Method, science, and practical advice to learn a heritage language.
Why is it so hard to learn a heritage language when you grew up elsewhere? What method actually works? A complete guide on language transmission, grounded in cognitive neuroscience.
Read the guide →From Kabyle to Lingala, from Wolof to Tamil: a tour of greetings, with pronunciation and usage context. The first word to reconnect with your roots.
Read the guide →The best-documented learning technique by research, explained simply. How Ebbinghaus's forgetting curve transformed language teaching — and why Dialect uses it.
Read the guide →Which app should you choose to learn Kabyle (Taqbaylit)? An honest comparison of what really exists: native audio, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Algerian Darija? An honest comparison of what actually exists: native voices, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →What an AI does well to practise Darija, what it still gets wrong (mixed dialects, synthetic voices), and the method that combines both.
Read the guide →Which app should you choose to learn Moroccan Darija? An honest comparison of what actually exists: native voices, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Tunisian Arabic (Derja)? An honest comparison of what actually exists: clear audio, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Chaoui (Tachawit)? An honest look at a near-empty landscape, and why Dialect offers 100% native audio.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Rifain (Tarifit)? An honest tour of a nearly nonexistent field: native Rifian voices, spaced repetition.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Tachelhit (Shilha), the Amazigh language of Morocco's Souss? An honest look at a thin field.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Wolof? An honest comparison of the options: everyday vocabulary, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Wolof, Lingala, Bambara, Fula, Malagasy, Darija, Kabyle: choose from your family or your destination, and what a good app should offer.
Read the guide →Which app should you choose to learn Fula (Pulaar, Fulfulde)? An honest comparison: flashcards, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Lingala? An honest comparison of what really exists: clear audio, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Bambara (Bamanankan)? An honest comparison: flashcards, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn spoken Tamil? An honest comparison: everyday Tamil, Latin transcription, clear audio, spaced repetition.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Turkish? An honest comparison of Duolingo, Babbel, Mondly and Dialect: grammar course or everyday family words.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Vietnamese? An honest comparison of Duolingo, Mondly, Memrise and Dialect: tones, quốc ngữ, spaced repetition.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Kurmanji Kurdish? An honest comparison: words recorded by a native speaker, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Which app should you choose to learn Guadeloupean or Martinican Creole? An honest comparison: native voices, spaced repetition, 5-minute sessions.
Read the comparison →Breton is missing from Duolingo and Babbel: an honest tour of what really exists for Brittany's Celtic language.
Read the comparison →Which app for Malagasy, the Austronesian language of Madagascar? An honest comparison of the real options, with clear audio and spaced repetition.
Read the comparison →Read the cartouches and understand ankh, nefer, hotep: an honest comparison of grammars, courses and apps for Ancient Egyptian.
Read the comparison →Books, tutors, immersion or an app: an honest comparison of every way to learn Wolof, and how long each one takes.
Read the guide →What each method is really worth for learning Kabyle (Taqbaylit), from the free 7000 Languages course to daily practice.
Read the guide →The Berber language of the Aurès has almost no material in English. An honest inventory of what exists, and how to start.
Read the guide →Why Duolingo's Arabic won't help you in Tunis, what the alternatives are, and a realistic timeline for conversational derja.
Read the guide →Methods compared, the role of Congolese rumba, and the free FSI course that remains the most complete material in English.
Read the guide →Where Lingala is spoken (DR Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, the diaspora), where it comes from, how it is written with ɛ and ɔ, and first words in Harvey's voice.
Read the guide →Kabyle, Tarifit, Tachelhit or Chaoui: what “Tamazight” means, how to choose the Berber language of your family, Tifinagh or Latin letters, and where to start.
Read the guide →Our language pages: Kabyle · Algerian Darija · Moroccan Darija · Tunisian · Chaoui · Rifain (Tarifit) · Tachelhit · Wolof · Fula (Pular) · Lingala · Bambara · Tamil · Turkish · Vietnamese · Kurdish · Creole