Occitan is spoken in southern France. A 2020 survey by the Office public de la langue occitane, which asked 8,000 people in 21 départements, counted about 542,000 speakers aged 15 and over in the regions it covered. Occitan has several varieties and no dominant one, and Bubblegum teaches everyday Languedocien, written in the classical spelling. We found no Occitan course on Duolingo, so this page lists the few apps that teach it and the free sites that fill the gaps.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Occitan. You learn from Occitan you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Occitan lessons in everyday Languedocien. When a Provençal or Gascon form turns up in a text you are reading, ask Poppy and she explains it.
- Every lesson is written at your level, about things you like.
- 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.
- Grammar topics with examples explain how Occitan works, such as how the plural is formed.
- Regenerative Review™ brings saved words back in new lessons, and you can export them to Anki as flashcards.
- Clear, expressive AI voices read every lesson aloud, with a different voice for each speaker.
- You can't turn your own Occitan books or articles into lessons. However, you can paste a page into the chat, and Poppy will explain it.
- Lessons teach Languedocien. Other varieties use some different everyday words, such as ostau for ostal.
- 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™
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Loecsen
Loecsen is a phrase-based language site, and its Occitan course starts with the first words and runs through 17 chapters. It suits learners who want a set order to follow.
- A structured beginner course of 17 chapters across 6 levels, aimed at CEFR A1.
- You learn by listening to each phrase and repeating it.
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Clozemaster
Clozemaster teaches Occitan from English by having you fill in the missing word of a sentence. It suits learners who already read a little Occitan and want more words in context.
- Fill-in-the-blank Occitan sentences sorted into more than 80 topics, with 20 sentences in each list.
- Text-to-speech audio plays for each sentence.
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Duostories
Duostories is a volunteer project that brings Duolingo's short stories to more languages. Volunteers translated the stories into Languedocien, and the site says it is not an official Duolingo product. It suits learners who want a short story to read and a few questions to check what they understood.
- 16 free Occitan stories in Languedocien, with English translations.
- Answer short questions as you read each story.
MobileWeb
italki
italki lists Occitan teachers. Ask for lessons in Languedocien if that is the Occitan you are learning.
- Pick an Occitan teacher and book a video lesson.
- A person can answer what you say and hear how you say it.
MobileWeb
Other Apps We Looked At (3)
- EuroTalk: Talk Now! Occitan (Standard)A beginner program for PC and Mac, on CD-ROM or as a download. EuroTalk offers a free demo.
- ReviradaA free translator between Occitan and French from Lo Congrès, which also runs Dicodòc. It covers Gascon and Languedocien, and it can read Occitan text aloud.
- DicodòcA site from Lo Congrès that brings together Occitan dictionaries, three of them for Languedocien (Laus, Lagarde and Cantalausa), plus a conjugator called Lo Vèrbòc.
Easy Occitan is a free page in English that teaches Languedocien pronunciation and basic grammar, and it compares Occitan sounds with Spanish, Catalan and French. It has no audio.
ÒCtele is a television channel that broadcasts only in Occitan, and it is free. Its programs are subtitled in French and Occitan, and its show Afars Occitans, half French and half Occitan, is called a good format for learning the language in an ÒCtele interview in a Toulouse city magazine.
Vicipèdia, the Occitan Wikipedia, has 91,036 articles. When a word in your reading looks different from the one you learned, such as ostal (house) and ostau, look it up in Dicodòc, or ask Poppy if you are reading in Bubblegum.
| App | Free? | What's Free |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | Free version | 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. |
| Loecsen | Free version | The core course is free. Paid options add more content and advanced features. |
| Clozemaster | Free version | Clozemaster is free to sign up and play. Clozemaster Pro lets you play as much as you want. |
| Duostories | Free | Duostories is free to read in the app and on its website. Volunteers translate Duolingo's stories, and donations pay for hosting. |
| italki | Paid | You pay for each lesson, and each teacher sets their own price. Practicing with the community and taking the level test are free. |
| EuroTalk Talk Now! Occitan (Standard) | Paid | It is a paid course, and EuroTalk offers a free demo. |
| Revirada | Free | It is a free iPhone app, and its App Store page lists no in-app purchases. |
| Dicodòc | Not stated | It is a website of Occitan dictionaries, and its page does not say whether anything costs money. |
Each number is how many languages you can use the app in, including script variants. Word meanings, lesson explanations, and other platforms may differ.
| App | Languages You Can Use It In | Full List |
|---|---|---|
| Bubblegum | 74 | Full list
|
| Loecsen | 40 | Full list |
| Clozemaster | 37 | Full list |
| Duostories | 1 | Full list |
| italki | 19 | Full list |
| EuroTalk: Talk Now! Occitan (Standard) | — | — |
| Revirada | — | — |
| Dicodòc | — | — |
Which Occitan app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Occitan, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with Loecsen's free course if you want a set order of phrases with audio, and check the forms you learn in Dicodòc.
Does Duolingo teach Occitan?
Not that we could find. Duolingo's App Store listing does not name Occitan, and we found no Occitan course elsewhere. Duostories has 16 Occitan stories that volunteers translated, and it says it is not an official Duolingo product.
Which Occitan will I learn?
It depends on the app. Bubblegum and Duostories teach Languedocien, and Easy Occitan teaches Languedocien. Loecsen and Clozemaster do not say which variety they teach.
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
- Office public de la langue occitane: 2020 survey results (about 542,000 speakers aged 15 and over)
- Duolingo: iPhone App Store listing (the courses it teaches)
- Loecsen: learn Occitan (free online course, 17 chapters, about CEFR A1)
- Loecsen: Occitan vocabulary and phrases with audio
- Clozemaster: Occitan sentence lists (English to Occitan)
- Clozemaster: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- Duostories: Occitan (Languedocien) stories
- Duostories: FAQ (text-to-speech audio)
- italki: Occitan teachers
- italki: iPhone App Store listing (languages you can use it in)
- EuroTalk: Talk Now! Occitan (Standard)
- Revirada: iPhone App Store listing (Occitan and French translator from Lo Congrès)
- Dicodòc: the dictionaries of Lo Congrès, including the Languedocien dictionaries Laus, Lagarde and Cantalausa
- Lo Congrès permanent de la lenga occitana: tools and services
- Easy Occitan: language and pronunciation guide in English (Languedocian)
- Cambridge University Language Centre: L'Occitan by Nicolas Quint (Assimil), a course taught in French with 100 lessons
- Assimil blog: interview with Nicolas Quint (the course uses literary Languedocien)
- Toulouse Métropole: interview with ÒCtele (free, subtitled in French and Occitan)
- ÒCtele: television 100% in Occitan
- Vicipèdia: Occitan Wikipedia statistics (91,036 articles)
- Wiktionary: ostal (Languedoc: house), with the Gascon and Provençal forms ostau and estau
- Clozemaster: what's free
- Clozemaster: what the paid plan adds
- DuoStories: what's free
- Loecsen: what's free
- italki: what's free
- Bubblegum
