English Flashcard Apps for Spanish Speakers

If Spanish is your first language, English vocabulary plays a specific trick on you. Thousands of English words look like Spanish ones, so the first months feel easy. Then you tell someone you are embarrassed when you mean something else entirely, you say actually when you mean "currently", and you discover that give up, give in and give away are three different verbs. The best flashcard app to learn English as a Spanish speaker has to deal with exactly these traps, and most apps were not built with you in mind.

In this article I compare eight apps that Spanish speakers actually use for English in 2026: the big course apps, the classic flashcard tools, and one Spanish-founded favorite. I look at them through one lens: does the app help a Spanish speaker remember English words, with the problems a Spanish speaker really has? You will get the criteria that matter, one comparison table, an honest verdict on each app, and a few free tools to find your level before you choose.

What Makes a Good Flashcard App for Learning English as a Spanish Speaker

Generic app lists judge sync, design and price. None of that stops you from saying I am agree. These criteria each come from a mistake Spanish speakers make over and over.

False friends that look like Spanish

English and Spanish share a huge Latin vocabulary, which is a gift until it is not. Actually means "en realidad", not "actualmente". Library is "biblioteca", not "librería". Carpet is a rug, not a folder. Sensible means "sensato", and constipated has nothing to do with a cold. A word-and-translation card cannot protect you here, because your brain fills in the Spanish meaning before you even read the translation. The card has to say, out loud, "this is not what you think it is".

Phrasal verbs

Spanish mostly uses one verb for one idea: rendirse, subir, encender. English glues a short verb to a particle and changes the meaning completely: give up, get on (a bus), turn on (a light), look forward to. Worse, some of them can be split (turn the light on) and some cannot (get on the bus, never get the bus on). An app that treats give up as just another word misses the part that is actually hard: how the phrase behaves in a sentence.

Spelling that does not tell you the sound

Spanish is spelled almost exactly as it sounds. English is not. The p in cupboard is silent, and so are the k in knee and the l in calm. Read is /riːd/ today and /red/ yesterday. A Spanish speaker's instinct is to pronounce every letter, so a good card points out the silent letters and the surprises, or plays the word aloud, or both.

One English word, two Spanish ones (and the reverse)

To be is both ser and estar, so English is simpler there, but it also takes over jobs that Spanish gives to tener: I am hungry, I am thirsty, I am afraid of. Make and do are both "hacer", say and tell are both "decir", and English cares which one you pick (make small talk, tell a story). These contrasts are where translation-only flashcards quietly teach you wrong English.

Explanations in your own language, at least at the start

At A1 and A2 you cannot read a grammar explanation written in English. If the app explains why only in English, the explanation is wasted until B1. The best setup for a Spanish speaker is notes in Spanish early on, with English definitions and synonyms there for when you are ready to stop translating.

English Flashcard Apps for Spanish Speakers Compared

Each row is one app, scored on the criteria above rather than on generic features. Prices are the list prices I could confirm on the vendor's own store page; where an app charges different amounts in different countries, I say so instead of quoting a number. Prices checked October 2026.

App-by-App Breakdown

Words on Repeat

Full disclosure: I built Words on Repeat, so take this with appropriate skepticism. I will tell you what it does for Spanish speakers specifically, and where it stops.

Words on Repeat has 14 English decks made for Spanish speakers: six that climb the CEFR ladder from A1 to C2, and eight themed decks (daily life, conversations, travel, work and education, health, media, business, science). That is 3,500 words. Every card has a Spanish translation, an English example sentence with its Spanish translation, an English definition, and a note written in Spanish about the thing a Spanish speaker gets wrong with that word. The best-known false friends are marked right on the translation, and the rest in the note: the card for actually reads "en realidad (NO actualmente)", and carpet reads "alfombra (NO carpeta)". Reviews are scheduled by FSRS, the same algorithm Anki offers, and it runs on the free plan.

Where it stops: it is a vocabulary tool, not a course. There is no speaking practice with a teacher and no lesson that walks you through the present perfect from scratch. The notes explain grammar where it touches a word, not as a curriculum. And the Free plan holds 1,000 words at a time, which is four of these decks; the full ladder needs Pro.

Best for: Spanish speakers who want to build a large English vocabulary that sticks, with false friends, phrasal verbs and pronunciation traps explained in Spanish, from A1 all the way to C2. Browse the English decks or start with English A1.

Want to see the cards before you sign up? Study 15 English cards free - no account, right in the browser.

Duolingo

Duolingo is where most Spanish speakers start English, and its English course is the largest it has. The streaks and leagues are genuinely good at getting you to open the app every day, and Duolingo says its English content now reaches B2. The newer upper-level units teach English in English, without translations, which is a sensible way to push intermediate learners out of translating.

The weakness for vocabulary is control. You follow Duolingo's path in Duolingo's order. You cannot say "I keep forgetting eventually, show it to me more", and you cannot add the words from the series you are watching. Review happens inside lessons, on a schedule you never see.

Best for: Beginners who need a daily habit and a guided path. Keep it for the habit, and add a flashcard tool for the words you want to keep.

Anki

Anki is the power tool. It is free on desktop, Android and the web, it has FSRS built in (you switch it on in the deck options), and there are shared English decks for Spanish speakers, from frequency lists to exam vocabulary.

The catch is that Anki is empty until you fill it. A shared deck is only as good as whoever made it, and shared Spanish-English decks are typically bare word pairs: no note that sensible is a false friend, no warning that get on cannot be split. Building good cards yourself is real work, and the interface takes a while to learn.

