The Best App for Learning Korean? Comparing Duolingo, Drops, and Pimsleur

How does the highest-rated Korean language app shape up against the most famous and most expensive language learning apps in the world?

I’m a first-generation Korean-American on my father’s side. He immigrated to America long before I was born, and for some reason, he, like many of his generation, decided not to teach Korean to his children. While this has never caused me any serious angst, I have always wanted to learn the language that he and the rest of our family speak. When I decided to start trying to learn Korean, I did what anyone with a smartphone would do: I looked up language learning apps.

There are a couple of big names in language apps, and the biggest is probably Duolingo. The little green Duolingo owl is basically synonymous with language learning in the modern age. But it is not the only option for language learners! There were two other apps I decided to try out: Drops and Pimsleur.

Drops (Korean) is the highest rated app for learning Korean across Google Play and the App Store. Unlike other language learning apps, Drops has an app for each language course, which means that when you download the Korean Drops app, you will only be learning Korean on that app. You can download the Drops Multi-Language app with all of the possible languages, but that’s a more recent app that I haven’t personally had time to research. Pimsleur is like the cooler, newer Rosetta Stone for this generation. The Pimsleur method is supposed to be backed scientifically as one of the quickest ways to learn a language, which explains why it is so popular — and so expensive.

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For a month, I have explored all three apps — Duolingo, Drops (Korean), and Pimsleur — to judge for myself which app was the best for learning Korean, and which was more worthy of its price tag. I will evaluate the three apps based on four criteria: Interface, Educational Quality, Additional Features, and Cost.

Interface & Ease of Use

Of all the apps, the most beautiful and engaging interface belongs to Drops. The colors, animation, and graphics are all stylistically cohesive and easy to understand. On the other hand, I find Duolingo somewhat more confusing to navigate — not to mention less attractive. Duolingo attempts to gamify the learning experience with treasure chests, gems, health “hearts” and more, which make it appear more like a slightly lame educational game than a serious language learning app. Pimsleur takes an opposite approach, with almost no game features and almost entirely educational lesson content.

All three apps are perfectly usable, with only one notable design flaw among them: on Duolingo, you will sometimes need to match an audio clip to a written word. Many times there are two written syllables that make a similar sound; so similar that the Duolingo recording is exactly the same! Duolingo still expects you to choose the right written syllable, even though they sound the exact same when spoken. Because of this, Duolingo comes in last for interface.

Educational Quality

This is probably the most important part of this comparison, right? You want to know which app is actually most useful for learning Korean? The answer depends slightly on your level of commitment and your preferred learning style.

For instance, Drops’ learning strategy is very visual and vocabulary-based. Each module, you learn a series of words or phrases that are accompanied by representative images. As you learn the words, you perform small tasks such as matching the images with the phrase (either written or spoken) or tracing the symbols of the Korean alphabet. Duolingo is very similar, having you perform various game-like tasks like matching the Korean word with the English word. The main difference is progression: on Drops, you can choose which module you want to do at any time. On Duolingo, you have to progress through each level as prescribed by the app; first vowels, then consonants, basics, and beyond.

Neither of these learning models is necessarily good or bad, but you do need patience to progress through Duolingo starting with the alphabet instead of full words. I found that Drops made it easier to learn specific letters because I can draw them out as I discovered them. Then on Duolingo, I could understand the syllables (combinations of letters) much quicker due to the work I did on Drops. Both apps are geared toward learning individual vocabulary words, which is great for casual learners or those who want to brush up on their Korean.

But there is a reason Pimsleur is a massive brand with several different language learning products behind it. Pimsleur doesn’t focus on written Korean like the first two; it focuses on speaking and listening to Korean. The lessons are 30 minutes long and entirely audio. The lessons are interactive, prompting you to practice speaking and conversing in Korean. As you learn and explore the app, an audio guide explains concepts from the fundamentals of the Korean alphabet to the cultural nuances of the language. For someone who wants to learn to speak Korean, not just read and write it, Pimsleur is the best app for the job.

Additional Features

As mentioned earlier, Drops (Korean) does not offer any other languages to learn. There are a couple of side features like the practice Dojo and a tab that collects all of the vocabulary words you have learned. Besides that, there isn’t a lot more to find on the Drops app. But there are dozens — if not hundreds — of collections of words to learn!

Duolingo doesn’t offer any supplemental practice materials outside of each lesson, but Pimsleur offers several supplemental features, much like a classroom setting. Flashcards, quizzes, and helpful reading guides all make the experience more rounded. Duolingo and Pimsleur both offer a huge list of other languages to learn. On Duolingo, you can add as many language courses as you want, storing all of your progress separately for free. Pimsleur, however, costs a monthly subscription for each language you want to learn after the first lesson.

Cost

Duolingo has the most to offer for free, with all language lessons available for no subscription or purchase cost. However, you can upgrade to premium to access certain features like offline mode and unlimited mistakes (in the free version, you only get five mistakes before you’re forced to take a break until your health replenishes).

Drops is the most limited for free offerings. You are only able to learn for 5 minutes of any module every 10 hours. After you finish your 5 minutes, a timer pops up letting you know when you can come back for more. On one hand, this is a solid way to keep yourself from burning out on learning; on the other hand, it’s doubtful you’ll become fluent in Korean 5 minutes at a time. With the monthly subscription or one-time purchase, you get unlimited access to the learning materials, practice dojo, and offline mode, as well as other features.

Pimsleur gives you one free lesson and a 7-day free trial for each language under your subscription. That means you can try out what the learning model is before you purchase, unlike with Drops. However, you can’t advance without paying, and it does cost a pretty penny.

• Duolingo: $6.99/Month
• Drops: $8.49/Month OR $70/Year OR $149.99 lifetime purchase
• Pimsleur: $19.99/Month per language

Conclusion

I love to spend as little as possible. Before I tried Pimsleur, I was content to use the free Duolingo and supplement my learning with my free 5-minute Drops lessons each day. But after giving it a try, Pimsleur showed me that it is a worthy investment. After one lesson, I felt so accomplished that I wanted to call my father to share the Korean I had learned so quickly! I also understood the basics of the Korean written language much faster with one Pimsleur lesson than I had in several weeks of using Drops and Duolingo together. If you’re serious about learning to speak conversational Korean, Pimsleur is the best app.

However, if you’re a casual learner or you just want to brush up on your Korean vocabulary, using Duolingo or Drops is perfectly valid. I would say it’s definitely not worth purchasing Duolingo Premium because you get basically everything for free anyway. And Drops is a nice supplemental app that gives your eyes a break from Duolingo’s lackluster interface. In fact, if you really want to learn to speak, read and write Korean, why not use all three?

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