What users complain about in language learning apps

The complaints that repeat

Each heading sums up what reviewers wrote; the quotes under it are their own words.

1. 01

   Duolingo and Busuu force aggressive ads and restrictive energy/heart systems that make free tiers unusable.

   Many users

   “The paywall ads that you have to get through are impossible. They are always advertising a game with no way to X out of it”

   “The new energy system makes the free membership pretty much impossible to use. Even if you're perfect, you can only get about 3 lessons done.”

2. 02

   Preply enforces recurring 4-week subscription bundles where unused hours expire without rollover or refunds.

   Many users

   “The entire business model is focused on getting you to sign up for an expensive subscription that is nearly impossible to change or stop.”

   “They sell their tutoring via subscription, NOT per lesson (your hours of lessons are bundled into a single purchase and your subscription is many times more expensive than a single lesson).”

3. 03

   Speak and Babbel suffer from inaccurate or broken speech recognition that halts lesson progress.

   Several users

   “I am so frustrated with this app not recognizing what I am saying even though I am pronouncing the phrases correctly.”

   “Somehow it couldn’t recognize the way I was saying words in Spanish, so I couldn’t pass those portions of the lessons. And because there was no way to simply skip that portion of the lesson, I was stuck.”

4. 04

   Babbel, Speak, and Duolingo mislead users with bait-and-switch pricing, non-transparent trial billings, or fake 'free' claims.

   Several users

   “The problem I have is that your marketing department is advertising 100% free language learning in my search results when they clearly know that your services are not 100% free.”

   “I was charged $250 for the premium account after the week trial. Yes, I recognize that is my fault but nowhere (in the 1 reminder email they sent or on their website) do they detail that cost nor explain what you get for it.”

5. 05

   Duolingo and Babbel lack explanations for grammar rules and rely on low-quality AI or rote digital textbook repetition.

   Several users

   “There is no explanation behind grammar rules, so I end up guessing based off prior correct answers and end up incorrect.”

   “all the lessons are the exact same with the exact same pattern and type of learning style with no deviation at all.”

6. 06

   Babbel fails to differentiate between regional dialects such as Latin American vs. European Spanish and European vs. Brazilian Portuguese.

   Several users

   “However, it is exclusively geared toward the Spanish spoken in Spain as opposed to Latin America. Much of the vocabulary it teaches is only used in Spain.”

   “Do NOT buy this App if you are wanting to learn European Portuguese (Portugal). Their Portuguese course focuses on Brazilian Portuguese and not European Portuguese.”

What users ask for

• A flexible pay-as-you-go credit or single-lesson purchase system instead of recurring monthly hour commitments.

  Asked for a few times

  “They should have a credit system where you buy credits that can be used for any teacher or class and sell packages of those credits at discounts to those who buy larger packages.”

• Regional dialect selection that accepts regional vocabulary equivalents as correct answers.

  Asked for a few times

  “There will often be a little pop up giving the equivalent word in Latin America, but if you give that word as an answer it will count it as wrong, even though it is technically still correct.”

• Ability to skip speech recognition exercises when voice detection fails.

  Asked for once or twice

  “And because there was no way to simply skip that portion of the lesson, I was stuck. It rendered the app unusable.”

• Accessible interface design compatible with screen readers.

  Asked for once or twice

  “It’s an app designed for you to speak into it. It’s literally called “Speak”. Hopefully someone thought about disabled people in their lteaching model. Evidently I was wrong.”

What these apps get right

What users praise, and would expect from anything new.

• Busuu's peer correction network and community feedback from native speakers.
• Speak's interactive conversational speaking practice and instant feedback.
• Busuu's digestible, bite-sized lessons paired with authentic native-speaker videos.

Apps we read

• Duolingo: Learn LanguagesGoogle Play
• Speak: Language LearningGoogle Play
• Babbel - Language LearningApp Store
• Busuu: Learn & Speak LanguagesGoogle Play
• Mango Languages: LearningApp Store
• Preply - Language Learning AppApp Store

App names belong to their owners. Quotes are from public store reviews, and the summaries describe what those reviewers experienced; they are not claims we have verified.