Well-known apps like Rosetta Stone, Babbel or Duolingo offer no Catalan courses, but there are other apps for learning Catalan that are just as good.
Now let's take a look at the learning apps, software and online courses that you can use to learn Catalan. The biggest advantage of such learning apps is that they are much cheaper than long language courses.
Catalan Basic Course
From 17 Minute Languages
Systems: Online Access (PC, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS)
Suitable for: Beginners and Advanced Learners, Students, Professionals
Content: 1300 words (basic course), 5200 words (complete course), grammar, verb conjugations, exercises
Prices: USD 29,95 (Basic Course), USD 97 (Complete Course)
Overall Value: 
The Catalan Basic Course contains a vocabulary trainer for the basic Catalan vocabulary (1300 words) with native-speaker audio, as well as grammar explanations and various exercises.
The vocabulary trainer works with a long-term memory method, in which the new vocabulary is checked at increasing intervals.
You can choose between text input, multiple choice or simply confirming whether you knew a word or not.
The exercises include text comprehension questions, filling in word gaps or just vocabulary lists where one side is covered.
The basic course corresponds to the official language levels A1 and A2 (explanation of CEFR language levels).
The Complete Course contains:
- Basic course for beginners (basic vocabulary with 1300 words)
- Intermediate course (1800 more words)
- Advanced course for experts (2100 words)
- Additional specialized vocabulary
- Covers the official CEFR language levels A1 to C2
There are 17 different languages you can use to learn Catalan with this app.
Summary: Much cheaper and even better than the famous Rosetta Stone. There is a free demo version available and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Link: Catalan Basic Course and Complete Course
uTalk Catalan App
Alternative to Duolingo or Babbel
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online Version
Content: Catalan vocabulary (2000 words), lessons and playful exercises
Prices:
USD 12 (1 month and all 160 languages)
USD 60 (12 months and all 160 languages)
Discount offer: USD 199 (Lifetime Access to all 160 Languages)
Overall Value:
The uTalk app teaches about 2000 Catalan words and focuses primarily on playful exercises.
There are several exercises to choose from:
-
Read and listen to Catalan words (with translation and photos)
-
Match the Catalan word you heard to a photo
-
Speak a Catalan word and compare the recording with the original
-
A memory game with pictures
-
Speak the Catalan translation of an English word
The vocabulary is divided into 60 freely selectable topics. The special thing about the uTalk app is that you get access to
all 160 languages.
The interface of the app is well made and is similar to other apps like Babbel, Duolingo or Mondly.
Summary: Getting access to 160 languages is impressive and the scope (2000 words with native speaker audio and exercises) is also solid.
Link: uTalk Catalan Language Course App
Glossika Catalan App
Catalan for Advanced Learners
Systems: iPhone App, Online Version
Suitable for: Intermediate and advanced learners
Content: Catalan advanced exercises
Prices: USD 17 (1 month and 1 language), USD 31 (1 month and all 64 languages)
Overall Value: 
The Glossika app is for people who already have some basic proficiency in Catalan or already know a similar language.
The app has an entry test to determine your Catalan proficiency level. You can start from A1 to B2 (beginners and intermediate).
Glossika works with whole sentences instead of single Catalan words. You can choose which topics you want to learn.
This app has intentionally no "gamification". The only exercises are reading, listening, typing the sentences and speaking into the microphone.
There are also no grammar explanations. You are supposed to understand Catalan grammar from the context, like in Rosetta Stone.
You can try the complete app with all 64 languages for 7 days for free (without providing payment information).
Summary: Effective exercises for advanced learners, but somewhat higher price and not much variety.
Link: Glossika Catalan Language Course App
Ling Catalan App
Playful Catalan Learning
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online Version (PC and Mac)
Content: Catalan lessons with native speaker audio
Prices: USD 8.99 (1 month), USD 79 (12 months),
USD 149 (unlimited)
Overall Value:
The Ling language learning app offers lessons for 60 languages and is quite similar to Duolingo or Babbel, which do not offer Catalan courses.
