Free apps and websites for learning Dutch
So, you're diving into the world of Dutch! You've bought a few books, you're practicing your pronunciation (that darn g sound...), and you're getting into Dutch music. These are fantastic starting points, but the cornerstone of learning any new language is dedication. Even just 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference. The trick? Building a habit that sticks.
Apps are a great way to keep your learning journey on track. Everybody has a few minutes to spare each day, whether you're commuting to work on the train, eating lunch at the office, or just relaxing in the evening. Apps offer an accessible, fun experience that gamifies learning Dutch and takes the hassle out of the learning experience. Make it a habit to sneak some Dutch practice into your daily downtime.
Top (free) apps for learning Dutch
Duolingo
Duolingo is one of the most popular language-learning apps. It's ideal for beginners. It offers a fun and interactive way to learn Dutch, with bite-sized lessons that focus on vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. The app's gamified design keeps you engaged with streaks, leaderboards, and rewards. It offers quizzes and mini-tests to reinforce your progress. By the end of the Dutch course, you'll have a solid grasp of basic phrases, grammar structures, and enough vocabulary to hold simple conversations confidently.
Clozemaster
Clozemaster offers a unique and gamified way to improve your Dutch skills by focusing on vocabulary and sentence structure. The app presents sentences with missing words that you need to fill in, helping you learn vocabulary in context and understand how Dutch words fit together naturally. It's particularly effective for intermediate learners who want to expand their vocabulary while refining their understanding of word order and grammar rules. Clozemaster also includes spaced repetition, so you retain what you learn over time. Learning vocabulary in this contextualised way is a powerful method of improving your Dutch.
Clozemaster is free, but there is a Clozemaster Pro subscription offering additional features.
Drops
Drops is perfect for building your Dutch vocabulary in quick, engaging bursts. You learn vocabulary through fun, fast-paced games offered as 5-minute sessions. Drops is designed to be immersive, providing beautiful illustrations of each item as you learn, minimising the number of times you see the English translation (although they're always available). This way of learning reduces your reliance on translations and helps you memorise faster. Drops focuses on key vocabulary categories, making it great for beginners or travelers. Its fast-paced style and minimal time commitment make it easy to incorporate into a busy schedule.
Drops is available for free, but offers a paid version, as well. Drops is available for both iPhone and Android.
Memrise
Once a simple "flashcard" app, Memrise was completely revamped in 2024. Memrise's new and improved Dutch course is an effective learning experience, and particularly focuses on improving your listening and pronunciation skills – something absent from a lot of Dutch apps. Memrise makes use of spaced repetition to ensure long-term retention of words and phrases. Memrise is available for iPhone, Android, and PC.
In 2022, Memrise launched Membot, an AI language-learning assistant.
Babbel*
Babbel is home to award winning language courses, and includes a solid Dutch course, aimed at beginners and covering 2,000 words and 200 useful sentences.
Note: While being a very good course, Babbel is only free for the first lesson in each course — full access has a fee. Babbel is supported by the European Regional Development Fund and offers courses in German, French, Spanish, and other languages too.