For Hausa you can mostly understand, start with Bubblegum's custom lessons, NKENNE's captioned audio, Memrise's videos, or the free picture stories on Storybooks Nigeria. That is comprehensible input: reading and listening while you can still follow the meaning. Hausa news and full radio programmes give you more to choose from once you know the basics.
Try about one unfamiliar word per sentence while the meaning stays clear. Start with short sentences; later, use the clues in longer passages to work out new words. This is a practical starting guide. Choose something simpler if you keep losing the meaning. For phrase practice and language exchange, see the broad Hausa app comparison.
Custom Lessons Made for You
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Hausa. You learn from Hausa you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, what you want to read about. She writes a lesson that fits what you can understand, with help close to the sentence. Pick a familiar topic, such as a family visit or a football match, and ask her about a part that is unclear.
Hausa is available in Bubblegum on Android 28.2. As of October 11, the iPhone update that adds Hausa is awaiting App Store review.
The trade-off is that Bubblegum cannot open a story or video you already found. For an existing picture book, use Storybooks Nigeria; for a radio programme, listen on the broadcaster's own site.
- Read and listen to Hausa lessons made for your level and interests.
- Stories and news give you more Hausa about things you care about.
- Ask Poppy to explain the words and grammar in a sentence.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, so review gives you more reading.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You cannot import your own books, articles, or videos.
- A new custom lesson costs us real money to make, so your first one is free, 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™
Mobile
Follow Audio With Captions
NKENNE
NKENNE suits learners who want a lesson to guide their listening. Use the captions to find a short part you can follow, hear it again, then try listening without reading that part. A course's whole recording can be longer than the passage you choose to practice.
- Hausa audio lessons have captions that follow the recording.
- Download lessons to listen offline.
- Flashcards
Mobile
Watch Videos That Use Words You Know
Memrise
Memrise's official Hausa experience joins vocabulary study with videos. Use a clip where the topic and several words are familiar. If you can name the topic but cannot follow what happened, return to a shorter or simpler clip.
- Learn words and phrases around a topic you choose.
- Watch videos matched to vocabulary you have studied.
MobileWeb
Read Free Hausa Picture Stories
Storybooks Nigeria is a useful first reading shelf. It has six Hausa stories at three of its own reading levels. Those labels belong to the website; they do not match Bubblegum's six levels.
Start with Ina San Karatu or Kidayar Dabbobi. Read one page, use its picture to work out the meaning, and open the English text if needed. Return to Hausa before turning the page. The Hausa pages have no audio, so pair this reading with a separate recording resource.
Watch Hausa Exchanges With Written Help
UCLA's Hausar Baka presents filmed Hausa interactions with transcripts, vocabulary, and exercises. Its early sections cover greetings and simple questions; later sections move into more complex conversation and narrative.
Choose one short exchange. Watch it, use the transcript to check a line, then watch again while following the situation. This gives you written help for connected speech instead of asking you to understand a whole radio programme at once.
Use Archived Hausa Course Recordings
Indiana University's CELT Hausa archive holds recordings from Basic Hausa, Intensive Hausa, and other older teaching materials. These are archived resources, rather than a current university class. Find the matching text and start with a lesson that uses words you know.
Its Reading Kit also has recorded readings. A recording alone gives less help than a picture story or a captioned lesson: use a companion text or a teacher's help before treating it as beginner input.
Move Into Hausa News
VOA Hausa and DW Hausa publish Hausa news. They suit learners who can follow longer passages. Choose a story whose subject you already know, read a short section, and use a linked recording when one is present.
For a first try, choose a familiar place, team, or event. Pause after a short part and say what you understood. You do not need to finish a whole broadcast. Learn common words in these sentences with audio, then review them in context; a list of translations alone leaves out usage and connected speech.
Bubblegum's row lists its 74 in-app menu languages. Competitor counts come from Nigerian iPhone App Store metadata, including script variants, checked on October 11. Lesson explanations and other platforms may differ.
| App | Supported Display Languages | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| NKENNE | 1 | Full list |
| Memrise | 22 | Full list |
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- uTalkRecorded Hausa words and phrases, with listening games and a way to compare your own pronunciation.
- Bluebird HausaHausa audio lessons and listening practice in a dedicated Android app.
- BBC HausaHausa journalism and broadcasts for learners who can follow news.
Common Questions
Which Hausa app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Hausa, start with Bubblegum. Poppy writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with NKENNE for captioned audio. If you want a free reading resource, Storybooks Nigeria lets you switch between Hausa and English page by page.
Can I learn from Hausa radio right away?
Use a brief recording with a teacher's help if a whole programme is too hard. News assumes that you can follow connected speech and know the subject. Our easiest-way guide helps you find a simpler starting point.
Should I read Hausa with English beside it?
Use English to check a sentence that blocks your understanding, then return to Hausa. On Storybooks Nigeria, you can do that for a single page without leaving the story. Later, try a page before checking its English version.
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 your first one is free, and Bubblegum Pro gives you unlimited custom lessons.
Sources
- Storybooks Nigeria: Hausa picture stories
- Storybooks Nigeria: Ina San Karatu, with no Hausa audio
- Memrise: Official languages and online learning experience
- NKENNE: Hausa audio lessons and captions
- UCLA: Hausar Baka filmed Hausa interactions with transcripts and vocabulary
- Indiana University CELT: Hausa recording archive
- DW: Hausa news
- VOA Hausa: News and audio
- Bubblegum
- Memrise
Checked on October 5, 2026 against each app's own pages.
