Top Free Language Learning Websites

 

I find the best site to learn a new language is with my S.O.! Very nice list of websites for learning a new language.thanks. A usefull FREE reference while.

  1. Duolingo

Learning a new language is difficult, which is why there's a huge market for tools and apps to help you do it. Some of them are really helpful and help you get up to speed quickly, others are a money sink. This week we're looking at five of the best, based on your nominations.

Earlier in the week we asked you to tell us which language learning tools you thought were the best. Which ones helped you learn most efficiently, and most effectively, and which ones were worth the money? You responded with more than we could highlight, but here's a look at the top five, in no particular order:

What's The Best Language Learning Tool?

Looking to pick up a second (or third) language? You have tons of options, from expensive…

  1. MYLANGUAGES is a good multi language learning website to learn Hebrew language online. Learn Hebrew from more than 20 lessons, which include: Hebrew Alphabets, Numbers, Grammar, Vocabulary, Translation, Dictionary, Transliteration, etc. No audio support, but its a good resource for learning Hebrew.
  2. Dec 31, 2014 - 7 Outstanding Language-Learning Apps and Websites. Incredibly well-designed and user-friendly, Duolingo is a free site that teaches users languages through drills, requiring a mix of reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Living Language. Foreign Services Institute.
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The poll is closed and the votes are counted! To see which of these five great contenders took the top spot, head over to our hive five followup post, where you can read the poll results and discuss the winner!

Most Popular Language Learning Tool: Duolingo

Learning a new language is tough enough without having to deal with the method you use to learn it. …

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Anki

Anki, Japanese for 'memorizing,' is a flashcard program that's been around for years (as early as 2006, although it could very well have been initially developed before that). Because it's a flashcard style program, its focus is on memorization. It'll display you a word, phrase, image, or even play a sound, and then leave it to you to make the connection, repeat it, interpret it, and commit it to memory. Anki is great for languages, but it's also useful for studying equations, diagrams, names and faces, and more—its strength is in the fact that you can load it up with custom card sets depending on what it is you want to memorize. There are tons of shared decks available in the app that you can download and start memorizing right away.

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Anki is free (although donations to support the developer are accepted) and cross-platform (available for Windows, OS X, Linux/BSD, iOS, Android, and there's even a web client). If Anki seems familiar to you, it should: We've featured it before, in Gabriel Wyner's guide to how he learned four languages in a few years. It worked for him, and he shows you how he made it work so you can try it yourself.

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Memrise

Memrise is a language learning program that extends beyond vocabulary and language to things like history and science, but at its core it's a flashcard-style program that's augmented with memory tricks, images, and other useful tools to make learning a new language easier. Its focus is largely on memorization, but it's also designed to help you have fun learning the language you're trying to pick up. Memrise gamifies the process a bit, awarding you points and reputation as you learn, and the opportunity to compete against other users while you learn and complete activities. If you're interested in seeing what you can learn before you sign up, you can browse some of their courses before you give it a try.

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Memrise is free, web-based, and has iOS and Android apps so you can take your lessons on the go. Those of you who praised Memrise pointed out that it's free, fun, and even though it too has a focus on memorization and repetition, the courses are numerous and there are some really great ones to sign up for that will help you pick up a new language quickly. However, since the courses are largely crowdsourced, you have to make sure you find a great one.

Duolingo

Duolingo takes a different approach to learning a new language than just memorizing words and phrases. Duolingo allows you to essentially learn a new language while translating sites on the web. Duolingo has language learning programs and lessons for its users, and as you take the lessons, you'll find yourself translating the web as you browse—effectively learning to read and speak the language you're interested in by looking at and hearing what native speakers are writing and saying. Of course, as with most programs you'll spend most of your time translating, seeing the language visually, and dictating. There are some speech exercises too though, although they're not the primary focus. Duolingo has courses in a handful of languages right now, which is a bit smaller than some of the other contenders, but the courses in those languages are incredibly complete. The courses are structured in a way like games as well—you earn skill points as you complete lessons, and if you make mistakes you lose 'lives.' If you lose too many, you'll have to re-take the lesson.

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One of the coolest features about Duolingo is that it checks your progress as you go forward. It learns from where you make mistakes and which types of questions you have trouble with, and goes from there. It's completely free, available on the web, Android, and iOS, and it's earned a lot of praise. We've mentioned it before, and again when its mobile apps came out.

