Learning a new language is a challenge that most of us like to take head-on. Whether you want to learn German or French to get a professional edge over your peers or you want to learn Korean to enjoy your favorite K-Drama in the native language, the charm of learning a new language is always there. Until very recently, it used to be a tough challenge to find tutors for learning that foreign language. Language learning app have simplified this process. Not only can you learn multiple languages from the comfort of your home, but you can practice in bite-sized lessons on a regular basis. All of this while making a ton of money for the app-running company.
If you have also thought about developing a language app or getting into the business of language apps, this post is for you. Read on as we discuss everything from key features and technology stack to the cost of developing a language learning app like Duolingo.
Language Learning App Revenue and Usage Statistics
In the year 2021, language learning apps generated $8.21 billion with a 32% year-on-year increase. Duolingo was the top app in the segment, with a revenue of $250 million in 2021. Duolingo also had the largest share of language learning apps, with 63.54% of the apps installed. Mondly (9.38%) and Babbel (7.29%) are distant second and third. Many apps offer a limited trial version for free, unlike Duolingo, which offers extensive features for free.
What Is A Language Learning App?
A language-learning app allows users to learn various new languages from the comfort of their homes. The app uses a mixture of visual and audio exercises to educate the customer. It gamifies the whole experience of learning a new language by giving you rewards and points for your progress. Language learning apps like Duolingo make learning a new language fun and accessible. You don’t have to go somewhere and find a tutor; you can do that on your phone. What’s more? You can learn multiple languages using the app.
Why Invest in Language Learning App Development?
You should invest in language learning app development for several reasons as a business. Some of them are;
Accessibility
A language learning app makes learning a new language much more accessible. It doesn’t matter which part of the world you live in; as long as you have a smartphone and a working internet connection, you can learn a new language. In a way, a language learning app democratizes language learning.
Increase in demand
As mentioned earlier, language learning apps are seeing year-on-year growth of 32%. This suggests the increasing demand for people trying to learn a new language. This will only increase in the near future as internet penetration increases and apps explore new markets.
Wide reach
The language learning app market is not limited to geographical location. The whole world with an internet connection is your market. You can expand operations in newer markets by adding new languages. This shows the vast potential of a language-learning app.
Leverage cutting-edge technology
A learning app provides cutting-edge technology to learners. They get a mixture of audio and visual exercises. These combine to give the best learning experience. The technology allows users to have a more personalized learning experience. This is excellent because not everyone will have the same knowledge of a language. Some are complete beginners, while others are intermediate looking to learn the nuances of a language.
Things to Consider During Language Learning App Development
Some things are non-negotiable when you are out to develop your language learning app. These will help your app not get lost in the sea of apps on the app store and increase your chances of competing with giants of the industry.
Know your target audience
You have to be aware of your target audience. What languages do they want to learn, and what stage of learning are they in? These are some of the questions which will help you design the features and user experience of the app. Knowing the target audience takes the guesswork out of your business, and you have a better chance of succeeding.
Improving the learning experience
A language learning app is essentially a learning app. If users don’t have a great time learning, they won’t be using it consistently. You can take a few steps to ensure this is not the case with your app;
Gamification of learning
Gamify the whole process of learning. This will make the process fun and enjoyable. Users are more likely to spend more time on your app when the entire process of learning is treated as a game. This is something significant players like Duolingo realize, and it is a major part of their experience.
Motivate users
People get busy with their lives, lose motivation and don’t find the time. As a business, motivating them to continue is in your interest. How can you achieve that? Give them rewards and points for maintaining a streak. Remind them about their progress through push notifications. Introducing competition by allowing users to compete with other users is also a great way to motivate learners.
One-on-one learning options
Give an option of one-on-one learning. This will be great for serious learners. You can even charge a premium for their service, which will become an additional source of income for the app.
Audio options
No one likes to pronounce a word wrong. Even your app users would love to know the correct pronunciation of a word. Give them exactly that by adding an auditory option.
Community Building
Humans are social animals. We thrive in communities. Form communities of your users by allowing them to invite their friends to your app. Another great way to form communities is to allow users of a specific geographic location to compete in a competition.
Challenges with the best Language Learning Apps Development
Some of the significant challenges associated with best language learning app development are;
- personalized the learning experience,
- providing real-time feedback,
- making the learning part fun and interactive
- Easy onboarding
- Creating engaging content
While these challenges are hard, they are not insurmountable. With the right education software development company, you can overcome these challenges to build an app that will make learning easy for your users while making money for you at the same time.
Benefits Of Language Learning Apps
There are several benefits of language learning apps. Some of these are listed below;
- Learn from the comfort of your home
- Cost-effective alternative to private foreign language classes
- Bite-sized exercises
- Personalized learning depending upon your existing knowledge of the language
- Gamification of the learning process
Most Popular Top-Rated Language Learning Applications
Duolingo
With over 300 million downloads, Duolingo is the most popular language-learning app by miles. Any new entrant to the market must study Duolingo as a case study. It offers fun activities, games, competitions, and audio to learn a new language. The app also provides a huge range of languages to learn(more than 100). This includes less popular languages like Swahili on top of major languages like French, German, and Spanish. You can even change the app’s user interface to several languages, allowing users with different native languages easy access to learning a new app.
