App
I have been using this for a couple of weeks now to learn Spanish. I know some of the basic language but I really need to dive deeper because my in-laws don’t speak English. So far I love this app, because it focuses on both written and spoken language. The reviews are great, since they focus on your problem areas with repetition at different times. My only issue with it is that there is one person on there who speaks Spanish with very bad American accent, so when I have to repeat his phrases with correct pronunciation, the voice recognition won’t recognize me. Something as simple as “Como estás” will not recognize my repetition to save my life, and I’ve been speaking those phrases for over 20 years. It’s frustrating that it recognizes my pronunciation by any other native speaker on there except his. I don’t want to have to speak with a terrible accent when trying to learn Spanish properly. Other than that one thing, I love this app for learning the language, because it’s pretty comprehensive and easy to follow. I can’t wait to surprise my family with my new skills I’m learning!
2020-08-06
Nice app!
I’ve updated my review to five stars. I had an issue getting the store and the app to talk to each other. Took a bit of chatting with customer support to get full access, but it got sorted.
Now that I have full access to the app I am very pleased with how the lessons are structured. I am enjoying the images, the script, but what I like the most are the focus points on how to sound out certain letters and sounds. Other apps don’t have that feature. This app is built like and actual learning course. I tried Duolingo and there was really no structure or explanation of how things worked or why in the other language. I felt like I was just blindly going along. I had lots of questions all the time. In this app they’ve planned ahead and have information points which help greatly. Which really help with not getting frustrated. I’m really happy going along and learning Dutch. I like that there are no “leagues” or races to see who can do the best each week. I can go at my own pace and not feel pressured because I didn’t get enough points a certain week.
I would recommend taking screenshots and then making notes to reference later.
2020-07-21
Hi
Hi to the developer but I love this idea and I love this app. The idea of having no ads in an app is a very smart idea but I honestly think they should not have to pay to get the lessons. Some people may not have the money to be able to buy the lessons that’s very important money that could be going to something else I could just buy a free app but I really do love this app but I say I think you should make lessons that on as advanced as if you pay for them but they’re still good I think you should make free lessons for people who cannot afford buying the lessons this is just my opinion and you don’t have to listen to my opinion but I just think it be a better idea because everybody doesn’t have money to be able to buy these lessons that I could just back download Duolingo or something like that so that’s just my opinion I am very very sorry that I’m complaining to you but I just wish somethings would change about this app that’s why I’m giving it the rating that it has so anybody if you are reading this this app cost money I mean if you read the description on the app then you’re fine but yeah thank you so much for reading this I hope you get to respond to it because it’s very very important to me because I really am trying to learn Spanish because you know it’s really fun and I really wanna learn it but I do not wanna have to pay for education.
2020-07-20
Very Good For Learning Several Languages!
I’ve been using Babbel for about a year now, solely studying French, and I’ve been doing trés bien. The spacing of each review is effective, memorable, and helpful for communicating generally. I feel efficient speaking the language while also being able to confidently pronounce my words correctly. Many of the leçons are unique and I personally find them to be funny from time to time. Some few problems I have with the app include; being taught phrases that wouldn’t be used in the day to day conversation(even in depth)-the app having occasional listening problems despite my voice being clear(whether that might be my accent I don’t no)-finding myself doing the same set of words for a review back to back-& glitches that will cause me to close out the app and restart from the beginning of the lesson. It’s just a shame I wasn’t able to revisit France due to the World’s pandemic or I would’ve been able to really enjoy the experience. Besides, it’s a splendid effort👍🏾
(Ps. if you could, add Irish as a language as well along with some other one country based languages. Lived there for some years in my childhood so would like to learn some more besides the basics)
2020-05-01
Pretty good, happy with it overall
First - frustrating glitches. When you’re in a lesson (ipad app) the “close” button doesn’t work. So there’s no way to leave the lesson without exiting the app. Then, you’re progress doesn’t save, and you have to start the lesson again. Also, why is the speaking and listening so slow?? When you listen to the phrase, and then speak it back, the button doesn’t depress, it starts recording very very slowly, and often comes back incorrect. It makes the verbal practice very annoying.
