No one said that learning a new language couldn’t be fun. Everyone knows that the best, and most essential, way to really learn a language is to immerse yourself completely in that language. But before you can reasonably do so, you have to at least have a functional foundation in the language you’re hoping to master.

In this age of gaming and digital devices, the easiest way to get the foundation you’re looking for is through language learning apps and games. But there are so many out there, how can you possibly choose? Here are the top three language-learning games for you to check out as you embark on your educational journey.

1. DuoLingo. Winner of the 2013 App of the Year award, The Wall Street Journal called DuoLingo “far and away the best language-learning app!” The wonderful thing about DuoLingo is that it splits up language-learning into bite-sized lessons that feel like games. You “lose a life” when you get something wrong, and earn points for completing lessons. According to the DuoLingo website, an independent study showed that 34 hours on DuoLingo had the same educational impact as an entire semester of language courses at the university level. The best thing of all? The app is totally free. No ads, no hidden in-app purchases, just a comprehensive language-learning tool. The only drawback to DuoLingo is that it is still slightly limited in terms of its language offerings, but so far you can learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Italian, Irish, Dutch, Danish, Swedish, and English.

2. My French Coach & My Spanish Coach. Created exclusively for the Nintendo DS gaming system, My French Coach and My Spanish Coach boast that all you need is 15 to 20 minutes a day to become fluent in either of these two popular languages. The game is now deeply discounted from sources like Game Stop, and it offers nearly a dozen touchpad mini-games to sharpen your mastery of the language at your own pace, and an easy-to-use interface that makes it perfect for a gamer of any age. You can track your progress with charts that show your performance while you play games to help you learn essential vocabulary. With a Perfect 10 score in all categories, these are fantastic games to pick up if you already own a Nintendo DS.

3. Mindsnacks. Mindsnacks offer a host of educational apps for the iPhone, and they were praised by Apple for being amongst the best educational app creators in the world. Their apps include geography lessons, SAT prep, and of course, languages. Through Mindsnacks, you can learn Chinese, Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, and many others. The apps include nine addictive games that promise to be “much more fun than flipping through flash cards”, and each one of their individually sold language apps have a host of fans and supporters.

So whether you’re looking to travel abroad, or you just want to enrich your understand of the world around you through language, you can make it a fun as well as educational experience.