Language Learning Resources

Updated: June 4, 2025 (updating in progress)

How do you learn a language the most effectively? This is the big question for many people, and there is always another trending video in my YouTube feed full of opinions about language learning, some useful and applicable, some just getting you to follow them or buy a course. In the end, what works is what you find useful for your learning and what you can actually stick with. So try out different resources, see what you like, see what you can stick with, and always keep your purpose and goals for learning the language in mind. Don’t get caught in the trap of thinking a specific tool or teacher will make you acquire a language. Only you can acquire the language for yourself, so make the tools work for you rather than do the work for you. Most importantly, don’t give up on the language because the tool doesn’t work. Try something else and keep going! Learning a language does take effort and perseverance, but it can be very rewarding and fun.

I have organized these resources according to the languages they offer. If they offer multiple languages, they are in the Multi-language group; if they offer only a specific language (which these resources are limited to the languages I study or want to study), they are listed under that language. You’ll notice there are a lot of resources here for Japanese because that is my main language of study, but I also list some for learning English (my native and teaching language), Gaelic (my current new language focus), German (an old friend), Norwegian (one of my future aspirations), and French (something that might be useful since I live in Canada now).

I am NOT sponsored by any of these resources unless I clearly state it. I’m just listing what I have used in the past and whether I would recommend them to my friends or the clients I teach. Some of the resources I’ve used more than others, and I will mention my experience with each one. You may have a different experience, so even if I don’t seem thrilled about the tool, you should still test it out yourself.

If you have any recommendations for other resources, please reach out to me here. Note, I will only list your resource after I’ve actually given it a shot and found it useful. It might just end up in the Untested Mentions at the bottom of this list.

Click on a link to go straight to the review:

Multi-Language

LingQ

LingQ Website

LingQ is an excellent website and app for people who are self-studying a language or two (or more! You can add unlimited languages) and want to choose and structure their own course and study material rather than follow a guided course such as Duolingo, which gives you no choices in what you learn and honestly can really slow down your learning.

Format

Website and app. I use the app every day to keep up my streak and listen to languages. I use the website when I want to upload my own content to study and for tutoring.

Accessibility

I’ve been using the app for about 2 years now, and it’s actually the only language app I pay for each year. The free version is not as useful and has lots of limitations, but you are able to browse the content and test it out before you buy. You can only make about 20 flashcards of vocabulary (and believe me, the new words you will learn add up fast!), and while you can listen to material all you want, the free version is just not as motivating.

Languages available

LingQ has a lot of languages available, and they are actively adding more. I’m currently doing four languages on LingQ: French, German, Norwegian, and Japanese.

My experience

To be honest, I’m a complete beginner at French, and I find it difficult to learn with LingQ because even the so-called “beginner” level courses are hard to follow. I’m sure there’s a guided path in there somewhere, but it’s hard to start at the beginning with a language on LingQ. They do have a lot of material in the French course, though, including teaching Quebec French, and you can choose the accent of the generated voice for the flashcard system, which is helpful if you are aiming to practice a certain dialect. I would definitely recommend the French reading and listening material on LingQ after you’ve learned some basics of sentence structure and simple vocabulary.

As I’ve been studying German for longer than Japanese, albeit more passively, I’m a solid advanced beginner. I find the material in the LingQ course at just the right level for me, and it’s a great vocabulary builder.

I’ve only been passively studying Norwegian for about 5 years now, mainly on Duolingo, but since it has a lot of similarities to English and is considered one of the easier languages for English speakers to acquire, I find the materials on LingQ good for practicing. I especially like hearing the interactions between different people on the app and letting myself gradually catch on to the meaning.

Now for Japanese. There is a lot of material in the Japanese course even for the advanced level. I can listen to short stories, news, or other native Japanese material and mark the words I don’t know to study later. It’s definitely a great way to make sure I’m active in my listening and reading activities for Japanese so I can acquire new vocabulary. I can also add my own material that interests me. When you sign up for LingQ, you’ll get a series of emails explaining how to use it effectively.

What it is useful for

Its strong points are the quality audio materials with text that you can read along and the highlight system so you can see what words you’ve “learned” (or at least made flashcards of). The app also sends you reminders each day, so it’s a good app for motivation if you need a push to study a bit each day. It is both a vocabulary-building resource and a way to get lots of language input into your daily life.

