14 Best Apps For Learning Korean (Expert Opinion)

There are a plethora of Korean language learning resources available for anyone to use.

But how do you know which ones are right for you?

That’s where I come in. 😊

The list below will introduce you to, in my opinion, the best Korean learning apps on the market today.

With these apps, you can learn Korean anytime, anywhere through your iPhone or Android.

By the end of this roundup, you should know what app is best for you and your Korean goals.

So let’s get started!

Best apps for Korean learners

1. Naver Dictionary

First up on my list is my personal favorite, Naver Dictionary.

This app offers a ton of features, with new ones appearing frequently.

I personally use the dictionary feature the most to look up words I don’t know.

When you look up a word it offers example sentences, so you can know what context the word is used in.

I also personally use Accentia and Papago every day.

Accentia is a platform connected to the app that allows you to listen to real people pronounce words. This has helped improve my pronunciation tremendously.

Papago is a Korean translation app that offers reliable translations and explanations of the translations.

I recommend this app to all learners no matter your level.

Features:

• TOPIK Wordbook
• Daily Korean-English Conversation
• Accentia
• Papago
• Learn Korean with drama clips
• Today’s word
• Audio clips
• Today’s Korean clip
• Dictionary
• Wordbook
• Hanja Dictionary

Korean level: For all levels

Price: Completely free

Who made it: Naver

Possible cons:

• Have to log in with Naver
• Some features can be hard to find
• So many features can be overwhelming

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

2. HelloTalk

HelloTalk is well known among all language learners.

It can be described as social media for language learners.

The app is set up similarly to popular social media sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Everyone has their own profile and feed.

You can see recent posts of those from around the world or from people you follow.

The app’s purpose is to promote language exchange by creating connections between native speakers of a language and those trying to learn the language.

People will often post language questions, or ask to have their work reviewed.

Some people will also request to call and have a language exchange.

If you’re looking to make Korean friends and practice Korean while doing so, try out HelloTalk.

Read this HelloTalk review.

Features:

• Chat with fellow learners
• Language exchange
• Post questions and have them answered quickly
• Make friends from around the world
• Enter live chats to practice Korean

Korean level: For all levels

Price: Most features are free, subscribe for $12.99 per month

Who made it: HelloTalk

Possible cons:

• Often used for dating
• Can be a waste of time if not careful

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

3. Rocket Korean

Rocket Languages is another well-known company in the language learning world.

This app teaches its users using interactive audio lessons. As the user listens to the audio they can follow along and participate in the lesson’s activities.

These lessons can also be listened to while on the go.

If you learn best by listening to audio, Rocket Korean might be a good option for you.

Read this Rocket Korean review.

Features:

• Interactive audio lessons
• Conversation practice
• Learn vocabulary
• Flashcards
• Quizzes
• Leaderboard

Korean level: Beginner, intermediate

Price: Prices vary depending on tiers (free trial available)

Who made it: Rocket Languages

Possible cons:

• App feels secondary to the website
• Limited lessons without a subscription
• App could use some work

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

4. LingQ

LingQ focuses on reading, listening and vocabulary acquisition.

You read a text with accompanying audio and mark off individual words as you learn them.

You can click on words you don’t know and save them to be reviewed later.

You can also learn in the app through books, podcasts, audio stories, and news.

LingQ is for anyone looking to improve their reading skills and memorize vocabulary.

Read this LingQ review.

Features:

• Listen to audio and read the Korean subtitles
• Mark words to save for future review
• See definition of words you don’t know
• Audio clips, podcasts, books, news
• Challenges
• Grammar guide
• Review game

Korean level: Upper beginner, intermediate, advanced

Price: $12.99 per month

Who made it: The Linguist Institute

Possible cons:

• Limit on saved vocabulary without a subscription

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

5. Hilokal

Hilokal is centered around the theme of a cafe.

The idea is to bring people from all over the world together to sit at a table (chatroom) and talk.

Hilokal is 100% focused on speaking and helps you connect with native Koreans through language lessons or group chats.

Every day there are hundreds of chat rooms on a variety of topics.

The chatrooms are organized by language and skill level.

You can either choose to join one of these chat rooms and talk about a determined topic, or you can create your own chat room.

This app is great for anyone looking to improve their Korean speaking skills in a fun way.

