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Babbel Review


ConsumersAdvocate.org Rating: 4.7 / 5 (Excellent)
25 Customer Comments & Reviews - see all comments
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Founded in 2007, Babbel is a language learning application that allows users to learn new languages anywhere, anytime. Babbel can be used over a variety of mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets, laptops and even computers.

The software has an empirically-proven method which improves language learning by utilizing developments in technology. Users can choose to learn up to 14 languages including English, Italian, German, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Indonesian, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, French, Russian, Swedish, and Polish.
 
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What’s Included?

Babbel has a developed a language learning program that uses advancements in technology. Its language courses have been extensively developed by a dedicated team of professional educators, authors, and linguists.

Each lesson is tailored specifically to the language their client chooses.

Currently, the courses available at Babbel are:

  • Polish
  • Portuguese (Brazilian)
  • Russian
  • Spanish
  • Turkish
  • Swedish
  • Indonesian
  • Italian
  • Norwegian
  • German
  • French
  • English
  • Dutch
  • Danish

 

How Does It Work?

Babbel provides a free of charge registration with free first lesson for every language. Charges are only made for full access to their courses.

Payments can be charged in advance for their yearly plans or according to the payment schedule selected. Recurring payments are also charged automatically until a client decides to stop and cancel their plan.

The software gives student instant access to all of their courses for their chosen language. They are free to change their course whenever they wish at Babbel’s website without needing to complete the current course they are taking. Users can also repeat any course they finished as often as they like.

Babbel’s language learning software is equipped with a speech recognition tool that measures how well a student pronunciation is. Their vocabulary courses cover more than 3,000 words for languages such as French, German, Italian, Brazilian (Portuguese), English, Swedish, and Spanish.

Other languages like Dutch, Danish, Polish, Russian, Turkish, Indonesian, and Norwegian has more than 2,000 words offered to customers.

The language software also has a Review Manager available that automatically reminds students when words and phrases are due for review based on their spaced repetition. Review intervals range from one to 60 days which varies on their client’s level of learning.  

Cost

1 Month Plan

$12.95 charged every month

3 Month Plan

$8.95 a month, charged every 3 months

6 Month Plan

$7.45 a month, charged every 6 months

12 Month Plan

$6.95 a month, charged every 12 months

 

Bottom Line

Babbel combines the latest in technology and language learning programs for more effective learning and convenience. By creating an app-based language learning program, students could now study a new language anywhere and anytime using any mobile device. The application can also be used offline, great for travelers or those who find themselves without an internet connection. Overall, a good language program at an even better price.

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25 Customer Comments & Reviews

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Ra M
9/17/2023
I bought a one year subscription to Babbel in good faith. No where did I see a 20 day return policy, and I am still looking. I was too busy to use it for a couple of weeks (thus the lengthy subscript so I wouldn't be rushed), tried 3 times to use it after that (with some time in between to reflect) and then gave up. I found the "course" to be confusing, illogical, non-intuitive and difficult to follow. Nouns and adjectives were used without context, there was no instruction at all about verbs and verb tenses and the questions at the end of exercises were confusing and without explanation. I accepted a voucher because of the intransigence of the agent and now can't give it away. I am... Read More

Bobby B
4/15/2020
There is absolutely no way that anyone can simply purchase only a 1-month, or a 3-month subscription, or any subscription for any given amount of time. Babbel simply puts all customer subscriptions on automatic self-renew, and there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY TO OPT OUT OF AUTO SELF-RENEW. What that means is that once you give your banking information or debit/credit card information over to Babbel, YOU WILL BE LOCKED IN WITH THEM FOR LIFE! They will keep taking your money every month for the rest of your life. They are basic con artists.

M
Megan
12/16/2019
I signed up for an annual subscription in 2018 for about $45 per year. The account automatically renewed this year, which was fine by me. 6 months later, I got a notification that my account would be renewing again. I checked my billing page and sure enough, they doubled the price of my account without any warning by shifting me from an annual plan to a 6 month plan for the same price. So shady. I really like the language learning software, but if they're going to try to scam me into paying double the subscription fee that I agreed to, I am not going to continue using their program.

J
jeff
10/14/2019
over promises and under delivers... interface is not very good. do not purchase a year subscription. only have 14-days for refund. I tried it for 1-month and i am not finding it useful, but they would not provide a prorated refund.... no refund. unable to speak with anyone live, just email.

David H
7/14/2019
Not as good as Duolingo, and Duoling is FREE. Babbel feels very 1960's. There is a lot of memorization of verb tenses that you MUST do in order to move to the next screen. I am waiting for a teacher to have me stand in a corner for not being able to memorize verb tenses out of context. If you are good at memorization then you most likely don't even need this program to begin with. If you are not so so good at memorization then you don't need this program either, you are better off with Duolingo or "Spanish with Paul". My recommendation is to save your money and use Duolingo and / or spend some money on a very low tech (but it works)program called: "Spanish with Paul".

Lanny Z
6/29/2019
Over promises and under delivers. Slow and awkward to use. Speech recognition not very good. Way over states your performance so you think you are gong well when you can barely speak. Worst of all, they auto bill and give you no warning so you are forced to pay. Very unethical company.

J
Jeannine V
5/20/2019
I have done a few lessons and found it not very user friendly to complete. Why can't we use the keyboard to type as it is done in Duolingo. It is a very slow way to complete the lessons. Please, make some changes or I will cancel my subscription. thanks, Jeanninne vo

R
Ross
4/18/2019
it is not user friendly at all. doesn't allow to go back a page or two within the lesson in order to review or remember what you just learned. by this i mean you have to go and do the whole lesson again and that is very time consuming and discouraging. Babel software need lots of improvement and update in other to become more useable and user friendly. i am starting to loose interest if nothing changes.

S
simon l
3/19/2019
Their speech recognition software is extremely bad and frustrating. Even after having complained to them many times they seem to be unable to fix it. So for this reason alone I will probably switch to another program.

Duncan C
3/6/2019
I would be very careful with how one signs up with Babbel . If you decide that Russian is too difficult and you want Italian, you can olnly switych if you sign up with them directly ; Dont use a third party ( Apple Store, Google) as Babbel will not switch languages if you dont order through them directly. You would have to ask Apple for a refund and nitially they said no to me but releted ) It will then take you up to 30 days for the credit to register on your credit card / bank statement. I could not find that condition in advance on Babbel's T&C page ( It might be there, but I didnt see it) . I feel that should be made more explicit. The lessons seem fine, but be forewarned about any... Read More

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