Language Transfer
Hacker ApprovedRanked 3 of 12 language learning apps by recommenders
Free audio courses that teach language concepts and grammar in a calm, non-gamified way, recommended for learning Spanish, Greek and other languages.
Free audio courses that teach language concepts and grammar in a calm, non-gamified way, recommended for learning Spanish, Greek and other languages.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Widely recommended as an excellent resource
“the Spanish resources I've enjoyed most are dreamingspanish.com and languagetransfer.org”
Comment from 9 Nov 2025 in “Duolingo stock plunges as company prioritizes user growth” “I can recommend https://languagetransfer.org as an excellent resource”
Comment from 20 Sep 2026 in “Learning another language may be one of the best ways to keep your brain healthy” “a good introductory course by Language Transfer”
Comment from 13 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: I speak 5 languages. Duolingo taught me none. So I built lairner” - Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Learn Arabic with spaced repetition and comprehensible input”
Effective, quick progress for learners
“Language Transfer helped me pick up so many languages in a short time easily.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Learn Arabic with spaced repetition and comprehensible input” “You got me started on learning Spanish there. So far so good.”
Comment from 14 Mar 2026 in “Show HN: Learn Arabic with spaced repetition and comprehensible input” “It was a mind-blowing learning experience”
Comment from 22 Feb 2026 in “What's the best way to learn a new language?” Free with strong value
“language transfer is unbeatable value (especially since it's entirely free)”
Comment from 15 Dec 2025 in “The Whole App is a Blob” “is an excellent free source for learning grammar”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “What's the best way to learn a new language?” Clear grammar and concept explanations
“helped me understand the concepts of the language much more”
Comment from 19 Dec 2025 in “Show HN: Learning a Language Using Only Words You Know” “is an excellent free source for learning grammar”
Comment from 23 Feb 2026 in “What's the best way to learn a new language?”
Other language learning apps people recommend
The four most recommended other language learning apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duolingo | 39 | 111 | 26% | 12 | 3 yrs4 owners | — |
| 9M Mandarin tone speech model | 14 | 5 | 74% | 1 | — | — |
| Language TransferThis page | 13 | 0 | 100% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Pimsleur | 9 | 4 | 69% | 6 | — | — |
| Voxel Tokyo | 9 | 5 | 64% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
12 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I can recommend https://languagetransfer.org as an excellent resource”
“You got me started on learning Spanish there. So far so good.”
“Language Transfer helped me pick up so many languages in a short time easily.”
“the best language learning system out there”
“is an excellent free source for learning grammar”
“It was a mind-blowing learning experience”
“just a labour of love by a genius polyglot and language teacher”
“a good introductory course by Language Transfer”
“helped me understand the concepts of the language much more”
“super calm and non-gamified”
“language transfer is unbeatable value (especially since it's entirely free)”
“the Spanish resources I've enjoyed most are dreamingspanish.com and languagetransfer.org”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.