Another great feature of LingQ I want to mention for now is the ability to book tutors so you can actually get speaking practice with a real person. Tutors set their own prices, so check out what they have to offer.

What is it is not useful for

I recommend LingQ for late beginner, intermediate, and advanced learners rather than those just starting from scratch because it might be hard to figure out what to start learning as a beginner. It’s not as easy to navigate the material, though LingQ has material for all levels. It doesn’t hold your hand in the language, but expects you to proactively look for things you want to learn.

Effort scale 1–10

Score: 7, some effort

You will get more out of LingQ by putting in the effort to find material that fits your level and interests, but you can also passively click on the audio lessons and just listen to them while doing housework. So I’ll give it a 7. One thing I really like about the app is that to keep your daily streak, you have options. You can either study new material, listen to a playlist of previous material, or go through your flashcards. All of these activities can count towards the number of “coins” you need to earn to keep your daily streak. So if I don’t have time to actively study on the app, I just let it play through the playlists or each language as I’m cooking or doing other tasks, and I can absorb some of the language as well as keep my streak.

Summary

LingQ is my favorite language-learning app because it is extremely versatile, great for a range of language levels, and gives you the option to choose the content you practice with. It lets you practice reading and listening, and there are also options to get feedback on your writing and speaking. Overall, it’s a well-rounded resource for self-motivated learners.

Anki Flashcards

Anki Website

Anki is a spaced-repetition app that lets you make your own flashcards, add media, and review them according to parameters that you set. It’s a great tool to add to your self-study program as well as for reviewing materials from language courses.

Format

App, desktop, and website. Along with the app, there is a desktop version that syncs with the app, and an online version, which is helpful for making flashcards if you don’t want to type them out on your phone.

Accessibility

Currently, Anki is free for Android phones and on the desktop, but it has fewer functions, and you need to pay for the iOS version. The last time I checked, it was still a one-time fee. Weigh the costs and benefits before buying it, and of course, you can test out the desktop version before buying the app on your phone.

Languages available

Any language you want to add. Decks made by other people might be available in your target language as well.

My experience

I got this app for free on an Android phone while taking Japanese in college, and I made lots of flashcards, then never looked at them. The notifications always told me I had over 900 cards to review. Then I moved to Japan, got an iPhone, and realized if I wanted to keep using the app, I would have to pay for it. I decided to buy it on a whim. When I started studying my old vocabulary words, however, I realized how helpful the app was for creating a daily study habit.

What it is useful for

My best advice is to make using it a habit. Do it first thing in the morning or during your lunch break. Whatever works for you. Just be consistent. I finally got down to about 100 flashcards to review per day, which only takes me about 10 minutes or less. It is a great way for me to prepare for the JLPT or other language tests by recording new words and patterns I find in my textbooks. When you are working with large amounts of new words, you need a system to continually study and review them, and Anki takes away the extra work of planning how and what to review so you can just focus on actually studying.

What it is not useful for

You can’t use Anki by itself to learn a language. It is just a tool to help you review words, phrases, and sentences you’ve found elsewhere, and a handy way to record them on the go.

Effort scale 1–10

Score: 9, a lot of effort

You need to make your own cards or seek out decks of cards that others have made (which may or may not have errors in them), so it takes a lot of work to use Anki. And of course, if you don’t review the cards you have, they pile up.

Summary

I find the interface easy to use, and there are options to write out answers with your fingertips before checking the answer if you want to practice writing characters. You can also download decks created by other people if you want to study something specific (Like JLPT N2 Kanji) and not put in the effort of making the cards yourself. I study by making the cards, so I usually only study my own decks. You can also add pictures for a more visual learning experience, which I started doing when I was studying a large number of kanji compounds. You can use it with or without internet access, so it is good for on the go. Just make sure to sync the app to your online account once in a while in case something happens to your phone.

HiNative

HiNative Website

HiNative is in my top three favorite and most-used language-learning apps (along with LingQ and Anki) because it offers something unique from the others and is easy to use. HiNative allows you to post questions related to your target language and answer other users’ questions. You don’t have to be social with people like on Tandem and HelloTalk unless you want to. I’ve found it to be a very useful place to ask questions about Japanese and get answers pretty quickly. Its usefulness, as with other apps, will depend on the availability of speakers in your target language.

