Technologies
10 apps that can actually teach you a new language
The best language learning apps to learn a new language at home, no matter your style.

Learning a new language can be tough, but thankfully it’s also easier than ever thanks to the best language learning apps. You no longer need to spend time in a classroom or spend a ton of money on instructors. You can build your vocabulary at your own pace and become fluent through engaging lessons — all from the comfort of your smartphone or laptop.
There are many different language learning apps to choose from, so there’s likely a program that best suits your learning style and schedule. The best language learning apps are also economical, especially when compared with formal schooling or tutoring with a language expert. Many have speech recognition, which is key to ensuring you have proper pronunciation. Others offer several language options, which is ideal when you want to pick up multiple languages.
Here are the best language learning apps that make it easy for you to learn a language at your own pace. You’ll sound like a native speaker in no time!
As a regular Duolingo user, I enjoy the app’s colorful interface and short, game-like exercises. The app doesn’t restrict how many languages you can try to learn at the same time (personally, I think two is a good maximum if you want to retain anything). I use Duolingo to practice Spanish and German.
To make sure you don’t get rusty on the basics, even if you’ve «mastered» a skill by reaching a higher level, the skill can still «crack» if you don’t review it consistently. Practice the skill again and it’ll repair itself.
I like Duolingo’s user-friendly layout, and the «streak» feature, which motivates you to keep going by tracking the number of days you’ve reached your point goal. In the app, you can access resources such as Duolingo Stories, which are short audio stories that allow you to check your comprehension skills as you go. Super Duolingo, the ad-free premium version of the app, costs $7 a month and includes progress quizzes, monthly streak repairs and more.
I found Babbel to be the most like a foreign language course you’d see in an online school curriculum. The minimalist layout of the Babbel app helps prevent a new language (French for me) from seeming overwhelming, without making it boring. Each lesson takes you through translations, and includes variations of the word or phrase, pictures and whether it’s formal or informal. If it asks you to spell a phrase, the letters are included.
You also get to see the new words you’re learning used in common conversations, listen to them (if you choose to have audio on), repeat the phrases, and learn more about verb groups. The 15-minute language lessons are easy to work into your day — whether it’s on your commute, before bed or on your lunch break. The My Activity module lets you track all your progress.
Babbel is free to sign up for and the first lesson of every course is free. A monthly subscription costs $14.95. You can also choose to renew every three months ($37.95), every six months ($66.90), annually ($89.40) or a one-time payment of $249 for lifetime access.
I tried my hand at Greek on the Drops app. The app’s fun, colorful layout definitely made the language (which has its own alphabet) less intimidating. The app shows users each word in the Greek alphabet and the English alphabet, and says the word and shows an image of it. Drops is constantly adding new languages, most recently, the app brought on Ainu, an indigenous Japanese language.
You can subscribe to Drops Premium for $13 a month, $70 annually or a one-time purchase of $160. If you stick with the free version, you have to wait 10 hours to access another lesson, but you can check out your statistics after completing the lesson (correct answers, wrong answers and words learned) and tap on the words you’ve learned to hear them pronounced again (and see them written in the Greek alphabet). This can give you a leg up when your next lesson
starts.
Similar to Drops, Mondly is a fun, colorful app that has multiple features to take advantage of even if you don’t subscribe to premium. I tried beginner Hungarian on this app, and I liked how it offered to show you different conjugations if you tapped on verbs. The app packs images, translations and auditory aids to help your specific learning style.
The instructor also speaks the words and phrases in a rather melodic way that made it easier for me to recall them (even after trying different languages on different apps).
Mondly is free to use, but you can subscribe to the Premium tier to unlock all content. You can subscribe for $10 a month or $50 annually for access to one language. You can also subscribe to get lifetime access to all 33 languages for $48 (this sale is for a limited time and usually costs $479.90).
One of my favorite parts of Memrise is the app’s use of short videos to show how real locals express different phrases in conversation. I tried the French course, and the first lesson alone let me listen to the tone of voice and casual pronunciation, as well as showing me the phrase’s literal translation and explained its gendered usage. The app also helps you spot patterns in the language to make it easier to improve your skills. If you’re brushing up on a language you’re familiar with, you have the option to skip phrases you already know.
A few lessons are available for free daily, but you can tap Upgrade in the app and choose from a monthly subscription for $8.49 a month, a $30 annual subscription or a one-time payment of $120 for a lifetime access.
