There's No Babbel Korean (Yet) But Try These Courses Instead
- Mille Larsen •4 mins read
Are you looking for Babbel Korean?
Unfortunately, Babbel Korean is not yet available to those of us trying to learn to speak Korean. Fortunately, there are some fantastic alternatives for courses and apps which I'll share in just a moment.
Don't know what Babbel is?
Babbel is one of the leading and most well-known courses/apps for learning various popular languages. It's primarily geared toward European languages however, which means that East Asian languages like Korean are out of the question for now.
Here are my alternatives:
Rocket Korean
Rocket Korean has been around for decades and their Korean course is quite famous (for good reason). There are millions of Korean learners on their platform and thousands of verified success stories. I can't recommend their Korean course enough as an alternative to Babbel Korean.
They also cover all other major languages.
The Rocket Korean course goes into extreme detail teaching Hangul (the Korean alphabet) - both reading and writing - then works through a series of comprehensive lessons from absolute beginner right up to higher levels.
The lessons comprise of literacy (mentioned above), Korean grammar, podcast-style lessons, and Korean culture.
Each lesson includes testing with voice recognition and outstanding audio quality.
Definitely my top Korean resource and best alternative for those wanting Babbel Korean.
Pricing varies depending on the payment option you choose. The good news is you can pay once and have forever access (no subscription).
KoreanClass101
KoreanClass101 is an excellent alternative for those wishing there was a Babbel Korean.
It's quite different to Babbel in its style. While Babbel is essentially an app (both mobile and web) that teaches through repetitive exercises and quizzes, KoreanClass101 is a podcast lesson database that uses both audio and video to teach.
You listen to the podcast audio (a conversation between a native speaker and learner), then listen to individual words and sentences, or follow along with notes and transcripts.
KoreanClass101 is very comprehensive and covers a range of practical Korean situations.
A great alternative to a Babbel Korean.
Pimsleur Korean
Anyone who's been learning languages sometime over the past few decades has heard of Pimsleur.
While there may not be a Babbel Korean for quite a while, Pimsleur is an incredible alternative for learners who prefer to learn with audio (non-visual learners). The course is 100% audio and requires you to carefully listen and "recall" dialogue which is spaced out (Pimsleur's unique spaced-repetition system).
It's amazingly effective which is why it's still one of the premier language courses after so many decades.
Even if there were a Babbel Korean, I'd still recommend Pimsleur in addition to it.
Pimsleur has become an online subscription course so you can access it online for a very low price (it used to be very expensive).
It's now around $15 a month.
90 Day Korean
The name can be off-putting or confusing (there's no promise you'll learn Korean in 90 days!), but don't let that fool you.
90 Day Korean is one of the leading Korean courses today and a fantastic alternative to Babbel.
The 90 Day thing refers to the length of time it takes to complete a Korean module.
Their course operates on a "drip" basis, which means that instead of giving you everything all at once, they drip content to you on a weekly basis, so you're getting purposeful, solid content at a pace most people can handle.
It's brilliantly designed.
There's also a personal Korean coach who can answer questions directly which is something other courses (including Babbel) don't offer.
It's quite expensive though - you're looking at over $30 a month to access their "Inner Circle" but for the value you get, it's a great alternative for those wanting a Babbel Korean.
There is no Babbel Korean but better options exist
I hope these Babbel Korean alternatives are helpful.
You can also take a look at my resources page for other personal recommendations of mine.