The 12 BEST Apps for Learning English! (Updated 2021)

It has come to my attention that a significant number of traffic to this blog comes from Poland. I don’t know why this comes as a surprise to me. I’ve spent a hell of a lot of time in Poland helping people improve their business and conversation English.

I have spent around 800 hours (yes I worked it out) practising idioms, pronunciation and general conversation with around 200 people, and during this time I’ve discovered that the main obstacle for people wanting to improve their fluency in English is the lack of opportunities to speak English in their daily lives.

As soon as people leave the classroom, or end the Skype call, they cease to speak English and their conversational skills turn stale.

Luckily, there are tonnes of helpful apps for learning English that are designed to make learning English easy. From increasing your vocabulary to conversing with native English speakers, there is an English learning app to suit your needs.

 

The 12 BEST Apps for Learning English 2021!
 

1. Duolingo

Duolingo is one of the most popular language apps on the market, and for millions of users, it is the best English learning app out there.

Working on the premise that 20 minutes of language practise a day is enough, Duolingo offers speaking, listening, writing and reading exercises in a quick and easy format that you can complete in less than 20 minutes.

As you work through the exercises, your “skills” increase, allowing you to unlock new topics, but if you stop practising, they decrease again. This is great as it helps motivate the user to practise every day in order to keep their “skills” as high as they can be.

There are also “Duolingo stories” with real life situations, and even leader boards so you can compete with other users!

2. Memrise

Memrise is an app that features thousands of native speaker videos where you can see the English language used in real life situations. It also features lots of games aimed at expanding vocabulary by repetition.

It also features “chatbots” designed to help people increase their conversational skills, and with over 1 million downloads on the app store, Memrise is definitely one of the most popular apps for learning English!

3. Busuu

Busuu is an app that can be used by people of all levels, from beginner to advanced, to help improve their English. Not only does it have a heavy focus on writing practice and tests, but it also offers the opportunity to talk with native English speakers to improve overall fluency in everyday situations.

4. Learn English Grammar

As the name may suggest, Learn English Grammar focuses on improving your English grammar in a detailed way. Learn English Grammar features 12 separate grammar topics with 20 activities per topic – plenty to keep you busy for a while and really get into the nitty gritty of the English language.

5. Babbel

For many, Babbel is the best English learning app on the market. Babbel helps to improve basic conversational skills by completing and repeating set phrases. It uses sound recognition, picture recognition, spelling tests and fill in the blanks to provide users with a varied approach to learning English.

6. Improve English: Vocabulary, Grammar, Flashcards

Improve English uses word games to practise and learn new phrases as well as vocabulary. This is the perfect app for those who don’t have much free time as you can just pick it up when you have a few spare minutes without needing to commit to a proper English lesson.

I actually used an app like this to help me learn Italian, and I definitely found it useful for vocabulary!

7. Two Minute English

Another one of the apps for learning English designed for those pushed for time. Two Minute English is an app with almost 400 two minute videos on almost every topic imaginable!

You can watch videos on business English, shopping, fitness, beauty and common mistakes, as well as idioms, phrasal verbs and much much more.

8. Business English by BEP – Listening and Vocabulary

This app is a great English learning app designed for people that need to conduct business in English. It features information on how to conduct meetings, give presentations, negotiate successfully, network with foreign business associates and communicate effectively via telephone.

Business English by BEP is one of the best apps for learning English if you work in a multinational company and need to improve your business English quickly.

9. LearnEnglish Podcasts

LearnEnglish Podcasts by the British council is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to improve their English listening skills. Listen to podcast hosts Tess, Ravi, Adam and Rob chatting with different people and talking about different everyday topics, such as their favourite celebrities, making plans for the weekend, having a dinner party and which cities they like to live in.

This English learning app is perfect for those on the go, who want to be productive while driving to work, cleaning the house or working out at the gym.

10. LearnEnglish Sounds Right

Another initiative from the British Council, LearnEnglish Sounds Right is the British Council’s first pronunciation chart for English language learners. Just tap on a sound and you will hear it, alongside some examples of how the sound is pronounced in a variety of different words.

11. BBC 6 Minute English

BBC 6 Minute English is a fantastic English language app for anyone that wants to improve their overall fluency and vocabulary. With an almost unlimited array of topics, BBC 6 Minute English features 6 minute videos (accompanied by a transcript) and a list of questions about the themes discussed in the video.

I particularly like this app as the range of topics is so wide that not only does it never get boring, but you will learn some extremely complex vocabulary which will enable you to talk about much more than the typical “weather/family/business” conversations that you probably know inside and out. With 6 Minute English, you will be so engrossed in the topic that you will almost forget that you are learning English!

12. Tandem

Tandem is almost like a social media application. With Tandem, you find a person who wants to practice their skills in your language, and whose language you want to improve in.

For example. If you are Spanish and want to improve your English, you find a native English speaker who wants to improve their Spanish and the two of you can communicate with each other in both languages, correcting each other when necessary.

Tandem allows users to speak in text conversations, audio calls, video calls and audio recordings. You can even pay a few dollars and talk to qualified tutors! The great thing about this app is that it doesn’t focus at all on grammar – just pure conversation, which in my opinion is key to becoming fluent.

A slight word of warning – although most people on the Tandem app are using it for the right reasons, there are a minority of users who try and use it as a dating site! Always remember to block and report anybody who makes you feel uncomfortable.

And there ends my list! The applications listed above are the best apps for learning English that are out there.

Although the vast majority of them are free, some of them have the option to pay a little to unlock extra lessons, have access to professional English tutors, learn without access to the internet and remove advertising.

I really believe that consistent practice is the key to learning English, and all of these apps enable you to practise English even if you only have a few minutes of time each day.

and now it’s over to you! which do you think is the best english learning app? do you think that apps for learning english are helpful, or do you prefer more traditional, face to face lessons? let me know in the comments section below!

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