When you sign up for Busuu, you select the language you want to learn, and the app helps you determine how advanced you are with it and why you want to learn it, and to what level. From there, you set a daily study goal, and if you subscribe to the premium plan, it creates a study plan so you’ll reach your goal by a set date. For example, Busuu says if I study three times a week for 10 minutes a day, I’ll be pretty fluent in my chosen language in about eight months.
Busuu’s Basic plan is free, but you can subscribe to Premium or Premium Plus. Premium is $12.95 per month, about $71.40 annually, or about $130.80 every two years. Premium Plus — which unlocks everything — is $13.95 per month, about $83.40 annually, or about $154.80 every two years. All plans offer a 14-day money back guarantee.
I tried Italian with Busuu and I liked the clean, bright layout of the app. Busuu also offers helpful reminders: The second time I logged in, it reminded me about «weak words» I needed to review to improve my vocabulary. In addition to listening to a phrase paired with a photo of the corresponding action, Busuu included helpful vocabulary tips (like that «ciao» can mean «hello» or «goodbye»).
If you listen to any song enough, you’ll learn all the words through repetition — even if they’re in a different language. But how do you figure out what they mean? This is where the Lirica app comes in. This app is unique in how it approaches teaching Spanish and German. Instead of traditional teaching methods for learning a language, Lirica uses popular music by Latin and reggaeton artists to help you learn language and grammar. On top of learning the language, you’re also immersing yourself in the culture behind it. The app also includes facts about the artist while you’re learning.
Lirica has a one-week free trial and then it’s $9 a month, $20 every six months or $30 annually. For now, the app only offers Spanish, French, German and English.
While not technically an app, the free Language Learning with Netflix Chrome extension can be helpful on your journey to becoming multilingual. Install the extension and click the icon to launch the catalog of movie and TV show options. You do need a subscription to Netflix though.
Once you launch the catalog, you can pick from hundreds of titles that use movies on Netflix to help teach different languages. For example, if you wanted to work on your Spanish, select the language in the dropdown menu, along with the country where you’re using Netflix. If you’re watching in the US, the extension generates 306 titles. To watch one of the films, just click the red «Watch on Netflix» button. Depending on the language you want to learn, you might have fewer titles to pick from.
As the series or movie plays, two sets of subtitles display at the bottom of the screen. One set is your native language and the other is the one you want to learn. The words highlight as they’re spoken, like a karaoke sing-a-long. You can listen to the dialogue phrase by phrase, pause and replay as needed, access a built-in dictionary and more.
Pimsleur is an app that offers 51 languages to learn, but delivers the information in what is basically the form of a podcast. Essentially, you’ll choose the language you want to learn and begin a 30-minute auditory lesson (which are downloadable and Alexa-compatible). The app also has a driving mode, so you can improve your language skills during long commutes without looking at a screen.
You get a seven-day free trial. An All-Access subscription costs $21 a month, while a Premium subscription, which only includes one of the 50 available languages, is about $20 a month. Features include reading lessons, roleplaying challenges and digital flashcards.
Perhaps the best-known language learning service, Rosetta Stone has come a long way since it started in the ’90s. My parents still have a box set of discs for learning Spanish somewhere in their house. It’s a lot easier now with the Rosetta Stone app, but you still need at least 30 minutes to complete a Core Lesson.
I tried Rosetta Stone’s first Irish lesson, which was primarily auditory with images, though there are ways to customize the app to your learning preferences. The lesson started out fairly challenging, especially since I was completely new to the Irish language. But it did get easier as I went along.
The iOS app got an update last year that brought augmented reality into the mix. This enables Seek and Speak, which is a scavenger-hunt-style challenge. Point the phone camera at an object and get a translation in the language you’re learning.
Rosetta Stone subscription options include $35.97 every three months, $143.88 annually, or a one-time payment of $299 for a lifetime subscription with access to all 25 languages.
Technologies
Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for Sept. 11, #1545
Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for Sept. 11, No. 1,545.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.
Today’s Wordle puzzle was an easy one for me, for a change! If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.
Today’s Wordle hints
Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.
Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats
Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.
Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels
Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.
Wordle hint No. 3: First letter
Today’s Wordle answer begins with C.
Wordle hint No. 4: For your house
Today’s Wordle answer refers to a piece of furniture.
Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning
Today’s Wordle answer can refer to where you might sit at your kitchen table.
TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER
Today’s Wordle answer is CHAIR.
Yesterday’s Wordle answer
Yesterday’s Wordle answer, Sept. 10, No. 1544 was POUTY.