Otherwise, I have mostly enjoyed this app. I have previously taken Spanish classes but haven’t used it much for years, and wanted to brush up. This app is great for that. I’m not sure how I might feel if I had no experience. It doesn’t always feel like the amount of practice is enough. Rather than slowly teach and reinforce a concept, and expose you do different vocabulary, each unit focuses mostly on a handful of key phrases. Sometimes it leaves me feeling like I’m just memorizing the repetitive questions and phrases without really learning to converse. So I’d suggest more varied types of practice, as well as spending more time in each unit.
2020-04-17
For All
This is an app for not just kids, but adults. It started out my mom and I were setting it up, and it only lets me do one lesson and the rest you have to pay for. On the TV we saw the advertisement for it, and it says you don’t have to pay anything! I think they should let people know about that! My friend does it too, and she said it is good but why do they charge you if it says it is COMPLETELY free?!?! I said the same. It is a great app! It just needs some improvements. I think they are going to have a great business over the pandemic and crisis over Coronavirus. No school so kids and adults can have fun! Just be prepared when there might be payments on apps like these. There are greedy people and they do this for money! Not just for the heck of it! I also noticed that it was fun I g slow..... we have good WiFi and service! There was another person saying the same thing! It was on and everything! I got off and back thinking “Well maybe it will work! This has been loading for 30 minutes now!” And get back in..... 😡 FOR REAL PEOPLE WHAT IS WRONG I JUST WANT TO LEARN SPANISH!!! It took a while. Finally loaded. I had this rate at a 5 and..... NO it is going to two! If this doesn’t improve, (NO JOKE) I will delete it and not have anyone in my family get it! I mean this is redic! Well I need a word back from the people sometime! In the meantime, Adios! Keep learning!
2020-03-24
Great so far! Would be great for homeschoolers!
I’ve only completed two lessons, but I absolutely love the essential information along the way. I also use another language learning app which does not give such information along the way. This is more straightforward and less game-like, so I feel that I understand more and am learning faster. Yet, don’t think it’s boring or too difficult because of the format. Absolutely the contrary! I am able to respond without having to think about it so much; I just know it better this way. It definitely is intuitive, natural learning! Thanks for such a great app! If this stays available, maybe I can learn another language after Spanish! This is definitely worth the small monthly fee for anyone serious about learning a different language. I wish this had been available when my daughter was learning Spanish as a homeschool course. She didn’t retain anything really from the expensive curriculum with many bulky books, but I really think she would love this and actually learn the language! Thanks for all your hard work put into this app! Or rather...Gracias por todo su arduo trabajo!
2019-11-03
I love this app! But I have some opinions
I seriously love this app! I am currently in high school and have taken Spanish for 3 years, I started to fail my Spanish class with a 66 and I was not happy. I didn’t understand conjugating, or pretty much any Spanish. I just didn’t get it, but then I started to use this app. Babbel teaches me Spanish in a completely different style, it makes learning seem super easy and fun. My current Spanish teacher makes everything memory based, remember conjugations, vocabulary, and more. But babbel makes conjugations seem super simple. It only teaches me the conjugations when I get to them. I just have one opinion, when I am supposed to write an answer down and I get it wrong, babbel immediately tells me the answer and corrects me. In my opinion, I feel like babbel should give you at least 2 more chances to write down your answer. If you still don’t get it then it can tell you. Thanks for reading! for future babbel downloaders, I HIGHLY recommend. Take this from the person who has learned more with 2 days of this app than they have almost 3 years.
2019-09-27
Two things to improve it immeasurably
Enjoy the program, however.... First, explain nuances before throwing them into the mix. Many times I’m screaming, “Why, why, why!” and then in a later lesson a modicum of explanation thrown in allowing a frustrated “Ah!” Second, when running through the listening/interpretation portion of a course, there is only one speed...super-rocket fast mumble slur-through. Unless I already know/have read what the mumble-slur is, there’s not the slightest chance of deciphering the blather. I find that, in French, many letters that are in the written words are not pronounced at all, some letter sounds that are no-where found in the written words are pronounced as if they are there, many words are so slurred across that the ending of one word sounds like the beginning of the next or as if two or three separate words are one word. It’s so bad that all “first time through” listening lessons are simply skipped until I can get even an inkling of what is being presented. If there was a “slow it down some” option, like in Duolingo where you can listen both slow and full speed, I’d learn far more.
