Assimil - Learn languages
French, Spanish, German & more
Free · In‑App Purchases
Make a new language part of your everyday life with the Assimil method.
Learn progressively through natural dialogues, real-life situations and recordings by native speakers. From the very first lessons, you encounter the language in context rather than as isolated words and rules.
Start with the first 7 lessons to discover the method, then continue at your own pace. Lesson by lesson, build your listening and reading skills and become more confident using the language in everyday situations.
Courses available for English speakers include French, Spanish, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian, Korean, Chinese and Brazilian Portuguese.
Since 1929, Assimil has helped generations of learners discover new languages.
Already used one of the previous Assimil apps? Sign in with the same email address to find your courses again.
Have an Assimil pack? Use the “Delivery code” option in the app to activate your course.
more Definitely a much improved app now. There are still many improvements to come I hope, but as of today, the course is worth the money.
Developer Response Thank you very much. It's thanks to your feedback that we're able to improve the app over time. Thank you.
Definitely a much improved app now. There are still many improvements to come I hope, but as of today, the course is worth the money.
Thank you very much. It's thanks to your feedback that we're able to improve the app over time. Thank you.
Great product leveraging a very good training technique (a vast improvement on language software I have used in the past). This software is clean (substance over unnecessary “frills”) and simple to use and on the very few occasions I’ve had a problem their team has responded incredibly quickly and have earned my respect.Now I wish I could learn German as fast as these folks respond to my questions.
Great product leveraging a very good training technique (a vast improvement on language software I have used in the past). This software is clean (substance over unnecessary “frills”) and simple to use and on the very few occasions I’ve had a problem their team has responded incredibly quickly and have earned my respect.Now I wish I could learn German as fast as these folks respond to my questions.
I use this app on both my iPhone and iPad, everything is definitely an improvement than when I first tried it about a year ago. Even though I own the book I decided to get the course on app since sometimes it’s just easier to use apps.The content/course is the same Assimil from the books.I have no complaints with the app or course so far.
Developer Response Thank you very much for your message.We wish you a pleasant learning experience.
I use this app on both my iPhone and iPad, everything is definitely an improvement than when I first tried it about a year ago. Even though I own the book I decided to get the course on app since sometimes it’s just easier to use apps.The content/course is the same Assimil from the books.I have no complaints with the app or course so far.
Thank you very much for your message.We wish you a pleasant learning experience.
I’ve had the app for several years and it wasn’t the most usable. But the update this year is a massive improvement! Much more enjoyable to use. 10/10 update
I’ve had the app for several years and it wasn’t the most usable. But the update this year is a massive improvement! Much more enjoyable to use. 10/10 update
You can now see which courses are available offline, download them, follow the progress or delete them. You can also listen to the dialogues in revision lessons. Auto Listen keeps playing even with the screen locked, and you can control it directly from the lock screen. The app automatically follows your phone’s light or dark mode. Various fixes and improvements.
5.6.3 Oct 13
The glossary is now even more useful: tap a word to find every sentence in the course where it appears, along with its translation and notes. You can now search without typing accents. In Study and New words, practice translating into the language you’re learning. Auto Listen automatically continues with the next lesson, even when the screen is off. The Continue button now shows your progress, and we’ve also made several improvements for screen readers.
5.6.2 Sep 30
The glossary is now even more useful: tap a word to find every sentence in the course where it appears, along with its translation and notes. You can now search without typing accents. In Study and New words, practice translating into the language you’re learning. Auto Listen automatically continues with the next lesson, even when the screen is off. The Continue button now shows your progress, and we’ve also made several improvements for screen readers.
5.6.1 Sep 26
The glossary is now even more useful: tap a word to find every sentence in the course where it appears, along with its translation and notes. You can now search without typing accents. In Study and New words, practice translating into the language you’re learning. Auto Listen automatically continues with the next lesson, even when the screen is off. The Continue button now shows your progress, and we’ve also made several improvements for screen readers.
5.6.0 Sep 26
“Redo” keeps your correct answers: out of five sentences with one mistake, you retype only that one. “Redo all” clears the exercise.
