From broadening your dating options to helping you earn more and boosting your career prospects, studying a foreign tongue offers many advantages. You can converse more easily while traveling, make new acquaintances nearby, keep your mind engaged and gain a deeper understanding of the world around you.
Certain positions will reward you for acquiring a second language, and in many fields you may receive higher pay if you are bilingual — including government roles, legal work and education or tutoring. Regardless of your profession, recent studies indicate that picking up a second language could help you make around 2% more each year — which, with compound interest, might amount to nearly $70,000 by retirement.
Ready to begin learning a new language? Enrolling in an intensive short-term course can be costly and difficult to fit into your calendar if you’re already employed. The intensive eight-week summer sessions at Beloit College run just under $8,000. Immersion programs are an excellent way to reach native-like fluency, but you might not have the time to spend a summer abroad. And if you’re unsure which language to commit to or whether you’ll stick with it, you probably don’t want to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in home-study kits that will end up unused.
Luckily, you can start learning a language without leaving your desk or couch. Below are some of the top resources to help you study a foreign language for free.
1. Live Mocha
With a complimentary Live Mocha account, you gain access to lessons in more than 35 languages. After completing lessons, submit your work to receive tailored feedback from other community members, including teachers, native speakers and language aficionados.
Besides motivation to keep practicing, this feedback often contains cultural notes, extra exercises and mini-lessons as well as speaking pointers. Once you’ve mastered the free content, you can opt to pay a small fee for premium materials or earn points by reviewing fellow learners’ submissions.
2. Learn a Language
Learn a Language provides more than 1,400 interactive flashcards at no cost to help you explore 19 languages and pick up essential vocabulary. The flashcards include 350 verbs plus slang, greetings and survival expressions so you can make a strong first impression when using your new skills.
3. MyLanguages
Looking to study a less commonly taught language? MyLanguages could be the perfect starting point; the site offers free resources for an impressive 95 languages. For each language, you’ll find pages on the alphabet, numbers, handy phrases, common topics, grammar, audio clips and a dictionary.
4. Podcasts
When I moved abroad for work, I wanted to learn the language at my own speed and convenience. I discovered a free podcast I could listen to while exercising, cooking, sitting at my desk and cleaning the house.
Although many podcasts are linked to paid subscriptions, beginners can extract substantial benefit from the free episodes alone. A quick search in iTunes will surface language-learning podcasts and general content in your target language.
Benny Lewis, known for becoming conversationally fluent in about three months, recommends free language-learning podcasts from Innovative Language. For additional choices, check out this compilation of 10 podcasts, which includes both language-specific shows and podcasts useful to any language learner, from The Guardian.
5. Public Libraries
Fine, you’ll need to leave the house initially, but it’s a small trade-off to borrow pricey language-learning materials for free for a couple of weeks at a time.
Your local library likely carries physical resources including books, audio CDs and DVDs. While a small-town branch may not stock as much as a big-city system, you can often search the entire library district’s catalog and request items through interlibrary loan. Additionally, more libraries now offer online access to audiobooks and language programs such as Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur. Ask a librarian to help you sign up for the online catalog so you can download audio files to your computer or mobile device.
Language Apps
Study while you’re out and about with these language-learning apps for your phone or tablet. You might also find helpful resources in this list of best language learning apps.
6. Duolingo
Duolingo helps you learn one of 13 languages solo or with friends. The developers are adding new languages, with seven currently in “hatching” mode.
This app exemplifies gamification: you work to clear levels and win competitions, which makes it highly addictive. That’s not necessarily negative; research shows that roughly 34 hours on Duolingo is comparable to an 11-week university class.
7. Memrise
Memrise offers nine languages plus courses on computing and engineering. Its playful garden motif shows words you’re still learning as green stems, while mastered terms bloom into flowers.
Pick from various courses in your target language, then earn points as you progress through exercises. Accounts are free, and for a modest monthly fee you can upgrade to a premium plan that evaluates your performance and supplies extra practice.
8. Busuu
Busuu claims to host the world’s largest social network for language learning, with roughly 50 million users studying 12 languages via interactive lessons. As expected, their premium subscription unlocks additional features for a small monthly charge. For languages not yet covered by the app, there’s a forum where native speakers and learners can converse.
Your Turn: What are your favorite free or affordable tools for studying a new language?
And if you want to sharpen your typing while you study, try these free typing lessons online.