Format

Phone app and web. I have only used the phone app, but many times when I’ve searched for a Japanese question on Google, I get results for HiNative where people have answered similar questions, so it seems available on the web as well.

Accessibility

The free version of HiNative is pretty useful. I’ve never paid for HiNative, and I generally receive answers quickly for my questions about Japanese. The paid version includes more features and AI answers, but I don’t find that necessary for me at this point.

Languages available

When I last checked in December 2024, HiNative had the decent number of 113 languages offered where you can ask questions about the language. Whether you will get quality answers to your question does depend on the other users on the app, but it is promising for a lot of languages.

My experience

I have consistently used HiNative for Japanese since I downloaded it over five years ago. I don’t get on it very often, but every once in a while, I have a question about Japanese or feel like answering other users’ questions about English. It’s kind of fun because you get points for giving quality answers. You can just use the app to get your own questions answered, but answering other users’ questions may help your questions get more recognition, and it’s just good to give as well as take in language learning.

HiNative is like doing a Google search or posting a question on a forum, but more specialized to language learning. You can search if your question has been asked before (which I recommend since it might take time for users to answer your question) and easily ask for clarification from those who answer your questions. I’ve had mainly friendly and useful interactions on HiNative, but I don’t use it super often.

I would say the most useful feature of this app is being able to ask language-related questions using the target language, even if you are a beginner. It automatically translates the question for you or lets you put it in a specific format. For example, you can ask, “How do you say [insert word or phrase to translate] in Japanese?” and the app will display the question in Japanese for native Japanese speakers to answer. They may answer in English or Japanese, depending on your language level and how comfortable they feel explaining it in one language or the other. This feature is helpful for beginners if you don’t know how to form your questions in the target language.

You can also form your own questions from scratch, of course, but their templates are very useful, ranging from asking about the pronunciation of a word or requesting example sentences, to asking about the difference between two similar words.

 

Once you ask a question, you will get notified when others give answers. You can reply to them with a thank you or follow-up questions, “like” their answers, report or block them if something inappropriate happens, delete their replies if there’s a problem with them, or mark their answer as the featured one so you don’t get any more responses.

If you want to get lots of quality points and level up in HiNative, I recommend giving detailed answers and always giving example sentences when a user asks what a word means. It’s great practice learning to explain your own language. I believe if you know your own language better, you are more prepared to excel in learning a foreign language. You can use HiNative to test yourself and improve your skills.

I’ve only used HiNative for studying Japanese, but I would definitely use it more for other languages I study. Unfortunately, there is no Gaelic interface yet, but maybe someday (this is a hint for anyone who works at HiNative).

What it is useful for

Asking questions about your target language and getting answers from other users, and sometimes AI.

You can use it to improve your writing and speaking as you can post requests for corrections to sentences and words, as well as requests for other users to record their pronunciation.

What it is not useful for

Structured language-learning and interaction with users. HiNative is purely a place for asking and answering questions about different languages and cultures, so it is a tool to use alongside your other language learning resources.

Effort scale 1–10

Score: 10, full effort

HiNative is not a way to passively learn a language since you need to actually search for answers or post questions and answer others’ questions if you want to get anything out of it.

Summary

HiNative doesn’t require you to frequently use it for it to be useful, so this language app requires less commitment than most of the others. You can just use it when you have questions about a language or when you feel like helping other people out with their questions, but you will not get bombarded with friend and message requests. It is not for finding language exchange partners. Apps such as Tandem and HelloTalk are made for that purpose. There is some kind of live streaming feature, but I’ve actually never participated in or used it, so I can’t comment about it.

I view HiNative as a tool for improving my language knowledge as needed and filling holes that other language apps and materials don’t cover.

Overall, this app is very useful for asking native speakers for language help without any commitment to being language partners and making small talk. It is quite easy to use and has a fun point system to build up your prestige as a skilled native speaker when you answer many questions well. 

