Drops: Fun Language Learning

Drops is a flash card-style language learning app that uses a series of quick games and matching activities to teach vocabulary in more than 30 languages. Users pick their native language, a target language, and a level, from beginner to expert. Next, they choose a category (like food and drink, travel and vehicles, and city and shops) and spend five minutes drilling vocabulary words on that subject. Each word is spoken aloud in the target language and appears with an icon, and users have five minutes to complete as many activities as they can. Activities focus on matching the icon with the word itself (like dragging a fish icon to the word "fish") and some spelling activities, where you connect the dots to spell a word correctly or drag syllables of a word into the correct order. Daily practice can earn you a "streak" within the app, and you can also earn other rewards for correct responses. The free version of the app includes ads and limits you to five minutes of gameplay a day; paid monthly or annual subscriptions remove the ads and offer unlimited gameplay.

With a slick visual style and speedy gameplay, there's a lot to like about this language learning app. It's terrific that there are so many languages available, including indigenous languages (like Ainu and Hawaiian and Maori) and dialects (like European Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese). It's also terrific how many choices there are for beginners. You can start with greetings and other foundational words if you want to, but you can also dive into vocabulary related to business, science, sports, and more. Most of the games are really valuable. You spend a lot of time matching an icon to a word or vice versa, and it's a good way to quickly, simply practice recognizing new words. Some of the games are a little less good for beginners; for instance, a  connect-the-dots-like game to spell new words seems a little clunky and not nearly as relevant. 

The app's only real drawback is the difference between the free and paid versions. When you use the app for free, you can use it for only five minutes a day, and you'll see intrusive ads along the bottom of the screen. A paid subscription offers far more access, but it's at a much steeper price. If you want to do only a few minutes of drills per day, perhaps the ads won't bother you, but they might be a deal-breaker for teachers or for other users, who might prefer a comparable free app.