Babbel is a very popular online language-learning platform. It offers learners 14 different languages to learn from across a user-friendly and well-designed system. Learners can hear native speakers model language and practice their speaking and listening skills as they work through Babbel’s courses.
But what if you want to learn more than one language? Is this possible? The short answer is yes, you can learn more than one language on Babbel. However, you need the right subscription as this isn’t standard. We’ll explain how to learn multiple languages on Babbel in this article.
What Is Babbel?
Before we look at whether you can learn multiple languages on Babbel, let’s take a closer at the company. Babbel is an online learning platform that was founded in Berlin, Germany, in 2007. It focuses on language learning and it was the first service to offer a language-learning app and kick-started this popular genre of language apps used on a mobile. (Check out our full Babbel review here.)
The platform is available through both browsers and the Babbel app, giving learners the ability to make their learning fit their schedule and life. The service has sold over 10 million subscriptions since it was launched and is one of the largest and most successful online language-learning platforms on the market today.
How Many Languages Are Available?
The number of languages available on Babbel is low compared to many of its competitors but it covers many of the major languages. At the time of writing, it only offers 14 popular languages and is missing several major ones such as Chinese and Arabic. These are:
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- French
- German
- Indonesian
- Italian
- Norwegian
- Polish
- Portuguese
- Russian
As Babbel teaches multiple languages to its users, the natural question that follows is can more than one new language be learned at a time?
How To Learn Multiple Languages On Babbel
The answer to this is yes, but it isn’t as straightforward as you might think. Many of Babbel’s competitors such as Duolingo make learning more than one language very easy. Once you have your account, you can start learning whichever languages interest you and easily change between them until you achieve fluency.
There are no additional costs or hidden charges for learning two languages compared to one. Even free members of Duolingo can learn more than one language. Babbel, however, is different. When you first sign up for the service, it will ask you to pick the language you are interested in learning from the list of languages we listed above.
It may only display 13 languages instead of 14 if your native language is on the list.
Once your account is created, you are then locked into this language and only this language. You will see a flag that represents your language at the top of the screen and if you try to change this, you will be sent to the payment screen.
Even if you already have a subscription you will be asked to subscribe again. This is because there are many different levels of subscriptions offered by Babbel.
Although some of them allow you to learn more than one language, most of them don’t.
The subscriptions you are offered by default don’t allow for more than one language. Let’s now take a closer look at the subscriptions offered by Babbel to see how you can learn more than one language.
What Are The Babbel Subscription Prices?
Babbel offers a wide variety of different subscription options. They cover a great range of different time periods. (Check out ‘How To Reset Progress On Babbel‘)
The current subscriptions and prices offered by Babbel are:
- One month – $14.95 per month
- Three months – $37.95 (rate of $12.65 per month)
- Six months – $66.90 (rate of $11.15 per month)
- Twelve months – $89.40 (rate of $7.45 per month)
There is also a lifetime subscription, but we leave that for one moment and come back to that later!
As you can see from the monthly charges, Babbel subscriptions start to become much cheaper if you can afford the longer periods.
The annual subscription is a saving of nearly 50 percent!
However, none of these monthly subscriptions offer more than one language. They will only give you access to the language that you first selected when you joined the site.
You will get full access to that language, including all of the course materials and additional materials.
To add another language you will need another subscription and the prices for your second subscription remain the same as your first.
Lifetime Subscription
When you first join Babbel, you will also be given the option of purchasing a lifetime subscription to the site. This is currently priced at $349, making it equivalent to the price of nearly four years of annual subscriptions.
This lifetime subscription does, however, give you access to all of Babbel’s languages.
If you buy a lifetime subscription you will get full access to all of Babbel’s languages, their language course materials, and additional materials.
Limited Annual Subscription
There is a third option with Babbel subscriptions.
After joining the site as a free member, you will be given a time-limited offer of an annual subscription that gives you access to all of the languages.
This offer is only valid for a day so you will need to take advantage of it as soon as you see it.
This annual subscription costs $129 a year, currently. Although it is higher than the regular annual subscription, it is much cheaper than buying a second language through the regular method of adding a second subscription.
There is one last method that will allow you to study more than one language, but this is still limited.
Babbel Live
In recent years, Babbel has started an additional service called Babbel Live.
This is not included in any of the subscriptions that we have mentioned already. So, regardless of whether you have a monthly subscription, annual subscription, or lifetime subscription, you will not get access to Babbel Live.
Babbel Live features live classes with a tutor that students can join.
The classes are limited to six students per class and are conducted online via Zoom.
The students will be able to talk to a qualified tutor and practice their target language while getting feedback and further instruction.
Currently, Babble Live is restricted to only French, Italian, German, and Spanish, but Babbel aims to add more language courses in time.
Every Babble Live membership gives you access to all of the live classes as well as all of the languages and courses.
It is not restricted to one language. It is more expensive than the regular memberships, however.
The current pricing is:
- One month – $99 per month
- Three months – $209 (rate of $70 per month)
- Six months – $359 (rate of $60 per month)
- Twelve months – $599 (rate of $50 per month)
If you are interested in taking part in live classes with a tutor, then Babbel Live is worth considering. (See ‘How Long Does Babbel Take To Learn A Language?’)
Final Thoughts
Although you can learn more than one language on Babbel, this isn’t standard with most memberships.
You will need a lifetime membership or Babbel Live subscription to do so. The other option is to purchase a second subscription.
