We've all been there.
We set a goal to learn a language, but we have no idea where to start.
Without much thought, we type on Google "how to learn [X language]" only to be presented with fruitless results that don't seem credible. This is where over 50% of people would give up. "If Google can't find me any results, then there must not be any good resources available..."
This is certainly not the case. Often the best resources (or language blogs in this case) don't show up from a simple Google search, but via word of mouth or from other credible sources. It takes years of being in the industry to know who the best experts are, and we understand that most beginners don't have the time nor patience to spend hours digging around. We've browsed through many language blogs over the past years, and we'd like to share with you the 20 best language blogs every language learner should read.
1. Lingholic
Lingholic was founded in 2012 with the mission to provide honest reviews of the language learning landscape to help beginners find their way. Today, they've reviewed dozens of language learning services, products, and companies, and offers language learning advice on their blog
2. Omniglot
Simon Ager a passionate language learner who speaks five languages fluently -- English, French, Welsh, Mandarin, and Irish -- and is one of the few language blogs that breaks down his advice based on language.
Omniglot shares useful tips on phrases, numbers, colors, grammar, and the website is translated into many of the popular languages (in case English is not your first language).
3. Fluentin3months
Benny Lewis is recognized as one of the most popular bloggers online, and his blog Fluentin3months.com is the go-to destination for any language learner, no matter what level of proficiency they are.
What made this language blog popular in the first place is the same reason why it will continue to thrive, and that's Benny's unique personality. He offers a no-filtered perspective of products and services he reviews, strategies he offers, and shares his fun sense of humor with every post.
4. Tim Ferriss
Tim Ferriss is the bestselling author of the 4-Hour Workweek and his blog boasts over 2M+ unique readers every month. While his rise to fame came from publishing his first book, Tim specializes in deconstructing the top experts in various industries, including language learning. He shares controversial, yet useful language hacks on his blog, such as 'Why Language Classes Don't Work."
5. The Polyglot Dream
The Polyglot Dream was founded by Luca Lampariello with the mission to provide a unique way of learning languages that was not offered online. His language blog was voted as the #2 ranked language blog by Lexiophiles in 2012. Luca caters to an ambitious audience of language learners, as he shares challenges like "Can you master more than seven languages?"
6. Ellen Jovin
Ellen has a unique story that she offers of why she started her language blog in 2009. Living in New York City, she was fascinated by the diversity of languages and cultures that were surrounding this big city, and she set out on a mission to learn as many languages spoken around the city.
Since 2009, she has studied and analyzed 20 languages, and has shared her insightful lessons on her blog from her own perspective. There's no question that she's just getting started, and it's likely you'll see 21 languages or more by the time you read this.
7. RawLangs
Alex Rawlings became a popular language blogger as a student living in London. Today he lives in Valencia, Spain, and caters towards a younger demographic of language learners because of his younger background.
8. IWillTeachYouALanguage
Olly Richards is another fellow from the United Kingdom, and speaks over 8 languages! What's great about the advice that Olly offers is that there's no sugarcoating in the advice he offers, mainly because he's done it 8 times already!
9. Lindsay Does Languages
Lindsay started out as a private tutor in 2012, teaching individuals and groups in England. While she continues to provide 1-on-1 language lessons online, she's expanded her mini-empire to creating her own language courses, webinars, and a podcast to scale her knowledge to many more people around the world.
10. The Linguist
Growing up in Montreal, Canada, Steve Kauffman could only speak English by the age of seventeen. Today, Steve speaks 15 languages, has written multiple books around language learning, and hosts a popular Youtube channel helping thousands of people learn languages faster.
11. Speaking Fluently
With over a decade of experience in languages, Richard has studied over 40 languages and shares his experiences along the way on his language blog.
12. 5-Minute Languages
5-Minute Languages is a great language blog to check out for anyone who's busy. The founder Agnieszka Murdoch is on a mission to help you learn a language, no matter how hectic your schedule may be. Her advice is specifically catered for busy learners, and offers a lot of impactful strategies that anyone can benefit from.
13. Rype
We should also mention our own language blog that offers unique language hacks and strategies that you wouldn't find online.
Check out some of our most popular posts:
How to Learn Any Language In 90 Days
How to Learn a Language Faster From 12 Experts
5 Most Useful Languages to Learn
**The rest of the post will focus on language blogs that are language specific.
14. French Crazy
French Crazy started in 2011 with the mission to provide a unique way to teach their audience about France and learning French. Unlike many of the other French language blogs, French Crazy shares the lifestyle and culture of living in France, along with their language advice.
15. Butterfly Spanish
Butterfly Spanish may not be a language blog, but it's one of the most popular Youtube channels for learning Spanish specifically. One view of the instructional videos that this channel offers, and you'll be hooked! It's fun, energetic, and most importantly, informative.
16. Hacking Chinese
If you're focused on learning Mandarin, Hacking Chinese may be the language blog for you. The blog goes deep on everything you need to know about learning Mandarin, including grammar, vocabulary, sentence structures, speaking tips, and more.
17. Brazilian Gringo
Josh Plotkin, also known as the original 'Brazilian Gringo', started this popular language blog when he visited Brazil with his brother. Before visiting, Josh was unsuccessfully teaching English in Colombia, and wanted to a new direction in his life. As someone who could fluently speak Spanish and English, Josh's talents were in big demand in Brazil, and he decided to call it home.
Today, the Brazilian Gringo helps thousands of people learn Portuguese from the perspective of a 'Gringo' which helps any foreign person relate to Josh's teaching style.
18. Espresso English
Espresso English is a popular language blog that offers courses, free advice, and e-books on how to learn English faster. What's unique about this blog is that it started from a foreign learner, Shayna from Brazil. After tutoring students at an English school in Brazil, she wanted a way to continue offering value to her students without needing to meet in-person or being stuck in traffic.
19. Smarter German
Smarter German was started by a previous German learner who spent over 540 hours and $10,000 trying to learn German without much success. With over 15+ years of teaching German, this language blog offers veteran advice on how to learn German with ease. But it doesn't stop there.
The blog also shares intriguing information and stories about Germany -- everything from its unique history, culture, and lifestyle.
20. Japanese Level Up
The moment you visit the Japanese Level Up language blog (also known as JALUP), you immediately feel like you're in a Japanese store. Everything from its design, images, and store products (like the Kana Conqueror) is what gives this language blog a unique style and flavor. And yes, they also offer amazing courses and free tips on how to learn Japanese!
Over to you
Hope our list of 20 language blogs was helpful to your language learning journey. We'd love to know if there are any other language blogs that we should have listed here, and what languages we should list for our next post.
Please share this with a friend that's also trying to learn a language!