Puerto Rican Spanish is the Spanish of the island, and of many Puerto Ricans in the US mainland, about 6 million speakers in all. People there often soften the s at the end of a word and say a final r a bit like an l. Babbel's Spanish courses are Mexico and Spain, and Memrise names the same two, so a Puerto Rico course takes some looking. That leaves a few Latin American courses, two small apps with Puerto Rican phrases, and one paid course made on the island. For podcasts and tutors, see our Puerto Rican Spanish guide. Our Spanish app comparison covers Spanish in general.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Spanish. You learn from Spanish you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Puerto Rican Spanish 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.
Try asking Poppy what jugo de china is in a lesson about breakfast.
Bubblegum focuses on reading and listening. For island voices and for speaking, add the resources below.
- Lessons are written in Puerto Rican Spanish, with island words like carro, guagua and jugo de china.
- Friends use tú with each other and usted where respect fits, and Level 2 introduces questions like ¿Qué tú quieres?.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- The voices read lessons in clear standard Spanish, so you won't hear the island's soft s or its r said like l.
- Lessons are in Spanish only. They don't mix in English the way many Puerto Ricans do when they talk.
- 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™
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BoricuaSpeak: Learn Spanish began with Puerto Rican Spanish and now covers 11 regions. Its App Store page lists short lessons where you say a phrase back and get a pronunciation score, spaced-repetition review, and an AI tutor from a region, such as Carlos from San Juan. It is free to download, with paid plans, and very new, with 4 ratings so far. Find it on the App Store.
Entiende: Spanish Dialects compares everyday phrases across five countries, including Puerto Rico, Mexico, Colombia, Argentina and Spain, with speech recognition for practice. It is free to download, with paid plans, has 70 ratings, and you can find it on the App Store. Both apps teach phrases more than grammar, so pair them with a course.
Puerto Rican Spanish 101 from Spanish con Salsa costs $79 and has a 30-day money-back guarantee. It has 10 recorded dialogues between Puerto Rican speakers, each with a slow version, plus line-by-line transcripts with English translations and flashcards. Its page lists no free lessons, but it is the one course we found built around the island's speech.
Pimsleur
Pimsleur has you answer aloud after each short conversation. It's a good way to get speaking early, and you can add island audio later.
- Lessons are taught by native Latin American Spanish speakers.
- Five levels, with core audio lessons of about 30 minutes.
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Mango Languages
Ask your library whether it offers Mango. Its page doesn't say where in Latin America its speakers are from.
- Native speakers say every word in the Latin American Spanish course.
- Many public libraries and schools give their patrons full access at no cost.
- Flashcards
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Duolingo
Duolingo covers the core Spanish that Puerto Rico shares with the rest of Latin America. Island words like guagua come from other sources.
- A free Spanish course for English speakers.
- Lessons are short and easy to fit around work or school.
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uTalk
uTalk turns each topic, such as food or travel, into short games. It suits a spare five minutes.
- Its Latin American Spanish course uses voice artists from Mexico and Honduras.
- Record yourself and compare your voice with the speaker's.
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Dreaming Spanish
Dreaming Spanish is a gentle way to train your ear on clear Spanish from other countries. For voices from the island, use the podcasts in our Puerto Rican Spanish comprehensible input guide.
- Videos made for learners, from Superbeginner up to native content.
- Each guide is marked with a country flag.
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Language Reactor
Open a video by a Puerto Rican creator and replay a line when the soft s hides a word.
- Dual subtitles and a popup dictionary on Netflix and YouTube.
- Replay one line as many times as you need.
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| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | 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. |
| Pimsleur | Free trial | You can try Pimsleur free for 7 days. After that, you pay for one language or for all of them. |
| Mango Languages | Some lessons free | The first lesson of every language is free, and many public libraries give their members full access at no cost. The paid plans start with a free trial. |
| Duolingo | Free | Every Duolingo course is free. Super Duolingo removes ads and adds extras such as Unlimited Energy, and you can try it free for 14 days. |
| uTalk | Some lessons free | Every language has free starter words, and getting full marks in the games opens one more topic for free. For the rest, you subscribe or buy a language or topic. |
| Dreaming Spanish | Free version | The free plan lets you watch free videos, track your progress and save videos. Premium adds thousands of extra videos and offline watching. |
| Language Reactor | Free version | The main tools are free, such as Netflix subtitles and a basic AI dictionary. Pro Mode adds tools such as speech recognition and machine translations. |
Try a lesson in your language before you pay, to check that it works for you.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 76 | Supported language pairs |
| uTalk | 140+ | Full list |
Which Puerto Rican Spanish app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Spanish, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Pimsleur if you'd like to hear and answer in Latin American Spanish from the first day.
Is a Latin American course enough for Puerto Rico?
It gives you the shared grammar and most everyday words. Puerto Rico adds words such as guagua and zafacón, and a way of speaking where the final s is soft. Add island audio early so those sounds are familiar.
Why does Babbel not have a Puerto Rican course?
On Babbel's Spanish page the courses are Mexico and Spain. Take the Mexico one if you want a Latin American base, then add Puerto Rican audio.
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
- Wikipedia: Puerto Rican Spanish (about 6 million speakers, soft final s, final r like l, Taíno words)
- Bubblegum: Puerto Rican Spanish lessons
- BoricuaSpeak on the App Store (free, 11 regions, AI tutor, pronunciation score)
- Entiende: Spanish Dialects on the App Store (five countries including Puerto Rico)
- Babbel: Learn Spanish (Spanish (Mexico) and Spanish (Spain))
- Memrise: Learn Spanish (Spain and Mexico)
- Pimsleur: Latin American Spanish (native Latin American speakers, five levels, 7 days free)
- Mango Languages: Latin American Spanish (native speaker audio)
- Mango Languages: pricing (first lesson free, library access)
- Mango Languages: home page (free through many libraries)
- Duolingo blog: what is vosotros (the course teaches ustedes)
- uTalk: Latin American Spanish (voice artists from Mexico and Honduras)
- Speaking Latino: Puerto Rican Spanish words (zafacón, jugo de china)
- SpanishDict: guagua (bus in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean)
- Spanish con Salsa: Puerto Rican Spanish 101 course
- Dreaming Spanish: guides listed by country
- Dreaming Spanish: FAQ (videos for learners, levels)
- Language Reactor: Chrome Web Store listing (dual subtitles and popup dictionary on Netflix and YouTube)
- Duolingo on the App Store (free offer)
- uTalk on the App Store (free starter words)
- Dreaming Spanish: premium plan
- Language Reactor: home page (free features)
- Language Reactor: Pro mode
- Bubblegum
- Duolingo
- uTalk
- Language Reactor