2019-07-30
Review
So far I’ve been using Babbel for a few months. It’s a nice addition to Duolingo but I have a few complaints. One is the app’s recognition of pronunciation. If you pause to take a breath between saying the imperfective and perfective form of the verb it doesn’t recognize it as correct. The audio recognition is immensely time sensitive, meaning if you say the word too early or too late it won’t recognize it. For example, you press the voice button, it says the word and if you don’t repeat it in less than a second it marks it as wrong. Duolingo’s voice recognition is better than Babbel’s. Babbel also dumps a ton of vocabulary on you and doesn’t include it in subsequent lessons which even when you’re doing the vocabulary review daily like I am, makes learning new vocabulary difficult. It’s also giving words I wouldn’t normally use in conversation like hexagon and mold, etc. Would like more common language lessons.
Update: So I just used the new speaking portion of the vocabulary review and I have to say it is a vast improvement! So congrats to the developers. It makes a lot more sense to hold the mic button while you’re talking and then release it when you’re done. I’m getting almost no answers wrong when I pronounce the word correctly now which is awesome and a whole lot less frustrating. I actually really enjoyed using it!
2019-07-30
Best learning experience for me so far
I’ve been trying to learn Swedish for almost 2 years. I live with a native speaker and have picked up a few phrases here and there but was far from fluent. I used Duolingo for about a year off and on but their sentence construction was absolute garbage. Duolingo had me saying things like “Sköldpaddan älskar fålgarna” (the turtle loves the birds). I understand learning basic vocabulary and everything but these sentences got really ridiculous at times; not to mention boring and redundant. Babbel on the other hand provides real examples of phrases one might encounter in Sweden. And I love how they make me work for it. In later lessons, when teaching new words, it will bury the new word in a sentence full of words I’ve never heard or seen. This was confusing at first but really introduces the context of the language as a whole and after a month of this I started picking up whole sentences that my partner would say on the phone to her parents. Well done Babbel, would highly recommend to someone who is actually trying to learn a new language.
But just remember you have to be willing to try and fail along the way. My partner makes fun of me all the time😘
2019-07-09
Good, but hoping for AI and UX improvements
Through 16 lessons at this point, and overall enjoying Babbel. I formerly used Duolingo, which seemed too vocabulary based. I'm happy I switched to Babbel for building conversational experience. I appreciate the tooltips differentiating European/Spain Spanish and Latin American words. Those are helpful distinctions I didn't get in three years of in-person classes. Also, I appreciate the variation of native speaking voices. It's helpful to hear varying genders, vocal tone/pitch, correct emphasis and pronunciations.
My criticisms regarding the app and the experience follow: 1) There's zero forgiveness for slight misspellings/typos. A flag /warning before counting it against the user would be nice. We're learning here. 2) The matching games/exercises have a confusing UX. It's unclear where to drag and drop and the color selections are all gray, which is not helpful in guiding users through the exercise. 3) While I realise Babbel isn't aiming to gamify language learning, it could benefit from incentivizing users somehow. This could be as simple as congratulating or tracking your progress or improvements. It's very boring to see the simple fact I've completed x/100 lessons. Make it a little fun, and I will be more likely to renew my subscription. Without these improvements, I'm likely to head back to Duolingo.
2019-06-07
Great software, not that deep and not much explanation though.
Russian is a rather difficult language, and one that is presumably not nearly as sought after as French, Spanish, or Portuguese. However, the price for the Russian version of Babbel is the same as the the other versions but doesn’t offer nearly as much instruction as said courses. Furthermore Babbel doesn’t always fully explain why things are the way they are. For example, they don’t explain why the name for Germany in Russian is «Германия» (Pronounced “Germania”) but the term for someone who is German is «Немец» (pronounced “Nemetz”). I suppose this isn’t too big of a deal, but language is all about context, and understanding the context and history as to why some words are the way they are is important to understanding the language itself, as well as just interesting. Babbel does a great job of marrying what works from other language softwares, but it doesn’t offer a particularly large amount of content, or grammatical understanding. Nonetheless, in my opinion it is the best language learning software out there for Russian, and I am satisfied with my purchase.
