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Looking to learn a new language? But which language course is the right one? Together with Katrin, I continuously test a wide variety of language learning options, from apps to audio courses to books. And these are the top 10 best language programs we would use to learn in 2025!
Table of Contents
Top 10 Best Language Courses – An Overview
Our Top Pick: Mondly
1st Place: Mondly
The long-term motivator among language courses.
3rd Place: Mosalingua
The most improved language course with great AI integration.
We award places 4-10 as follows:*
4. Gymglish: Every lesson individually tailored to the learner. (Review)
5. Rocket Languages: Excellent combination of audio and vocab instruction. (Review)
6. Rosetta Stone: Language course and language lessons in one. (Review)
7. ASSiMiL: Very good learning method in audio and book format. (Review)
8. Yabla: The YouTube for all (advanced) language learners. (Review)
9. Babbel: A good language course made in Germany. (Review)
10. Busuu: Language program with great community features. (Review)
As of: June 2025
* Duolingo? We often receive inquiries about this: we do not consider Duolingo to be among the 10 best language courses.
It is a popular app, but in our opinion, their learning concept is simply far too weak.
All Language Program Reviews at a Glance
Foreword: At talkREAL, we always test all language courses over several weeks so that we can assess long-term motivation in particular. In our view, this is extremely important for well-founded reviews.
Important! “Everyone learns differently” is our fundamental motto at talkREAL. Therefore, it’s important to note that not every language course we review is equally suitable for everyone. If you want to be sure, you should test your learning style beforehand.
By the way, the learning style test linked here offers a comprehensive results report. You not only learn how you personally learn most effectively, but you also receive corresponding individual language course recommendations based on your own strengths and weaknesses.
More Than Just Reviews – Our Language Course Guides
In our reviews, we explain how well a language course is suited for learning a new language. But once you’ve set your sights on a course, several other questions arise:
- How much does the language course cost?
- Which learning languages are supported?
- What language level can I achieve?
We clarify these and other topics in our comprehensive guides, which we create for each language course.
In the language course guides, you will also find comparisons of two language programs, which we pit against each other in a virtual boxing match. Who will emerge as the winner? By the way, in the guides, you will also find information on how to cancel the respective language course, should you ever lose interest.
Our Methodology for Reviewing Language Programs
But back to our language course reviews. We hope that our standardized testing procedure helps to compare different offers. All our language course tests follow this structure:
- What Was Tested?
- Scope and Features
- User-Friendliness
- Didactic Concept
- Target Audience
- Value for Money
- Alternatives
- Conclusion
The final score is calculated from our assessment of user-friendliness, didactic concept, and value for money.
Awards for the Best Language Courses We’ve Tested
Furthermore, we also grant special awards in our language course reviews. If a language learning solution does something particularly well, it receives our test winner award in the corresponding category. Here are two examples:
Winner in the “Motivation” Category
Mondly
Where you would have long stopped learning with Duolingo, Babbel, or Drops, Mondly still motivates you, that’s the conclusion of our Mondly language course review. An absolute top tip, because those who learn longer and more also speak the new foreign language faster. Apart from that, Mondly shines with an excellent value for money. (see complete Mondly guide)
Winner in the “Online Language Course” Category
Gymglish
“Wow, how do they do that?” we often thought during our Gymglish review. Because no language course adapts to the learner as individually as Gymglish does. You really get personalized content that is precisely tailored to your learning level. In addition, there is a great, continuous story that motivates me to stick with it. Top-notch!
Winner in the “Most Improved” Category
Mosalingua
Mosalingua really surprised us in November. We have been testing their language courses since 2016 and were always rather critical. But that has changed abruptly. The app and learning content have improved so much that we ourselves are now learning with Mosalingua in 2025. Well done, Mosalingua! Now, we are very happy to recommend you. Just click here and try it for 7 days for free!
Conclusion: The Best Language Programs Reviewed – How to Learn in 2025
We at talkREAL firmly believe that language courses, whether digital or book-based, should be an important part of every learning strategy. To help everyone keep track of the multitude of offers, we will continue to do everything we can to publish well-founded language course reviews in the future.
If the focus is mainly on the question of money, then our price comparison and discount overview are also recommended, where you can always find a bargain or two. For everyone for whom motivation is a challenge, Mondly is still our first choice in 2025. But Mosalingua in particular scored with many innovations and recently surprised us very positively in the Mosalingua test.
Of course, we are also always happy to learn and always appreciate feedback, which you can gladly send us here! Thank you very much.