Self-study programs allow learning without having a teacher present,[1] [2] and the courses can supplement or replace classroom instruction.[3] Universities use self-study programs for less-commonly taught languages, where having professors is not feasible.[4] [5] Self-study programs are available on paper, audio files, video files, smartphone apps, computers, or any combination.[6]
This list is limited to programs that teach four or more languages. There are many others that teach one language.
Alphabetical lists of languages show the courses available to learn each language, at All Language Resources, Lang1234, Martindale's Language Center, Omniglot, and Rüdiger Köppe. (UCLA Language Materials Project has ended.) For the thousands of languages not listed on those sites, for which no course exists, Global Recordings Network has recorded a standard set of Bible stories in 6,000 languages. With effort, learners can study any language by comparing their recordings to the same story in a language they know.[7]
The list of self-study programs, below, shows the number of languages taught by each program, the name of the program, and the number of different languages used for instruction. Multiple languages of instruction may be available for some but not all courses. For example, Reise Know-How uses six languages to teach German, but only German to teach the other languages. On the other hand Eurotalk, Pronunciator and 50Languages use all languages to teach all the other languages.
| Self-study program | Number of languages taught | Interface languages | Media | Business Model | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reise Know-How | 200 | 7 | books | ||
| Qlango | 45 | 38 | online and mobile app | freemium | |
| Lingly | 16 | 16 | web | freemium | |
| L'Harmattan | 167 | 1 (French) | books | ||
| Cudoo | 164 | 3 | subscription | ||
| uTalk | 140+ | 27 | online and mobile app | subscription | |
| Eurotalk | 132 | 119 | application | ||
| Transparent Language Online | 130 | 6 | online and mobile app | monthly or yearly subscription, or free via a participating library | |
| Peace Corps | 101 | 1 (English) | web | free | |
| Pronunciator | 87 | 50 | free to library patrons if library pays | ||
| Assimil | 76 | 12 | books, usb | ||
| Mango Languages | 71 | 17 | application | free to library patrons if library pays, or monthly subscription | |
| Glossika | 64 | 6 | web, books | freemium | |
| Clozemaster | 60 | 33 | freemium | ||
| Teach Yourself | 58 | 1 (English) | books, CDs | ||
| 50Languages | 56 | 56 | web | free audio, apps and downloads, sell optional books | |
| Colloquial by Routledge | 56 | 1 (English) | physical media | sell books and CDs | |
| Central Institute of Indian Languages | 47 | 1 (English) | physical media | sell books | |
| Duolingo | 43 | 25 | application or web | freemium with all learning features free | |
| Foreign Service Institute | 42 | 1 (English) | web | free | |
| Pimsleur Language Programs (company) | 40 | 50 | audio | ||
| BBC Online | 40 | 1 (English) | web | free | |
| LingQ | 46 | 17 | application or web | freemium | |
| FirstVoices | 82 | 1 (English) | free | ||
| Rosetta Stone | 34 | 1 (English) | software | one-time/subscription [8] | |
| Mondly | 33 | 33 | application | freemium | |
| VocApp | 31 | 59 | application | freemium | |
| Drops | 31 | 31 | application | freemium | |
| Memrise | 25 + numerous languages with user-created courses | 15 | application | freemium | |
| Gloss by Defense Language Institute | 29 | 1 (English) | web | free | |
| Berlitz Corporation | 23 | 1 (English) | online classes, offline classes, books and PE (physical media) | varies | |
| Ba Ba Dum | 22 | 22 | online | free | |
| Quizlet | 18 | 8 (Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish) | online | freemium | |
| Living Language (publisher) | 18 | 7 (Arabic, English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish) | physical media | ||
| Langenscheidt | 17 | 2 (English, German) | physical media | ||
| For Dummies | 17 | 2 (English, German) | physical media | ||
| Linguaphone | 16 | 2 (English, German) | physical media | ||
| Babbel | 13 | 9 (English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish, Ukrainian) | application | subscription | |
| Busuu | 14 | 15 | application | freemium | |
| Bilingual Books, Inc. | 12 | 2 (English, German) | physical media | ||
| LingoDeer | 12 | 13 (Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Russian, Vietnamese, Indonesian, Italian, Thai, Turkish) | application or web | subscription | |
| Michel Thomas Method | 12 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Lingua.ly | 10 | 18 | freemium | ||
| Idiot's Guide | 10 | 2 (English, Spanish) | physical media | ||
| Behind the Wheel by Macmillan Publishers | 9 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Lingvist | 8 | 8 (Arabic, Chinese, English, Estonian, German, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian) | online and mobile app | freemium | |
| Speakly | 8 | 11 | online and mobile app | freemium | |
| Language Transfer | 8 | 2 (English for French, Swahili, Italian, Greek, German, Turkish, Arabic, and Spanish, and Spanish for English) | online | free | |
| Dexway | 8 | 12 | subscription | ||
| Schaum's Outlines | 6 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Lonely Planet | 6 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages | 6 | 1 (English) | free | ||
| Alison | 6 | 1 (English) | free | ||
| Paul Noble Method by Collins | 5 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Made Simple by Broadway Books | 7 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Hugo by Dorling Kindersley | 5 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Drive Time by Random House | 5 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Nextlingua | 4 | 4 (English, Spanish, French, Russian) | free | ||
| Durium by Durium Records | 4 | 1 (Italian) | physical media | ||
| Teach Yourself Business by McGraw-Hill Education | 4 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Smigin | 4 | 3 (English, Portuguese, Turkish) | subscription | ||
| Langster | 4 | 7 (English, French, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish) | application | freemium | |
| Readle | 1 (German) | 6 (English, French, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Turkish) | application | freemium | |
| Nonsense | 5 | 5 (English, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese) | application | freemium | |
| Cortina Method by Rafael Díez de la Cortina y Olaeta | 10 | 1 (English) | physical media | ||
| Language TV Club | 4 | 5 (Spanish, French, German, Italian, English) | online | subscription | |
| Think in Italian | 1 (Italian) | 1 (English) | web | freemium |