Linguistics

Resources To Help You Learn Any Language

Update 10/26/2022: This is an older post written before we launched our proprietary language app and Live Coaching program.

The Fluent Forever app automates flashcard creation and review sessions in 13 languages, letting you concentrate on your learning and speeding up your progress. Coaching builds on the app with one-on-one practice, offering you a faster route to fluency.

Check out our products page to download the latest app version and sign up for Coaching.

Specific language resources for other languages

In general, you’re looking for a way to learn the correct pronunciation of the language, its alphabet (if necessary), a good grammar book, and a good vocabulary book. Once you’re further along, you’ll need another grammar book and some reading material for fun.

I’m using this page to store resources for other languages as I get them. I’ll be expanding this page on a semi-regular basis and moving languages to their own pages as I research more resources.

Remember, I’ve made a base vocabulary list of 625 words to start you off! As I talk about in that article, I find it easiest to translate those words using the short dictionaries at the end of a Lonely Planet Phrasebook; they’re cheap, short, and they give you good, standard translations for your words (just ignore the ridiculous pronunciation guides).

Later, when you’re ready for sentences, you can go back to your phrasebook and grab some.

If you have more questions about studying with Anki flashcards and learning pronunciation or vocab for any language, there’s also the Anki language learners community on Reddit. You can even check out this Anki language learning blog for other Anki tips and tricks for learning any foreign language.

After that, try some of these resources:

Learn Czech

Routledge Frequency Dictionary: Reviewers note that there’s no phonetic information in this dictionary, which means you’ll have to get it elsewhere.

Pronunciation

If you’re serious about perfecting your Czech pronunciation, Timothy Cheek’s book Singing in Czech (with CD) is wonderful. I don’t know why it’s so expensive nowadays!

Learn Dutch

Update: Dutch is now available in the Fluent Forever app and as part of our Live Coaching program! You can also check out our comprehensive guide full of effective tips to learn Dutch quickly.

First off, here’s a wonderful pronunciation guide for Dutch.

A reader suggested the Frequency Dictionary, and another told us about this free frequency list with 2,000 words and this one with 2,000 to 5,000 words.

You can also access ready-made Dutch Anki decks to boost up your Dutch vocabulary – which is recommended, as it could save you time and get you started faster.

There are other places where you can find a neat set of sentences ranked according to how frequently the words within those sentences show up within the language, with Anki decks created to store them, plus Text-to-Speech recordings of each sentence and translations.

They’re a nice resource to mine for useful content. I’d suggest finishing the 625, then looking through them for new words or new grammatical constructions, and then learning those new chunks via New Word cards, New Word Form cards and Word Order cards.

Learn Greek

This is a great resource where you can type in English using your keyboard, and it will translate into Greek.

Learn Hindi

A reader recommended the book for Hindi by Living Language, especially for grammar. Another reader spoke highly of this site, particularly for ear training and writing the Devanagari script.

Another reader shared these Hindi minimal pairs with us, as well as the link to the Anki deck she made for them. Thank you, Rachel!

Learn Bosnian

This wonderful word list was created by Wilm, one of our readers.

Learn Mongolian

A reader suggested that anyone interested in learning Mongolian could make minimal pair audio flashcards from the material in this collection of videos posted on The Mongolist.

Learn Mandarin

A reader suggested the following two resources: The Chairman’s Bao, a simplified Chinese newspaper for those learning Mandarin, and Mandarin Companion, which provides easy-to-read novels in Chinese.

You can also access ready-made Mandarin Chinese Anki decks to boost up your Chinese (Mandarin) vocabulary – which is recommended, as it could save you time and get you started faster.

Learn Tamil

One of our wonderful readers got the base word list translated into Tamil – check it out here. He was also able to get a list of the verbs conjugated for first person singular in past, present, and future tense; take a look. And, to top it off, he made a Tamil pronunciation trainer!

Learn Latin

A reader recommended Practice Makes Perfect: Basic Latin (McGraw/Hill) and Wheelock’s Latin 7th Edition, by Frederic Wheelock and Richard LaFleur. She said the latter gives a great history of the language at the beginning.

Learn Swedish

There are some useful Anki flashcards for Swedish to improve your pronunciation, such as the Swedish alphabet, Swedish IPA Pronunciation flashcards, and other useful goodies.

There are other places where you can find a neat set of sentences ranked according to how frequently the words within those sentences show up within the language, with Anki decks created to store them, plus Text-to-Speech recordings of each sentence and translations.

They’re a nice resource to mine for useful content. I’d suggest finishing the 625, then looking through them in order for new words or new grammatical constructions, and then learning those new chunks via New Word cards, New Word Form cards and Word Order cards.

You can also access ready-made Swedish Anki decks to boost up your Swedish vocabulary – which is recommended, as it could save you time and get you started faster.

Learn Turkish

There are other places where you can find a neat set of sentences ranked according to how frequently the words within those sentences show up within the language, with Anki decks created to store them, plus Text-to-Speech recordings of each sentence and translations.

They’re a nice resource to mine for useful content. I’d suggest finishing the 625, then looking through them in order for new words or new grammatical constructions, and then learning those new chunks via New Word cards, New Word Form cards and Word Order cards.

Learn Polish

There are other places where you can find a neat set of sentences ranked according to how frequently the words within those sentences show up within the language, with Anki decks created to store them, plus Text-to-Speech recordings of each sentence and translations.

They’re a nice resource to mine for useful content. I’d suggest finishing the 625, then looking through them in order for new words or new grammatical constructions, and then learning those new chunks via New Word cards, New Word Form cards and Word Order cards.

Learn Vietnamese

This wonderful word list was created by Paddy, one of our readers.

(More languages coming!)

 

Try the Fluent Forever app & Coaching

Remember, you can now download the Fluent Forever app and sign up for Live Coaching to learn either language quickly and effectively.

Discover our immersive method, rooted in neuroscience, designed to take you to fluency in <30 minutes a day through four steps:

  • 1. Train your ears with pronunciation lessons.
  • 2. Learn vocabulary through images instead of translations.
  • 3. Learn grammar naturally through stories relevant to you.
  • 4. Practice your speech to fluency with native tutors.

Enjoy your language learning journey!

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