Features:

• Befriend people
• Join chat rooms
• Create your own chat room
• Free Korean lessons with Korean teachers
• Teach your native language
• Written Korean lessons

Korean level: All levels

Price: Mostly free, $2.99 per month

Who made it: Hilokal

Possible cons:

• Ads without subscription
• The platform is still new so there may be times that chatrooms are > scarce

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

6. Dongsa Korean Verb Conjugator

This app is very simple but it gets the job done.

In Korean, there are conjugations for different grammar forms.

These conjugations can get confusing when linked with verbs that don’t follow regular conjugation rules.

Dongsa Korean Verbs helps the Korean learner out by providing all of the common conjugations of most verbs.

While intermediate and advanced learners might not have trouble with conjugations, this app is a great tool for beginners.

You can’t find another app like this anywhere else, so I recommend you download this app for reference if you’re a beginner.

Features:

• Common conjugations of Korean verbs
• Explains how the verb and grammar are connected

Korean level: Beginner

Price: Free

Who made it: Play-a-Game

Possible cons:

• Ads
• Offers almost no features

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

7. Mango Languages

Mango is set up around lessons.

Each lesson takes about 10 minutes to get through and consists of vocabulary, phrases, grammar, and culture notes.

The lessons are interactive and require the learner to speak and read.

After the learner completes a lesson, they can review the things learned in the lesson recap feature.

This app is good for anyone who wants to learn Korean through well-rounded structured lessons.

With mango you can get a good mix of vocab, grammar, speaking, reading, and listening.

Read this Mango Languages review.

Features:

• Family access
• Lessons
• Speaking practice
• Culture note
• Grammar note
• Vocabulary
• Lesson reviews

Korean level: Beginner, intermediate

Price: $7.99 per month

Who made it: Mango Languages

Possible cons:

• Limited access to lessons without a subscription
• Not much control over what you learn
• No content for intermediate-advanced and advanced learners

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

8. Drops

Vocabulary is the sole focus of Drops.

It provides hundreds of sets of vocabulary words that are all centered around different topics.

You can learn vocab sets for topics ranging from travel to gaming to climate awareness.

When you decided to study a set, the app takes you to a vocab practice segment that lasts 5 minutes.

The segment is fun, cute, and effective in teaching vocabulary.

The user can save the set and continue to review it to retain vocabulary.

Drops can get you ready to travel to Korea or discuss the latest soccer game with a friend.

Give Drops a try if you’re looking for a fun way to learn vocabulary.

Read this Drops review.

Features:

• Vocabulary practice
• Hundreds of sets of vocabulary words
• Challenges

Korean level: All levels

Price: $59.99/year

Who made it: Drops Languages

Possible cons:

• Limited access to most vocab sets without a subscription
• Focuses only on vocabulary

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

9. Eggbun

Eggbun’s app interface is as cute as its name.

It stands apart from other apps in that it uses text-like conversations to learn Korean.

You start by picking a topic/lesson you want to learn and then you enter into a chat with the app’s mascot, Lanny.

While chatting, Lanny teaches you the Korean lesson you selected.

It’s cute, fun, and effective in teaching Korean.

While I like Eggbun for the cuteness factor, I also like it because it provides unique lessons that are hard to find in other apps like Korean onomatopoeia, Hanja, and Korean idioms.

With Eggbun the average Korean learner can have fun while learning material that is hard to find in other apps.

I 100% recommend giving this app a download.

Features:

• Korean lessons
• Lesson quizzes
• Culture lessons
• Wide range of lessons
• Join classes to learn with a group
• Online chat with fellow learners

Korean level: All levels

Price: $14.99 per month

Who made it: Eggbun Education

Possible cons:

• Limited access without subscription
• Heavy on reading
• Mostly used by beginner learners

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

10. Teuida

This app is doing something that no other Korean language learning app is doing.

Teuida is teaching Korean learners by inserting them into real-life conversations where they are required to speak.

The learner starts a lesson by entering into a video story that they must participate in to advance.

After the lesson, the learner can take a quiz to review what they have learned.

If your focus is on speaking practice and you want to know how the stuff you’re learning applies to real-life situations, this might be the app for you.

Features:

• Learn with videos
• Pronunciation analysis
• Speaking practice
• Learn phrases for specific situations
• Online chat to share interests, ask questions, and complete > challenges

Korean level: Beginner, intermediate

Price: $14.99 per month

Who made it:

Possible cons:

• Ads without subscription
• Limited access to lessons without a subscription
• Cannot save vocabulary for later
• Videos can be a little cheesy

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

11. LingoDeer

It’s hard to know where to start with LingoDeer.