Tandem

Tandem Website

Tandem is a language exchange app, meaning there are no guided lessons or content to study. Instead, you find native or fluent language partners in the language you are studying and can send them text or audio messages and set up audio or video calls to practice your language. You’ll want to reach out to people who are learning the language you are native or fluent in so it’s a proper exchange.

Tandem was started in 2015 in Berlin, Germany, and now has users worldwide, so you’re very likely to find some speakers in your

Format

Phone app, web app

Tandem is available both on phones and on the web, but they require you to set up your account on your phone before you can access it on the web. I have only used it on my phone, so I have no feedback on how well it works on the web version.

Accessibility

Tandem has a free version as well as paid. I have never had a paid account, so I can’t comment on it. The free version has ads when you check other users’ profiles and limits the number of languages you can list to one native language, one fluent language, and one learner language. While limited, the free version is sufficient for finding language partners if you don’t mind the ads and limitations.

Languages Offered

Tandem has a ton of languages available. Last time I counted, there were around 299 languages that they have support for, including variants of the language (Brazilian vs. Portugal Portuguese) and many different sign languages. This number just means it is possible to put a certain language as your native, fluent, or learning language. It does not necessarily mean the language you choose has many users. I had to give up hopes of using Tandem for Gaelic, as there were a few beginners interested in Gaelic, like me, but only two people listed Gaelic as their native or advanced language. Good thing there are other resources out there for some under-represented languages! It just takes more digging.

My Experience

I’ll admit, I’m pretty bad at using Tandem. I don’t check it frequently or use it actively. Every few months, I feel like I want to message someone to practice one of my languages, but I don’t actively engage and use the app to its full potential. Let’s just say being social with strangers is awkward and difficult when you aren’t seeing them face-to-face. I’m much better at talking with people when I can see their faces, such as when teaching online.

Depending on how you use Tandem, however, it can be a powerful tool for upskilling your language. You can request the person you message to correct your writing and get real feedback from other users. Just remember to give as much as you take because you aren’t paying them to help you out.

I like that you can set up a profile with your language goals and topics you want to talk about, choose the age range and gender of the people you want to talk with, and search for other users based on whether they’ve listed themselves as beginner, intermediate, advanced, fluent, or native in the language you are learning.

I’ve used Tandem to send audio and text messages to Japanese, German, French, and Norwegian speakers.

As of January 2025, you can no longer list yourself as learning multiple languages. With their new update, on a free profile, you can just list one language for your native language, one for a language you are fluent in, and one for your learning language. People can search for you according to the languages you list. So if you want to find people or be found by people in a certain language, you need to list the specific language. You used to be able to list multiple languages for learning, but that is now only for paying users. You can change the language you are learning, but only once per day. The free version also has an ad play every time you click on someone’s profile in the search, which it didn’t do when I last reviewed it. It’s a little frustrating, but it’s the way with language apps these days.

What Tandem is useful for

Finding language partners and getting your language corrected by native and fluent speakers of your target language.

Improving your writing, reading, speaking, and listening skills because you can interact with native and fluent speakers of your target language.

What Tandem is not useful for

Learning with a structured curriculum. Beginners in a language might struggle to start a conversation in their target language, so I recommend learning some useful phrases first and then testing them out on native speakers and asking if they sound natural.

Also, Tandem is not useful if you don’t have any interest in sharing your native language. You need to be a useful representative of your language if you want to form language partners, so remember to both give and take.

You may get some creeps who don’t get that Tandem is not a dating app . . . but you can ignore their messages, block them, and report them. Just use common sense to notice if a person is actually a dedicated language learner or a misuser of the app. And, of course, don’t be a creep yourself. Just don’t.

Effort scale 1–10

Score: 10, full effort

I give Tandem a 10 out of 10 for effort because if you don’t fill out a profile with interesting topics so other users can contact you and don’t reach out to other users and engage with them actively, you won’t practice your target language.

Summary

Tandem is a language exchange platform that lets you find users who are learning the language you speak and can help you with the language you are learning. It’s great if you have the time and dedication to devote yourself to interacting with other users, and it can be very useful if you otherwise don’t have access to speakers of your target language.

The free version offers plenty of access to send messages and learn from other users. With the paid version, you will have more options in terms of searching ability, no ads, and multiple languages at a time, but the free option is useful enough for you to test out the app.

