RosettaRosetta Stone doesn't teach Guarani. It teaches no Indigenous language of the Americas. Duolingo teaches Guarani only to Spanish speakers, and its course is covered in Is Guarani on Duolingo?. Is Guarani on Babbel? looks at Babbel.
Guarani is one of Paraguay's two official languages, and about 6 million people speak it. Most Paraguayans mix it with Spanish, a blend they call Jopara. Free courses, dictionaries and news are in our best apps to learn Guarani.
Bubblegum
For serious learners, Bubblegum is the best app to learn Guarani. You learn from Guarani you can mostly understand, which is called comprehensible input.
Tell Poppy, your AI tutor, your level and what you like, and she writes your Guarani lessons. If a sentence is hard to follow, ask Poppy to explain it.
With Regenerative Review™, words you save show up again in new lessons, so that you can review words in new contexts without having to use flashcards.
- Every lesson is written at your level, about things you like.
- Lessons come with audio, so you hear a line as you read it.
- Tap a word to see what it means and the parts it is built from, such as the person marker at the start of a verb.
- Grammar topics with examples explain how Guarani works.
- 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 Guarani books or articles into lessons. However, you can paste a page into the chat, and Poppy will explain it.
- Lessons use everyday Paraguayan Guarani, with the Spanish words Paraguayans use when they speak it, such as numbers above four. Formal written Guarani comes in at Levels 5 and 6, so a school book or a newspaper may use other words.
- 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
The Peace Corps wrote a two-volume introductory course in Guarani, and both volumes are free PDFs on ERIC, a U.S. education library. Part I has ten units with explanations in English, and its exercises and dialogues are in Guarani and English. Part II has pattern drills and short dialogues about everyday situations in Paraguay. Neither volume's page lists audio.
Guarani Ayvu
Paraguay's Secretaría de Políticas Lingüísticas, the Academia de la Lengua Guaraní, the Instituto Superior de Lenguas of the Universidad Nacional de Asunción and PopulisTech launched the app in 2021. It is useful next to a course, because it lets you hear a word you just read.
- 3,200 Guarani words with Spanish and English meanings, and an audio recording of each Guarani word.
- Includes the Guarani alphabet with pronunciations and basic grammar notes.
- Free, and it collects no data.
Mobile
| Option | How You Can Start Free |
|---|---|
| Peace Corps course | Both volumes are free PDFs on ERIC. |
| Guarani Ayvu | The app is free on Google Play. |
Which Guarani app should a beginner choose?
If you are serious about learning Guarani, start with Bubblegum. Poppy, your AI tutor, writes lessons at your level about things you like. Or start with the free Peace Corps course if you want ten units of dialogues with English explanations, and look up each word in Guarani Ayvu to hear it.
What is Jopara?
Jopara is the name Paraguayans use for speech that mixes Guarani and Spanish. It goes from mostly Guarani with a few Spanish words to mostly Spanish with a few Guarani words, and it is what you will hear most of the time outside formal settings.
Do I need to know Spanish to learn Guarani?
No. The Peace Corps Part I course explains everything in English, and Bubblegum lets you learn through a language you already know. Spanish does help in Paraguay, because people there use many Spanish words when they speak Guarani.
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
- Rosetta Stone: home page (language links)
- Rosetta Stone Sapphire: App Store listing (25 languages)
- Rosetta Stone Support: Unlimited Languages (the 25 languages)
- Estigarribia (2020), A Grammar of Paraguayan Guarani, UCL Press (open access): speakers, official status, Jopara, learner advice and resources
- Guarani Ayvu: Google Play listing (free, Android, 3,200 words with audio)
- ERIC ED200014: Guarani Basic Course, Part I (Peace Corps, 1968), free PDF
- ERIC ED200015: Guarani Basic Course, Part II (Peace Corps, 1968), free PDF
- Bubblegum
