Babbel. A language software that has been downloaded more than 10 million times to smartphones. One of the greatest language-learning tools ever made. Is Babbel free or does it cost something? How does it work? Find the answer to your questions in our Babbel review.
Babbel Review
Name: Babbel
Founded: 2007
Price: Free. Premium Version Starting from 4.95€/month
UPDATE 2023:
SPANISH:See the BEST method to learn Spanish here!
FRENCH: See the BEST way to learn French here!
What Is Babbel?
Babbel is a language learning software that you can download on your phone or use on their website. It is one of the world’s most used language tools with millions of users worldwide. Nowadays Babbel has more than 450employees to run this tooland to provide the best language learningexperience for you.
There are two guys behind Babbel who can speak more than 10 languages fluently. So, we can say that Babbel is created by real professionals. Key people of Babbel are from Germany. In German babbeln means to chat. The name also refers to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel.
Babbel claims to be theshortest path to real-life conversations. Is it? You’ll decide. In my opinion, it’s a great language learning tool that can significantly improve your skills. I think it beats formal classroom lessons 100-0.
The video below explains in 35 seconds what is the idea of Babbel. “We believe that language learning should be enjoyable.”
How Does Babbel Work?
You can use Babbel with a smartphone, tablet or your computer. Platforms may look a bit different on different devices, but the main ideas are the same. Make language learning as enjoyable as possible. I took the pictures that I use in this review from Babbel German smartphone app.
There are many kinds of exercises in Babbel:
1.Listen and Repeat:
In this section, you hear (and see) the word and then you need to repeat it. The software listens to your pronunciation, and if you say the word right, you can move to the next exercise.
Practice Your Pronunciation with Babbel
2.Choose the Translation
The app give you a word and you need to choose the right translation for it.
Choose the Translation for “der Sprachkurs”
3. Write the Translation
In this section, you see the language and the picture of its meaning. Then you need to write the right word in your target language (in this example the target language is German)
Write the Translation for the language course
NOTE:These examples were taken from a smartphone app version. The computer version is a bit different and can be even more efficient because you can probably type faster on your computer than on your phone.
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UPDATE 2023:
SPANISH:See the BEST method to learn Spanish here!
FRENCH: See the BEST way to learn French here!
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This video also shows how you can learn with Babbel. It shows what kind of exercises there are and how you can use it on your holiday.
What Languages Can You Learn with Babbel?
There are 14 different languages on Babbel which includes almost all of the biggest ones. Here is a list of languages you can learn in Babbel:
Click the Picture to Start Learning Your Target Language
As you can see in the picture above, you can study some a bit more rare languageslike Swedish and Dutch. However, you can’t yet study my mother tongue Finnish. But who knows if they will add it in the future? 😉
How Many Lessons There Are in Babbel?
Each lesson on Babbel takes around 10-15 minutes. They relate to different subjects like, for example, Basics, building sentences, telephone calls, grammar, culture, media, friendships and so on.
It depends on each language how many lessons there are but, in general, the number seems to be huge. In Babbel German, there are hundreds (if not a thousand) different lessons, so there is lots of content to go through. I believe that if you would go through all content with Babbel, you could already have conversations with native speakers.
Is Babbel Free?
Yes and no.
There is a free version available on Babbel that anyone can use without paying a single penny. Then they have also a paid version if you are serious about learning a new language.
4 Different Pricing Plans
The price of Babbel premium depends on how long membership you take. If you take only 1 month at first, it costs 9,95€/month. But if you pay for a year it costs the only 4,95€/month.
In all of those plans there is a 20-day money back guarantee, no questions asked.
Pros & Cons
Pros:
- Very User-Friendly Platform
- Free Version Available
- Premium Version Is Very Cheap
- Several Ways of Practicing a New Language
- Language Learning Process Is Enjoyable
- 20-Day Money-Back Guarantee on Premium Memberships
Cons:
- Full Version Is Not Free
- No Points (Some Language Learning Apps Give You Points to Keep You More Motivated)
Conclusion – Is Babbel Worth It?
If you can learn a language with a cost of a pizza, you can guess if this is worth it or not. Of course Babbel it’s worth it! It’s much cheaper than, for example, Rosetta Stone and still, they provide more or less the same quality.
You can make enormous progress with Babbel in a short period. What if you would take a challenge of learning as much as you can with Babbel in 1 month. Then see how much you can learn in such a short period.
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UPDATE 2023:
SPANISH:See the BEST method to learn Spanish here!
FRENCH: See the BEST way to learn French here!
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Have you used Babbel to learn a new language?
