Not much Bosnian is made for learners, so the Bosnian you read and hear at first comes from a handful of places. Look for comprehensible input, which is Bosnian you can mostly follow.
Courses, tutors and word apps are in our full Bosnian app comparison.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Bosnian. You learn from Bosnian you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Say you visit relatives in Sarajevo next summer and want to follow the table talk. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes a Bosnian lesson about a Sunday lunch at your level, and the words you save return in new lessons. Lessons are in Latin letters.
- Pick a topic and a level, and Poppy writes the Bosnian to match.
- Each lesson has AI audio to play while you read.
- Tap a word to see what it means, or ask Poppy to explain a whole line.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn your own Bosnian books into lessons. However, you can paste a page in the chat, and Poppy will explain it.
- Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read.
- Regenerative Review™
Mobile
EasyBosnian
EasyBosnian is a course made for Bosnian only. Read a lesson while you play its audio, and then play it again without reading. It is new and growing, so check a few lessons first.
- 120 lessons across six levels, from A1 to C2, with audio.
- Each level ends with a test.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- 50LANGUAGES100 short lessons with Bosnian text and audio, at about the A1 and A2 levels, on the website.
- Learn Bosnian - LentilBosnian phrases for everyday situations, with on-screen text that follows the audio as it plays.
- 17-Minute Languages400 bilingual texts in Bosnian and English, from A1 to C2, narrated sentence by sentence. You pay once, with no subscription.
Naš jezik, a free beginner textbook from Columbia University, opens each lesson with short Bosnian texts to read. Lesson 1 has recordings of its reading texts, and lessons 2 to 10 each have a listening exercise. Play a recording, say the words along with it, then read the text aloud. The book teaches Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian side by side and marks the words that belong to only one of them, so look for the Bosnian marks.
The Learn Bosnian podcast has 22 short, simple episodes that start with the basics, so it suits you when you know a few words. SBS Bosanski has news, radio programs and podcasts in Bosnian, made for Bosnian speakers, so expect natural speed. Pick a story you already know from the news in English, and listen for the names and numbers first.
N1 Bosna i Hercegovina, Klix.ba, Oslobođenje and the Bosnia and Herzegovina section of Radio Slobodna Evropa write news in Bosnian. We didn't find a news site written in easy Bosnian, so start with the headline and the first lines of a story you have already followed in English.
| What You Can Follow | Try This | You're Ready to Move On When |
|---|---|---|
| A few words and phrases | Bubblegum Level 1 lessons, or Naš jezik lessons 1 to 10 with their recordings | You can say who is talking and what they want |
| Short sentences | EasyBosnian lessons with audio, or 50LANGUAGES lessons | You can retell a lesson from memory |
| Slow, clear audio | The Learn Bosnian podcast, or 17-Minute Languages stories | A podcast episode makes sense before you open the transcript, or you can retell a story |
| Short stories and messages | Bubblegum lessons at Levels 3 and 4, about things you like | You follow a lesson without looking up more than a few words |
| Real news | A headline and first lines on N1 or Klix.ba, then SBS Bosanski | You can say what the story is about |
Menus in your language don't always mean Bosnian explained in your language, so try one lesson before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| EasyBosnian | 1 | Full list |
| 50LANGUAGES | 55 | Full list |
| Learn Bosnian - Lentil | 46 | Full list |
| 17-Minute Languages | — | — |
Which Bosnian app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Bosnian, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. If you'd rather start with audio, try the Learn Bosnian podcast. If you'd rather read first, try the lessons on EasyBosnian.
Can I learn from Croatian and Serbian shows and books?
Yes, with some care. Speakers of Bosnian, Croatian and Serbian understand one another, and Naš jezik is built so that learners can follow all three. You will notice small differences, like šta (what) in Bosnian and in Croatian. Serbian often uses a different spelling too, so Bosnian news and podcasts are the safest place to start.
How much of a text should I understand?
Read a few sentences. If most have about one new word and you can still tell what's happening, it's a good level. If you can't, pick something easier.
Does LingQ have Bosnian?
LingQ's language list has Croatian and Serbian, and no Bosnian. If you want to import your own Bosnian article or video into an app, look for one that lists Bosnian before you pay.
Is Bubblegum free?
Yes. Lessons Poppy wrote for other learners are free for everyone to read. Custom lessons cost us money to make, so you need Bubblegum Pro for unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- UCLA Department of Slavic Languages: Background Information (Bosnian)
- Columbia University Language Resource Center: Naš jezik (20 lessons, audio for lessons 1 to 10)
- Columbia University Language Resource Center: Naš jezik, About
- EasyBosnian: free Bosnian course (120 lessons with audio)
- 50LANGUAGES: Bosnian for beginners (100 lessons with audio)
- 17-Minute Languages: 400 bilingual stories, Bosnian and English
- Learn Bosnian - Lentil: iPhone App Store listing (audio and text together)
- Learn Bosnian podcast: Apple Podcasts
- SBS Bosanski: news, radio programs and podcasts in Bosnian
- N1 Bosna i Hercegovina: news
- Klix.ba: news
- Oslobođenje: news
- Radio Slobodna Evropa: news
- LingQ: languages (Croatian and Serbian, no Bosnian)
- LingQ: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- 50LANGUAGES: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Bubblegum