If you use Tandem, make sure to be a respectable human being and share your language as well as learn from others.

Hello Talk

Hello Talk Website

HelloTalk is an app for communicating with language partners, which also functions as a social platform to write posts using your target language and get feedback and interaction from other users. Like Tandem, you can find language partners and message them, but there is also the social media aspect, which can be a plus for some people who want to reach a lot of other users.

Format

There is a phone app and a web version, but you will need to make an account in the app before you can use the web version.

Accessibility

The app is free to use, but there are definitely more features if you upgrade. I have only used the free version, so I can’t say much about what the paid version is like. You can only choose one native or teaching language and one learning language on the free version, but you can change the learning language once every two days. You are also limited in the number of messages and posts you can translate in the app each day on the free version.

Languages available

HelloTalk has a lot of languages because it gives users the chance to interact with other users in their target language and create their own content. At the time of writing this, I counted about 156 languages on the app. There also appear to be courses, tutors, classes, and other resources available for some languages that I still need to explore, so stay tuned.

When I used HelloTalk before, there were a lot of Japanese speakers, so if you’re learning Japanese, you’ll have lots of opportunities to practice it. To test the app for this review, I signed up using Gaelic (Scottish), as my learning language, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of users who list their teaching language as Gaelic. Whether these people are native or fluent speakers is a mystery, but it is nice to see this app could be a viable way to practice Gaelic.

From a quick glance, the specific language courses it offers (not just users in the language) are English, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Russian, Arabic, Thai, Turkish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Persian, Greek, Swedish, Indonesian, and Czech. There may be more, but those are the ones I saw. You call also pay for 1-on-1 lessons with tutors in many languages.

My experience

To be honest, I used HelloTalk briefly when I was in Japan and first heard about it from a Japanese speaker. It seems pretty popular in Japan, so if you’re learning Japanese, you’ll likely find a lot of users to talk to.

For writing this updated review, I downloaded the app again to check what is different about the app now. I was pleasantly surprised that it has a lot of users for Gaelic, so I may try using it more to study Gaelic.

What it is useful for

If you like the social aspect of learning a language and want to connect with people who speak your target language online, HelloTalk could be a useful tool.

It can be useful for improving listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The courses may offer some help in grammar as well.

What it is not useful for

I actually can’t find any way HelloTalk is lacking, except of course if you are looking for structured language courses to take you from beginner to advanced in specific languages. There seem to be courses available on the app, so this app might be a well-rounded resource for learning some languages if the content is available for your target language. I did not see any courses for Gaelic, but there seems to be a good number of users I can interact with for Gaelic.

Effort scale 1–10

Score: 7, some effort

I gave HelloTalk a 7 because you don’t necessarily have to post or interact with others to see their posts, so you can practice reading and getting content in your target language without much effort. If you want to really expand your language skills, though, it does take some effort to interact and post frequently enough to gain attention.  

Summary

I have not used HelloTalk for a few years, but I recently downloaded the app again and can see a lot of potentially useful features. Since there is a lot going on in the app, I recommend considering your language-learning goal and purpose for using HelloTalk to reach it. If you want to make a daily habit of practicing a language and you like posting on social media, HelloTalk is a great option.

Duolingo

Duolingo Website

(Updating in progress)

This is a language-learning app that relies on the grammar translation method to develop language skills. The interface is easy to use, and it has a good notification system to help you remember to study every. Great app for busy people who want to include just a little studying each day and not do any planning of what to study. You can set goals and choose how much you want to study each day to reach them.

Note: It is difficult to use this app as your only language study tool because it does not explain the grammar. It just makes you translate sentences, record yourself saying sentences, or write the sentences you hear. I studied German for two years in high school, so I had some background knowledge of its case system and some basic words that I quickly recalled as soon as I started studying again.

How I use it: It’s highly motivating for studying German, but not so great for my Japanese because it only teaches up to B2 level or lower depending on the language. You will not get any advanced practice on this app, and when you do get to A2 level, the sentences can be long and tedious to translate. Use it as a daily motivator and to review what you’ve learned before, then go and read some authentic material or talk to people.