Ling uses "gamified learning", which means learning the Catalan language in a playful way.
There are mini-games, levels, experience points, as well as tests and exercises at the end of each lesson.
The vocabulary covers about 1000 Catalan words and phrases, all with native speaker audio and pictures. Grammar is not included.
This app offers a test to determine your proficiency level in Catalan.
Summary: Good ideas that make learning Catalan more fun.
Link: Ling Catalan Language Course App
Cudoo: Catalan Course
Online Learning with Certificates
Systems: Online Access (PC, Mac, smartphones)
Content: Catalan video lessons and quiz tests
Prices: USD 12.99 (one course), USD 24.99 (4-7 courses bundle)
Overall Value: 
Cudoo is a kind of online university that offers courses with certificates on different topics.
This includes language courses for 160 languages. These are all beginner courses (CEFR level A1 and A2).
For each language there are 1-10 courses and each course has 20-40 lessons.
The lessons each include a short video with new vocabulary and there are short quiz questions below the video.
Summary: The videos are well made, so especially for smaller languages these courses are a good start.
Link: Cudoo Online Catalan Language Course
Memrise Catalan App
App with User-Generated Lessons
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online-Version (PC and Mac)
Content: Catalan lessons and vocabulary trainer with native speaker audio, grammar
Prices: USD 8,99 (1 month), USD 60 (12 months), USD 110 (unlimited)
Overall Value:
With the Memrise App you can learn over 90 languages.
This includes even very small languages - however, in such cases the language courses are often limited to just a few lessons.
One special feature of the Memrise learning app is the large number of lessons created by users (native speakers).
The quality of these lessons varies greatly though. For example, only the basic forms of verbs are usually taught, without the conjugations. Some languages also do not have an audio recording of the words at all.
Another good idea of the Memrise app are the user-generated tips and mnemonics for each word to help you memorize them.
Summary: User-generated lessons are a good idea. In practice, the quality of the lessons leaves a lot be desired.
Bluebird Catalan App
Catalan Lessons and Exercises
Systems: Android App, iPhone App, Online-Version (PC and Mac)
Content: Catalan lessons and exercises with voice output and speech recognition
Prices: USD 9.99 (1 month), USD 100 (12 months), USD 200 (unlimited), USD 400 (163 languages)
Overall Value:
The Bluebird App offers 146 source languages and 163 target languages and dialects, including Catalan.
The Catalan language course in this app includes the following:
-
Daily video lessons at three difficulty levels.
-
Basic Catalan vocabulary on several dozen topics
-
Common Catalan verbs with conjugations
-
Analysis of your pronunciation (with speech recognition)
-
Tests: listening comprehension, filling in word gaps, quizzes
For Catalan, there are about 500 video lessons, each 5 to 60 minutes long. The app interface is similar to Duolingo and Babbel.
The Bluebird App does not have grammar lessons. Instead, you are supposed to understand the grammar "implicitly" from the examples, same as in Rosetta Stone.
Summary: The video lessons and the interface require some getting used to, but the exercises are quite varied. Especially for smaller languages, this app is an acceptable alternative.
Clozemaster Catalan
Exercises for Advanced Learners
Systems: Android and iOS Apps, Online Version
Suitable for: Intermediate and Advanced Learners
Content: Multiple-choice selection of missing words in sentences (with native speaker audio)
Prices: USD 8 (1 month), USD 60 (12 months), USD 140 (lifetime access)
Overall Value:
The Clozemaster app is intended for intermediate and advanced learners who have already mastered the basic vocabulary and want to practice.
The only exercise is to choose the correct missing word in a sentence from a list of four words. The translation of the sentence is displayed as well. At the end, the sentence is also spoken by a native speaker.
In the English version of this app there are 70 languages to choose from.