In continuous listening, you tick what you want to hear: the dialogue, Translation, Speak. You hear the number of every lesson, revision lessons included.
Also: screen readers read the whole sentence in one go, touching a letter in the glossary takes you to the right words, and revision answer keys stay hidden until you have answered.
5.5.1 Sep 15
Your lessons can now play one after another. Pick a range, press play, and let them run — walking, driving, at the gym. Choose which sections you hear, loop them, take a pause after each sentence to repeat out loud.
And fixes: lessons that refused to open now open, the transcription can be hidden, and signing in succeeds whatever the account type.
5.5.0 Sep 11
When you first open a lesson, its dialogue is veiled: it clears line by line as you listen.
Notes now appear beneath the sentence they explain — or wait until you ask for them.
At the bottom of a section, just keep scrolling: the next one rises under your finger.
In an exercise, you see at a glance which sentences are left to do.
A lesson's vocabulary shows its translations right away.
You can also open it with one tap, at any time.
5.4.1 Aug 30
When you first open a lesson, its dialogue is veiled: it clears line by line as you listen.
Notes now appear beneath the sentence they explain — or wait until you ask for them.
At the bottom of a section, just keep scrolling: the next one rises under your finger.
In an exercise, you see at a glance which sentences are left to do.
A lesson's vocabulary shows its translations right away.
5.4.0 Aug 27
Your exercises are graded fairly: the grade now matches what you actually wrote, an exercise you haven't graded no longer shows a zero, and "Start over" really starts over. A note no longer covers the sentence it explains. Creating an account after a guest purchase is no longer a dead end. Your feedback, via the Help menu, guides every version.
5.3.5 Aug 15
Your exercise answers are now safe: in some cases, marking a lesson as complete could erase the answers you had typed. Lessons no longer show an exercise they don't contain, so revision lessons appear correctly. Your feedback, via the Help menu, guides every version.
5.3.4 Jul 30
Picking your progress back up on a new device is more reliable, even when the network is slow on first launch. Purchases that used to fail now go through. Freezes and slowdowns fixed, and a much faster start without an internet connection. Your feedback, via the Help menu, guides every version.
5.3.3 Jul 29
This version makes the app noticeably lighter: faster to download and less space used, with nothing removed from the courses. On computers, everything can now be operated from the keyboard. Starting up without an internet connection is more reliable too. Your feedback, via the Help menu, guides every version.
5.3.2 Jul 29
New: a big step for accessibility — the app is now comfortable to use with a screen reader, with larger buttons and stronger contrasts. System theme: the app follows your device's day-night setting. Each purchased course now shows where and when you got it. More reliable sign-in and account switching.
5.3.0 Jul 26
New: a step-by-step guide to unlock your course with a delivery code. Content updates now download in the background, so your course stays available offline. More reliable purchase restoration and various fixes.
5.2.0 Jul 25
Bug fixes and stability improvements.
5.1.4 Jul 22
Bug fixes and stability improvements: the "Continue" button reopens your current lesson, corrections in the "Complete" exercise no longer overlap, and recording now stops when you move to another sentence.
5.1.3 Jul 17
Bug fixes and stability improvements: Greek text now displays correctly, along with various stability fixes.
5.1.2 Jul 13
Bug fixes and stability improvements: the "Extras" section, the glossary and exercises now display correctly, along with various interface fixes.
5.1.1 Jun 24
Typography and usability improvements, plus bug fixes. The new reading experience is now the standard mode.
5.1.0 May 26
Improved usability and design.