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Pimsleur Method

The Pimsleur Method is an audio-based method that focuses on participation in speaking and sound exercises than strict memorization and flashcards. If you've ever seen a parody of someone learning a new language by listening to a tape that encourages them to parrot back phrases and words after a native speaker says them aloud, you're familiar with the Pimsleur Method. The method definitely has reading and vocabulary exercises, but it also focuses on speaking exercises and learning to speak a language aloud as well as learning to read one. Each exercise is about 30 minutes, where you speak phrases in the target language and your own language, and as new phrases and words are introduced, your memory is reinforced with older ones. Pimsleur is available in over 50 languages, has a massively long track record (going back to the 1960s), and has been used by individuals and large organizations to train people in new languages.

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Pimsleur is a commercial product, so you should expect to pay for it. How much varies on the type of program you want to take, whether it's conversational or not, any added features, and so on. There are webapps and mobile apps designed to complement your lessons, too. You can grab a 30-minute lesson for free to see if it's the kind of thing that would work for you, and after that you have to pick a language and pay up. Even used in concert with some of the other methods in the roundup for vocabulary and reading, Pimsleur does well at teaching you to speak.

Livemocha

Livemocha is an extremely comprehensive language learning community and program, packed with native speakers (over 12 million people from close to 200 countries) and offering instruction in over 38 languages. It's relatively new, having launched in 2007, and much of its content is completely free. The approach is almost entirely web based, with live classes, conversations with native speakers, tutorial videos, and more all available right at your computer. You can even get private tutoring through Livemocha. Part of Livemocha's charm is that it encourages you to use the internet in the language you want to learn. The service also harnesses the power of social media to help you learn your target language as well. You learn from native speakers, are graded by other students who are fluent in the language you want to learn, and you can give back as much as you get.

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Livemocha was recently acquired by Rosetta Stone, but that hasn't slowed it down. While the courses are incredibly complete, with dozens of hours of coursework available for each language, you can sign up for free and take a handful of lessons without paying anything. Eventually you'll hit a point where if you want to continue your lessons you'll have to open your wallet. Paying members shell out $99 per year, or $9.95 per month to unlock everything available. Individual courses can set you back $25 each, and if you use Livemocha's built-in credit system and help other people learn your language, you can unlock courses to take.

That's all for this week. Now it's time to put these five to a vote to determine the community favorite.

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the honorable mention this week goes out to the Teach Yourself book and audio series. The Teach Yourself series is available in 65 languages, complete with programs to help you learn to read and speak your language of choice. Teach Yourself includes audio lessons, books, ebooks, and even multimedia ebooks that offer other content to help you along. Teach Yourself even has a series called 'In a Week,' a kind of crash course to a language that will help you pick up the most important phrases before a trip, or before meeting someone you want to impress (or just be polite to). It's a fun, functional, and great way to learn a language, and the different levels will help you get down to business at the intensity level you want.

Have something to say about one of the contenders? Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn't included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don't just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.

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The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it's not because we hate it—it's because it didn't get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it's a bit of a popularity contest, but if you have a favorite, we want to hear about it. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!

Photo by iliveinoctober (Shutterstock).

25+ Fabulous Sites to Learn a Foreign Language Online

Nowadays language learning is not associated with dusty dictionaries, heavy manuals, and pricey Rosetta Stone software any more. You can study a language online and get so much fun from it while playing games, watching movies, and fulfilling amusing tasks. Here are the best 25 websites to learn a foreign language online. Surely, you’ll find here what you need!

SEE ALSO: 200+ Useful Resources & Tools to Become an Advanced Teacher

5 websites for studying multiple languages

The following resources are not bound to a single language learning. Instead, they offer their own techniques which can be applied to learning not just one, but numerous languages.

Duolingo

Duolingo.com offers to study 27 languages from scratch. The availability of courses depends on your native language. Thus, English speaking users may start learning any of 27 offered courses, while Italians can choose among 4 courses only.

The program of each course is built in the form of a “tree of achievements”. To go to the next level, you need to earn a certain number of points which are given for correct answers. Learning with Duolingo is funny and addictive. Each lesson contains a variety of speaking, listening, translation, and multiple choice challenges. The services also offers apps for iOS, Android and Windows Phone to study language on the go.

Babbel

Babbel.com is a great choice for comprehensive training. The resource lets learn any of 15 most popular languages. All courses are broken into small blocks. The main advantage of Babbel is the visual vocabulary, divided by thematic lessons. Grammar and vocabulary are built into units that focus on practical things like getting to know someone, ordering food, shopping, etc.

To train your pronunciation and speaking skills, you may repeat the speaker’s words to the recorder, write down the words with the suggested letters and use phrases in the appropriate context.

italki

Italki.com is a language learning social network that connects students and language teachers. Here you won’t find the detailed units with assignments and multimedia. The main idea of the site is to connect students and freelance teachers.

