Stories, audio, and videos can all help you learn Arabic when you can follow what they mean. That is the idea behind comprehensible input: learning from Arabic you can mostly understand. Modern Standard Arabic is the Arabic people learn in school and use in books, the news, and formal speech, while everyday talk happens in a local dialect. So there is plenty of Modern Standard Arabic to read, and learners say easy videos in it are harder to find.
These apps and sites give you Arabic at your level, or help you follow the Arabic you pick yourself. Much of the Arabic made for learners is on websites and YouTube channels, so a section near the end lists those. For courses, speaking practice, and tutors, see our Arabic app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
Learn Modern Standard Arabic with a path made just for you. Start with your level, what you like, and why you want to learn. Your path grows as you learn, with new lessons that fit you. Bubblegum also has news and stories, so you can read and listen to a mix of Arabic about music, food, family, or daily life. Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic are journeys of their own too.
Poppy, your AI tutor, writes each lesson for your level, interests, and goals. If a sentence is hard to follow, just ask her to explain the words or the grammar.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum can't help you read or watch Arabic you found yourself. For a show, an article, or a book you already picked, the tools in Read and Watch Arabic You Choose are the better fit.
- Read and listen to lessons, news, and stories about things you like.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so you review them by reading instead of using flashcards.
- Ask Poppy for help as you read.
- Lessons and audio are made with AI, so pair them with recordings of Arabic speakers, like the videos and podcasts below.
- You cannot bring in your own books, articles, or shows.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn.
- Regenerative Review™
- Teaches the Arabic Alphabet
Mobile
Read Free Arabic Storybooks
Booktime
Booktime is a library of illustrated books from the Hindawi Foundation. Its Arabic shelves have classic tales retold in Arabic, such as Oscar Wilde's stories, along with adventure series and books about animals and places. Picture books are an easy first step, because the pictures help you follow along.
- More than 2,000 free Arabic books, from comics and picture books to chapter books.
- Each book shows how many words it has, so you can start with short ones.
- Read and listen offline in the app.
MobileWeb
Read Two Languages Side by Side
Beelinguapp
Beelinguapp's side-by-side view works with Arabic text that runs right to left. It suits beginners who want to read whole stories before they can follow them alone.
- Read Arabic beside a language you know, and check the other side when you get stuck.
- Native speakers read each story aloud, and the text moves along with the audio.
- Classics, fairy tales, news articles, and children's books for several levels.
- Flashcards
Mobile
Read and Watch Arabic You Choose
These tools help you learn from shows, videos, articles, and books you pick yourself. They suit learners who know the basics and already know what they want to read or watch.
LingQ
LingQ's Arabic library starts with 62 beginner Mini Stories in Levantine Arabic, and one course gathers comprehensible input videos from Arabic All The Time.
- Read and listen to Arabic lessons from its library, or import YouTube videos, articles, and books.
- New words and words you are learning are highlighted, and words you know are left plain.
- Review words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
Readlang
Readlang is a reader for the Arabic you find yourself, from news sites to stories you paste in.
- Tap a word or short phrase on an Arabic web page to see what it means.
- Read texts that other learners have shared in its Arabic library, or upload your own.
- Review saved words with flashcards.
- Flashcards
- Doesn't teach the Arabic Alphabet
WebBrowser extension
Language Reactor
Language Reactor works on Netflix and YouTube, so you can also use it with the YouTube channels below. It is free to install, with paid extras.
- Find Netflix titles made in Arabic that match your vocabulary level.
- See Arabic subtitles beside a translation, and look up words as you watch.
- Pause and replay one line when it goes too fast.
- Doesn't teach the Arabic Alphabet
Browser extension
More Arabic to Watch, Hear, and Read
Arabic All The Time has more than 390 comprehensible input videos in Modern Standard Arabic and Levantine Arabic, sorted into five levels from A1 to C1. More than 90 of them are free, and a membership opens the rest. On YouTube, Arabic Comprehensible tells stories in Modern Standard Arabic and Saudi Arabic, and Learn Arabic with Khasu makes easy vlogs and podcasts in Modern Standard Arabic only. Arabic Comprehensible Input is a newer channel with videos for complete beginners.
