Language Learning

Language is the most-self-studied subject on Earth. The honest summary: comprehensible input + spaced repetition + speaking practice beats any single app. Pair an app with Anki decks and a tutor on italki / Preply.

Mainstream apps (gamified)

• ★ Duolingo — free + paid (Super, Max with AI); the dominant brand; gamification works for habit-formation, less for fluency. Duolingo Max (2023+) bundles a GPT-4-class AI roleplay feature.
• Memrise — paid + free; user-generated and official courses; "Membots" AI conversation 2024+.
• Babbel — paid; conversation-flavoured; older audience than Duolingo.
• Busuu — paid + free; community correction.
• Drops — paid + free; vocabulary-focused; 5-minute sessions; owned by Kahoot.
• Mondly — paid + free; AR features.
• Beelinguapp — paid + free; parallel-text reading.

Spaced repetition for languages

• ★ ★ Anki + community decks (e.g. Refold, JLAB, Tango N5, Spanish 5k) — see Spaced Repetition. The serious learner's default.
• JPDB — Japanese-specific SRS with novel-mining.
• Migaku — paid Anki front-end with media-mining tools (Netflix subs → cards).
• Clozemaster — paid + free; sentence cloze drilling; 50+ languages.
• LingQ — paid; "known word" tracking via reading; Steve Kaufmann's app.
• Readlang — free + paid; in-browser reading with click-to-translate + SRS.
• Lingq alternatives: Migaku, ASBPlayer, Yomitan (browser dictionary).

Conversation practice

• ★ italki — paid; marketplace for tutors (often $5-25/hr); the default for live practice.
• Preply — paid; same shape; aggressive marketing.
• Cambly — paid; English-focused; on-demand tutors.
• Tandem — free + paid; language-exchange app (you teach yours, they teach theirs).
• HelloTalk — free + paid; chat-flavoured exchange.
• Speak — paid; AI-tutor for English; Korea-strong.
• Talkpal, Univerbal, Quazel — AI conversation apps (2023-26 wave).
• Discord language-exchange servers — free; massive communities for almost any language.

Specific languages

• WaniKani — paid; Japanese kanji + vocabulary SRS; the default for serious Japanese learners.
• Bunpro — paid; Japanese grammar SRS.
• HelloChinese — free + paid; Mandarin Duolingo competitor; better than Duolingo for Chinese.
• Du Chinese / The Chairman's Bao — paid + free; graded reader apps.
• Lingodeer — paid; Asian languages.
• Pimsleur — paid; audio-only method; classic.
• Glossika — paid; mass-sentence audio repetition.
• FluentU — paid; native video with interactive subtitles.

Free / library

• Mango Languages — free with most US public-library cards; ~70 languages.
• Transparent Language — free with many libraries / US military.
• DLI / FSI courses — free; US-government courses; old but content-rich.
• Innovative Language ("XYZpod101") — free + paid; podcast-shape lessons in many languages.

AI-tutor wave (2024-26)

• Duolingo Max — paid; GPT-4-class conversation roleplay.
• Speak — paid; AI English tutor.
• Talkpal, Univerbal, Quazel, Loora — AI-tutor apps for many languages.
• Custom Claude / GPT prompts — increasingly competitive with paid AI-tutor apps; pair with text-to-speech (ElevenLabs, OpenAI TTS) for free at-home conversation practice.

Reading / immersion infrastructure

• Yomitan (browser dict, free) + ASBPlayer (Netflix subs, free) + Migaku (paid) — the serious immersion stack.
• Language Reactor (formerly Language Learning with Netflix) — paid + free; subtitle tooling for Netflix / YouTube.

Pick this if…

• Casual habit-formation: Duolingo.
• Serious learner, free / FOSS-aligned: Anki + community decks + italki tutor + native input.
• Live tutor, cheapest good: italki.
• Japanese, default stack: WaniKani + Bunpro + Anki + native immersion (Migaku / ASBPlayer).
• Mandarin: HelloChinese > Duolingo.
• Library access: Mango Languages.
• AI conversation practice: Duolingo Max, Speak, or a custom Claude / GPT prompt.