Top 5 Websites to Learn a New Language

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My goal is to learn at least ten languages in this life. I am a fluent speakers of two – English and Greek – and have a conversational hold on two more – Spanish and Italian.

I have been working on improving my Spanish and just started French. Why, you ask? What better feeling than knowing that when I get to another country, I can actually speak the local language?! With loads of grammatical errors and an accent that will get me laughed at, BUT STILL.

In my experience, even knowing some basics in a country’s local language will help you chat with locals. People react to you differently. Simply knowing that you made a decent effort to communicate with them gets you a whole different reception and connection upon arrival.

Of course, learning a language is challenging. It requires time, effort, and consistent dedication. However, there are plenty of resources online – some of which are free! – to help you. Perhaps that’s why one of the most frequent questions I get is, “what is the best website to learn a language”? And the answer is…it depends. On your level…what you’re most interested in improving (speech? grammar? listening?)…etc.

If you want to learn a new language and need help knowing where to start, check out the five websites below. These are my top websites to learn a new language. I generally recommend using a combination of sites and methods. Each website tends to be best for one particular aspect of language learning.

So for example, if you want to focus on vocabulary at the moment, or listening, there are websites geared towards those things. However, to really study a language, you’re going to eventually need to use all these methods.

Disclaimer: The post below contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission when you click on those links at no cost to you. As always, I only recommend products I believe in or use.

Best Website for Beginner Vocabulary: Duolingo

Controversial! I know.

Duolingo gets a lot of hate these days, but this is my honest opinion: if you are just starting out in a language, Duolingo is great. Of course, it’s better for some languages than others – the Spanish and French courses are much better developed than most – but it gives you some good basic building blocks for vocabulary and basic grammar. You can probably get to A2 in most major languages with Duolingo.

After that, start incorporating other resources, many of which I will list below.

If you want to make Duolingo work even better for you, I suggest reading and pronouncing everything out loud as you’re learning it, even if the specific exercise doesn’t call for it. This will give you a better handle on speaking the language out loud from day one.

The gamification and “streaks” are a good way to get most people to practice little by little in the beginning. That’s why, for all the snark it gest, Duolingo is one of the best language learning sites to start getting you into a routine.

But once the exercises get a little repetitive or a little boring, take a look at the generally more advanced websites below.

Top Language Website for Speaking: Italki

How many people do you know who studied French for all of high school, yet can only return a completely blank stare when actually spoken to by a French person?

Be honest: is that person you?

If it is, don’t feel too bad. The way we learn in school isn’t generally geared towards improving our conversational skills in any given language. I don’t know about your studies, but conversation is probably what I spent the least time doing in my language classes. And conversations with native speakers? Rarely.

Italki.com offers the perfect solution. It’s one of the top websites for learning a new language (if you’re not in the country where you can meet locals). If you are rusty, or learning one and want to try talking with a native speaker, you can find a language partner entirely for free on Italki. The idea is that you should find a language partner who speaks your target language and wants to learn your native language. That way, you can do a kind of language exchange and help each other out.

There are also community tutors and professional teachers on Italki who will tailor lessons for you, but for a price. This can range anywhere from $4 to $20 an hour, depending on the tutor’s experience level and country of residence.

If you want to get your conversational skills up to snuff, which is the best thing to work on if you have a trip coming up soon, Italki is the way to go.

Listening and Pronunciation: Glossika

When we learn languages as toddlers, we don’t acquire most of it through flashcards or textbooks. Our initial language acquisition is through hearing words and phrases and learning to repeat and use them in the right context. That’s why some of the best websites for learning languages seek to imitate these methods.

A believer in spaced repetition, Glossika tailors their learning to your particular language level, and seeks to recreate the way humans learn languages naturally. They believe that using full sentence practice, as they call it, helps you learn pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary all at once.

Glossika is also great for aspiring polygots, as with only $25-$30 monthly you get access to all languages. It is a very extensive and comprehensive language course, and especially if you plan to learn more than one language, it’s worth it in my opinion.

Comprehension and Listening: Language Learning With Netflix

Who doesn’t want to watch Netflix for an hour and chalk it up to productivity? Who knew Netflix could be one of the best language learning websites?

With the boom in quality foreign language shows on Netflix, there’s probably a Japanese movie, Spanish series, or Brazilian drama that you’ve been dying to watch (or one your friend who won’t shut up about film theory has highly recommended).

Language Learning With Netflix provides subtitles for series on Netflix. You might ask, doesn’t Netflix already give that option as well? Yes, BUT here’s where Language Learning With Netflix does it much better.

Not only can you get subtitles in the target language (which always helps me when I’ve missed or didn’t understand a word someone spoke) and subtitles in your native language, you can also look up literally any word in the dialogue by just hovering your mouse over it.

The entire dialogue runs on a sidebar to your right, you can skip back and forth if you missed the last line or want to re-hear something, and you can even control the speed of speech. For many Spanish shows, I tend to play them at 90% speed, which helps me a bit with comprehension – given the speaking speed of the average Spanish speaker – the goal being to eventually make it up to 100%.

Language Learning With Netflix is available as a Chrome extension, so make sure to do all watching on your computer.

I am currently watching Cable Girls (Las Chicas del Cable), a great Spanish series that takes place in 1920s Madrid, with extraordinarily pretty people. I highly recommend it, both for the Spanish and the general prettiness.

Top App for Reading: LingQ

Turns out, one of the best websites to learn a language is…an app.

I wouldn’t recommend LingQ for absolute beginners, as I think students should have a good sense of basic vocabulary and grammar before trying to read more complex text in their target language.

However, those who are at a more intermediate or advanced level in their language learning should head over to the app. On the app, you will find news stories, short stories, even transcriptions of YouTube videos and podcasts in your target language. You can even important articles online in your target language that interest you.

When you encounter new words, they will be highlighted in blue. If you know them, you don’t need to do anything, just keep reading. If you don’t, click on them for a definition, and LingQ will also automatically file away the fact that you don’t know that word, so it will keep it highlighted in yellow in the future until you learn it.

You could use LingQ as a beginner, but it will probably be way more difficult to follow.

One of the best things about LingQ is that it helps you learn a lot of vocabulary in subject areas that interest you. For example, I read a lot of YouTube travel video transcriptions and political articles. They are two subject areas I love learning and talking about, and reading material related to them helps me learn a lot more words about things I’m likely to talk about.

Bonus: Learn on Skillshare

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time, you know I’m obsessed with Skillshare’s editing, photography, journaling, and honestly all classes. But I recently discovered that Skillshare has a lot of language courses as well!

Whether you want to learn French, Hindi, Thai, or ASL, Skillshare has multiple courses for you. In addition, you can find so many more courses covering topics from improving your travel photography, editing iPhone videos, to travel journaling! There is a huge wealth of knowledge on Skillshare, which is why I’ve been signed up for years now.

What language do you want to learn next? Comment below!