The best European Portuguese vocabulary app depends on where you want your words to come from. Practice Portuguese teaches words through its Portugal dialogues, Drops gives you picture word sets, and Anki holds cards you write yourself. This page compares how each app gets words to you, how it brings them back, and what stays free. For courses, tutors and speaking, see our European Portuguese app comparison.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn European Portuguese. You learn from European Portuguese you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your European Portuguese lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so that you can review words in new contexts without having to use flashcards.
- Lessons are written in European Portuguese, so the words you save come from Portugal's spelling.
- Ask Poppy about a sentence while you read.
- Saved words come back in new lessons through Regenerative Review™, and you can send them to Anki too.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- The read-aloud voices are general Portuguese voices, not voices picked for Portugal.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches European Portuguese
Mobile
Practice Portuguese
Practice Portuguese suits learners who want to follow a course and save useful phrases to review later.
- The course is built for European Portuguese, with audio and translated subtitles on its dialogues.
- Smart Review lets you save phrases and practice them later.
- Flashcards
- Teaches European Portuguese
MobileWeb
Drops
Drops teaches European Portuguese words one topic at a time. It suits visual learners who want a ready-made list.
- Drops has a European Portuguese course of its own.
- Each word comes as a picture with its audio, and a short game follows.
- Teaches European Portuguese
Mobile
uTalk
uTalk gives you a topic, such as food or travel, with each word shown in English and Portuguese.
- Topic word lists come with recordings by native speakers.
- Record yourself and compare, then play memory games that come back to the words you missed.
- Teaches European Portuguese
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- GoospeakA European Portuguese app with vocabulary, a personal dictionary and flashcards next to its courses. It downloads free and sells in-app purchases.
- Mil PalavrasA browser app with common European Portuguese words and your own translations. Save a useful sentence to your cards in one tap. The site says it is free.
- AnkiMake cards with a Portuguese word, its English meaning and your own sentence or sound. Anki does not come with a Portugal word list, so you supply the words. Desktop Anki and AnkiWeb sync are free, and AnkiMobile on iPhone costs $24.99 once. For help setting up decks, read [Is Anki good for language learning?](/blog/is-anki-good-for-language-learning).
| App | Word source | Review | Sentence and audio | English help | Free boundary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Lessons Poppy writes | Saved words return in new lessons | Words appear in new sentences | Partly | Lessons by other learners are free to read; unlimited custom lessons need Pro |
| Practice Portuguese | Dialogues in its European Portuguese course | Smart Review | European Portuguese audio and translated subtitles | Yes | Free download; the full course and review need a subscription |
| Drops | Topics made by Drops | Games and Quiz | Pictures and audio | Yes | Free play is timed; Premium removes the limit |
| uTalk | Topics made by uTalk | Memory games | Native-speaker recordings | Yes | Starter words free; full course paid |
| Goospeak | Course words and a personal dictionary | Flashcards | Audio with words and phrases | Translations | Free download with purchases |
| Mil Palavras | Common words and your own translations | Cards | Not confirmed | Yes | Free, in your browser |
| Anki | Cards you make | SM-2 or FSRS | Only if the card has them | Your own cards | Desktop and AnkiWeb free; AnkiMobile paid once |
If you read European Portuguese before you save words, our European Portuguese comprehensible input app comparison covers reading and listening apps.
Which European Portuguese vocabulary app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning European Portuguese, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or choose Drops for a ready-made picture list. Choose Anki if you want to make your own cards from the Portuguese you meet.
Can I keep the sentence a Portuguese word came from?
In Practice Portuguese, the words come from dialogues with audio and translated subtitles. Mil Palavras lets you save a sentence to your cards in one tap. An Anki card carries a sentence only if the card holds one, whether you wrote it or imported the deck, and Drops shows each word with a picture and audio.
Will these apps teach Portugal's words or Brazil's?
Drops, uTalk and Practice Portuguese each have a European Portuguese course. The Brazilian Portuguese vocabulary comparison covers the other variety, which spells and says many words differently.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Drops: European Portuguese
- Drops: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- uTalk: Portuguese course
- uTalk: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Practice Portuguese: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- European Portuguese Goospeak: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Mil Palavras: European Portuguese
- AnkiMobile: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Anki: what's free
- Anki manual: scheduling and cards
- Bubblegum
- Practice Portuguese
