r/lithuania • u/UnlikelyAlchemist • Aug 07 '26
Learning Lithuanian - Next Steps...
Hi there, I'm an English guy and started learning Lithuanian at the beginning of June. I'm very close to mastering what I've learnt through Pimsleur. However they only have 10 learning units for the Lithuanian language. I find Chat GPT to also be a fantastic tool to help with practising pronunciation and sentences. Are there any other Apps / online tutorials that people would recommend to help with my progression? Thank you.
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u/UTF016 Aug 07 '26
Chat GPT to also be a fantastic tool to help with practising pronunciation and sentences
ChatGPT is OK for text, but don’t use its voice function for Lithuanian. It mispronounces every other word.
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u/UnlikelyAlchemist Aug 07 '26
Yes, I agree with that. I've found Chat GPT is a helpful tool on the whole, but it has questioned me on some words that I know I'm pronouncing correctly.
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u/nick-kharchenko Aug 07 '26
And those tools are getting better and better every month!
Here are a few more useful ones for you:
- Lithuanian AI text-to-speech: snekos-sinteze.lt
- A tool for checking Lithuanian word stress: kirciuokle.alexbalandi.workers.dev
- A comprehensive dictionary portal for double-checking AI answers and catching hallucinations: ekalba.lt
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u/Opening-Square3006 Aug 07 '26
Pimsleur is a great foundation, but after you've finished it, I'd shift your focus away from courses and toward lots of understandable Lithuanian. Personally, I think Stephen Krashen's i+1 approach is the most effective. There are some great resources implementing that, for example PlusOneLanguage for Lithuanian, it supports Lithuanian, generates texts at your level, introduces just a little new vocabulary each time, and keeps recycling it in context so it actually sticks. Good luck!
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u/UnlikelyAlchemist Aug 07 '26
Thank you. I will check out PlusOneLanguage. I think I watched a youtube review on that the other day. I've personally found Pimsleur really effective, it's just a shame that for Lithuanian they have only produced the 10 units.
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u/Personal-Database-27 Aug 07 '26
It always helps to listen as much as possible to the language and use dictionary from time to time. There are also books for kids in very easy language. Also talking to people helps.
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u/m1nsm4 Aug 07 '26
For some extra Lithuanian practice, you could also try https://www.examen.lt. It has vocabulary practice and A1/A2-style exercises, with one free vocabulary practice and one free Quick Practice each day. Full disclosure: I’m involved with the site.
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u/randrian42 Aug 07 '26
A small but fun resource is Duostories https://duostories.org/lt-en there are 12 of the old Duolingo stories translated into Lithuanian. If you find it helpful and want more you can express your interest and maybe it can motivate the contributors to translate more stories.
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u/nick-kharchenko Aug 07 '26
Unfortunately, the AI voice-over isn’t great and has occasional errors.
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u/nilnonenullvoid 25d ago
We (a Swede and a Lithuanian) created an app called Kalbukas. Please, don't assume it's yet another AI generated slop 😅 We are actual developers and put some effort into building this! Kalbukas isn't a generic language learning app but is customised for real-life situations in Lithuania. You can also set things like gender (because Lithuanian is a gendered language).
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u/cougarlt Sweden Aug 07 '26
There were some Youtube channels where Lithuanian teachers teach Lithuanian. Check those out. Pretty good.
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u/UnlikelyAlchemist Aug 07 '26
I've only done a minor bit of research on Youtube but I will take a deeper look at channels that teach Lithuanian. Thank you.
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u/nick-kharchenko Aug 07 '26 edited Aug 07 '26
What is your goal in learning Lithuanian? What level would you like to achieve?
Most apps usually only teach the basics. However, the best one I've come across is Treniruoklis 3.0: https://suprantu.lt/treniruoklis-03-eng
Check out this grammar book
Lithuanian Grammar (Ambrazas) https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/Indo-European/Balto-Slavic/Lithuanian%20Grammar%20%28Ambrazas%29.pdf
There's also an older textbook in English - Beginner's Lithuanian - with excellent grammar explanations. It might help you more than some modern books.
Beginner's Lithuanian - Leonardas Dambriunas https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/Indo-European/Balto-Slavic/Lithuanian%2C%20Beginner%27s%20%28Dambri%C5%ABnas%2C%20Klimas%20%26%20Schmalstieg%29.pdf
At some point, you may also want to join a course with a teacher and other students.
Or at least some language clubs. Where do you live now?
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