I just want to share a message for everyone who is just starting out: the LingQ system really works, please don’t give up.
I reached C1 level in Russian in about 3–4 years, and I can honestly say that around 75% of my progress came from LingQ, with the remaining 25% coming from speaking with native speakers and receiving feedback (which you can now also do with LingQ’s new AI, thought with native speakers is always more interesitng ).
I’m currently also learning Chinese with LingQ, and I’m confident that in 2–3 years I’ll be fluent as well.
As Steve always says, the key is to find content you genuinely enjoy and study it every day. Treat it like a video game, get hooked, and in the end, your brain naturally absorbs the language.
Thank you to Steve and the entire LingQ team, you have literally changed my life with this platform. Without LingQ, I would never have learned Russian or had all the great opportunities I’ve had in my life.
When I was studying Russian, I listened and read in small chunks of time (on the metro, while doing the dishes,etc). My system was to first listen to and read a lesson at the same time, noticing and lingqing new words, and then later just listen to the audio without the text many times while doing other things, and also i did a bit of flashcards everyday.
My Russian isn’t perfect and I have an accent, but I consider myself quite fluent. I can watch movies, talk to people, and understand about 90–95%. Here’s a video of me speaking Russian, maybe it can inspire someone.
It was never really about whether the LingQ system works or not. The real challenge is convincing people that it works better than artificial dialogues, Duolingo-style exercises, or traditional grammar-first lessons.
LingQ is radically different because it rejects the idea of shortcuts. Instead, it’s built on sustained reading and listening, engaging with real language, clicking through unknown words, and occasionally clarifying grammar—sometimes with tools like ChatGPT (that’s what i prefer at least) .
Yes, the process takes time and effort. But it’s precisely this slow, cumulative exposure that leads to genuine retention. With enough meaningful input, understanding solidifies, and once understanding is in place, language production begins to emerge naturally rather than being forced.
I have learned Tagalog from scratch using LingQ. It’s not a popular language but I’m glad I stumbled upon LingQ searching for tools to learn Tagalog. I communicate with my girlfriend everyday. But now I can switch between English and Tagalog. Also I have picked up Japanese again with LingQ and understand the language a lot more than before. When I tried learning it many years ago, I just didn’t understand what worked for me. I also didn’t understand what consistency is. LingQ just became part of my daily routine. I listen while I do my work deliveries. I read when I get home. It just takes effort to learn. But learning something you have uploaded and is interested in learning makes it more enjoyable.
I think a lot of new people are discouraged from using LingQ because it forces them to read. Read a lot. I don’t even like reading myself. But I forced myself to read so I can learn Tagalog.
These training / learning tools are only going to get better as well. I only use the free stuff and so far haven’t noticed much high quality from ai learning yet but I am sure it will come. Technology has moved us on. Years ago, depending on the language but for us it was always the same, you would have to learn in a classroom and get shouted out for forgetting a conjugation. I dont know why people are complaining about LingQ - its free - at least the LinQ I use is free. I am learning Ukrainian and haven’t set any outlandish goals so 2-3 years to even understand and string a basic conversation together would be fine. The average human does not want to be punished when learning and the average human remembers things better if they were enjoying themselves when they were learning it. Its common sense. The technology, the choice of materials, and access is the difference.
LingQ as a concept is brilliant, especially if one’s impulse is to engage real language of one’s choice as soon as possible through reading/listening, which suits my learning style. I’ve read 2.5 million words and learned much French using LingQ.
As software it is poorly designed, poorly programmed and poorly maintained, hence the annoying user experience and constant bugginess. Users become beta testers.
Most online apps including Duolingo are pretty much junk, and based on the same simple translation model. LingQ is a genuinely useful app, brilliant idea, when it works, it’s great, but it’s buggy.
My advice for beginners is find a good set of graded videos for beginners, and import them into LingQ.
Haven’t tried the PC version. I mostly use Mac desktop, but find the iPhone mobile is better for going through the lists of new vocabulary quickly, and for reading books with really long sentences.
I find the iOS apps for both iPad and iPhone to be great. I wish the iPad allowed you to quickly lingq the vocab for a lesson the way you can on iPhone, but otherwise I have no complaints.
I primarily do audio and text only (audiobooks, articles, podcasts) so I don’t know how they work for YouTube. I tend to use the desktop Mac for YouTube
I know that some people simply don’t enjoy reading, even in their own native language. That said, when it comes to learning a foreign language, it almost goes without saying that reading plays a huge role. I honestly don’t believe it’s possible for an adult learner to reach a high level of accuracy by relying solely on speaking and parroting what they hear. That approach might help you get by, but it rarely adds up to a deep, well-rounded command of the language.
For me, pairing reading with listening—working through a text while hearing it at the same time—is non-negotiable. Yes, babies obviously pick up language without ever cracking open a book, but that comparison only goes so far. Adult learners, teenagers, and even children learning a new foreign language don’t start from a blank slate, and they shouldn’t learn as if they do. From my own experience and from what I’ve seen around me, reading isn’t just helpful—it’s essential.
In the long run, I think this is exactly where the gap opens up between people who truly get a language and those who only scrape by. Some learners may have a natural edge, but consistent reading is what really tips the scales and makes the difference.
I would even add that this isn’t true for learning a foreign language only, but in ones mothertongue, too. There is a clear difference between the way people are using their language if you compare those who read a lot with those who doesn’t. I am always surprised that people tend to consider beeing a native speaker as equal to beeing good in a language.
I have a polish colleague, and her German is better than what I have heard from some natives. And in forums such as these those who appear to be native speakers aren’t always those who seem to have the best understanding of what others, native or not, wrote. Although this may also be caused by an unwillingness to understand
So long story short: reading as much as one can is an essential thing to do, whether or not one is learning a foreign language.
And to those who don’t like reading: We dislike doing things we aren’t good at. But the more we do something, the better we become at it and the more we can start enjoying it. I am lucky I got parents that forced me to read, even though I hated it as a kid. It’s the best thing they could do to me in hindsight.
There are languages where the spoken and written languages are quite different. For example Finnish which I study. If you get good at reading books in such language and hear every day spoken language, you maybe don’t understand much.
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