# The best apps to learn Hindi > For Hindi specifically, NativePal is the strongest all-round pick: it generates reading at your level, tracks vocabulary with spaced repetition, and scores your pronunciation on individual sounds. Add Anki if words are not sticking, Pimsleur if you want hands-free audio, and italki or HelloTalk when you need a real person to talk to. Duolingo remains the best option if your problem is consistency rather than method. There is no single best Hindi app, only the best one for the gap you are trying to close. Here is what each of these does well, what it does badly, and what learning Hindi actually demands. ## The shortlist ### 1. NativePal — Best all-round practice loop The only app here that covers levelled reading, vocabulary with spaced repetition, pronunciation scored down to individual sounds, and conversation in one place. Free to start with a daily allowance. *Where it falls short:* If you only want one narrow thing — pure audio, or pure flashcards — a specialist below will do that one thing better. ### 2. Duolingo — Best for building a daily habit Nothing is better at getting you to open an app every single day. The streak mechanic works, and a habit you keep beats a better method you abandon. *Where it falls short:* Gamification can substitute for progress: long streaks often coexist with weak speaking and reading ability. ### 3. Anki — Best for raw vocabulary retention Free, open source, and the best spaced-repetition scheduling available anywhere. If your problem is that words do not stick, this is the tool. *Where it falls short:* It is a flashcard engine, not a course: no lessons, no speaking practice, no curriculum, and you have to build or download decks yourself. ### 4. italki — Best for lessons with a real teacher A marketplace of human tutors, which no AI matches for catching the thing you did not know you were doing wrong. A good teacher beats any app, including NativePal. *Where it falls short:* You pay per lesson and have to schedule them, so it works best as a weekly anchor rather than daily practice. ### 5. Pimsleur — Best for hands-free audio A disciplined audio method that makes you speak aloud from the first lesson. Genuinely usable while driving, walking or cooking, which is time most people cannot otherwise study in. *Where it falls short:* Very little reading, and the fixed lesson order means you cannot skip ahead to what you actually need. ### 6. HelloTalk — Best for talking to native speakers Puts you in text and voice contact with actual native speakers, with a genuinely usable free tier. Real conversation with real people, at no cost. *Where it falls short:* It is a social app, not a course, and the quality of any exchange depends entirely on who you match with. ### 7. LingQ — Best for reading volume A large comprehensible-input library plus the ability to import your own articles, videos and books, with unknown words tracked as you read. *Where it falls short:* The interface is dated and it does very little for pronunciation or structured beginner grammar. ## What to look for in a Hindi app Moderate to hard — logical script, unfamiliar grammar. Consonants carry an inherent vowel and marks are added around them. The script is regular and most learners read it within a few weeks. The US Foreign Service Institute budgets around 1100 hours of instruction — roughly 44 weeks full-time — to reach professional working proficiency in Hindi. Whichever app you pick, that is the scale of the commitment for full fluency; conversational ability arrives much sooner. Hindi proficiency is measured with CEFR, so it is worth choosing an app that pitches material at a level rather than a single generic difficulty. ### What makes Hindi difficult - **Split ergativity**: In completed past tenses the subject takes the marker ने and the verb agrees with the object instead. English has nothing like this, and it catches out even advanced learners. - **Postpositions and verb-final order**: Hindi puts the verb last and places its equivalent of prepositions after the noun, so "in the house" comes out as "house in". - **Two genders with agreement everywhere**: Every noun is masculine or feminine, and adjectives and verbs both agree with it, so gender errors ripple through a whole sentence. - **Aspirated and retroflex consonants**: Hindi distinguishes क from ख and dental त from retroflex ट. English speakers usually cannot hear these pairs at first, yet they separate unrelated words. - **Three levels of "you"**: तू, तुम and आप mark intimacy, familiarity and respect, each with its own verb forms, so you must judge the relationship before you speak. See also: [full guide to learning Hindi](https://nativepal.app/learn/hindi/). ## FAQ ### What is the best app to learn Hindi? For an all-round practice loop — levelled reading, vocabulary with spaced repetition, and pronunciation scored down to individual sounds — NativePal. If you need one specific thing instead, Anki is better for retention, Pimsleur for hands-free audio, italki for lessons with a human teacher, and Duolingo for building a daily habit. ### How long does it take to learn Hindi? The US Foreign Service Institute puts Hindi at roughly 1100 hours of instruction, about 44 weeks full-time, to reach professional working proficiency. Simple conversation comes far sooner, typically within the first few months of consistent daily practice. ### Is Hindi hard to learn? Moderate to hard — logical script, unfamiliar grammar. Consonants carry an inherent vowel and marks are added around them. The script is regular and most learners read it within a few weeks. ### Can I learn Hindi for free? Yes, to a point. NativePal is free to start with a daily allowance across reading, vocabulary and speaking practice. Anki is fully free and open source but supplies no lessons. HelloTalk's free tier lets you talk to native Hindi speakers at no cost. A free stack works; it just requires you to assemble it. ### What is the best way to practise speaking Hindi? Read aloud against something that scores you, so you find out which sounds are wrong instead of drilling them in. NativePal's teleprompter grades individual vowels and consonants, stress and rhythm, fluency and connected speech, and its 60-second daily challenge adds freeform speaking. For conversation with a person, italki for paid lessons or HelloTalk for free exchanges. ## More - [All app comparisons](https://nativepal.app/compare/) - [All supported languages](https://nativepal.app/languages.html) - [Proficiency levels explained](https://nativepal.app/levels/)