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Did you know that Slovakia has the most castles and châteaux in the world?
Per person, that is. Home to 180 and 425 châteaux—luxurious manor houses—per capita, the country is filled with stunning architecture, gorgeous natural sceneries, and deep historical roots that you simply must get a glimpse of!
If you want to travel like royalty and experience these for yourself, the best way to start is to study their official language, Slovak.
Although Slovak isn’t available on popular language learning apps like Duolingo and Babbel, there are plenty of other options for you to choose from!
Top picks
I’m listing down several apps you can try out. But I’ve got my favorites:
- Get interactive lessons on Mondly and Ling
- Learn the basic phrases on Simply Learn Slovak
- Find affordable personal tutors on italki or Preply
Best apps to learn Slovak
1. Mondly
If you’re looking for short and engaging lessons, then Mondly is the best place to go! By gamifying its courses and integrating a multinational leaderboard, this app makes studying Slovak more exciting than you’d expect.
Designed for beginners and up, Mondly covers everything you’ll need to get started. From vocabulary to grammar, pronunciation to dialogue—its activities and exercises won’t only equip you with the basic skills, but will likewise prepare you for real-life scenarios.
On top of that, their unique hands-free audio feature allows you to practice listening and speaking on the go!
Why learn Slovak with Mondly:
- Bite-sized courses for all fluency levels
- Dynamic approach with a competitive leaderboard
- Hands-free audio integration
Price: Mondly has free daily lessons. Subscribe to Mondly Premium for unlimited access! View the latest promo here.
Devices: iOS and Android
2. Ling Slovak
For those wanting a fun and playful approach to learning Slovak, Ling is just the place for you! A sure-shot to success, this app incorporates mini-games, flashcards, and word quizzes to make your studies light and enjoyable.
Instead of boring you with long-winding lists and confusing texts, Ling keeps its Slovak course simple for beginners. Here, lessons take the form of picture matching and sentence arrangement, in order to keep your mind sharp and active.
What’s more, it even comes with an interactive chatbot for conversation practice! Simply type out your response in Slovak, and let the app do its magic. Pretty cool, right?
Why learn Slovak with Ling:
- Clear introduction to Slovak vocabulary and grammar
- Game-like lessons on reading, writing, and speaking the language
- Practice dialogue with its built-in chatbot
Price: Good news—Ling Slovak is free! For more lessons, the Pro version starts at $14.99/month.
Devices: iOS and Android
3. Simply Learn Slovak
Short and sweet, Simply Learn Slovak is a handy phrasebook designed for easy learning. Perfect for study and travel, this is great for building your vocabulary and improving your pronunciation.
Using a spaced repetition technique, this app collates the most important words and phrases, and presents these in both phonetic and original Slovak writing—making this ideal for quick review sessions!
Additionally, its flashcards incorporate high-quality audio, which you can slow down and listen to, as you practice speaking the language. Paired with fun quizzes and a quick-search function—all in all, you’ll find this to be very practical, if not super convenient!
Why learn Slovak with Simply Learn Slovak:
- 300+ free flashcards of Slovak vocabulary
- Features high-quality audio recorded by native speakers
- Quiz with trackable statistics
Price: Simply Learn Slovak is free, with in-app purchases starting at $0.99/item.
Devices: iOS and Android
4. Glossika
For something more immersive, I recommend Glossika. This app is unique because instead of individual words and short phrases, it teaches Slovak through full sentences!
Glossika focuses on the four key skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening, and provides a variety of exercises to help you develop each of these skills. With Glossika, you’ll learn Slovak through full-sentence practice, which makes vocabulary, pronunciation, and grammar acquisition more natural and intuitive.
One of the best things about Glossika is its adaptive learning algorithms. These algorithms help you learn at your own pace and adjust the difficulty of the exercises based on your progress. This means that you’ll always be challenged, but never overwhelmed. Plus, it has a listening-only mode that lets you learn Slovak while you’re driving, commuting, or exercising.
