NativePal for absolute beginners
Starting a language with nothing is mostly a question of where to begin and what to ignore for now. Here is how the app handles the first weeks, and which parts to leave until you can form a sentence.
Starting a language with nothing is mostly a question of where to begin and what to ignore for now. Here is how the app handles the first weeks, and which parts to leave until you can form a sentence.
Short answer
Yes. Learning Scenarios are guided beginner chats in which a character teaches greetings, numbers, introductions and everyday basics step by step, with no prior knowledge assumed. Reading can be set to A1, vocabulary lessons come in five-word sets, and the app interface, explanations and feedback are available in your own language. Leave Speaking Practice and the Daily Challenge for a few weeks: they assume you can already form sentences.
Most apps either drop you into open conversation, which is useless before you have any words, or into a course that spends the first month on things you will not need. Beginners need a small, guided start: a few phrases, said aloud and corrected, then a few more.
The other beginner problem is the explanation language. If the app explains Japanese grammar in English and English is your second language, you are learning two things at once.
A guided start, and the rest of the app set to the lowest level.
Speaking Practice and the Daily Challenge assume you can already produce sentences. Try them after a few weeks of scenarios and reading, not on day one, or the feedback will be discouraging rather than useful.
There is no dedicated alphabet course and no placement test. For a language with a new script, expect to learn the characters alongside, using the audio on every word, and set your level yourself (A1 to start).
Ten minutes a day, all inside the free allowances.
Not for Latin-script languages. For a new script such as Japanese, Korean, Arabic or Thai, you will be learning the characters alongside; tap words for audio and use the transliteration where the app shows it. A dedicated character course is not part of the app today.
All 57, with Learning Scenarios and A1 reading available in each. The interface can be set to any of the 57 languages as well, so you can learn from your own language.
Speaking Practice and the Daily Challenge are, at first, because they ask you to produce sentences. Learning Scenarios, A1 reading and five-word vocabulary lessons are not. Start there and add the speaking features after a few weeks.
Free to start and free to keep using, with a daily allowance on each feature: one reading lesson, one vocabulary lesson, one new scenario or chat with five messages, and unlimited flashcard review, among others. No account is needed.
Duolingo is the better habit-builder and a fine first month. NativePal gives you guided scenarios, reading at your level and, later, scored speaking. Many beginners use both; the comparison page explains the trade-offs.
Guided scenarios, A1 reading and five-word lessons, in your own language.
Free to start. No account needed.