Babbel vs Rosetta Stone – The Honest Comparison

If you’re looking to learn a new language from home, then you might have already tried a couple of different learning apps. Babbel is a very popular one thanks to its strong marketing campaign, but also its inviting offer.

Rosetta Stone is also often mentioned in conversations when it comes to language learning. It’s been around since the CD-ROM times, so it definitely has plenty of experience teaching foreign languages.

But how does the Babbel vs Rosetta Stone comparison look like? One of the main differences is cost: Babbel is cheaper, but is it also better? That’s what you will find out in this comparison.

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Babbel

Babbel is a language-learning platform that’s also available on Android and iOS devices as an app. Established in 2007, they were initially branded as a premium and subscription-based service, which still holds true today.

Babbel has a monthly subscription fee (which is around $10 or lower, depending on the plan you choose). For this fee, you’ll gain access to all of the languages taught on the platform. There are 13 languages that you can learn with Babbel:

• Spanish
• German
• French
• Portuguese
• Italian
• Dutch
• Danish
• Norwegian
• Polish
• Swedish
• Turkish
• Russian
• Indonesian

And you can learn all of them to a pretty good level with Babbel, too. Let’s take a look at how learning looks like with Babbel.

Learning with Babbel

Learning with Babbel is a combination of different types of media to help you get a grasp of a new language. It combines written text, audio, speaking, and a pretty decent speech recognition service to help you learn. Plus, you’ll have the option to talk to other learners as well as native speakers, which is obvsiouly great for learning a new language.

All of this serves a purpose, which is to get you from being a complete newbie in a language to being completely comfortable with holding shorter and deeper conversations with speakers of the native language. Babbel promises you that you’ll be a B1 speaker once you complete a course – which is an intermediate level.

One more important thing to mention about Babbel is that it teaches you more about the culture of the language – instead of just focusing on teaching you new words and vocab. This is crucial if you have plans to travel to a country where this language is spoken, but it also gives you insights as to why people say things as they do.

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Babbel Cost

You can expect to pay under $10 per month, depending on the plan you choose:

• 3 months – $6.99 per month
• 6 months – $5.99 per month
• 12 months – $4.99 per month

For that fee, you’ll get access to all of the courses in every language, which is fantastic. Some plans are paid in full, so the monthly fee only demonstrates how much you’re spending every month to learn new languages.

Babbel Pros and Cons

Pros:

• It is cheaper than Rosetta Stone. At just the fraction of the fee, you’re getting access to all of the courses with Babbel
• It teaches you conversational language, so that you’ll be able to talk to other people after a couple of months already
• Babbel uses a variety of media to help you learn, which creates an immersive experience
• You will be able to talk to other learners as well as other people who speak the language, which is great for learning to a good level

Cons:

• Not as engaging and immersive as Rosetta Stone
• The voice recognition software lags behind Rosetta Stone’s

Rosetta Stone Review

Let’s take a look at Rosetta Stone now.

Rosetta Stone was first established in 1992, when it started is a language learning service. Most of the learning was done through CD-Roms and physical booklets, as well as in-classroom courses.

The good news is that there are a lot of languages to learn with Rosetta Stone, and some exciting ones as well. You have all the major languages, of course, but also some interesting ones, such as Hebrew, Greek, Vietnamese, Filipino, Hindi, Korean, and Arabic.

Let’s see how you learn at Rosetta Stone.

Learning with Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone promises you to have the most immersive language learning experience out there. And to a degree, they do deliver on their promise.

To start with, you’ll be able to learn both on your computer and on your mobile device (iOS or Android). Most of the learning on Rosetta Stone involves individual phrases and words at the start, and then it moves on to more complex ideas. Ultimately, the goal is to get you speaking with native speakers of the language seamlessly.

We must praise the speech recognition engine of Rosetta Stone, as well as the ability to speak to and learn from tutors live.

Rosetta Stone Price

The prices of the courses are quite steep. You have three options when it comes to billing (for a single language):

• 3 months – between $35.95 to $50 billed immediately gives you access to one language for 3 months
• 12 months – between $150 and $250 gives you access to one language for the entire year
• Lifetime – between $200 and $400 gives you access to one language forever

It is quite expensive, and you’ll only get access to one language for this price. It goes quite deep and it provides you with a unique learning experience, but are you willing to pay the price?

Rosetta Stone Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Immersive learning experience
• Live tutors
• Great speech recognition engine
• A good array of languages

Cons:

• Expensive
• Lessons can be repetitive as it drills you down

Our Verdict

Both Babbel and Rosetta Stone offer a great learning experience. The main difference between the two is price – Rosetta Stone is more expensive, but is it worth the money?

It depends; the main question is if it gets you speaking to a higher level than Babbel. We would say probably not; in the end, it all depends on how much time and effort you’re willing to invest yourself, and go out and practice your speaking. For that reason, we believe Babbel represents a better value for money.

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