Language learning apps are great, and can really support you in your journey to language fluency. But sometimes, it’s easy to fall into the trap of spending all your time just doing language apps.
When that happens, progress feels slow and scattered. Here’s how to learn a language without spending all your time on language apps.

Have at Least One Physical Resource

One of the reasons it’s easy to fall into just using apps is that our phones are often with us 24/7 in our pockets. We have a whole language library at our fingertips! Why wouldn’t we use that?

However, much like it’s too easy to spend time on our phone scrolling social media or crushing candy, it’s also easy to get stuck in a language app rut. 

We download a lot, have good intentions, then find ourselves using just a handful that work for us on a regular basis. 

Yet the distractions of the other apps still might be lingering at the back of our minds. Language FOMO, if you will.

When we have at least one physical resource – often a book of some kind – we give ourselves language time away from being glued to our phone. 

This can help us feel more relaxed in our language study time, as well as more productive. If you struggle staying focused with this, try turning your phone to airplane mode, or even off and in another room. 

Develop a Writing Habit

Writing is an underrated tool for language learners. 

When we develop a writing habit in the language we’re learning, we’re giving ourselves a regular chance to actually produce the language. Minus the stress of speaking instantly to someone’s face! 

Even if you start just writing a sentence a day, the physical act of doing this helps to take your language time away from your phone and apps.

And sure, you could do this with an app. You could use a journalling or writing app to develop a writing habit. But if you do that, that’s adding in more time spent each day looking down at your screen. We’re talking about how to learn a language without spending all your time on apps here!

If it helps, try investing in a notebook that you look forward to writing in each day. Keep it close to where you want the habit to happen to ease friction and make it as easy as possible to get started.

Plan in Speaking Time

We all want to speak the language we’re learning, right? 

Planning in time for lessons, language exchange or face-to-face meet ups is a great way to make sure that happens. 

And I’m emphasising the “planning” bit here! If we don’t plan, and just ‘want’ to do this, it’s less likely to happen. We’re then more likely to spend our evenings in watching Netflix or…you guessed it, tapping through language apps.

Speaking fluently is often the end goal for a lot of language learners, and that means we need to make time for lots of practice along the way to get us good at that. 

If your routine doesn’t lend itself well to blocking out whole hours or evenings for lessons or meet ups, then you can make time to speak to yourself. Yes! Not the first sign of madness. Record yourself speaking. Set a timer, give yourself a prompt and go for it.

Alternatively, if you really need something mobile here, think about how you can strategically use language apps that give you chances to speak. Try language exchange apps like Tandem or HelloTalk to give yourself small moments to speak throughout the day. Mondly* is also great at providing speaking opportunities too.

Set App Time Limits

If you’re getting stuck in a language app rut, try adjusting the settings on your phone to set a time limit each day for those particular apps.

This stops you from using the same app over and over and ending up not really taking much in. But it also means that you become more focused for the time you do spend on language apps. Knowing that you’re up against the clock works wonders for our focus.

You might even find that you want to set time limits for one or two apps in particular to encourage you to use others that you often ignore. This helps to keep your brain a bit more alert if you’re not just tapping through the motions with the same colours and sounds.

Take App Time Further

The bit when apps don’t serve us so well for language learning is when we become too complacent tapping away and forgetting to pay attention to what we’re actually learning. When we get more concerned over keeping our streak than actually learning or reviewing something – that’s when our app time isn’t what it could be.

Instead, try to focus on doing more with less.

Perhaps instead of racing through 3 Duolingo lessons, you take your time with one and do some additional activities to take what you learn further and beyond the app itself.

I’ve got plenty of suggestions here for how to actually learn a language with Duolingo that can easily be applied to lots of apps.

And here I’ve got lots of ideas for you here for what to do when you finish the content an app has on offer for you.

Bring in other language activities on your phone

I know we’re talking about how to learn a language without spending all your time on apps. But there’s a lot your phone can do for you when it comes to language learning beyond language learning specific apps.

For example, I always have a web browser tab open for Wikipedia. That way I can easily have a quick read about something new in the language I’m learning when I’m on the go.

Going beyond that, there’s probably lots of apps designed for native speakers (not ‘language learners’) that you might enjoy. Try changing the country of your app store and see if there’s any games, news, reading or other apps to enjoy in the language, not just teaching it.

Schedule Regular “Offline” Days

Taking a moment to schedule in a day where you won’t be using your phone, tablet or computer for language learning is a great idea.

Not only does this give you plenty of space to get creative when wondering how to learning languages without spending all your time on apps, it also mixes things up for you.

That way things avoid getting too monotonous, repetitive and stale.

You never know, your app-free day might lead to you discovering your new favourite language activity!

Measure Other Streaks

One of the big advantages of language apps is that the keep track for you of what you do. The streaks your language apps keep for you can be helpful and motivating sometimes. 

But sometimes, all you need is a busy weekend and boom. Streak gone. Motivation plummets. 

If you’ve ever felt that way, then maybe it’s time to measure your own streak, on your terms.