Few Nepali materials are made for learners, so the Nepali you read and hear at first comes from a handful of places. Look for comprehensible input, which is Nepali you can mostly follow, with about one new word per sentence and the meaning still clear.
Courses, tutors and word apps are covered in our full Nepali app comparison.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Nepali. You learn from Nepali you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Say you want to order tea at a stall in Kathmandu. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes a Nepali lesson on it at your level, and the words you save return in new lessons. Until the Devanagari letters feel easy, you can read in Roman letters.
- Pick a topic and a level, and Poppy writes the Nepali 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 Nepali 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
Ling
Ling's Nepali lessons play audio with each word and phrase. Play a lesson once while you read it, and then play it again without looking.
- Short lessons with audio, from sounds and greetings to conversations.
- A dialog feature for practicing conversations.
- Flashcards
MobileWeb
uTalk
uTalk plays each Nepali word as a Nepali speaker says it. Use it to hear how the words from your reading sound.
- More than 2,500 words and phrases recorded by Nepali speakers.
- You can record yourself and compare it with the original.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (1)
- Learn Nepali For Beginners252 lessons that start with the alphabet, with recorded audio in two voices and offline use.
StoryWeaver has more than 300 free Nepali books, and over 100 of them are Level 1. Try मेरो फूलबारी (my flower garden), a Level 1 book from Room to Read, and read it out loud.
For something to listen to, the free Peace Corps Nepali course comes with audio, and the audio for the textbook Complete Nepali is free on the Teach Yourself Library, according to the publisher.
BBC News Nepali, Onlinekhabar and Setopati all write the news in Nepali. Pick a story you have already followed in English, and read just the headline and the first lines.
| What You Can Follow | Try This | You're Ready to Move On When |
|---|---|---|
| One page at a time | A Level 1 picture book on StoryWeaver | You read a page aloud and can say who did what |
| Short sentences | A Level 2 or 3 book on StoryWeaver | You can retell it from memory |
| Slow, clear audio | The Peace Corps lessons, or Ling lessons | A lesson makes sense before you read the text |
| Longer stories | Level 4 and 5 books on StoryWeaver | You catch the main idea of a chapter |
| Real news | A headline and first lines on BBC News Nepali or Onlinekhabar | You can say what the story is about |
Menus in your language don't always mean Nepali explained in your language, so try one lesson before you pay.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Supported language pairs |
| Ling | 68 | Full list |
| uTalk | 140+ | Full list |
| Learn Nepali For Beginners | 1 | Full list |
Which Nepali app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Nepali, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. If you'd rather listen first, start with the Peace Corps audio or a Ling lesson. If you'd rather read first, try the picture books on StoryWeaver.
Do I need the letters before I start reading?
For the books and news here, yes. Nepali is written in Devanagari, which Nepalgo counts as 33 consonants and 12 vowels. Bubblegum's Nepali Letters course teaches them, and you can read in Roman letters while you learn them.
Is there news in easy Nepali?
We didn't find a news site written in easy Nepali. Start with the picture books and the audio lessons, and try a news headline when those feel comfortable.
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
- Nepalgo: the Nepali script (33 consonants and 12 vowels)
- Bubblegum: learn Nepali
- Ling: Learn Nepali
- Ling: FAQs (free units)
- Ling: pricing
- Ling on the App Store (languages you can use it in)
- uTalk: Learn Nepali
- uTalk on the App Store (free starter words)
- uTalk: the languages you can learn from
- Learn Nepali For Beginners on the App Store (252 lessons)
- Peace Corps Nepali Language Course (free, public domain, with audio)
- Complete Nepali Beginner to Intermediate Course (Teach Yourself), Hachette
- StoryWeaver: Nepali books
- StoryWeaver: मेरो फूलबारी, a Level 1 Nepali book from Room to Read
- BBC News Nepali
- Onlinekhabar: Nepali news
- Setopati: Nepali news