2019-06-01
Quite Good
I went to France last winter & enjoyed listening to the language and getting a feel for the local culture in Paris. So I decided to get this app and committed to 6 months of full access (probably paid ~$30) After 3 months I have been able to converse and understand fluent/native speakers for the most part. Of course there are many more words and verbs to learn and understand, but it comes with time. I am on beginner course 4 and feel that I have made great practice, the recorded speakers allow you to hear the accents used and are much better than an automated version (computer voice). It is nice to be able to learn a new language on my own time, and even better when I can see the results pay off. I have received compliments on my accent and the amount of vocabulary I have learned in only 3 months. Would recommend for anyone trying to pick up a little French or other languages before a vacation, or just to try something you have never done. It can be frustrating learning very basic phrases at first, but if you practice them and look up words/phrases on your own you may be surprised how much you may learn. Peut-être devriez-vous l’essayer!
2019-03-25
I’m sorry what
So, I know passable french, but I wanted to improve more. I thought to myself “oh every ad is pretty much Babbel and I have nothing to lose” so I downloaded the app. I was so excited to learn more french. I opened the app, filled out the beginning question and was presented with a challenge “beginner or advanced”. Now, I know I went to france and did a decent job of understanding and speaking so how hard could it be? Well, I chose advanced. The first question- my mind finds the answer to “what time is it” a phrase I leaned 4 years ago. Perhaps it’s just getting a feel for where I am... I click the right answer. It repeats the phrase in french. This is it, I think, I’m finally going to get another question and go back to learning! So I wait for it to load... and I wait... and I wait some more. Maybe it froze? I closed the app and opened it back up. I went back through the same survey thing and finally back to the question. I have this one under control now. I click the right answer. It doesn’t repeat the phrase. Okay, weird. I go to my home screen, open another app, and come back. I try the question again. It took half an hour and I’m on good wifi and service this is an issue with the app I couldn’t do anything why the hell did I think it would work? Everyone else said you get 6 free words but hey at least you got words all I got was a haunting reminder of the passage of time
2019-02-20
Pretty good!
This app does a pretty good job of building up the difficulty of learning a language. I grew up in a Spanish speaking household, so already had a pretty good basic understanding of the language. What I was hoping to work on with this app were my speaking and grammar skills so that I could speak properly with people at work. Growing up, we would often respond in English or Spanglish so my communication never really advanced. I started on the intermediate section just to ensure I had the grammar basics down correctly. Babble starts off pretty simple and I was concerned it may be too easy, but as you progress the lessons really start to build on themselves. What I find useful is repeating the phrases, words, etc... even if not asked to do so. You should definitely try to practice outside of the app to really get the hang of speaking, but overall this app is pretty good! One thing I wish it offered was to choose the type of Spanish you're learning or at least show the variations throughout the lessons. Sayings are quite different and some I would never use when speaking to family or people at work (at least where I live and the population I work/interact with).
2018-03-01
Coming from Pimsluer Russian
I studied Pimsluer Russian but the duration of time it took along with the lack of writing and visuals made it easy to speak but difficult to ensure I was saying the right thing, either pronunciation or the right version of the word within the sentence, such as “a” and “и.” I did make it through Stage 1 (of 3) with them and it made the beginning of this app very simple as I knew a good amount right off the bat, but this app ties in visual, auditory, muscle and speach in a way that’s much quicker and easier to understand what you are saying. I also found it really helpful the way they group the language together, and how they explain how and why certain parts of the language are the way they are. These concepts are essential to understanding the language but I was completely missing out with Pimsluer. It’s fast, fun and can be done in my free time. If I take a week off I can be confident to pick it all back up again rather than be faced with the choice to listen to a 45 minute seminar that I’ve already heard or go to the next one and not remember everything from last week.
Try the app out! It’s fun and refreshing!