Free Lingq

[Leonides Suttle]

Iam an open source developer that was involved in writing core parts of Moodle. Now interested in focusing more on languages and building tools for helping with effective innovative tools to help language learners and am thinking how I can contribute interesting tools to augment lingq which is already a great tool I am using myself to learn Polish.

Thousands of hours of language learning content to choose from in 42 languages, including audio and video, with full transcripts. Import content from your favourite sites and create personalized lessons.

How does your LingQ profile look like? Not pretty. I know I say that about most language learning apps, but LingQ is somehow both plain and complicated. You have no idea where to go first or where to search for anything. It took me ages to find out whether I could study a few languages simultaneously.

How many languages are available on LingQ? The LingQ pool is quite large. Currently, it offers 17 languages, from the most popular choices like Spanish and German to more exotic ones like Greek and Ukrainian.

Are all languages represented equally? What about different script systems? Rephrasing Orwell, all languages are equal, but some languages are more equal than others.

That said, LingQ teaches Pinyin, but it doesn't really make you good at the Mandarin written script, for instance (although Chinese speakers praise the quality of LingQ content as such). The platform still does a good job of trying to balance out the languages.

What about the learning content? The basis of any LingQ course is reading comprehension. Therefore, the app is a bit problematic for language learners who haven't had any prior contact with the language.

All lingqs or unknown words are added to flashcards (one of the most workable vocabulary-building tools in my opinion). Reviewing words and handy phrases take place at intervals, and you receive alerts when it's time for review.

Note: Speaking of flashcards, if you want to know the five best flashcards apps for language learning, then you'll find them here at, "The Five Best Flashcards Apps for Language Learning - Are They Good Enough?"

Which of the four language skills does LingQ focus on? As you probably got from my description of a typical LingQ lesson, the platform is primarily concerned with reading and listening. Speaking and writing only enter the spotlight if you acquire a Premium subscription and start taking online lessons with native speakers.

You can use multiple dictionaries when reading. The embedded dictionary feature per se is quite rare (also offered by FluentU), but LingQ takes it to a new level. The platform allows you to look up the same word in a few sources without leaving the platform.

You can import lessons and content from external sources. If you have YouTube videos, podcasts, or songs that you enjoy in the target language, feel free to add them to your LingQ materials (the precondition is that this content has a transcript).

Copyright and quality issues. When I first signed up, I found it fantastic that users could upload fresh learning materials and learn a language using them. I still love this perk. Yet, LingQ could do better in terms of controlling for errors on user-uploaded content and checking for plagiarism/copyright concerns.

While either option gives you access to all the languages (both the ones currently available and the ones in the making), the paid plan allows you to import content and provides you with an unlimited number of lessons, allows for editing texts, downloading materials, using the app offline, and enjoying loads of extras.

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