There is no better time than now to start using an App to improve your English! They are quick, easy and fun. Apps for learning English can be so entertaining that you won’t even realise you’re studying. Furthermore, they allow you to learn from home or ‘on the go’ anytime, anywhere on your mobile device.

If you haven’t downloaded one yet, we’re going to take you through the 10 best apps to learn English in 2021 and have fun at the same time!

10 Best Apps for English Learning

Wannalisn

Wannalisn is free and The Best English App. It places particular focus on the problem of listening comprehension as it teaches you to understand the fast informal English of native speakers through mini clips from popular movies, TV series and songs.

As you train your ear to understand real English and spoken grammar, you will also improve your pronunciation with easy-to-understand phonetic transcriptions. At the same time, this fresh new app feels like a game as you scale through the levels and score points to compete on a global leaderboard.

Wannalisn also teaches you the most common English idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs. Learning English vocabulary through clips from series and movies makes it easier to remember new words because you are making emotional connections with familiar actors and scenes.

Duolingo

Duolingo makes English learning fun and turns studying into a game. Similar to Wannalisn, you can earn points and scale the levels as your English improves. Apart from teaching grammar, Duolingo lets you practise reading, writing, listening and speaking – recording your answers and rating your spoken English. This award-winning app tracks your progress daily and provides you with a progress report at the end of each lesson.

Babbel

The Babbel app gives users a new language-learning experience in which they can connect with other learners. In line with Wannalisn, Babbel’s method focuses on repetition and gamification as it allows users to accumulate points as they progress through their language learning. With the Babbel app you can learn English with all kinds of  interesting topics – ranging from business to travel – to make your learning experience more fun and motivating.

Memrise

Learning English with the Memrise app is particularly good for vocabulary as users memorise thousands of words. In a similar vein to Wannalisn, this app uses entertainment through humorous wordplay and memes to help you remember new words. Memrise is an effective and fun way to expand your vocabulary, and is suitable for English learners of all levels. The Memrise app is often used by teachers for homework assignments.

FluentU

While Wannalisn teaches English with popular series and movies, the FluentU app will help you learn English with real-world videos from TV commercials, news, and popular talk shows. All the same, you’ll be exposed to English as it is really spoken by native speakers. The FluentU app also is useful for learning and remembering English vocabulary and offers an interactive function where English learners can tap on a word and hear how it’s used in context.

CAKE

As with Wannalisn, the free Cake app also uses short clips to make learning English a fun experience. The difference is that Cake doesn’t put the same focus on developing fast listening skills. What this app does, however, is offer direct links from the app to Youtube videos. Another cool Cake feature for speaking skills is a microphone that allows users to repeat what you hear and then have your pronunciation analyzed and graded.

ELSA Speak

The English speaking app Elsa places particular focus on aspects of pronunciation such as intonation, word stress and fluency. Elsa offers short audio dialogues to engage users and provides them with instant AI driven feedback on their pronunciation skills. As with Wannalisn, Elsa also has an option to view phonetic transcriptions of words and phrases which are included in over 1200 English learning activities.

EWA

With Ewa you can improve your English reading skills with books that include real time translations. The free Ewa English learning app allows you to learn English vocabulary in a tap. A plus point is that EWA also focuses on listening comprehension with Wannalisn-style clips from popular TV shows. Furthermore, this app to learn English contains conversational vocabulary, interactive exercises and many more fun and challenging tasks.

ABA English

This app helps you learn English through self- produced ABA video content, which means that the English is not quite as natural as the fast English you’ll hear in the Wannalisn clips. With ABA you can also hear different native accents and learn common everyday expressions. What’s more, the ABA app offers video classes, plus interactive grammar and vocabulary exercises in addition to a microphone to practise speaking and pronunciation.

BBC learning English

The BBC Learning English app is a great way to keep your English up to date, whether you want to study grammar, improve your pronunciation, or learn the latest phrases to use in your everyday conversations. A new feature of the BBC learning English app is that you can now download audio programmes and listen to them whenever you want. Furthermore, you can share your favourite programmes to social media or send to your friends with your mobile phone.

Final Thoughts on the 10 best apps for learning English

As we can see, there are many other fun and entertaining ways to learn English that don’t involve traditional grammar exercises and out-dated books. So, if you’re looking for entertaining and effective ways to study this popular language, we strongly recommend these 10 Best apps to learn English.

Although each app has its own strengths, the Wannalisn app covers all the bases and offers a unique combination of education and entertainment for the ultimate ‘edutainment’ experience.

Download Wannalisn for free on iOS or Android, and practise your listening and learn vocabulary anytime, wherever you may be!

You can also follow us on our blog and on social media for daily and weekly tips on how to improve your fast listening abilities and build your vocabulary base.

Get Wannalisn now and finally take your English to the next level!

Remember, real life doesn’t have subtitles!