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!

Duolingo/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Duolingo

Best for learning multiple languages

See at Duolingo

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.

Screenshot/Babbel

Babbel

Best for an online school-type experience

See at Babbel

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.

Drops/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Drops

Best for visual learners

See at Drops

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.

Mondly/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Mondly

Best for helping you remember specific phrases

See at Mondly

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).

Memrise/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Memrise

Best for learning to speak casually in a new language

See at Memrise

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.

Busuu/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Busuu

Best for goal-oriented users

See at Busuu

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»).

Lirica/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Lirica

Best for learning language musically

See at Lirica

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.

Netflix/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Language Learning with Netflix

Best for breaking down how a language works

See at Netflix

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

Best for learning on the go

See at Pimsleur

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.

Rosetta Stone/Screenshot by Shelby Brown/CNET

Rosetta Stone

Best for auditory learners

See at Rosettastone

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 NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for Aug. 21, #332

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for Aug. 21, No. 332.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

To solve today’s Connections: Sports Edition, focus on the endings of some of the words. That should help you see how they connect. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta after making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday on Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: What you want to do.

Green group hint: Football abbreviations.

Blue group hint: Home to hoops.

Purple group hint: Hidden hockey team names.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Objective.

Green group: NFL teams, on scoreboards.

Blue group: NBA arenas ending with «Center.»

Purple group: Ends with an NHL team.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is objective. The four answers are aim, goal, mark and target.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is NFL teams, on scoreboards. The four answers are CHI, MIA, MIN and NO. (Chicago, Miami, Minnesota and New Orleans.)

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is NBA arenas ending with «Center.» The four answers are Barclays, Chase, Delta and Kia.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ends with an NHL team. The four answers are geoducks, spoilers, superstars and Vikings. (Ducks, Oilers, Stars and Kings.)

Technologies

Made by Google 2025: Everything Announced — Pixel 10, Pixel Watch 4, Pixel 10 Pro Fold

At a star-studded event hosted by late-night host Jimmy Fallon, Google announced new phones, watches, earbuds and Android features.

Even though the Pixel 10 leaks and rumors felt as if they arrived in a steady firehose before today’s Made by Google event — compelling the company to release a teaser video pre-announcing the new phone’s existence a month ago — Google still delivered details it somehow managed to keep private until it was ready to share.

And that delivery was refreshingly fun for a tech event. The Tonight Show host Jimmy Kimmel led the proceedings in a very late-night talk show format, bringing on several special guests from media, sports and yes, Google’s own experts to show off the products and features they’ve been working on for today’s announcements.

Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL are real

Surprise, Google announced new phones! OK, this was the least surprising part of the event, but it still feels good to finally know what exists and when it’s coming. Preorders for the Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL begin today and will be in stores and shipping starting August 28.

I’m Stoked That Google Made the Pixel 10 a $799 Value-Packed Feature Monster
I Tested Google’s Pixel 10 Pro XL in Paris, and I’m Impressed
Pixel 10 Pro and Pro XL First Look: Familiar Design, New AI Tricks
Google Launches the Full Pixel 10 Line, Including the Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL

Pixel 10 Pro Fold opens the next chapter of foldables

Folding phones so far have shared an Achilles Hinge: small particulates like sand can get inside the case and really mess things up. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is one of the first to have an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance, meaning you can take it to the beach.

Pixel 10 Pro Fold Is Tougher, Smarter and Totally Dust Resistant
Forget the Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Foldables Should Look Like the Microsoft Surface Duo
Google’ Pixel 10 Pro Fold Is Here

Pixel Watch 4 talks to Gemini and is your new health coach

The Pixel Watch 4 includes new fitness options like real-time guidance while exercising. And if you forgot to start a workout, the watch (with AI help) can detect the activity in the background and remind you of it later, giving you credit for the effort you made. It’s also the only smartwatch that can detect a loss of pulse and call emergency services automatically.

Well Played, Google: The Pixel Watch 4 May Give Apple Watch Loyalists a Wandering Eye
Pixel Watch 4 First Look: Google Just Raised the Bar
The Pixel Watch 4 Is Here. Can It Finally Beat Apple?

Pixel Buds 2a are more affordable earbuds

Joining the Pixel Buds 2 Pro in the market are Pixel Buds 2a, an affordable ($130) pair of wireless earbuds that feature active noise cancellation, a smaller and lighter for all, and a twist-to-adjust stabilizer feature for setting a comfortable fit.

Google’s New Pixel Buds 2A Look a Lot Like the Pro 2, but Cost Way Less
Meet the Pixel Buds 2A: Google’s Budget Answer for ANC Buds

Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will see new features

Coming in a software update next month, Pixel Buds Pro 2 owners will be able to answer calls or send them to voicemail with a nod or shake of the head. You’ll be able to talk to Gemini live in noisy locations, and benefit from adaptive audio that applies noise cancellation while letting important sounds come through. At the other end, a new feature will protect your hearing from very loud sounds.

