Babbel or Duolingo? This is our polled readers' favorite language-learning app

If there’s one thing that consistently features on my New Year’s resolutions list, it’s learning another language. As is tradition, that resolution is broken annually, but not for a lack of trying.

I’ve downloaded plenty of language-learning apps in the past, from Duolingo to Drops, but none have stuck. My colleague Rita believes she’s found the best solution in Babbel, thanks to its rich offerings and more natural lessons. What do our readers vouch for?

We asked which language-learning app on Android is your favorite in Rita’s article, and 9,487 votes later, there’s a clear winner.

We offered readers four clear possible app choices and a fifth for those with a more complicated view. Unsurprisingly, the big hitters ranked near the top of the standings.

The most popular language learning app among our readers is Duolingo, with just under 42% of the vote. My colleagues have a love-hate relationship with the green owl, but many have lengthy streaks of over 1,000 days. Clearly, it does something right, and this result supports this.

Coming in second is Babbel, the subject of Rita’s piece. Notably, few commenters use Babbel as their language-learning app of choice, yet it nonetheless accounted for over a quarter of the support (28.7%).

The next most popular option is one that many forget even exists: Google Translate’s new language learning feature. It garnered just under 10% of the vote, and I expect this number to climb as users become more aware of the product.

Two minnows in Memrise (7.5%) and Drops (3.1%) received support from another tenth of the readership, while 9.4% chimed in with their votes in the comments.

Alternatives here include Qlango, Preply, LingoDeer, Pimsleur, and Dreaming Languages, all of which received a mention or two.

What language learning app do you use? And, on that note, what language(s) are you learning? Let us know in the comments.