Czech first · five more languages
Lingvalla writes short stories about your life, at your level. Tap any word you don't know. It goes into your word hoard, and your next stories bring it back until it sticks.
Android first. iPhone follows.
Try it: tap a word
How it works
No grammar drills and no cartoon owl. Just stories you want to read, and a memory system that does the remembering for you.
Pick a situation, like a night at the pub, food shopping or a meeting at work, or let the skald surprise you. The story is written for your level and your life: your job, your family, your hobbies.
Every word has its translation and dictionary form built in, so tapping is instant, even offline. Hear it spoken, or translate the whole sentence when you're stuck.
Every word you tap is kept in your hoard, by its dictionary form, so bolelo, bolí and bolet are one word to learn, not three.
Quick quizzes come back to each word just as it's about to slip away: spaced repetition, the most reliable memory technique there is. A few minutes a day is enough.
Then the loop closes: your next sagas weave in the words you're learning, so you meet them again in a new story, which is how words really stick.
Features
A few optional questions about your job, family and hobbies, and the stories are about your life. The words you learn are the ones you'll actually use.
From first words (A1) to nearly fluent (C1). Lingvalla estimates your level from how you read, and the stories grow with you.
Natural narration for every sentence, and any word on its own. Train your ear as well as your eyes.
Read, tap and train on the tram or on a plane. Everything syncs when you're back online.
Set how hard you'll raid this week, and the coaches keep you honest, with dry Viking humour. A missed day can be made up.
Czech, Danish, English, French, German and Spanish. Learn any of them from any other, with a separate longhouse for each.
The Forge
Lift, rest, read, repeat. Every rest between sets brings two quick quiz cards or the next episode of a story written for this workout.
Voyage is Lingvalla hands-free, for runs, rides, the treadmill or cooking dinner. Just listen, use your earphone buttons, or say "repeat" or "explain" when you're lost.
Why Lingvalla
Lingvalla started with one expat in Czechia who could order a beer but couldn't follow the conversation once it arrived. The apps taught grammar tables; what was missing was volume: lots of real words, met again and again, in stories worth reading.
So the stories are personal, the grammar labels stay out of the way, and every word you tap is a word you'll meet again.
Pricing
Every story is written just for you, and that has a real cost, so Lingvalla isn't free. It is cheaper than a single lesson a month.
€4.99 / month
€9.99 / month
Short sagas count as 1, medium as 2 and long as 3. Re-reading, training and your hoard never count. Launch prices, including VAT. You subscribe through Google Play or the App Store and can cancel there at any time.
FAQ
Czech, Danish, English, French, German and Spanish, from any of the others. Czech gets the most attention for now. The app itself is in English or Czech.
An AI model writes each story for you, with the translations and dictionary forms built in, and narration is generated the same way. They're very good but not perfect. If something looks wrong, tell us.
Your account and learning data are stored on our server in London. To write your stories, your level, your hoard words and the profile details you choose to share are sent to OpenAI, which doesn't use them for training. We don't sell data or show ads. The privacy policy has the details.
Yes. Subscriptions run through Google Play or the App Store, and you cancel there. You keep your plan until the end of the period you've paid for, and your hoard stays yours.
Yes. Your latest unread stories are saved ahead, and reading, tapping and training all work without a connection. Everything syncs when you're back online. Writing a new story needs a connection.
Yes. Your account also works in the browser at app.lingvalla.com, with the same stories and hoard.
Android comes first, iPhone after. Join below, choose iPhone, and we'll tell you when it's ready.
Beta
We're looking for our first testers on Android. Leave your email and we'll send you an invite.
Lingvalla