Recent Wordle answers
Sept. 6, No. 1540: BULGE
Sept. 7, No. 1541: TENOR
Sept. 8, No. 1542: CHIRP
Sept. 9, No. 1543: TRICK
Technologies
Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for Sept. 11
Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for Sept. 11

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.
Today’s NYT Strands puzzle took me a while. The answers are numerous and tough to unscramble, I thought. If you need hints and answers, read on.
I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.
If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.
Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far
Hint for today’s Strands puzzle
Today’s Strands theme is: Take a break
If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Relax.
Clue words to unlock in-game hints
Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:
- STEER, SHOW, CREE, STEM, METS, MICE, SHADE, DIME, TREE, STREET, DARE, DARES, PAIN, MITE
Answers for today’s Strands puzzle
These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:
- READ, REST, PAINT, SHOWER, STRETCH, EXERCISE, MEDITATE
Today’s Strands spangram
Today’s Strands spangram is METIME. To find it, look for the M that’s three letters down on the far-left row, and march straight across.
Technologies
Everything Announced at Apple Event 2025: iPhone Air, iPhone 17, AirPods Pro 3 and New Apple Watches
Apple’s annual September reveal of its latest mobile devices featured the brand new iPhone Air, AirPods Pro 3 with heart-rate sensing, the iPhone 17 lineup and new Apple Watches.

Each September, Apple’s product release playbook dials up the unveiling of the company’s newest line of iPhones, along with a variety of complementary gadgets. On Tuesday, the company took the wraps off the iPhone 17 in all its variations, most notably the new skinny iPhone Air, along with new Apple Watches — Series 11 and Ultra 3 — and an upgrade to its 2-year-old AirPods Pro 2 earbuds.
Along with the hardware, Apple is rolling out the new versions of the devices’ respective operating systems, iOS 26 and WatchOS 26, both of which have been in public beta all summer. (The final version of iOS 26 will be available on Monday, Sept. 15.) The new Liquid Glass interface design may even seem routine to you by now.
Many of the new devices’ capabilities come from new features in their operating systems, and throughout Apple stressed health and fitness as one of the primary drivers. It deemphasized how many of the features’ analysis capabilities — notably most of the new heart-rate sensing and Live Translation in the AirPods Pro 3 — really rely on the iPhone for their heavy lifting.
Given Apple’s struggles with its AI efforts, especially given how much it stressed Apple Intelligence at previous events, the company came as close to downplaying it as it could: There was only the occasional mention of features being driven by AI and the increased neural power in the new A19 Pro processor. And despite no discussion of smart home tech, there was a brief hint in the iPhone Air announcement.
For more in-the-moment commentary, check out ourApple Event live blog.
Don’t miss any of our unbiased tech content and lab-based reviews. Add CNET as a preferred Google source.
iPhone 17 boasts a better screen
The update to Apple’s most mainstream model comes in pastel colors. Notably, the base iPhone 17 now has a ProMotion (120Hz VRR) display, which was formerly only on the Pro models. The screen is larger (6.3 inches) and brighter (up to 3,000 nits) with an improved scratch- and glare-resistant coating. ProMotion has been a much-wanted upgrade; I think there’s probably some dancing going on right now. Inside, it incorporates the A19 chip with a five-core GPU and adds fast charging.
The new front camera has an 18-megapixel square sensor for more flexibility in framing, alongside a larger field of view to enable Center Stage and stabilization. It still has two cameras, though the main camera is bumped to 48 megapixels via Dual Fusion or 24 megapixels as standard.
It starts at $799 in the US — the 16E remains in the line at $599 — and all the iPhones are available for preorder now. It’s £799 in the UK and AU$1,399 in Australia.
The iPhone Air is thin but powerful
Thin seems to be in for phones this year — at least for manufacturers, since buyers don’t seem to be quite as interested and iPhone buyers even less so. Did anyone ask for a super thin iPhone? But in the continuing absence of a foldable iPhone model, what’s a company to do? Behold the iPhone Air, at 5.6mm thick.
It has a polished titanium frame and Ceramic Shield on both sides, which makes some people just want to touch it. According to the company, it’s almost entirely battery on the inside, with Apple claiming all-day battery life.
It’s got high-end specs, too: a 6.5-inch ProMotion XDR display and the A19 Pro processor found in the Pro models. The processor incorporates neural accelerators into each GPU core (six of them), bigger caches and more, giving it quite a bit of computing power.
A new N1 chip and C2 modem improve connectivity (Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6) and power conservation. The device has 48-megapixel Fusion and 12-megapixel wide-angle cameras, the Center Stage front camera, and a way to combine front and back cameras live.