Why learn Slovak with Glossika:
- Thousands of Slovak sentences to learn from
- Covers reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills
- Natural and contextual acquisition of Slovak vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation
Price: Starts at $16.99/month but you can try it for free! If you’d like to support Learn Languages From Home, make sure to complete your purchase through the Glossika website (not the mobile app). You can sign up and use whatever platform you want, but if you make the purchase using the website, I make a small commission. Thanks!
Devices: iOS and Android
6. italki
Of course, getting Slovak lessons wouldn’t be complete without a study buddy—in this case, a proper language instructor.
On italki, you can easily arrange online sessions using their Virtual Classroom and/or Skype! While there aren’t as many Slovak tutors as compared to more popular languages like Spanish or French, you have a handful of options, nonetheless—ranging from community tutors to professional teachers.
Simply view their profiles and reviews, select your instructor, and arrange as many classes you need. With the right tutor, not only can you test your conversation skills in person, but you may also get a personalized study plan to address your learning needs.
Why learn Slovak with italki:
- Meet with community tutors and professional teachers
- Practice conversation or get custom-fit lessons
- Pay as you go (no need to buy any packages/bundles)
Price: Slovak tutor rates on italki start at around $10/hour. New users get discounted trial lessons!
Devices: iOS and Android
7. Preply
Another excellent tutoring platform is Preply. Granted, there aren’t as many Slovak tutors here but the ones onboard are highly-rated.
Choosing a Slovak tutor on Preply is easy. Simply filter through profiles to check their specialties, languages they speak (most tutors are multilingual), rates, and availability.
The upside to Preply (aside from the flexibility it offers schedule- and budget-wise) is that it offers tutor replacement when you’re not satisfied with your first lesson. This means you’re getting a tutor that really matches your requirements!
Why learn Slovak with Preply:
- Well-reviewed native-speaking Slovak tutors
- Structured or customized lessons
- Flexible schedule and affordable classes
Price: Slovak tutor rates on Preply start at around $15/hour. Discounted trial lessons are also available.
Devices: iOS and Android
5. Clozemaster
Test your skills on Clozemaster, a fast-paced, gamified language app for intermediate and advanced students.
Featuring the prized Cloze Test, Clozemaster is loaded with quizzes, word lists, and media that help build your language comprehension skills. Whether you need a learning supplement or need a change of pace, this app will definitely keep you on your toes!
Rather than focusing on the academic side of Slovak vocabulary and grammar, it instead integrates context-based learning into its activities and exercises.
Why learn Slovak with Clozemaster:
- Context-based teaching style
- Option to play by yourself or compete with friends
- Most suitable for intermediate and advanced students
Price: The app is free! If you’re up for the challenge, Clozemaster Pro comes with added features at just $8/month.
Devices: iOS and Android
8. Mango Languages
Mango Languages is surprisingly well-loved by beginners and educational institutions, and for a good reason. (In fact, some public libraries even offer their courses for free!)
Unlike traditional study material, this Slovak learning app utilizes color-coded visuals to make you recognize speech patterns and likewise includes cultural notes.
By incorporating a spaced repetition technique into your daily review sessions, it’ll help you touch on your weak points and target skills as needed—should that be reading, writing, or speaking!
Why learn Slovak with Mango Languages:
- Uses a color-coded teaching method
- Contains culture notes
- Daily personalized review session
Price: Purchase the Slovak course at $7.99/month. Try it FREE here!
Devices: iOS and Android
9. Learn Slovak by FunEasyLearn
If learning 6,000 Slovak words and 5,000 Slovak phrases through games sounds like a good deal to you, this app by FunEasyLearn is for you.
Aside from being packed with content, this app also features beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and thousands of audio recordings of native speakers. What’s more, the review features are also top-notch!
Fun and interactive, this one’s a solid app for beginners, intermediates, and casual learners.
Why learn Slovak with FunEastLearn:
- A huge library of content
- Engaging games that don’t feel like rigid study
- Smart review manager and learning stats
Price: Premium starts at $3.99/month
Devices: iOS and Android
10. Tandem
Learning Slovak shouldn’t be boring. In fact, it doesn’t have to feel like studying at all!
With Tandem, you can learn Slovak and make friends at the same time. This language exchange app lets you pair up with fellow language learners who speak Slovak. You can communicate with them via chat, voice notes, or audio/video calls. You can even use correction and translation tools within the app.
