Wanting to teach yourself Spanish or looking to improve your Spanish skills without the hefty costs? Below is a comprehensive list of websites, apps, podcast, music, book and video suggestions to help improve your Spanish language level for free (or almost!). All tried and tested by a Spanish student… Me! Find your level (beginners, intermediate, advanced) then the skill you would like to improve underneath.
TOP PICKS
BEGINNERS
Website/app: WordReference – Essential dictionary for translations from 16 languages
INTERMEDIATE
Podcast: Language Transfer – Incredible free course using ‘the thinking method’
ADVANCED
Language exchange: Language.Exchange – a free language exchange website
BEGINNERS
LISTENING
READING
WRITING
SPEAKING
VOCABULARY
Podcast: Live Lingua – Complete ‘survival course’ in Spanish
PROS: Entirely free; short episodes; in-depth explanations; lots of ‘tests’ – pauses allowing for you to fill in the gap; available on several platforms
CONS: Quite quick for beginners
Website: Kwiziq Spanish– Short stories for improving reading comprehension
PROS: Audio available for pronunciation; click on the sentence for translation; loads of free content; choose your level
CONS: None!
Website: Ella Verbs Spanish – Conjugation lists of 762 of the most popular verbs in Spanish
PROS: Full lists of all tenses; especially useful for the indicative tenses; practice conjugating online for free
CONS: website format – see their app for a more interactive experience (subscription required)
Website: Busuu Spanish – Game layout to learn grammar, vocab, and sentence structure
PROS: Test available to be placed at the correct level; really focuses on pronunciation; allows you to record for the community; easy-to-use
CONS: Ads if using the free version
App: DuoLingo – Incentivised game
PROS: Great for learning vocab; fun light-hearted learning
CONS: Limited attempts; annoying reminders
Podcast: Coffee Break Spanish – Learn Spanish from scratch
PROS: Slow pace; pauses allowing for you to fill in the gap; presenters have a lovely Scottish accent; available on several platforms; great for mastering pronunciation
CONS: Sound quality not always the best
App: Learn Spanish – Read Spanish – Listen and read to improve your reading skills
PROS: Can choose CEFR level; audio with each story; can download for offline use; comprehension questions at the end;
CONS: Only one accent for all stories; ads
Website: Spanish Dictionary – Interactive grammar lessons
PROS: In-depth grammar lessons with interactive activities for each lesson; not too many ads; clear structure; great videos
CONS: I can’t find any, it’s a really great free tool!
Website: iTalki – Paid online 1-to-1 lessons
PROS: Selection of different teachers from different parts of the world; different price ranges; suits your schedule
CONS: Investment required
App/website: WordReference – Your go-to dictionary for translations from 16 different languages
PROS: Available in several languages; forums for discussions
CONS: Doesn’t work offline
INTERMEDIATE
LISTENING
READING
WRITING
SPEAKING
VOCABULARY
Podcast: Language Transfer – Incredible free course using ‘the thinking method’
PROS: Great technique; especially useful if you have already learnt a latin-based language; great length; probably best for someone who has some basic Spanish
CONS: I honestly can’t find any… perhaps not knowing which episode you’re on?
Website: Storyweaver– A digital library of children’s books in many languages – all free with an account
PROS: Several levels available; various stories; entirely free
CONS: No side-by-side translation HINT! open the story in both Spanish and your native language for any unknown vocabulary
App: Conjugato – Practise conjugation for up to 250 verbs for free
PROS: Present and preterite tenses available on free version; Spain and Latin America accents; ability to select whether it is memorised or not
CONS: Not able to type the answer yourself; subscription required for all verb tenses
App: Tandem– Language exchange
PROS: Free language exchange app; translation capacity; allows voice notes; can find local members for in-person language exchanges
CONS: Be prepared to be hounded! HINT: Toggle off the ‘Show in the community’ button to avoid having too many language partners – this is key to keeping the discussions alive!
App: Learn Spanish Vocabulary Words– games to increase vocabulary
PROS: Different games; great layout; vocabulary shown in its context
CONS: Ads as per usual; only works online
Website: Dreaming Spanish – Interesting topics using entirely immersive method
PROS: Immersive method; great speed; interesting topics; different levels; transcript can be activated; no ads;
CONS: None that I can find!
Your local library! –
The cheapest way to improve your reading skills is to read authentic content. There is nothing quite as satisfying as reading a book from start to finish in a foreign language. Your local library will have an array of Spanish books for all levels. HINT: Find a topic you actually enjoy and don’t worry if you don’t know every word – try to grasp the general meaning.
App: Ella Verbs – Spanish Conjugation– Conjugation practice app for all tenses in Spanish
PROS: Covers conjugation of all verbs; tests your level; over 2300 verbs!
CONS: Limited free access – however paid subscription is really reasonable!
Mini-course: 5 days to improve your speaking – Tips and suggestions to improve your English speaking
PROS: Useful tips for improving your speaking; clear understandable English; short videos
CONS: A little outdated (filmed during the pandemic)
App: VoCat – My Own Vocabulary – Vocabulary builder app
PROS: Free app for building own vocabulary; compatible with Google sheets for importing long lists of vocabulary; automatic translation; pronunciation provided; can create flashcards;
CONS: Not all languages are available
More for fun: DECODE Spanish playlists
ADVANCED
LISTENING
READING
WRITING
SPEAKING
VOCABULARY
Website: Radio Ambulante – tells all types of stories from all over Latin America
PROS: Variety of interesting topics; independent journalism; native Spanish speakers with several accents; available on several platforms
CONS: Transcript only available on apps
Website/app: El País – News articles from around the world
PROS: Improve your Spanish whilst learning about the world; all types of categories
CONS: The world is very depressing at the moment
Website: Kwiziq Writing – Test and review your writing skills using the Kwizbot
PROS: Different levels; several topics; instant feedback; audio available
CONS: Limited free use
Language exchange: Language.Exchange – a free language exchange website
PROS: A free website; language partners from around the world; great for learning the latin American accent
CONS: A few ads on the website
Website/App: Netflix – Watching your favourite TV show can also be a great way to improve your vocabulary.