Coffee Break Languages

Coffee Break Langauges Website

(Coming soon)

Japanese

Weblio

Weblio Website

(Updating in progress)

Weblio is an online dictionary with example sentences and a good translator function. There is an app that includes Weblio along with Wikipedia and some other dictionaries called 全国辞書 (zenkoku jisho) that I regularly use. You can also download only the Weblio app. The dictionary app requires internet connection for searches because it does tap into a variety of databases online. The system is a bit clunky to use, and you need to type in Japanese characters to search, not romaji. However, I don’t find this a problem. When searching for definitions of Japanese words and phrases in Japanese, there are many links within the definitions for other words you can look up if you don’t know how to read them or what they mean. Think of Wikipedia. You can endlessly click on links. It is great for when I copy and paste definitions into Anki flashcards because I can click on the link in the flashcard and it takes me to the dictionary app.

How I use it: One of my university professors recommended the website for the translation work we were doing in class. I used the website for that class and then afterward did not use it much until I came to Japan and downloaded the dictionary app. Now I use it all the time when creating flashcards because I want to include a Japanese definition of the words or phrases, not just the English translation. For English translations, I use a simple offline dictionary app I found for free on my phone.

NHK News Web Easy

News Web Easy Website

(Updating in progress)

The New Web Easy Website provides simplified news articles with lots of study tools. This website has excellent self-study options: You can listen to the article being read slowly, choose to have furigana attached to the kanji characters or not, watch the original news clip, go to the original article, and scroll over underlined words to see a definition in Japanese. It’s great for building new vocabulary that you won’t encounter in everyday conversations that may just be about the weather and food. It’s updated with new articles daily, so you can make it a habit to read some Japanese every day.

How I use it: I have not used it in a while, but it is still a good resource for beginner and intermediate language learners. When I did use it, I found watching the videos, when available, interesting to get an idea of what the article is about before reading. I found the articles easy to understand for language learners, so I highly recommend trying it out to see if your level fits.

NHK For School

NHK for School Website

(Updating in progress)

If you are a child at heart like me, you will enjoy the collection of videos and activities on the NHK for School Website, aimed toward Japanese children. They have an English version of the main tabs for this site, which makes it easy for beginners to find what they want to watch or do. You can look for videos based on grade level (kindergarten through high school) and topic. I especially like the history videos. You can relearn math and science concepts from your school days in Japanese, which means you already know what is going on, so you can understand new words in a familiar context.

How I use it: I have not used it recently, and it looks like they have new changes that make it more accessible for English speakers (like the topic tabs in English). When I did use it more frequently, I would watch each video twice. The first time, I just listened. The second time, I would listen and read along with the Japanese transcription of the text. I would then pick a few new words I didn’t understand to write down and look up. I recommend exploring this site for yourself and finding what you like.

English

(Coming soon)

Gaelic

SpeakGaelic

SpeakGaelic Website

(Coming soon)

LearnGaelic

LearnGaelic Website

(Coming soon)

German

(Coming soon)

Norwegian

Future Learn

Future Learn

(Updating in progress)

I have always found the courses on Future Learn to be of good quality, and some of them you can complete for free in a limited time period. While there are currently no Japanese language courses available (from when I last checked), there are a variety of other languages as well as cultural courses to take. Personally, I enjoyed the Introduction to Norwegian course through the University of Oslo. It was a great starter for building listening comprehension and reading skills in Norwegian. You can also interact with others who are taking the course through comments.

French

(Coming soon)

Final Thoughts

Having all the resources in the world won’t help you learn a language if you lack the motivation to study and put in effort. So my biggest recommendation is that you find what interests you and find a method that motivates you to do a little bit in your target language every day. Love talking with people? Find language buddies. Love social media? Get on social media in your target language and interact with others. Love reading? Find simple things to read on topics you enjoy and gradually level up using software such as LingQ or good old-fashioned books and ebooks. Music is a big motivator for me, so I especially love listening to Japanese, Gaelic, and German music. I don’t usually use music to actively learn languages (though you can import songs into LingQ to practice the vocabulary), but while listening, I sometimes hear words I know or recently learned, and this recognition reinforces them. Every bit of exposure to the language you are learning helps, so find the little ways to incorporate it into your life each day. Good luck with the learning process!