What I love about Tandem is that it gives a lot of opportunities for you to also learn different cultures and the nuances of the Slovak language, simply because you’re learning from native speakers. Plus, you’re also helping others by teaching your own language. Win-win, right?
Why learn Slovak with Tandem:
- Fun and social way of learning Slovak
- User-friendly communication features and language tools
- A large pool of Slovak-speaking users
Price: Some features are available for free. Tandem Pro starts at $6.99/month.
Devices: iOS and Android
11. LinGo Play
If you’re a fan of gamified learning, LinGo Play should be on your phone.
The way this app works is pretty simple: you learn and memorize Slovak words and phrases according to your level through flashcards and various exercises. The interface itself is game-like but it ups its game a bit more (pun intended) by featuring multiplayer lessons and tournaments!
You can play games solo, but if you’re up for the challenge, you can play with other users across the globe to unlock more levels and even get certificates!
Why learn Slovak with LinGo:
- Covers a variety of topics
- Gamified approach to learning
- You can learn while playing with other users
Price: Limited gameplay for free. Premium starts at €19.99/month.
Devices: iOS and Android
12. Brainscape
Many apps use the flashcard approach to teach languages. Brainscape does that too, but with smarter features to boot.
On Brainscape, you can make and share your own Slovak flashcards deck or use any of the existing user-generated and premium decks. From vocabulary terms to grammar structure, you’ll find lots of useful content here.
Brainscape uses an SRS-based review system and features learning stats. This way, you’ll see your progress and get motivated to keep learning!
Why learn Slovak with Brainscape:
- Plenty of Slovak decks to choose from
- Multimedia flashcards that include text, photos, audio, and video
- Learning stats help build study habits
Price: Free to create your own content. To access other content, get Brainscape Pro for $19.99/month.
Devices: iOS and Android
FAQs about learning Slovak
Is Slovak hard to learn?
According to the U.S. Foreign Service Institute, Slovak is a Category III or “hard” language for English speakers, mainly because of its new alphabet system, distinct pronunciation, and complex vocabulary and grammar rules.
On the other hand, those who speak Czech will have a much easier time learning this, since they share several characteristics.
Where is Slovak spoken?
Slovak is the official language of Slovakia and is one of the West Slavic languages (along with Czech, Polish, and Sorbian). A total of 5 million people speak it!
It’s also used in Serbia, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
Is Slovak mutually intelligible with Czech?
To some extent, yes. Some linguists believe that, before the peaceful separation of Czechoslovakia, both languages were once dialects of a single language. This might be the reason why their alphabets, vocabulary, and grammar share some features.
However, since both languages diverged through the years, each soon developed distinct rules and features of their own—which, in that regard, are worth learning!
Why should I learn Slovak?
If you plan on traveling to the area, learning Slovak would be highly beneficial! Since the country is full of outdoor destinations, open-air museums, and bustling cityscapes, you’re bound to discover pieces of history, culture, and tradition as you travel along.
That being said, understanding Slovak would only make your trip more meaningful!
Is Slovak on Duolingo?
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any news on Duolingo Slovak.
If you’re looking for a similarly interactive app, I suggest you look into Mondly or Ling. Their gamified courses—paired with high-quality audio—make learning Slovak as interesting as ever!
You can also try Clozemaster, once you’re at an intermediate level.
Is Slovak on Rosetta Stone?
Sadly, Rosetta Stone isn’t offering Slovak either.
To polish your dialogue skills, consider getting a personal tutor on italki or Preply, practicing speaking with Mondly’s hands-free feature, or conversing with Ling’s built-in chatbot instead.
What is the best way to learn Slovak?
The best way to learn Slovak is to routinely practice each skill, namely reading, writing, listening, and speaking. By combining different resources (such as books, apps, and media), you can easily target the lessons you require.
Speaking of which, you may also consult these websites for more support:
- slovake.eu: Language courses paired with history and culture lessons.
- E-Slovak: Teaches you how to use Slovak for day-to-day interactions.
- Forvo: Online pronunciation dictionary
- HovorĂme po slovensky!: Slovak-language comics