Best for: Learners who like to tinker and are happy to build or curate their own cards. If you already know Anki, it will serve you well.

Quizlet

Quizlet has an enormous number of English sets made by students and teachers in Spain and Latin America, so you can often find the exact list from your class or academy. For that use, it is hard to beat.

For independent study it is weaker. Set quality is a lottery, the free plan is basic flashcards and Match with ads, and the adaptive Learn mode is capped unless you pay. Quizlet does not publish the scheduling it uses, so you cannot tell whether a word will come back at the right time. If you are thinking about paying for it, read our look at Quizlet's paywall first.

Best for: Students whose teacher already shares Quizlet sets with the class.

Busuu

Busuu is a structured course with a Spanish interface and a feature nobody else here has: native English speakers in the community correct your written and spoken exercises. For a Spanish speaker who needs feedback on real sentences, that is valuable. Lessons are short and well organized from beginner to upper intermediate.

It is a course first, so vocabulary comes in Busuu's order, and the review tools are limited until you pay. You cannot bring your own words.

Best for: Learners who want a course with real feedback from native speakers. Pair it with a flashcard app for volume.

Memrise

Memrise's English course, available with a Spanish interface, is built around short videos of native speakers saying everyday phrases. If your problem is that you understand written English but freeze when you hear it, those clips help, because you hear the same phrase from different people at real speed.

The path is fixed, the content thins out above the intermediate level, and the scheduling is proprietary. You also cannot add your own vocabulary to the review queue.

Best for: Listening practice and everyday phrases at beginner and intermediate levels.

Babbel

Babbel's English courses come with a Spanish interface and grammar explained in Spanish, and the dialogues are practical and well produced. It has a review tool that brings course words back over time. What it does not have is a free plan beyond the first lesson, or a way to study your own words.

Best for: Learners who want a polished, paid course with grammar explained in Spanish, and are happy to follow it rather than choose their own vocabulary.

ABA English

ABA English was founded in Barcelona and many Spanish speakers know it from its "films" method: each unit starts with a short film of everyday English, then builds exercises around it. It covers six levels from A1 to C1, gives a certificate for each level, and the premium plan adds live group classes. The free plan gives you the first unit and daily grammar videos.

It is a course, not a vocabulary tool, and there is no spaced repetition that brings words back when you are about to forget them. The certificates are ABA's own, not an official exam.

Best for: Spanish speakers who want a full course with video and live classes, in a method designed for them from the start.

If you are still choosing, here is each verdict above in one place.

What Words on Repeat Does for Spanish Speakers Learning English

A 14-deck ladder from A1 to C2

The decks are organized by CEFR level, so you start where you are instead of where the app decides you are. Not sure where that is? The free English vocabulary test in Spanish estimates your level in a few minutes, no account needed.

The weight sits at A2 to B2 on purpose: that is where most Spanish speakers stall. The themed decks live there too, so after the core B1 deck you can pick work, health or media next.

Notes written in Spanish, about Spanish speakers' mistakes

The notes are the reason these decks exist instead of one English deck for everybody. They are written in Spanish and aimed at the specific contrast between the two languages. A few real ones, quoted from the cards:

• embarrassed = avergonzado (NO embarazada). The note adds that embarrassed is an adjective and goes with was: "I was embarrassed when I made a mistake."
• look forward to = esperar con ilusión. The note explains that the to here is a preposition, not part of an infinitive, so it takes a noun or an -ing form: "I'm looking forward to the summer holidays."
• turn on = encender. Marked as separable: both "turn on the light" and "turn the light on" are correct. Get on (a bus) is marked inseparable.
• cupboard = el armario (de cocina). "Ojo con la pronunciación: la 'p' no se pronuncia."
• hungry = con hambre. "En inglés se dice 'I am hungry', no 'I have hunger' como en español."
• advice = el consejo. Uncountable: no advices, no an advice; you say some advice or a piece of advice.

Across the 14 decks, 77 cards carry an explicit false-friend warning and 77 explain how a phrasal verb works.

English definitions for when you stop translating

Every card also has a short definition in English, and many have synonyms and a register label. Put up with is "to accept something unpleasant without complaining", with tolerate and endure as synonyms; pull off is marked informal. At A1 you will ignore these. Around B2 they become the point: you start learning English through English, which is what you need for an exam or a job.

Free tools before you commit

You do not need an account for any of these:

• the English vocabulary test in Spanish, which estimates your level and how many words you know
• English crosswords built from the same decks, if you want a lighter way in
• 15 English cards to study right in the browser

The study side is the same as for every deck: eight game modes (including listening, sentence building and a crossword), daily goals and reminders, all free. The interface is available in Spanish.

Learning English from Real Content

Decks give you the core. The words that stay longest, though, are the ones you met in something you chose to read or watch, which is what the research on learning words in context keeps finding.

Words on Repeat can turn English content into cards with Spanish translations. Paste an article or a transcript, or a YouTube link, and the AI picks out words at your level with the sentence they came from. For a Spanish speaker, good sources are:

• BBC Learning English, especially 6 Minute English: short episodes with full transcripts, made for learners.
• News you already follow in Spanish, read in English: BBC News or The Guardian on a story you know well. Knowing the story lets you guess new words from context.
• YouTube with English subtitles: a series, a cooking channel, a tech review. The YouTube subtitle guide shows how to pull the vocabulary out.

The free plan includes a few extractions a month, which is enough to try it on one article a week.

Frequently Asked Questions