Lithuanian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages.
It is one of the two remaining Baltic languages, the other being Latvian. It is the official language of Lithuania and is spoken by over 3 million speakers worldwide.
There are many reasons to learn Lithuanian: traveling to Lithuania, exploring Lithuania’s rich culture and history, connecting with native speakers, or simply being interested in the language. Whatever your reasons are, identifying resources that fit your learning style and learning needs is important.
If you want to take on the challenge of learning Lithuanian and understand what makes it unique, you need quality learning resources. We’ve tried and tested various Lithuanian resources to come up with a list of the best apps, courses, lessons, tutors, and others to help you narrow down your options. Buckle up!
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Resources for Lithuanian Language Learning
From apps and podcasts to textbooks and Skype classes, there’s no shortage of ways to teach yourself Lithuanian.
Lithuanian Classes and Language Exchanges
There’s nothing like a real person to help you master tricky concepts and correct mistakes. If you work with a tutor, you can either use your classes and homework as your main study method or combine this with some of the other resources in this guide. Alternatively, language exchanges are a great way to put what you’ve been studying into practice.
Lithuanian Language Tutors
italki is one of the biggest databases of tutors out there, and when it comes to Lithuanian, it doesn’t disappoint. While some competitor brands have yet to recruit a single Lithuanian tutor, italki has a handful for you to choose from.
On this platform, teachers set their own prices, have public reviews, and offer trial classes. You can also use the website’s notebook and forums to ask questions and get feedback on your writing (although responses aren’t guaranteed). Find out more about italki in our review here.
Another good option for Lithuanian tutors is Preply. It has a good number of tutors available, and its features are very similar to italki, in many areas the user interface is better than italki. Changing teachers is easy, which is a plus.
If you’re not a fan of Preply or italki, Justlearn has one Lithuanian language tutor at the time of writing this article.
Lithuanian Forums, Q&As, and Native Corrections
With the freemium app HiNative, you can ask native speakers questions about Lithuanian. We’ve covered its features and user-friendliness here.
The Talk Like Antanas writing course will give you access to a Lithuanian Facebook group where you can complete five writing tasks every month. Antanas, a native speaker, will give you corrections on them. You can post questions in the group, too.
You’ll also find Lithuanian content on the WordReference Forums, although responders might not be fluent.
Lithuanian Language Exchanges
The apps HelloTalk, Speaky, and Tandem will let you connect with native speakers and language learners across the world. Since these are language exchanges, people might expect you to alternate between Lithuanian and other languages that you’re fluent in. Take a look at our reviews for more information (HelloTalk, Speaky, Tandem).
You can also use italki to find language exchange partners, in addition to the tutors, forums, and notebook corrections.
Learn Lithuanian Apps and Lithuanian Language Courses
While popular courses like Duolingo, Babbel, and Rosetta Stone don’t have Lithuanian courses, there are lots of alternatives for you to choose from.
Ling Lithuanian will feel familiar to Duolingo users. It will help you pick up the language through example dialogues, quizzes, and spaced repetition. There’s plenty of content: it takes you all the way from basic introductions to making wishes and discussing outer space. We wouldn’t use it on its own, but it’s a good supplementary option – especially if you want to learn while on the go.
Pimsleur will get you used to speaking Lithuanian and could help improve your spoken word recall. You’ll need to pair it with something to teach you grammar, but we were pleasantly surprised by how good their program is.
Glossika will also get you speaking Lithuanian quickly, although we think it’s more suited to lower-intermediate learners than complete beginners. We were also disappointed by some of the errors.
There’s a large assortment of unofficial Lithuanian Memrise courses, ranging from the general 21-lesson Colloquial Lithuanian to the ultra-specific 60-lesson Lithuanian nouns with pitch accent. If you’re struggling with your Lithuanian grammar, you’ll be relieved to see a few courses on conjugation and declension. You might want to try a few of these courses: since these are user-made, the quality will vary. Oh, and check out our Memrise review if you have any questions.
I Kinda Like Languages has two introductory-level Lithuanian courses. We like the way it combines grammar explanations with drilling. While there’s limited content and no listening or speaking practice, it’s a good introduction to the language.
Mondly is another Duolingo-esque app that will teach you Lithuanian. It has a lot of beginner-level content, and on first inspection, we liked its gamification approach to language learning. Despite this, we found it quickly became monotonous.
Debesėlis has a 156-lesson Lithuanian course for beginners and lower intermediates (A1–B1) as well as a grammar course targeted at upper-intermediate and advanced learners (B2–C1). For now, it’s completely web-based, although the company says they’re working on an app. We’re a fan of how comprehensive it is but aren’t convinced by its value for beginners: the lessons are brief, contain no practice activities, and don’t explain pronunciation.
Talk Like Antanas has a 30-chapter beginner Lithuanian course and a 20-chapter intermediate one. Both are delivered in Lithuanian, however, so you might want to start with something like Ling Lithuanian, I Kinda Like Languages, or Pimsleur instead.