New:
— The Help button shows your feedback history and highlights unread replies
— Email links open the conversation directly in the app
— Visible scrollbar in the side menu
— Long press a sentence to copy or share the text in the target language
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
— Country-specific flags for language variants (e.g. US flag for American English)
— Translations shown by default in Study section
— System text scaling support (accessibility)
— Fill-in exercise: built-in character keyboard for non-Latin script languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese)
Fixed:
— Audio: multiple fixes (sentence truncation, loop playback, wrong source in some exercises)
— Stability: airplane mode and startup freeze
— Phonetics and pronunciation remarks: fixed display of accented characters and transliteration examples
— Voice recordings: no longer mix between different methods/languages
— Fill-in exercise: fixed Korean keyboard input
— Fixed audio stopping after 10 minutes when the screen is off
— Grammatical index: the card and lesson references are visible again, and tapping a lesson number now correctly displays the corresponding dialogue or note
5.0.38 Apr 2
Improved usability and design.
New:
— Long press a sentence to copy or share the text in the target language
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
— Country-specific flags for language variants (e.g. US flag for American English)
— Translations shown by default in Study section
— System text scaling support (accessibility)
— Fill-in exercise: built-in character keyboard for non-Latin script languages (Korean, Chinese, Japanese)
Fixed:
— Audio: multiple fixes (sentence truncation, loop playback, wrong source in some exercises)
— Stability: airplane mode and startup freeze
— Phonetics and pronunciation remarks: fixed display of accented characters and transliteration examples
— Voice recordings: no longer mix between different methods/languages
— Fill-in exercise: fixed Korean keyboard input
— Android: fixed audio stopping after 10 minutes when the screen is off
4.9.27 Mar 24
Improved usability and design.
New:
— Long press a sentence to copy or share the text in the target language
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
— Country-specific flags for language variants (e.g. US flag for American English)
— Translations shown by default in Study section
— System text scaling support (accessibility)
Fixed:
— Discovery audio: fixed sentence truncation during sequential playback and when tapping a sentence
— Loop playback: multiple fixes (pauses between sentences, overlap)
— Layout and note icons in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lessons
— Stability: airplane mode and startup freeze
— Audio: wrong source in some exercises
— Exercise level reverting to “easy”
— Phonetic display (accented characters)
— Pronunciation remarks: transliteration examples now display correctly with proper formatting
— Voice recordings: recordings no longer mix between different methods/languages
4.9.22 Mar 17
Improved usability and design.
New:
— Long press a sentence to copy or share the text in the target language
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
— Country-specific flags for language variants (e.g. US flag for American English)
— Translations shown by default in Study section
— System text scaling support (accessibility)
Fixed:
— Discovery audio: fixed sentence truncation during sequential playback and when tapping a sentence
— Loop playback: multiple fixes (pauses between sentences, overlap, truncation on Android)
— Layout and note icons in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean lessons
— Stability: airplane mode and startup freeze
— Audio: wrong source in some exercises
— Exercise level reverting to "easy"
— Phonetic display (accented characters)
4.9.20 Mar 14
Improved usability and design.
New:
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
Fixed:
— Airplane mode
— Startup freeze
— Audio: wrong source in some exercises
— Exercise level reverting to “easy”
— Phonetic display (accented characters)
— Battery drain from audio player
— Loop playback: added pause between sentences and fixed overlap issue
— Missing note icons in Chinese and Japanese lessons
— "Before you begin" page navigation not responding after the first tap
4.9.18 Mar 12
Improved usability and design.
New:
— Sentence-by-sentence mode (Study section)
— Audio icons on Discovery and Study sentences
Fixed:
— Airplane mode
— Startup freeze
— Audio: wrong source in some exercises
— Exercise level reverting to “easy”
— Phonetic display (accented characters)
— Battery drain from audio player
— Loop playback: added pause between sentences and fixed overlap issue
— Missing note icons in Chinese and Japanese lessons
4.9.11 Mar 9
You can now see which courses are available offline, download them, follow the progress or delete them. You can also listen to the dialogues in revision lessons. Auto Listen keeps playing even with the screen locked, and you can control it directly from the lock screen. The app automatically follows your phone’s light or dark mode. Various fixes and improvements.
more Version 5.6.3 Oct 13
Data Linked to You The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Purchases Contact Info User Content Identifiers Diagnostics Data Not Linked to You The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Purchases Location Identifiers Usage Data Diagnostics Supported Features
VoiceOver
Larger Text
Dark Interface