Editor’s note: This article was first published in April 2011, and lists websites as they were then. Several may since have closed, rebranded or stopped being free, so the list should not be taken as current.
The internet’s “everything for free” culture has also reached language learning: there are now sites offering a wide variety of courses in English, French, German, Greek, Japanese and more. Some of the sites listed below offer audiovisual content and theory and practice exercises so you can test your knowledge, and some even have communities where you can interact with other users and share questions.
You can also choose a course not only by language but by the keywords you need for a particular profession, such as business English, French for nursing, German for the motor trade, and so on. Here are the best sites with free courses:
Other sites build their courses around one specific language:
- Free English courses: English Town
- Free French courses: Frenchspanishonline
- Free Italian courses: En Italiano
Another place to learn languages, perhaps more focused on teaching through audio and video, is Dotsub.com, where you’ll find countless videos subtitled and translated into several languages.
To practice with native speakers, try these sites:
Palabea.net, an international platform for learning languages by talking to native speakers of other nationalities via chat or video conference.
LingoMatch, another site where you simply register for free and choose the language you want to learn, and you’ll get the chance to meet people to learn it with.
Finally, there are language communities, where you sign up by stating your native language and the language you’re currently learning. They work, so to speak, like a social network. The most notable language communities include:
I hope you find these sites useful.
Featured image: Jonashtand, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