This app has more features than can be described in this short description.

LingoDeer is split into 4 sections, Korean 1, Korean 2, Fluent Korean, and Travel Phrasebook.

Korean 1 is for beginner lessons and Korean 2 is for intermediate.

Korean 1 and 2 follow the same format.

They offer lessons to learners that include vocabulary, grammar, story reading, and speaking practice.

The user can either go lesson by lesson or skip a section by testing out of it.

When a lesson is finished, the vocab and grammar go to the review section where they can be studied again.

The fluent Korean section has hundreds of conversations that the user can listen to and learn before completing a speaking and writing exercise connected with the conversation.

The phrasebook is exactly as it sounds, a section full of phrases that are useful when traveling.

LingoDeer offers a well-rounded interactive experience that will certainly help those committed to learning.

Read this LingoDeer review.

Features:

• Korean lessons
• Reading comprehension test
• Learn Korean through conversations
• Speaking practice
• Writing practice
• Key points of each lesson
• Vocab and grammar review
• Travel phrasebook
• Placement test
• Korean language blog

Korean level: Beginner, intermediate

Price: $14.99 per month

Design: Great

Who made it: LingoDeer

Possible cons:

• Limited access without a subscription
• No material for advanced learners

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

12. Memrise

Memrise is another app that focuses on vocabulary and phrases.

It has 7 Korean levels with about 400 vocab words in each level.

The levels range from beginner to advanced.

When a level is selected, the app takes you through a vocab learning exercise that takes about 5 minutes to complete.

The exercise includes reading, writing, and listening practice.

Words are marked as learned the more questions the user gets correct.

After the user has learned all of the vocab in a level they move on to the next.

If your only goal is to learn vocabulary and common expressions, this is the app for you.

Read this Memrise review.

Features:

• 7 Korean levels
• Learn vocabulary and phrases
• Leaderboard
• Course dictionary
• Set goals
• Watch videos of native speakers saying common expressions
• Download courses to learn offline with a subscription

Korean level: All levels

Price: $8.49 per month

Design: Great

Who made it: Memrise

Possible cons:

• Ads with subscription
• Sole focus on vocabulary, no grammar explanations
• The large vocabulary sets can get overwhelming

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

13. Rosetta Stone

You might know Rosetta Stone from the countless commercials and ads you have seen.

In the world of language learning, Rosetta Stone is certainly known to be one of the top competitors and this app proves it.

This app plans out lessons by days and weeks to keep you on top of your language learning.

Each week is comprised of pronunciation, grammar, vocab, listening, speaking, and reading segments.

Each lesson takes about 10 min and each day has 3 lessons for a total of 30 minutes a day.

The lessons are fun to complete and full of useful information.

Those with a little more time to study will certainly find Rosetta Stone to be a helpful tool in their language learning.

Read this Rosetta Stone review.

Features:

• Set goals
• Korean lessons
• Pronunciation, grammar, vocab practice segments
• Listening, speaking, reading practice
• Lessons are split up by days and weeks
• Stories with audio and the option to record yourself reading
• Audio lessons

Korean level: Beginner, intermediate

Price: $15 per month

Who made it: Rosetta Stone Ltd

Possible cons:

• Limited lessons without a subscription
• Limited content for advanced learners

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

14. FluentU

If you’re a kpop or kdrama fan this might be the app for you.

FluentU takes kpop music videos, popular kdrama clips, youtube videos, and many other types of content and adds Korean subtitles to them.

This allows the user to read what is being said as it is said in the video.

The user can then click on words they don’t know to get the definition and save the word for future review.

The app allows the learner to save videos for later so that they can keep reviewing them until they understand the whole video without subtitles.

Saved words can be reviewed later through a vocab test that helps the learner with memorization.

If you’re someone who is a visual learner and needs to work on memorizing vocab, this might be the app for you.

Read this FluentU review.

Features:

• Watch videos to learn Korean
• Kpop music videos, kdrama clips, etc.
• See the Korean words in the clip and click on ones you don’t know
• Add words you don’t know to the wordbook to practice later
• Vocab test

Korean level: Upper beginner, intermediate, advanced

Price: $29.99 per month

Who made it: FluentU

Possible cons:

• Can’t do anything without a subscription

Google Play Store

Apple App Store

Conclusion

These are some of best Korean apps available for your smartphone.

You should also take a look at our list of online Korean courses for a more detailed breakdown of most of these apps.

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