It requires all-new accessories, including a MagSafe pack (80 hours) and a thin, translucent case. It starts at $999 (£999, AU$1,799).
iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max deliver a love letter to videographers
The flagship iPhone Pro models tend to differ only by screen size (now 6.3 and 6.9 inches), and their unique features are made possible by their higher-powered processors, more flexible camera arrays and other component differences over the lower-end models.
Like the Air, the iPhone 17 Pro uses an A19 Pro processor with updated cooling and thermal management — a vapor chamber — and has a Ceramic Shield back and front. Apple promises 39 hours of video playback.
The cameras are usually the highlight of the Pro, and that remains true: It has an 18-megapixel front Center Stage camera and a triple-camera Fusion Telephoto system, with three 48-megapixel cameras, including a 4x-8x telephoto for a maximum of 200mm equivalent. The phones can capture ProRes Raw and Genlock (to synchronize cameras for video), which should tickle the fancy of pro videographers.
The Pros now come in orange, which isn’t everyone’s favorite, and there’s a new 2TB storage option. They start at $1,099 (£1,099, AU$1,999).
Apple Watch Series 11, Watch SE and Watch Ultra 3 get redesigns
The Apple Watch Series 10 is our Editors’ Choice for smartwatches. The next-generation Watch Series 11 shrinks the thickness, with a more scratch-resistant front glass. It adds 5G support and better power management for up to 12 hours of battery life. A new Flow watch face takes advantage of Liquid Glass visuals. It adds blood pressure tracking (based on blood flow) to find indications of high blood pressure and sleep score from WatchOS 26. Prices start at $399 (£369, AU$679).
There are new bands in new colors, too.
It’s been three years since the last iteration of the Watch SE. Now, we get the Watch SE 3, with the new S10 chip with 5G wireless. It still delivers 18-hour battery life and an always-on display. There’s wrist temperature sensing for ovulation tracking, it gets sleep apnea tracking, sleep score and more. Prices start at $249 (£219, AU$399), and preorders start now.
Apple’s top-of-the-line smartwatch, the Ultra 3, is updated over the Watch Ultra 2 with a wide-angle OLED (smaller bezels mean more display area). Apple has given it emergency-related satellite connectivity, which required a new antenna and receiver. It also comes with increased battery life. Prices start at $799 (£749, AU$1,399).
AirPods Pro 3 upgrade includes live translation
The AirPods Pro 2 version released in 2023 offered only incremental hardware upgrades over the 2022 models (hence the lack of a name change). The AirPods Pro 3 are smaller, with an updated design that introduces foam-ish eartips for better noise isolation and upgraded active noise cancellation, live translation with adaptive ANC for better focus on the speaker, five sizes of ear tips and IP57 water resistance. Fitness enhancements include heart-rate and calorie tracking, among other updates, which come from iOS. Battery life increases to eight hours with ANC and 10 hours with transparency.
The live translation can be somewhat awkward, though, or as CNET’s Macy Meyer puts it, it’s fluent in convenience, not culture. The price hasn’t changed; they still start at $249 (£219, AU$429).
Notable new accessories for the iPhones
The iPhone Air debuts with new accessories. If you want to keep it thin and still have some level of protection, Apple is offering a $39 polycarbonate bumper that wraps around the edges. Aside from drop protection, I know I’d need it simply to keep the slight phone from slipping out of my hands. There is also a traditional $49 clear MagSafe Case along with an opaque Beats-branded polycarbonate case for $45. If for some reason you want to turn your ultrathin phone into a thicker one with longer battery life, you can pick up the $99 MagSafe battery.
The redesign of the camera section of the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max means it needs a new case design, and in addition to all the newly designed versions of the usual cases Apple introduced a $59 MagSafe case made of a new TechWoven material — colored yarns of recycled polyester woven into a textured material and coated with polyurethane, or PTU. Presumably, it will fare better than the FineWoven cases Apple released with the iPhone 15.
You can also get a novel (for Apple) $59 Beats Kickstand Case, which looks like the standard polycarb case. The kickstand, though, isn’t a kickstand; it’s a handstrap with a small bit on the end that you can use for standing the case on its side. The kickstand case also comes in a version for the iPhone 17.
For many of the iPhone cases Apple launched yesterday, the company introduced magnetic attachment points. That makes them compatible with its new $59 Cross-Body Strap. On one hand, I’m not sure I want to trust my $1,200 phone to some magnets or my propensity to walk into walls and doorways. On the other, it’s probably safer than my back pocket.
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