Sing your way to learning a new language

Beelinguapp is a language-learning mobile app meant to make learning “as simple and fun as reading your favorite book.” Launched in 2017 by a founder from the northern Mexican city of Tampico, the app has over 5 million downloads, and offers a different approach to apps like Duolingo that rely more on word repetition. Beelinguapp’s focus is on engagement through storytelling. Its founder, David Montiel, went on Shark Tank México to secure $10 million and purchase the rights to content beyond the public domain.

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The app uses a bilingual method, in which it simultaneously presents two texts taken from songs or stories — one in the user’s native language, and the other in the foreign language they want to learn. As the audio plays, users can move between the two texts to understand what’s being read aloud or sung. The app claims to be based on the neuroscience of language acquisition and Montiel’s experience learning German: He found that looking up every word he didn’t understand in the dictionary slowed him down. 

Users can choose from 18 languages, with songs and stories across a range of topics. The app also offers an easy-to-access glossary of key words. Its approach might prove tricky for those learning a new language entirely from scratch — the stories and songs in Beelinguapp’s database feature vocabulary and syntax that could confuse a beginner. For example, a learner of Spanish might come across words like imprescindible (essential) or guarnición (side dish) before they even learn how to say hello or introduce themselves in the language. More advanced users, however, may well appreciate the richer content on offer, compared to other rote-learning language apps.