Babbel is considered one of the most comprehensive learning platforms that you can use out there right now.
From German, to Dutch, to Indonesian, to English, and so many more, there isn’t a language that you can’t find through this service.
… Okay, that’s not quite true. While Babbel is fantastic at learning Romance languages, as well as a handful of others, there are some major gaps in the languages that you can learn.
Arabic, for example, is a language that you cannot find on Babbel. (See also ‘Does Babbel Have Japanese? 3 Best Babbel alternatives‘)
And considering that it is the official language of Arab League countries, and a secondary language in plenty more, this can leave potential customers with a massive gap in terms of knowledge. But when will Babbel have Arabic, or is there a better alternative to the Babbel Arabic course?
Fortunately for you, there are plenty of other language learning services that you can rely on to help fill that linguistic void that Babel has left behind.
If you’re struggling to find the perfect service for learning Arabic, then you’ve come to the right place!
We have collected the best platforms that do have Arabic as a learning language on them, as well as some of the features that they offer to make your learning experience just a little easier!
What Makes Babbel So Good?
Before we start taking a look at the alternatives that do provide learning resources for Arabic, it is probably worth explaining what exactly it is that makes Babbel such a good learning resource for foreign languages in the first place.
That way, we can also start to look for alternative services that offer similar or comparable features.
The first thing that a user of Babbel will notice about the service is how quickly it tries to get you to say words. Not just learning, physically ‘saying words’.
This is a key feature of any learning service, as it’s also one of the best methods of making sure that a word has started to become ingrained in a speaker’s head.
Not only that, but the voices that you hear are not only actual people (as opposed to machine-generated voices that you get in some other services) but are native Arabic speakers as well. This provides plenty of contextual and cultural learning about a language, giving you a much more rounded understanding of how a language operates.
And that’s not even discussing the lessons themselves, with intervals to help the words that you are learning sink into your long-term memory. All of these tried and tested methods have made Babbel one of the highest-rated language-learning platforms in the world.
However, as we mentioned, their overall lack of content makes them a clear case of quality-over-quantity. With just 14 languages covered by Babbel, they don’t have the largest selection of languages out there, even if what they do have is incredibly high-quality. So, which alternatives can fill those gaps?
Mondly
If we’re going with the most popular competitors to Babbel, then Mondly is probably one of the best out there, and should probably be considered first in this short guide. Mondly does what many of the best learning apps out there do, and gamify the process of learning languages, in order to keep it engaging.
The Arabic lessons that you’ll take on this app are short, interactive lessons that take next to no time to finish. 10 Minutes a day on the app is all it can take to start building healthy learning patterns and routines.
Okay, so these make Mondly a great language app.
What exactly makes it a good Arabic-learning app?
Well, for one thing, the app is very good at helping you learn the Arabic script. The Arabic alphabet is arguably one of the biggest hurdles to learning a whole new language and writing system.
Combine that with the audio guide and the chatbot conversation feature that allows you to practice how to speak Arabic, and aside from a lack of a human element for learning intricacies, you have yourself one of the best apps in the business to improve your language skills!
Talkinarabic.com
TalkinArabic.com is one of the fastest-growing platforms when it comes to learning Arabic, so of course it’s going to make this list of the best! The strongest feature that this platform has going for it is its intricate resources for learning not just the Arabic language, but Arabic dialects.
After all, Arabic is a language spoken over a truly massive area of the globe, so differences are going to pop up, resulting in a range of dialects in this single language that can be difficult to wrap your head around if you’re learning ‘standard’ Arabic.
The resources in this platform allow you to learn how different dialects operate, from Sudanese Arabic to Egyptian Arabic, to Mesopotamian. All of these, and more, are covered by Talkinarabic.com! The only strike against this platform that we could think of is the structure of the material.
The levels of learning aren’t exactly as clear-cut here as they might be in other apps. There is no level of progression system and no way to really mark your progress through the app.
What is on this app is very helpful and informative, but it doesn’t have the same feedback loop and encouragement that other apps have for learning languages, making it a slightly less engaging experience overall. However, if you’re trying to learn the intricacies of the Arabic language and its many dialects, this is an amazingly rich way to do so with!
Pimsleur
If you’re looking for a service that can help you to start learning Arabic and other languages, but you don’t have to pay a massive upfront cost, then you need to check out Pimsleur. Obviously, everyone loves access to free learning resources, especially when it comes to languages. Being bilingual shouldn’t always be behind a paywall, after all!
However, Pimsleur has so much else besides just free entry. (See also ‘Pimsleur Vs Babbel: What the Difference Between Them‘)
With tons of content that are tailored towards helping beginners start to understand this vibrant language, especially with its ability to get users to participate in their learning, it’s arguably one of the best services when it comes to starting to learn Arabic too.
However, it’s in that specialty that we also see Pimsleur’s biggest issue.
With such a beginner-friendly experience being tailored too, you’re likely going to struggle to learn more advanced Arabic sentence structures, as an example.
Especially with the lack of listening resources also being here with this platform. However, if you’re just starting out on your linguistic journey and want to learn Arabic vocabulary or Arabic grammar, this is a phenomenal app that you need to try.
Rocket Languages
Now, if you’re going for a learning platform that has its lesson structure and progression down to a T, we have to give a shout-out to Rocket Languages.
Rocket Languages comes out on top of other services by having some of the most easy-to-understand and comprehensible skill-learning systems out there, making sure that every aspect of your language-learning journey is being considered.
If you’re looking for accuracy in your pronunciation, you can even record your own voice back, and examine it for yourself, where you’re going right or wrong.
Plus, if you’re looking to pick up a third language to learn, or have lost interest in Rocket Arabic, there are plenty of other languages to learn, from Chinese, Spanish, French, English, Japanese, and plenty more.
There’s arguably an even bigger variety of languages here than on other, much better, well-known sites and platforms!
Final Thoughts
So, if you are looking to learn Arabic, know that your options are well and truly covered!
