ForeignLanguage Graded Readers vs Lingosphere
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ForeignLanguage Graded Readers
Learn languages through engaging short stories tailored to your proficiency level. Expand vocabulary and improve comprehension in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian, or English with controlled language and authentic dialogues. Designed for enjoyable self-study or classroom use.
- Eight short stories per collection
- Controlled language at your level
- Authentic spoken dialogues
- Vocabulary lists
- Chapter summaries and comprehension questions
- Variety of genres
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Read for pleasure at your level and learn a foreign language the fun way! Teach Yourself Short Stories by Olly Richards is a series of easy graded readers for adult and young adult language learners. Featuring eight unmissable short stories for beginners, high-beginners and intermediate learners, the series is available in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian and English. “Olly's top-notch language-learning insights are right in line with the best of what we know from neuroscience and cognitive psychology about how to learn effectively. I love his work - and you will too!” - Barbara Oakley, PhD, Author of New York Times bestseller A Mind for Numbers Expand your vocabulary and improve your comprehension in an enjoyable and natural way: Read in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian or English and improve your language learning skills! The Short Stories collection is designed to give you a sense of achievement, a feeling of progress and most importantly - enjoyment! Each foreign language reader gives you: • Eight stories in a variety of exciting genres, from science fiction and crime to history and thriller - making learning fun, while you acquire a wide range of new vocabulary • Controlled language at your level, including the 1000 most frequent words, to help you progress confidently • Authentic spoken dialogues, to help you learn conversational expressions and improve your speaking ability • Accessible grammar so you learn new structures naturally, in a stress-free way • Vocabulary lists so you can quickly look up unfamiliar words without interrupting your flow. • Chapter summaries and comprehension questions to help you follow the plot and understand the story. • Enjoyment! It's much easier to learn a new language when you're having fun, and research shows that if you're enjoying reading or listening in a foreign language, you won't experience the usual feelings of frustration – “It's too hard!” “I don't understand!” The Beginners collection is for students from high-beginner to low-intermediate level (A2-B1 on the Common European Framework of Reference). Intermediate is for low-intermediate to intermediate learners (B1-B2)! You can also purchase a sample to read a story before you buy the full collection. Discover the joy of being entertained in a foreign language, while learning new skills at the same time – Short Stories for Beginners in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Russian or English! These stories are Ideal for self-study, as well as in the classroom as supplementary learning material. If you are interested in using this content with your students, contact learningsolutions@teachyourself.com What the experts say: “As researchers in language acquisition, we need to study people like [Olly Richards]”. -Stephen Krashen, Emeritus Professor, University of Southern California “Olly's advice on language learning is the real deal, and I recommend you pay attention to what he has to say!” - Benny Lewis, Fluent in 3 Months “When we wanted to create a free online course on how to learn a language we asked Olly to write it with us”. - Dr Tita Beaven, The Open University “Learning a language is challenging, but it's one of the best things you can do for your brain and your learning skill set... Olly Richards is doing some seriously incredible work to empower more and more people to rise to the challenge”. - Jonathan Levi “Olly bridges the gap between theory and practice by helping you to use scientific principles to get real results with your language learning”. - Anthony Metivier, Magnetic Memory Method
Lingosphere
Engage in daily language quiz challenges to test your vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension. Compete against learners worldwide on real-time leaderboards and track your progress across multiple difficulty levels. Earn badges and build streaks to showcase your language mastery.
- Daily language quiz challenges
- Global leaderboards
- Vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension tests
- Adaptive difficulty levels
- Streak and badge system
- 10+ languages supported
- Bite-sized learning sessions
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Think you know Spanish? Ready to prove your French is better than everyone else's? Lingosphere is the language challenge that puts your skills to the real test — and ranks you against learners worldwide. Unlike passive learning apps, Lingosphere throws you straight into the deep end. Each quiz session challenges your vocabulary, grammar, and comprehension across 10+ languages including Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Arabic,Hindi and more. Every correct answer earns you points. Every streak keeps you climbing the leaderboard. Find out exactly where you stand Not sure if you're a beginner, intermediate, or advanced? Lingosphere's quiz engine adapts across difficulty levels so you get a true picture of your language ability — not just a certificate that says you completed a lesson. Compete. Win. Repeat. The global leaderboard resets the stakes every day. Your score today could put you at the top — or make you fight your way back up tomorrow. Earn badges, build streaks, and track your rise through the ranks. - Instant challenge — no setup, no lengthy onboarding - Perfect for learners who want quick, competitive practice instead of long lessons. - Global leaderboards updated in real time - 10+ languages with hundreds of questions per language - Daily streaks and badges to keep you sharp - Bite-sized sessions that fit into any schedule - No subscription required to start competing How far can you go?
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Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: Lingosphere at 5.0 against ForeignLanguage Graded Readers's 3.3. Lingosphere also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 5) and update cadence (every 6 days vs every 6 months). ForeignLanguage Graded Readers's advantage is ratings volume (27 vs 1). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. ForeignLanguage Graded Readers sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Lingosphere asks for nothing beyond the download.
Lingosphere holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ForeignLanguage Graded Readers has 27 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.
ForeignLanguage Graded Readers ships an update every 6 months, Lingosphere every 6 days. The most recent releases landed on October 10, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ForeignLanguage Graded Readers | Lingosphere |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.3 (27 ratings) | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 35.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 27 — better | 1 |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 6 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.6 | 15.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 94 MB | 43 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 12+ |
| Developer | Hachette UK (Holdings)Limited | DRIFTLINE LABS LLC |
Customer experience
ForeignLanguage Graded Readers
Lingosphere
In-app purchases
ForeignLanguage Graded Readers
- Pack of 2 Credits$1.99
- Pack of 11 Credits$10.99
- Pack of 13 Credits$12.99
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- Pack of 15 Credits$14.99
- Pack of 65 Credits$64.99
Lingosphere
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is ForeignLanguage Graded Readers free?
Is Lingosphere free?
Which has better reviews, ForeignLanguage Graded Readers or Lingosphere?
Do ForeignLanguage Graded Readers or Lingosphere have ads?
Which is updated more often, ForeignLanguage Graded Readers or Lingosphere?
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