Google Pixel Buds Pro 2 Review: A Worthy Upgrade With One Caveat

Magic Cue is a Gemini assistant that pulls data from your correspondence

In the rollout of all the various AI technologies in the industry, the current stretch goal is «agentic» interactions with software: Having an AI that knows all sorts of details about you and can act to get the important stuff in front of you when needed. (And do it in a privacy-first way, one would hope.)

Magic Cue is Google’s implementation. It’s a new Gemini-based feature that can look through your earlier messages, emails and photos to pull details about things like restaurant reservations and flight times. Magic Cue runs on the Pixel device itself, so sensitive data stays private and not shared to the cloud.

A lot of Gemini AI intelligence is still coming soon

At the start of the event, Kimmell sat down in typical talk-show format with Rick Osterloh, senior vice president of platforms and devices, to chat about Gemini and the marvels of AI. Aside from Magic Cue, which will be shipping on the Pixel 10 phones, a lot of the features we’ve been hearing about are still on the horizon.

«For instance, Gemini could do something like plan a team celebration dinner for 12 people tonight,» he said. «It might go find a restaurant that’ll accommodate that group…. Look for a karoake place nearby and maybe even order custom T-shirts for the celebration.»

And when will that be possible? Kimmell asked. «A lot sooner than people think,» Osterloh replied. «This kind of thing is coming this year.»

The Pixel 10 Pro and 10 Pro XL can zoom to 100x with AI help

Pro Res Zoom on the Pixel 10 Pro phones pushes zooming far beyond what would seem to be possible with typical small cameras. Usually when you zoom beyond the optical limits of the cameras, details get fuzzy as the software upscales the image. With Pro Res Zoom, when you go beyond 30x zoom, it uses generative AI to build a sharper version. CNET’s Andrew Lanxon got both impressive and head-scratching results while making photos in Paris using the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

I Took Hundreds of Photos With the Pixel 10 Pro XL in Paris. These Are My Favs

Camera Coach uses AI to encourage better photos

Smartphone cameras have employed AI for several years, such as identifying subjects in order to blur the background for Portrait modes or quickly snapping several shots at multiple exposures and blending them together to create well-balanced lighting throughout. Now Google is using AI to help you take better photos.

Camera Coach is a new feature in the Pixel Camera app that looks at the scene in front of the lens and generates multiple suggestions for how to improve the photo before it’s captured. To show this off, podcaster Alex Cooper brought Fallon out to be her model and sat him down on a couch. When she activated the feature, Camera Coach suggested that she move the camera closer to the subject, position his head in the upper portion of the frame, lower the camera to eye level and turn on Portrait mode.

«To all the girls that are watching, I personally know how hard it is to train your boyfriend or your husband to get that perfect shot,» said Cooper. «And now Camera Coach can just train all the boys for us.»

Pixel 10 supports Qi2 magnetic charging

The Qi2 spec includes not just faster charging but also an array of magnets on the back for connecting to accessories. Sound familiar? The presenters mentioned Apple’s MagSafe system, then paused with the realization that they probably shouldn’t have name-checked it during the Google event. On the Pixel 10 phones, it’s called Pixelsnap and should work with accessories made for Apple’s ecosystem too.

Pixel 10 will be available in Mexico

In an impressive segment demonstrating Gemini live translation during a phone call, musician Karen Polinesia, who speaks Spanish, announced that for the first time, the Pixel 10 will be available for sale in Mexico.

This article is being updated; stay tuned for more.

Technologies

Upgrading to Pixel 10? Here’s How to Prepare Your Old Pixel for Trade-In

Don’t send off your phone with a ton of personal information still on it.

Google just announced the Pixel 10 family, and several preorder offers are available right now. If you’re looking for an even better deal on these new phones, you might want to consider trading in your old Pixel for maximum savings.

The Pixel 10 family consists of the base Pixel 10 model, two Pro models and the latest Pro Fold. All of these phones feature the latest Tensor G5 Processor, Qi2 wireless charging and, of course, new AI tricks. We went hands-on with the new phones, and they made a good impression.

If you’re ready to leap into a new Pixel, you’ll want to make sure you’ve prepared your old phone properly before you send it off.

If you don’t check all the right boxes for trading in your phone, its trade-in value could be reduced. You also want to avoid sending your phone out with a ton of personal information still left on it.

Below, we’ll go over the steps to ensure a seamless trade-in experience when your new Pixel 10 arrives.

For more, we’ve wrangled all of the best Pixel 10 cases you can buy right now.

Turn off the activation lock on your Pixel phone

Before you trade in your phone, you’ll just need a factory reset to qualify for the maximum trade-in value. Some retailers want you to remove the activation lock from your phone first, which requires removing the device from your Google account before resetting it. (AT&T took off over $400 of the value because I didn’t do this to my Pixel 7 Pro when I upgraded to the 8 Pro a few years back.)

You can remove your Google account from your phone directly or via your online account.