Busuu
Busuu is another popular language-learning app with over 10 million downloads. It provides the first few lessons for free, and users must buy a course to continue. It offers 14 languages for learning. It has a great user interface and an excellent audio feature. It also certifies the completion of a course. This is great for people learning a language for professional purposes.
Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is an American education software technology company. Unlike many of its competitors, Rosetta Stone has no free subscriptions. You can only use it by getting a paid subscription which starts from $11.99 per month. The app does not offer many language options and only includes the major ones like English, French and German.
Memrise
Memrise is a British language learning platform. It provides sufficient learning even for free in the app. You can get paid subscriptions for additional features and offline access. The app even offers unlimited speaking practice with its AI conversation partner.
Babbel
Babbel is a German subscription-based language learning app. This easy-to-use learning app currently helps you learn 14 languages. There are a number of audio and video-based exercises which help you learn new words in a new language and add to your vocabulary. Currently, it offers 15 languages, including Turkish, Swedish and Polish, on top of the more popular ones like English, German, and French.
Must-Have advanced Features of Language Learning Apps
Putting some advanced features in your language learning app will help you compete with your competition and provide you with a necessary edge over them.
Levels
Not every user has the same knowledge of the language they are trying to learn. This is why you need to provide different levels for different users. Most language learning apps would provide three levels; beginner, advanced and pro. This will help you deliver a personalized learning experience to your user depending on their existing knowledge.
Chatbot
With a chatbot users can do conversational learning. Chatbot is a great tool for practice and an excellent tool to automate your learning process. This not only allows users to assess their progress but also improve on it.
Gamification
Gamification will make your app interactive and fun to use. It will also ensure that users don’t uninstall the app after trying it for a few days. This can be achieved by adding animation and sound effects, providing badges and points, and allowing users to compete with each other.
Push notifications
While push notifications may not seem like a significant addition, they can be a massive change for a language-learning app. The primary purpose of push notifications is to remind users to continue their daily streaks and keep on learning. This will lead to more regular usage of the app, making more money for your business.
One-on-one lessons
Some serious learners would love to take one on one lessons to take their knowledge to the next level. One-on-one lessons also provide an extra stream of income for the business. They are a great addition to the whole experience of learning.
User Interface
The user interface will be a deciding factor in making the app fun and interactive. When done right, it can transform the whole process of learning. This is why the user interface should be given ample attention to detail.
E-learning App Development: Cost, Key Features, and Technology Stack
Technology Stack for Best Language Learning Application Development
Here’s the Technology stack required to build the best language-learning application;
Front-end Development– Objective C, Java, CSS3 and backbone.js
Back-end Development– Ruby, Python, Django and JavScript.
iOS– Swift
Android– Java
Real-time Analytics– Apache Spark, IBM,
Database– MySQL, Cassandra
Cloud– AWS, Google, Microsoft azure
Required Team Structure for Language Learning Application App Development
All of us know that to successfully complete a project as extensive as building an education app development, your team should be in its place first. Here are the different positions that need to come together to make this a successful endeavor;
Project Manager– An experienced project manager will track the progress of the project and keep everyone updated about the milestone reached. They are in charge of honoring the schedule while ensuring it is within budget.
Developer (Android, iOS, Backend developer)–Developers are in charge of making the whole process of learning interactive and fun. They are also in charge of ensuring everything runs smoothly.
Designers (Graphix, UX/UI)– Designers make the app easy to use and user-friendly. They also work towards making the app interactive and fun to use.
QA Testers- Testers ensure that everything is working smoothly. Their task is to ensure there are no flaws in the app and that it is ready to be deployed.
Cost of Development Best Language Learning Application
Education app development cost depends on several factors. Some of them are;
- Platform (Android, iOS, or both)
- Features
- Number of languages
- Location of talent
- Number of hours invested in the project
- Size of the app development company
These are the various factors that will affect the final cost of the development of a language learning application. But, if you are looking for a figure, it will cost you anywhere from $10,000 to 30,000 to develop an app with basic features for a single platform. For both platforms, the cost will be almost double that. In the case of the region, you’ll get a better bargain for your money in South East Asia as compared to North America and Europe.
Conclusion
Learning a new language is a challenging exercise for the brain. Learning a new language can be great for you whether you want to do it for professional reasons or personal reasons. Language learning apps provide the facility to learn a new language from the comfort of your home in bite-sized, easy-to-digest lessons. The language learning app market is booming and is only poised to go upwards from here.
While Duolingo is numero uno in the market, there’s plenty of space for a new app. You need to have some key features like user profile, gamification features and community-building features to compete with the best in the business. A lot of the success of your app will depend on your app development partner, which is why Exato Software is the perfect partner for you. We have the expertise, track record and developers to ensure you get your language learning app on time and within your budget.
Language Learning App Development FAQs
Q. How long will developing a language learning app from scratch take?
- Developing a language-learning app can take anywhere from six months to a year. The time taken will depend on many factors, including the complexities, size of the team, and platforms selected.
Q. What factors depend on the cost of developing a language learning app?
- There are several factors on which the cost of developing a language learning app depends, like platform, location of talent, expertise, and features.
Q. What are the key features to have in your language learning app?
- Your language learning app must-have features like a user profile, gamification features, audio exercises, and community and competition features.
Q. What are some of the major language learning apps?
- Duolingo is by far the largest language-learning app both in terms of users and downloads. Some other language-learning apps are Babbel, Memise, Rosetta Stone, and Busuu.