For reading, Al Jazeera Learning Arabic has free articles at seven levels, from introductory to proficiency. Each article lists its key words in English, and you can turn the vowel marks on. Easy Arabic News has graded news in Modern Standard Arabic at three levels, with audio for the beginner articles. For picture books, StoryWeaver has 527 Arabic stories sorted by level, and Storybooks Canada has 40 Arabic stories at five levels, each with audio.
The Sahlawayhi graded stories were written for adults learning Arabic. They go from beginner to intermediate, and the author reads them aloud. When you can follow longer talks, the Lesan Podcast teaches Arabic to non-native speakers through stories, articles, and interviews, all in Arabic.
Learn Arabic in Your Language
These counts cover menu-language choices, including script variants. Other apps’ counts and full lists come from their iPhone listings, except Language Reactor (Chrome Web Store) and Readlang (its help forum). Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Booktime | 1 | Full list |
| Beelinguapp | 22 | Full list |
| LingQ | 17 | Full list |
| Readlang | 1 | Full list |
| Language Reactor | 27 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (8)
- ReelangMore than 40,000 short videos posted by Arabic speakers, sorted from A1 to C1 and by kind of Arabic, including Modern Standard Arabic. Tap a word in the captions to see what it means. It is new and growing.
- I Read ArabicMore than 1,000 Arabic books for children, each one read aloud, with games and quizzes that check what you understood.
- 3asafeer SchoolLeveled Arabic stories, cartoons, and songs for children, with a guided path for students who are not native speakers.
- KutubeeMore than 1,200 Arabic and English picture books for children, chosen by educators, with a feature that reads the stories aloud.
- Hekayat BelarabyMore than 500 illustrated Arabic stories for children, from Juha's funny tales to stories of the Prophets, which you can download and read offline.
- IqraalyMore than 2,000 Arabic audiobooks read by professional narrators, from novels by Naguib Mahfouz to children's stories. Its books are made for Arabic speakers, so they suit advanced learners.
- Arabic Reading and Audio BooksTwelve classic Arabic books chosen for beginners, with audiobooks you can play in the background.
- ReadArabicStories and news for levels A1 to B2, with words you can tap to translate. It is new and growing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to learn the Arabic alphabet first?
Yes, if you want to read. Arabic has 28 letters, written from right to left, and most letters have four shapes depending on where they sit in a word. Bubblegum's free Arabic Alphabet course teaches them in 11 short chapters, right in your browser. You can watch videos for complete beginners while you learn the letters.
Should I learn Modern Standard Arabic or a dialect?
Pick the one that fits your goal. Modern Standard Arabic lets you read and be understood across the Arab world, and a dialect lets you join everyday talk in one country or region. If you want a dialect, see our pages on Egyptian Arabic and Moroccan Arabic.
Why do most Arabic texts leave out the vowel marks?
Modern Arabic writing has dropped the marks for short vowels, so readers fill them in from the words they know. You still see the marks in the Qur'an, in classical texts, and in many books for children and learners, which makes reading aloud easier when you are starting out.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. The lesson library is free for everyone, because we believe everyone should be able to learn. It holds lessons that other learners asked Poppy for. A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so you can ask Poppy for a free one, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
The Arabic Alphabet course on this site is also free and needs no account.
Sources
- Comprehensible Input Wiki: Arabic (Standard)
- Duolingo: What makes Arabic hard (and why that shouldn't stop you from learning it)
- Arabic learner discussion: CI resources for MSA
- Busuu: The Arabic alphabet, all the letters explained
- Arabic All The Time: Arabic comprehensible input videos
- Arabic All The Time: Pricing
- Al Jazeera Learning Arabic
- Easy Arabic News: About
- StoryWeaver: Arabic stories
- Storybooks Canada: Arabic stories
- Audible: Sahlawayhi 1, graded stories for adult learners of Arabic
- Lesan Podcast with Salem Al-Qahtani
- Bubblegum
- Booktime
- Beelinguapp
- LingQ
- Readlang
- Language Reactor
Checked on October 8, 2026 against each app's own pages.
