# Learning a language with a new alphabet > Yes. Alphabet lessons teach the script from zero, a few letters at a time: how each one sounds, explained in your own language and compared with a sound you already make, with audio, real example words and a short quiz. There is a course for every one of the 57 languages, including Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Devanagari, Thai and Korean Hangul. For Japanese the course covers hiragana and katakana, and for Chinese pinyin and the four tones; kanji and Chinese characters are not part of it. A new script is the first wall in Japanese, Korean, Arabic, Russian, Hindi or Thai. Until you can read it, every word is a shape to memorise. Here is how the app gets you over it, and what it does not teach. ## Why a new script slows everything down Until you can read the script, every new word is a picture to memorise rather than something you can sound out, and you cannot tell how anything is said without audio. Explanations of the sounds often assume you read English. 'Like the s in measure' only helps if English is your language; a Thai or Hindi speaker needs a comparison with a sound from their own. ## How NativePal handles it A course for the script itself, then the rest of the app at the lowest level. - **A few letters at a time.** Each course starts with how the writing system works, then teaches four to twelve letters per pack, in an order that builds on what you know. If you already read the Latin alphabet, Russian starts with the letters that look familiar, then the false friends, then the new shapes. (https://nativepal.app/features/alphabet-lessons/) - **Every sound explained in your own language.** The cards are written in the language you use the app in, one of 57, and where there is one, compare each sound with the nearest sound you already make. You hear the letter and real example words, each with its meaning and its spelling in Latin letters. - **Checked, not just shown.** A short quiz after each pack asks which letter makes a sound, how a letter changes in a given position, its other forms, how it is written in Latin letters and, if you allow the microphone, to say a word out loud. Every finished quiz counts toward your streak. - **Then real words.** Learning Scenarios and A1 reading lessons put the letters to work. In reading lessons every word can be tapped for a translation, which is also how you meet kanji and Chinese characters: one word at a time. (https://nativepal.app/features/reading-lessons/) ## What it will not do Alphabet lessons teach letters, not Japanese kanji or Chinese characters. For Japanese you learn hiragana and katakana; for Chinese, pinyin and the four tones. Reading characters fluently is a long project that no alphabet course shortcuts. There is no handwriting practice: the lessons teach you to recognise the letters and their sounds, not to write them by hand. The Serbian course teaches Cyrillic only, not the Latin alphabet Serbian also uses. Speaking questions need the microphone and a phone that can recognise the language; without them, the quiz sticks to tapping and typing. ## Your first two weeks with a new script About ten minutes a day, inside the free allowances. 1. Days 1 to 7: one alphabet pack a day, quiz included. Reread yesterday's pack before starting a new one, and play the audio on every example word. 2. Days 8 to 14: keep to one pack a day and add one Learning Scenario a day for your first greetings and numbers. 3. When the course is done: set reading lessons to A1 and read one short story a day, tapping any word you cannot sound out yet. 4. Any time: go back to a pack whose quiz went badly. Rereading the cards is free and unlimited. ## FAQ ### How long does it take to learn a new alphabet? It depends on the script. Korean Hangul is small and regular, and most people read it within a few hours to a few days. Greek takes a few days, Cyrillic a week or two, and Japanese kana a couple of weeks for each of the two scripts. In NativePal a course runs from 3 packs (Māori) to 19 (Japanese), and one pack a day is a comfortable pace. ### Which scripts can I learn in NativePal? Every script of the 57 languages: Cyrillic (Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian, Macedonian, Belarusian, Kazakh), Greek, Arabic and Urdu, Hebrew, Devanagari (Hindi, Marathi, Nepali), Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Thai, Korean Hangul, Japanese hiragana and katakana, and Chinese pinyin with its tones. Latin-script languages have courses too. ### Do I need to know English to use the alphabet lessons? No. Every sound is explained in your own language, the one you chose for the app, and compared with sounds from that language, not from English. ### Will I be able to read Japanese after the alphabet course? You will be able to sound out hiragana and katakana, including furigana and loanwords. Everyday Japanese also uses kanji, which the course does not teach; you meet them word by word in reading lessons, where every word can be tapped. ### Is learning a new alphabet free in NativePal? Yes. Every alphabet lesson is free and can be reread as often as you like. The free plan includes one alphabet quiz a day; premium removes the limit. ## More - [The best language apps for absolute beginners](https://nativepal.app/best/apps-for-beginners/) - [NativePal for absolute beginners](https://nativepal.app/for/absolute-beginners/) - [Learning from your own language](https://nativepal.app/for/learning-from-your-own-language/) - [Who NativePal is for](https://nativepal.app/for/) - [All features](https://nativepal.app/features/)