DuolingoDuolingo doesn't teach Occitan. The nearest languages it teaches are French and Spanish.
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. Free help and more apps are in our best apps to learn Occitan.
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. 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.
- 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 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.
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| 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. |
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.
Which Occitan will I learn?
It depends on the app. Bubblegum and Duostories teach Languedocien. The course on Loecsen and the sentences on Clozemaster come without a named variety.
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
- Duolingo: course list
- Office public de la langue occitane: 2020 survey results (about 542,000 speakers aged 15 and over)
- 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)
- 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
- Clozemaster: what's free
- Clozemaster: what the paid plan adds
- DuoStories: what's free
- Loecsen: what's free
- Bubblegum
