There is a moment that every solo traveller knows. You are sitting in a cafe somewhere beautiful, surrounded by people chatting and laughing, and you are on the outside of it. Not because anyone is excluding you, but because you simply do not have the words to join in. You smile at the waiter, point at something on the menu, say “thank you” in the only language you both share, and that is the extent of your human contact for the afternoon.
Image source: Magnific.com
I have been there more times than I can count. And while I still love solo travel with my whole heart, I have learned that the trips I remember most fondly are not the ones with the best views. They are the ones where I actually talked to people.
A survey of British travellers found that 88% believe learning even a few phrases improves their travel experience, and 65% report friendlier interactions when they try speaking to locals in their own language. I can confirm both of those statistics from personal experience. The difference between walking into a shop and saying “hello” in English versus saying it in the local language is night and day. People light up. They want to help you. They start telling you things that are not in any guidebook.
You do not need to be fluent. You just need enough to start a conversation, and the right app can get you there faster than you think. Here are five that I have either used myself or had recommended to me by fellow travellers, and each one brings something a little different to the table.
1. Promova
Promova is a language learning app for people who want to speak, not just pass quizzes. It combines structured self-study with AI speaking practice, which means you do not just read and memorise. You actually have AI conversations that get you comfortable producing sentences out loud. That is exactly what you need when your goal is to chat with a market vendor or ask your host for restaurant recommendations, not to pass a formal exam.
I found it especially useful before a trip to the south of France last year. As an interactive app to learn French, it taught me the kinds of phrases I actually needed: how to ask for directions without sounding like a robot, how to order at a restaurant beyond pointing at the menu, and how to make small talk that felt natural rather than rehearsed. The AI tutor was great for building confidence before I had to do it for real. The lessons are short enough that I could do one over morning coffee, and by the end of two weeks I felt ready to start conversations rather than waiting for someone else to start them for me.
2. TripLingo
TripLingo is designed specifically for travellers, and it shows. The app organises phrases by situation (restaurant, hotel, emergency, taxi), includes audio from native speakers, and has a real-time voice translator for moments when you are completely stuck.
What I really like about it is the formality slider. You can adjust how casual or polite your phrases are, which sounds like a small thing until you realise that the way you greet a hotel receptionist and the way you greet someone at a beach bar are genuinely different in most languages. TripLingo also includes cultural tips, like tipping etiquette and local customs, which saves you from the kind of accidental rudeness that no phrase guide will warn you about.
3. Memrise
Memrise stands apart because it teaches you through video clips of real native speakers. Instead of a robotic voice reading a sentence, you hear actual people talking at actual speed, with all the accent and rhythm that you will encounter in real life. For a solo traveller, this is incredibly useful. When someone in a Lisbon market speaks to you, they are not going to sound like a textbook recording. Memrise trains your ear for how language really sounds.
They also have travel-specific courses and an offline mode, which is a genuine lifesaver in places where Wi-Fi is patchy or mobile data is expensive. I have used it on buses, in waiting rooms, and in airports where the free Wi-Fi requires you to watch three adverts before loading a single page.
4. HelloTalk
HelloTalk is not a lesson-based app. It is a language exchange platform that pairs you with native speakers who want to learn your language. You chat with each other, correct each other’s mistakes, and build real conversational skills through actual conversations.
For solo travellers (and if you are new to solo travel, this guide to travelling alone as a woman is worth reading), there is an added bonus: the people you chat with can become genuine contacts in the places you are visiting. I have heard from other travellers who met up with their HelloTalk partners for coffee, got insider tips on where to eat, and even made lasting friendships. It takes more effort than a structured app, but the payoff is something that no course can replicate: a real human connection before you even arrive.
5. Tandem
Tandem works on a similar principle to HelloTalk, but with a slightly more curated community and the option for video calls. If you are the kind of person who learns better by speaking than by typing, Tandem gives you a way to practise actual spoken conversation with native speakers from your phone.
The app also offers professional tutoring sessions if you want structured feedback alongside the free language exchange. I think this works best for travellers who have a longer trip planned and want to build genuine speaking confidence, not just learn a handful of phrases. If you are spending a month somewhere rather than a week, Tandem can help you go from “tourist level” to “actually having a proper chat” in that time.
The Effort Is the Point
I am not going to pretend that spending ten minutes a day on a language app will make you fluent by the time you board your flight. It will not. But as the British Council notes, even basic language skills open doors that staying monolingual simply cannot. It will give you enough to walk into a shop, greet someone properly, ask a simple question, and understand the answer. And when you are travelling solo, those small exchanges are what turn a trip into a story. Whether you are hiking in France or navigating a market in Morocco, a few words in the local language change everything.
In my experience, locals do not care if your grammar is perfect. They care that you tried. A mispronounced “thank you” in someone’s own language will always get a warmer response than a perfectly delivered sentence in English. And trying, with a little help from the right app, is easier than you think. Download one before your next trip, spend ten minutes a day with it, and see what happens when you land. I think you will be surprised by how far even a small effort takes you.
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