Learn French app: how Lingwell works, in plain terms

A learn French app should find out what you already know, ask you to recall words instead of only reading them, and bring them back over several days. Lingwell is a French learning app for iPhone, in early access, built on those three ideas. This page says what it does, what the research behind the ideas found, and what it cannot do yet. To compare other apps, see Duolingo alternatives. For ways to study at no cost, see Learn French for free. For games, see French learning games.

What should a learn French app do?

A good French learning app should make you retrieve words from memory and space that practice out. Peer-reviewed research gives the usual reasons for this, and each study reports its own figures.

Read these as lab findings. The first study used prose passages, the second reviewed verbal recall tasks, and the third used foreign vocabulary, facts and names. None tested a phone app, so they show why the design is reasonable. They do not promise a result for any one learner.

How does Lingwell work as a French learning app?

Lingwell starts with a 3-minute word test that counts what you already know, so you do not start over at “bonjour” [1]. After that, a round brings five new words, the next most useful ones, each met in a short sentence right away [1]. The words then come back in later rounds, spread over days [1].

• Find your number. A 3-minute word test counts the words you know [1].
• Five new words a round. The next most useful ones, in short sentences [1].
• They come back. Each word returns in later rounds over the next days [1].
• Say it out loud. The mic opens by itself and marks you when you stop [1].

The app counts a word as known when you get it right on 3 different days across a week [1]. Lingwell’s own page says it counts progress toward 3,000 words [1].

What does the French language app cover?

Lingwell lists all four skills: reading, listening, speaking and writing, each with its own practice and its own level [1]. The numbers below come from the same page.

The page also lists 120 audio lessons, no tapping needed, and 64 listening clips from A2 to C1 [1].

How many French words do you already know?

Before you pick any app, find out where you stand. The free 3-minute word test shows 24 French words, from the most used to the rare ones, and gives you a number out of the 4,000 most used [2]. It needs no account [2]. The number is an estimate for practice. It is not an official level or exam score [2].

Try three words first. Tap to hear the first one, then answer.

Say them aloud once: parfois, la veille, déjà.

Can a French learning app be a game?

It can. Lingwell’s own page promises practice that is “as fun as any game” [1]. The daily word below is a taste of that, and you can play it right now in your browser.

What does Lingwell not do yet?

Lingwell is not a finished product, and these limits matter if you are choosing an app today.

It does not replace talking with a person. An app can drill words and listening. Another person answering you in real time gives feedback an app cannot.

Learn French for real this time. Take the free 3-minute word test or join the Lingwell waitlist.

Common mistakes

• Choosing a learn French app by its ranking. Lists put different apps first for different reasons. Choose by what you need next.
• Reading a word list and calling it learned. The research above found that repeated studying raised confidence, yet on delayed tests prior testing gave greater retention [3].
• Practising a word five times in one sitting. The studies point to spacing it over days [4][5].
• Treating a word-count estimate as a level. The word test says its number is for practice, not an official level or exam score [2].
• Expecting an app to replace speaking with people. Use it as practice before and between real conversations.
• Relying on this page without checking its date. Compare Lingwell’s own page and the studies with the date at the top of this one.

See also: Duolingo French review and best language learning apps.

Sources