As of July 2022, the Hispanic population of the United States is pegged at 63.7 million making it the country’s largest ethnic minority. Accounting for 19% of the current population in the US, many nurses come across a significant number of Spanish-speaking patients. In these situations, fluency in Spanish becomes a huge advantage.
Nurses who can speak Spanish with patients enjoy numerous advantages, both for themselves and their patients. When nurses can converse in a patient’s native language, they can obtain accurate medical histories, understand symptoms better, and explain treatments more clearly. Patients, in turn, tend to feel more comfortable communicating and expressing themselves in their native language.
Because of this, bilingual nurses are in high demand in the healthcare sector and nurses who are fluent in Spanish may have access to more job opportunities, higher pay, or positions of responsibility.
Learning a new language like Spanish, however, can take time and a lot of effort. The good news is that there are apps you can use to make the process a lot faster and less stressful.
So, what’s the best free app to learn Spanish?
Here are our top 7 choices.
1Duolingo
Duolingo is the most popular language-learning app to date. The popularity of the app stems from its ability to make learning fun. It turns lessons into games, letting users earn points and move up levels as they learn. Because of its game-like feel, many people around the world love using it. It offers lessons in more than 30 languages, so there’s a lot to choose from.
The app breaks down the language into manageable modules, like medical terms, greetings, or family. A nurse can prioritize lessons that would be most immediately useful in a healthcare setting.
2Ling
Meet Ling, a refreshing take on the language learning app scene. Ling stands out for nurses because it focuses on real-life conversations. This means nurses can quickly use what they learn in actual patient care. The app’s lessons help them speak confidently and accurately with Spanish-speaking patients.
Beyond just words, Ling teaches about the culture behind the language. This helps nurses understand their patients better and provide care that’s both respectful and personalized. Knowing these cultural details can build trust and improve communication.
Lastly, Ling adjusts to how each person learns. So, for busy nurses, the app makes sure lessons are just right: not too hard, not too easy. This way, even in short breaks, nurses can make real progress in learning Spanish.
3Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone is a famous app for learning Spanish. It can teach you Spanish through Spanish. This means that you’ll learn the language without any translations. Think of it as how children start learning the language at school.
There is also the option to schedule live tutorial lessons. You can get to talk with native speakers which can make the experience more immersive and intensive.
4Memrise
Memrise is a free app that can help you learn the language through memorization. Instead of traditional lessons, it uses memory techniques, entertaining videos from native speakers, and interactive games to make learning a new language engaging and fun. The app believes that real-life phrases and genuine accents help users learn more authentically.
How Memrise works is by introducing new words and phrases in bite-sized lessons and then reinforcing them with spaced repetition. This means the app reminds you to review words just as you’re about to forget them, making learning more efficient. Plus, with real-life videos of native speakers, users get a feel for the language as it’s genuinely spoken, not just textbook examples.
5MosaLingua
MosaLingua is an application that relies on the method of memorization called Space Repetition System so you won’t easily forget the words you learned. It features 14 categories and around 100 subcategories. Each one is filled with audio files, dialogues, and audio vocabulary which store more than 3,000 phrases.
6Nemo Spanish
Spanish with Nemo works on tablets and smartphones. It can teach you the most popular words, questions, and phrases travelers use.
There are cards that can help you learn the language, including the right pronunciation. You can record phrases to improve your pronunciation as well as listen to how native speakers pronounce them. You can store the words, cards, and recordings in the “Favorite”
section so you can check them out anytime.
7FluentU
FluentU offers both free and paid versions of the app. You can use the free version to get a feel of the app and its features.
The app uses teaching materials like Spanish commercials, news, and music. This means you can immerse yourself deeper into the language. The videos come with transcripts and if you get curious about any word, you can pause the video and tap the word. With that, you’ll be able to see its definition instantly.
Another great thing about the app is that it gives you the option to change the level of complexity of the videos. This makes it perfect for users with different levels of proficiency.
See Also:Â 40 Spanish Phrases Every Nurse Should Know