Instant Immersion bills itself as being “as good as Rosetta Stone for a fraction of the cost!” We haven’t been able to try it out, but since it’s still quite pricey and there isn’t a free trial, we recommend giving some of the other courses a go first. After all, even if it’s a well-designed product, without a free trial you won’t be able to tell if it suits your learning style.
Lithuanian Language Courses to Avoid
You might come across adverts for Lithuanian language courses with Transparent Language, Cudoo, and 17 Minute Language. However, we recommend avoiding all these options.
In our experience, Transparent Language is repetitive and dull, not to mention that the learning material is full of gaps. Don’t expect to be able to create sentences or speak unassisted after using this rather expensive course.
As for 17 Minute Languages, it’s let down by its many errors and one-language-fits-all approach. The only thing we liked was the native-speaker audio.
Cudoo may not teach you everything listed on the course description pages, but that’s far from this Lithuanian course’s biggest issue. It also lacks practice opportunities, doesn’t give explanations or breakdowns, and despite teaching you very little, somehow still manages to teach you too much too fast.
Lithuanian Vocabulary Builders and Word Games
Feel like you’re getting a hang of the grammar but don’t have enough vocabulary for a full conversation? That’s where word lists and vocabulary games come in handy.
TrueLithuania.com has a succinct phrase list with common beginner-level words, along with explanations on how to form numbers.
Loecsen has 17 themed word lists that you can study. We like that not only does it have audio recordings of the words but that you can also record yourself saying them.
50 Languages has 100-word lists for you to choose from, complete with audio recordings. Toggle between the “show” and “hide” options to test your memory.
Learn Lithuanian Free is an extensive vocabulary builder and phrasebook. You can drill the material with multiple-choice games, spelling and listening tests, speed tests, match-the-word games, and a mixed tests option that draws on all the other games.
Clozemaster tests your ability to recognize the missing word from a random sentence. While it doesn’t adapt to difficulty, it will help you improve your word recall rather than just your word recognition. You can also use the multiple-choice option to make it a little easier. We think it’s a great option for upper beginners and lower intermediate learners.
Babadum will test your spelling as well as your word recall. You’ll see a series of pictures and will then have to select the right letters from a selection at the bottom in order to spell the correct word. Some pictures can be hard to recognize, but Babadum helps you out by telling you how many letters it should include.
Just going for a short trip? Try uTalk, a phrasebook with a series of built-in memorization games. Some of the drills are more challenging than others – you really have to know the phrases to succeed at the memory game. We like that you can record yourself and listen to two native speakers, one male and one female.
We’ve already mentioned the courses hosted on Debesėlis. It also has over 200 Lithuanian word lists. Many are too short to be useful, but if you search through them, you’ll find some highly specific lists that might come in handy. Bear in mind that you’ll need to find your own way to drill them, however – there are no in-built flashcards, games, or even pronunciation guides.
You can use Anki to create your own flashcards. This app is well-loved by language learners for two reasons: one, it adapts to how difficult you find the word. Two, it has a large range of shared user-created decks that you can search through. For example, this Basic Lithuanian set has over 1,600 flashcards.
Online Lithuanian Conjugators and Grammar Tools
Cooljugator has 4,400 Lithuanian verb tables, meaning it can help you double-check you’ve conjugated them correctly, spot if a verb is irregular, and understand the differences between būsiu and būčiau.
Vytautas Magnus University has several tools, including an Accentuator and Morphological Annotator.
If you’re familiar with Python, Gramtool is a useful option for understanding affixes and grammatical functions.
Podcasts and Audio Courses for Learning Lithuanian
The Lithuanian Out Loud podcast is no longer updated but has nearly 300 back episodes that you can choose from.
Real Lithuanian Podcast is hosted on Patreon and will give you access to short stories and podcasts in exchange for your monthly support. Talk Like Antanas is another Patreon-supported Lithuanian podcast. Both provide transcripts.
Flyent will let you listen to five Lithuanian texts online for free before asking you to purchase additional ones and/or gain access through inviting friends or heavy usage.
The Colloquial Lithuanian audio clips are designed to accompany the textbook of the same name. Some of them can stand alone, however, and all 50 tracks are available online.
Lithuanian YouTube and TV
Whether you want to study grammar or simply practice your listening, there are plenty of options on YouTube.
The frequently updated Lithuania For You has over 160 videos lessons and counting. Take a look at the playlists to help you get started.
Talk Like Antanas has fewer videos for you to choose from but the easy-to-follow explanations draw praise from language learners. The series on cases is a good resource to bookmark.
When you’re ready to progress to YouTube content and TV designed for native and fluent, try Žinių radijas: the YouTube channel for the news and talk show radio. It’s updated multiple times a day and the language is relatively learner friendly. Most videos are between 20 and 45 minutes, but there are some that fall outside that range.
If you want to challenge yourself with slang, try the entertainment channel LaisvėsTV. Their clips range from 5 minutes up to an hour.
Do you live for business interviews and insights? Proto Industrija will keep you entertained while helping you pick up new vocabulary.
You can also watch Lithuanian television shows online courtesy of the public broadcaster Lithuanian Radio and Television (LRT).
