Ling and Lingofly: how they differ and which to choose
Ling carries the rare languages: of the fourteen checked here it is missing three — Maldivian, Basque and Valencian. For you the difference is not the list and not the language of instruction — Ling is written in English. It is the genre and the writing: its lessons are scenarios, and its own language table marks writing lessons for only part of the list. Below: the table language by language, and where Ling is stronger.
The languages side by side
| Language | Ling | Lingofly |
|---|---|---|
| Armenian | yes | 4060 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Georgian | yes | 4042 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Kazakh | yes | 4039 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Serbian | yes | 4047 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Slovenian | yes | 4051 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Maldivian | no | 4066 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Sinhala | yes | 4049 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Tamil | yes | 4052 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Greek | yes | 4008 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Basque | no | 3960 words |
| Catalan | yes | 3960 words |
| Valencian | no | 3960 words |
| Turkish | yes | 4057 words, with audio, the script explained |
| Spanish | yes | 4061 words, with audio |
- Eighty languages, and the rare ones are among them. No course at all: Maldivian, Basque and Valencian.checked against the primary source
How the approach differs
Writing
Armenian, Georgian, Sinhala and Tamil begin with unfamiliar signs. In Ling’s own language table, writing lessons are marked for Armenian, Georgian and Greek — and not marked for Serbian, Slovenian, Tamil and Turkish; Kazakh and Sinhala are on their site but absent from that table altogether. Here every sign has its own page with audio, a breakdown and the words it appears in, plus a tracing drill.
Maldivian, Basque and Valencian
Ling does not have the language of the Maldives, and it does not have Basque or Valencian either: both /learn-language/basque/ and /learn-language/valencian/ answer 404, and neither name is in its list of eighty. Here all three are complete — Maldivian with the Thaana alphabet right to left, Basque and Valencian with a dictionary, a phrasebook and grammar.
What we are not going to claim
Ling is written in English, and so is its help centre, which says you can learn any of its languages from any other. So “the explanations come in a second language you do not know” is not an argument we can make to you, and we are not going to invent one. We have not opened the app, so we say nothing else about the language of instruction either.
What to measure
The number of languages says little on its own. What matters is what you get in yours: how many words, whether every one of them has audio, whether the script is taught from zero, and whether there are texts to read. Those four measures separate the two sets much more than the language count does.
Where Ling is stronger
Ling has many times more languages — eighty against our sixteen — and for a good number of them it remains the only app in existence. Its recordings are read by real speakers rather than synthesised, and it is right to insist on that. If you need a language we do not have, that is almost certainly where to look.
Which to choose
Need a language we do not have — go to Ling; its list is five times longer. Need to learn to read first — here the alphabet is a section of its own, with audio on every sign and a tracing drill, and for most languages Ling has nothing of the kind.
Frequently asked
Is Maldivian in Ling?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Ling’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Maldivian in full: 4066 words, with audio, the script explained, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.
Is Basque in Ling?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Ling’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Basque in full: 3960 words, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.
Is Valencian in Ling?
No. As of September 18, 2026, Ling’s catalogue has no such course at all, from any language. We have Valencian in full: 3960 words, a phrasebook and grammar in plain words.
What to use instead of Ling?
Need a language we do not have — go to Ling; its list is five times longer. Need to learn to read first — here the alphabet is a section of its own, with audio on every sign and a tracing drill, and for most languages Ling has nothing of the kind. This site has 14 languages: every one with an audible alphabet, words by topic, a phrasebook and grammar — free, with nothing to install.