Large languages have up to 50,000 vocabulary items (words, phrases, and verb variations), while smaller languages often have only 500.
In the online version, you can also type in the missing words. The smartphone app now offers speech recognition.
Summary: An interesting method that is quite fun. Since many apps teach only at a beginner level, this is a good addition for advanced users.
Lingo Catalan App
Playful Catalan Learning
Systems: Android and iPhone Apps, Online Version (PC and Mac)
Content: Catalan lessons and exercises
Prices: USD 19.99 (1 month), USD 40 (3 months), USD 60 (6 months)
Overall Value: 
The Lingo Play App offers language courses for 70 languages. It offers "gamified learning", which means learning vocabulary in a playful way.
Each Catalan lesson offers the following exercises:
-
Presentation of new words with translation and image
-
Decide whether a Catalan word matches the image
-
Select one of four pictures that matches a word
-
Type in the Catalan word for a picture
-
Correctly type in a spoken Catalan word
In the full version this app offers up to 5000 Catalan words. The interface of the app is similar to Babbel, Duolingo or Mondly.
There is also a multiplayer mode and competitions where you can test your Catalan skills against other people.
Summary: Overpriced Catalan course that does offer some good exercises, but is not better than other similar apps.
Linguashop: Catalan
Educational Software for Download
Systems: PC (Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP)
Content: Catalan lessons with native speaker audio and speech recognition, grammar
Prices: USD 35 (second language for free)
Overall Value: 
The Linguashop educational software ("TeachMe") is available for over 90 languages, including Catalan. It also includes an audio CD.
The native speaker audio and speech recognition are relatively good.
However, the interface of the learning software is quite chaotic and there are no exercises — only lessons where new vocabulary is presented.
It is also unclear how many words are included in this Catalan learning program. There is no information about this on the website.
Some grammar lessons are included — however, these are basically just images with short texts.
Summary: Poor quality for a relatively low price. You get language courses for two languages when you buy, one as a free bonus.
Additional Ways To Learn Catalan Online:
Colanguage: Find Skype teachers
Overall Value:
At Colanguage you can arrange face-to-face language lessons online via Skype with language teachers around the world (from $5-10 per hour).
In addition to using apps, it is definitely a good idea to also practice with native speakers in order to learn Catalan properly.
Tandem: Find a language exchange partner
Overall Value:
Instead of hiring teachers, you can also find people who are interested in a free language exchange online via Skype.
It is completely free of charge, but you have to act as a language teacher for the other person half of the time.
Overview of the Catalan Learning Apps:
| Learning App |
Subscrip-
tion? |
Price |
Systems |
Value |
17 Minutes
(Basics) |
No |
$29 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
17 Minutes
(Complete) | No | $97 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| uTalk | No | $199 | PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| uTalk | Yes
(1 month) | $12 | PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| uTalk | Yes
(12 months) | $60 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Ling |
No |
$149 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Ling |
Yes
(1 month) |
$9 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Ling |
Yes
(12 months) |
$79 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
Glossika
(only Catalan) |
Yes
(1 month) |
$17 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
Glossika
(64 languages) |
Yes
(1 month) |
$31 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Memrise |
No |
$110 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Memrise |
Yes
(1 month) |
$9 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Memrise |
Yes
(12 months) |
$60 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
Cudoo
(one course) |
No |
$13 |
Online
Access |
|
Cudoo
(complete) |
No |
$25 |
Online
Access |
|
| Bluebird |
No |
$200 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Bluebird |
Yes
(1 month) |
$10 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Bluebird |
Yes
(12 months) |
$100 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Clozemaster |
No |
$140 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Clozemaster |
Yes
(1 month) |
$8 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Clozemaster |
Yes
(12 months) |
$60 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Lingo Play |
Yes
(1 month) |
$20 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Lingo Play |
Yes
(6 months) |
$60 |
PC, Mac, Android, iOS |
|
| Linguashop | No | $35 |
PC |
|
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