This post is sponsored by Mondly.
When I headed to France for a CroisiEurope cruise on the Loire River – a quintessentially French experience – I expected my college French would come rushing back. Wrong! I was intensely embarrassed to find that every one of the French passengers knew more English than I knew French. And I was the visitor to their country!
So, with another trip to France coming this fall, I knew I had to do better.
Enter Mondly, the incredibly easy-to-use language learning app. I downloaded it at 7pm one night and by 8pm, I had made it through three lessons, learned a few easy sentences and felt like there was hope for me to learn enough French to believe that if I keep at this, I will be able to hold my own come November.
Choose Mondly – and save! With their annual or lifetime access plans, you can get 60-65% off!
Best Features of Mondly for International Travelers
- Supports 40+ languages
- Lessons focus on travel terms
- Speech recognition to fine-tune pronunciation
- Daily reminders and streaks to keep you motivated
- The focus is on learning phrases, not grammar and verb conjugation
What Works Well:
- Conversational Focus: You’ll learn travel-relevant phrases like how to order food, ask directions, or check into a hotel.
- Speech Recognition: Helps with pronunciation and speaking confidence—great for real-world use.
- Short, Daily Lessons: 5–10 minutes a day makes it easy to build a habit before a trip.
- Lots of Positive Feedback: Silly, I know, but I smiled when the app congratulated me on getting something right!
Where It Falls Short:
- Repetition Over Depth: Don’t expect grammar deep-dives or fluency. It’s phrase-based, not immersion-based.
- Limited Free Access: There is a free daily lesson, but if you want faster access, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version.
- Not Great for Non-Latin Scripts: Languages like Chinese or Arabic aren’t as smooth an experience compared to Romance or Germanic languages.
Mondly is Ideal For:
Travelers who want to:
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- Learn greetings, essentials, and polite phrases
- Practice pronunciation before landing
- Avoid translation apps for every interaction
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Can You Use Mondly to Learn a Language Quickly Before a Trip?
Definitely. This is my favorite thing about the app. I don’t have a lot of time. Or patience. So short lessons that I can do in 10 minutes at a time work for me.
Plus, the daily notifications remind me to spend another 10 minutes learning more each day.
If your goal is to pick up the essentials of a new language quickly before an international trip, Mondly is a solid, user-friendly option. It’s designed for beginners and casual learners, not serious linguists—and that’s exactly what I like most about it.
Does Mondly Teach You How to Pronounce Words Correctly While Traveling?
This is one of my biggest challenges. I can read French pretty well, thanks to those two years of college French. But my pronunciation is so bad that even the app didn’t always understand what I was saying.
Mondly’s speech recognition technology let me practice saying each phrase aloud—and get feedback on how well I did.
This means that I get plenty of practice trying to pronounce words and my fumbles are kept private – only my phone knows the truth.
I doubt that I will be fluent by November, but I expect to at least have a reasonable grasp of what a friend of mine calls “restaurant French” – enough understanding of the language to be able to check into my hotel, order drinks and dinner, say please and thank you and ask for directions to the bathroom.
Is Mondly Worth Paying for If You’re Just Going on Vacation?
The free version gives you one daily lesson and access to limited topics. That may be enough for ultra-casual use.
But if you want:
- Full access to all travel scenarios
- Conversation practice with the chatbot
- Grammar tips and verb conjugation tools
Mondly Premium is a smart investment. It’s what I did. I want to be able to do more than one lesson a day. If i get on a roll, I don’t want to stop because I cheaped out and only have the free version.
SheBuysTravel Tip: If your trip is coming up soon and you just want to learn enough of the language to get by, subscribe for the month, spend some concentrated time studying and cancel when you get home. I won’t do that – I’m thinking about tackling Chinese next.
Choose Mondly – and save! With their annual or lifetime access plans, you can get 60-65% off!
Bottom Line: Is Mondly Right for You?
If your goal is to feel confident ordering food, asking for directions, or greeting people politely while traveling, Mondly is an excellent fit. It’s easy, intuitive, and built around real-world travel situations—not abstract grammar rules.
Whether you’re heading to France, China, or Argentina, using Mondly in the weeks before your trip can help you connect with locals, reduce stress, and make your travel experience smoother.
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