To start learning a language, sign up, choose a tutor and schedule a lesson. Teachers on italki can customize each class based on your needs and interests. Lessons are paid, the price is set by a tutor and depends on the complexity of the course and teacher’s experience.

Busuu

Busuu.com will help you learn 12 languages with ease. Here you may practise your listening, reading, speaking and writing skills and interact with the international community of native speakers.

The educational material for each language is typically broken down into around 150 units. Units consist of multiple-choice questions, speaking assignments, and writing exercises. Some parts include multimedia material, such as spoken multiple-choice questions. Users act as both students and tutors, correcting one another’s work. They can interact via a chat-window, an audio connection, or a webcam connection.

Lang-8

Duolingo

Lang-8.com is another language learning community. It offers an amazing way of practicing a foreign language. You write a text in your studied language, then the text is checked by a native speaker who makes the appropriate changes to it. There are native speakers from over 190 countries, so it’s possible to learn almost any language here.

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The service is ideal for grammar fans and intermediate speakers who want to improve writing skills.

SEE ALSO: Top 50 US Universities with Online Degrees & Distance Learning

6 great sites to learn English

For non-English speaking readers of our blog, we prepared a list of the most popular websites to improve English language skills.

Britishcouncil.org is a brilliant source which lets adults and children enjoy the process of studying. Here you’ll learn English via watching educational videos and playing language games. Also you can leave comments to interact with other students.

Ego4u.com gives you both theoretical material and its practical appliance. Here you’ll find lots of free exercises and explanations, tests, articles, etc.

Learn

TheFreeDictionary.com provides a big English language dictionary with thousands of idioms. If you register, you may earn points for reading articles and other activities.

Learn-english-online.org offers an immense number of tasks for dozens of topics. The interface is rather plain, but the grammar material is fundamental.

Talkenglish.com is aimed at improving pronunciation skills for different purposes: business, interviews, traveling, etc. Native speakers can read all the sentences for you, so you just repeat and practice your speaking skills.

At Situationalenglish.blogspot.com you’ll be able to study English through acting out situations and learning a variety of expressions. It collects about 150 articles.

SEE ALSO: Best YouTube Education Channels Worth Following in 2019

4 top websites to learn French online

At Alison.com you’ll find various courses for beginners and mid-level French learning students. Just choose one, pass it at your own speed and get a certificate to enclose into your CV.

At Frenchassistant.com you can learn and practice French free using online lessons which are full of funny assignments. Thus, you learn and improve your skills in the most effortless way.

BonjourDeFrance.com is an online magazine with exercises, tests and games to learn French. Here you can even sing karaoke in French!

Polarfle.com is a resource for those who want to improve their basic knowledge of French. On the a detective story unfolds. Untangling it, you learn new words and get used to understand spoken language.

4 Websites to Study German

BBC offers various materials for learning a foreign language including German. Here you’ll find online lessons with audio, games, vocabulary, grammar explanations and exercises. There are also articles about interesting facts about Germany and essential phrases list.

Deutsch.info is a multilingual website which combines German lessons with practical pieces of advice about living and working in Germany and Austria.

Deutsch-lernen.com offers 10 free online lessons for beginners and 24 German grammar lessons for advanced learners. There are also numerous interactive exercises, a complete introduction to new orthography and 2 online tests to evaluate your German language proficiency.

Deutschakademie.de is an excellent virtual school where you can improve your German language skills and learn about German history and places of interest.

3 Best Sites to Learn Spanish Online

With Fluencia, you will discover Spanish step by step. The website offers 500+ lessons to learn conversational Spanish online. All the assignments are funny and interactive.

Learn-spanish-online.de is another good resource to study Spanish grammar and vocabulary. There are numerous educational videos and stories. You also have the possibility to make a virtual promenade throughout famous Spanish cities.

123teachme.com will help you enjoy learning Spanish quickly. It contains dozens of interactive games and activities featuring high-quality images and audio. Free online tools like verb conjugator are a nice addition to the studying courses.

3 Websites to Study Italian

Oneworlditaliano.com gives you an online course of Italian. There you can fulfill topic-related activities, write dictations, read some news in Italian or learn some proverbs and idioms. It’s useful for both beginners and advanced learners.

Audibleitalian.com will help you boost your understanding of spoken Italian. The resource offers 10 lessons for mastering some basic Italian phrases which you’ll use while traveling through Italy. The topics include greetings, shopping, eating out, hotel, emergences, etc.

Iluss.it provides educational resources produced by teachers of Italian with years of experience. There are special courses for beginners, travelers, business people and even for teachers.

Which website will you add to the above list?

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