24 languages in small steps

24 languages

• 🇦🇲Armenian⁨Հայերեն⁩ · Aybuben — the Armenian alphabet, 39 letters, created in 405 AD · with recorded voices
• Western Armenian⁨Արեւմտահայերէն⁩ · Aybuben — the same Mashtots letters, 38 in classical spelling; some consonants read differently than in Eastern Armenian · beta
• 🇬🇪Georgian⁨ქართული⁩ · Mkhedruli — 33 letters with no capitals, plus the Mtavruli heading style · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇰🇿Kazakh⁨Қазақша⁩ · the Cyrillic alphabet, 42 letters, nine of them exclusively Kazakh · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇷🇸Serbian⁨Српски⁩ · two equal alphabets: Vukovica (Cyrillic) and Gajevica (Latin) · with recorded voices
• 🇸🇮Slovenian⁨Slovenščina⁩ · the Gajevica Latin alphabet with č, š, ž · with recorded voices
• 🇲🇻Maldivian⁨ދިވެހި⁩ · Thaana — written right to left, with vowels as obligatory marks · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇱🇰Sinhala⁨සිංහල⁩ · the Sinhala script: rounded signs where a vowel is written as a mark on the consonant · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇱🇰Tamil⁨தமிழ்⁩ · the Tamil script: 12 vowels, 18 consonants and their combinations · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇬🇷Greek⁨Ελληνικά⁩ · the Greek alphabet, 24 letters — the ancestor of Latin and Cyrillic · with recorded voices
• Basque⁨Euskara⁩ · the Latin alphabet, 27 letters; h is always written and almost never heard · with recorded voices · beta
• Catalan⁨Català⁩ · the Latin alphabet, 27 letters, with ç and the punt volat in l·l · with recorded voices · beta
• Valencian⁨Valencià⁩ · the Latin alphabet, 27 letters — the same as Catalan, but without vowel reduction · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇵🇱Polish⁨Polski⁩ · the Latin alphabet, 32 letters, nine of them with diacritics: ą, ć, ę, ł, ń, ó, ś, ź, ż · beta
• 🇹🇭Thai⁨ไทย⁩ · the Thai script: 44 consonants in three classes, vowels written around the consonant, and a syllable tone that is worked out, not written · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇸🇦Arabic⁨العربية⁩ · an abjad of 28 letters: short vowels are not written, the line runs right to left, and the letters join into one shape · beta
• 🇮🇱Hebrew⁨עברית⁩ · the square Hebrew script, 22 letters: vowels are not written in ordinary text, and the line runs right to left · with recorded voices · beta
• 🇮🇷Persian⁨فارسی⁩ · the Arabic script, 32 letters: short vowels are not written, the line runs right to left, and four letters are its own invention (پ چ ژ گ) · beta
• 🇵🇰Urdu⁨اردو⁩ · the Arabic script, 38 letters: short vowels are not written, the line runs right to left, and six letters are its own invention (ٹ ڈ ڑ ں ھ ے) · beta
• 🇺🇿Uzbek⁨oʻzbekcha⁩ · a Latin alphabet of 29 units: 24 letters without c and w plus the digraphs oʻ, gʻ, sh, ch, ng — and the mark ʼ, which is not counted as a letter · beta
• 🇹🇷Turkish⁨Türkçe⁩ · the Latin alphabet with six letters of its own: ç, ğ, ı, ö, ş, ü · with recorded voices
• 🇪🇸Spanish⁨Español⁩ · the Latin alphabet with ñ and the digraphs ch, ll · with recorded voices
• 🇺🇦Ukrainian⁨Українська⁩ · Cyrillic, 33 letters — a new alphabet to learn, but a fully phonetic one · beta
• 🇷🇺Russian⁨Русский⁩ · the Cyrillic alphabet, 33 letters — a new script to learn, but a fully phonetic one · with recorded voices · beta

How we differ from an ordinary phrasebook

Alphabets you can listen to, words by topic — food, directions, money — ready-made phrases for talking and grammar explained in plain words. 24 languages, and for half of them there is still almost nowhere online to simply hear how they sound.

• Everything here can be played. Click a word or a letter and hear how it sounds. Works on any phone, nothing to install.
• We do not invent numbers. If the page says “this many words are enough for conversation”, there is a link to the study it comes from. Where researchers themselves are unsure, we say so.
• We don't promise miracles. “Learn a language in a month” does not happen. In a month at 30 minutes a day you can learn to read the letters and remember about a hundred words — that really is a lot, but it is not yet a language.
• The app is exactly the same. The same words, the same sound, the same order — just with games and reminders.

A course can be assembled for your goal

An ordinary course is one for everybody: first “hello”, then colours, then family. What you need may be entirely different — talking to a doctor, taking orders in a café, speaking with your in-laws. Say it in your own words and the course will be built around that: the words, examples and lessons you need. Whatever the language lacked will be collected for your task, and the app will name the hour the program will be ready.

• 🎯A course for your own goalHow it works and what it costs
• 🏫For schools and teachersYour own program on our platform

Why the lessons here are short

It is better to learn a little but often: up to 30 minutes a day, split into a few short sittings, give more than the same minutes in one session once a week. And a word should be reviewed not whenever, but right before you forget it — then it stays for a long time. We work out that moment for you. Here is what this rests on:

• Studying a little every day gets more into your head than spending the same total time in one sitting.checked many times
  Donovan & Radosevich, 1999, Journal of Applied Psychology 84(5) · 63 studies compared, difference d = 0.46 — a sizeable figure for a learning effect.
• Recalling beats re-reading. Covering the translation and trying to remember it does more than reading it ten more times.checked many times
  Adesope, Trevisan & Sundararajan, 2017, Review of Educational Research 87(3) · 188 experiments, 272 comparisons. g = 0.61; against plain re-reading 0.51, against passive review 0.93.
• The longer you want to keep a word, the longer the gap before reviewing it can be. To hold it for a week, review it after a day or two; to hold it for a year, after about three or four weeks.checked many times
  Cepeda et al., 2008, Psychological Science 19(11) · Over 1,350 participants, tested after delays of up to a year. The best gap is about 20–40% of the target interval when you need to remember for a week, and 5–10% when for a year.
• A material reward promised for doing a task lowers the wish to take it up of your own accord once the reward is gone. Praise for what was done, on the contrary, keeps that wish alive.checked many times
  Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, Psychological Bulletin 125(6) · 128 experiments. A material reward promised in advance and the time later spent on the task by free choice: d = −0.44 for finishing, −0.40 for taking part, −0.28 for performance; a reward unrelated to the task, −0.14, not significant. Praise: +0.33.

Next

• ArmenianArmenian — Indo-European family, about 6–7 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: Aybuben — the Armenian alphabet, 39 letters, created in 405 AD.
• Western ArmenianWestern Armenian — Indo-European family, about 1–2 million speakers, almost all in the diaspora (estimate, Ethnologue).
• GeorgianGeorgian — Kartvelian family — no relatives outside it, about 3.7 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: Mkhedruli — 33 letters with no capitals, plus the Mtavruli heading style.
• KazakhKazakh — Turkic family, about 13–14 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: the Cyrillic alphabet, 42 letters, nine of them exclusively Kazakh.
• SerbianSerbian — Indo-European family, about 9–12 million speakers, depending on how you count (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: two equal alphabets: Vukovica (Cyrillic) and Gajevica (Latin).
• SlovenianSlovenian — Indo-European family, about 2.5 million speakers (estimate, Ethnologue). Script: the Gajevica Latin alphabet with č, š, ž. This site has 4051 words and 25 letters with audio.