Albania is a beautiful country in the Balkans. It’s been a popular destination among foreign travelers in recent years since it’s one of the budget-friendly countries in Europe. If you are planning to stay there for a while, you need to learn Albanian.
You may be wondering if Albanian is hard to learn or not. Well, it’s not the easiest language to learn for native English speakers, but still, you can make learning the Albanian language an easier task by using the right tools, like the Ling app, for example. That’s why, in this blog post, I’ve listed the best Albanian online courses for beginners.
Best Albanian Online Courses
Although there are a lot of online courses and resources available for learning a foreign language, Albanian courses are not that common. That’s why we did the research for you and listed the top 6 online courses for this language. Still, they all have different strong features, so you need to choose the one that meets your needs and goals!
1. Ling App – Best Comprehensive App To Learn Albanian From Zero
Ling App Overview
A gamified app with interactive bite-sized lessons and an AI chatbot to learn conversational Albanian vocabulary easily. Ling makes learning Albanian easy!
The Ling app is a language learning app offering 60+ languages, including Albanian. It’s a great resource for learning from zero to the advanced level. Ling’s methodology includes gamification, all-in-one learning, positive feedback, and flexibility.
What makes Ling different from its competitors is that it gives equal importance to all four language skills; reading, writing, listening, and speaking. Each lesson has different activities to improve those skills.
You start your lesson by learning new Albanian vocabulary in an example sentence so that you can understand in what context that word is used. The vocabulary learning part includes activities like matching the word with the correct meaning/image and multiple choice questions. Then you listen and try to understand the native speaker audio, selecting the correct option.
After that, sentence-building exercises make sure you get used to the sentence structure of the language. Lastly, there’s a speaking part. There, you read the given sentence aloud by paying attention to your pronunciation. In languages with a non-roman script, there’s also a writing segment for learning each character.
You must end each lesson with an exam to revise what you have learned and how much you have progressed. There’s also a chatbot to improve your conversational skills related to the topic of each lesson!
If you ask me, I love using the Ling app to learn the local language of my travel destination. It helps me get conversational in any language in a very short time. With Ling, I can learn topics that I need in real life. Unlike Duolingo, I can jump to any lesson I want throughout the course.
A new feature of Ling is detailed grammar lessons. Ling Team is working hard to add grammar lessons in as many language courses as possible, including the less popular languages such as Albanian! Yep, you read it right! You can even learn Albanian grammar with the Ling app!
What do users say about the Ling app?
“The app is easy and fun to use. The chat box option is a great way to feel like you are actually in a conversation. The lessons are filled with great vocabulary. I also love that there is a review option of all lessons currently covered.”
– Lisa Antrobus on Play Store
Devices: Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
Start learning Albanian from scratch – Try the Ling app now for FREE!
Best Features
- Gamification and interactive bite-sized lessons.
- All-in-one learning by focusing on all four language skills.
- AI chatbot to practice everyday conversational skills.
- Extensive but easy-to-understand grammar lessons.
- Ability to jump into any lesson and topic you want to learn.
Pricing
- Free – Beginner lessons and limited chatbot conversations.
- Monthly -$14.99
- Yearly -$79.99 (7-day free trial)
- Lifetime – $149.99
Read our in-depth Ling app review for more information!
2. Pimsleur – Best Audio Based Albanian Course
Pimsleur Overview
Pimsleur lessons will teach you pronunciation with phonetics while listening to audio by native speakers.
Pimsleur is an audio-based language learning course and pays less attention to grammar explanations and reading or writing skills. It uses the Pimsleur Method, which consists of a few key elements: interval recall, anticipation, core vocabulary, and organic learning. It’s based on the idea of natural language acquisition rather than memorizing information.
The Pimsleur Albanian course consists of 30-mins audio lessons in which you have to listen actively. You’ll need to participate in the conversation. This way, Pimsleur makes you speak Albanian from the first lesson. There are also some small activities to practice, such as flashcards and matching.
What do users say about the Pimsleur Albanian course?
“If you are an auditory learner, Pimsleur makes excellent introductory foreign language materials that suit your learning style. If, like me, you are not an auditory learner, the Pimsleur method is not natural and can be frustrating.”
– meromaine on Pimsleur’s Amazon Store.
Devices: Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
Best Features
- Involves a lot of speaking during the lessons.
- Exposure to the language by audio content.
- Teaches pronunciation with phonetics.
Pricing
- Pimsleur Albanian Level 1 Course – $49.95 with a 7-day free trial.
3. Mëso!Shqip – Best Online Albanian Course For Kids
Mëso!Shqip Overview
Ideal 1-on-1 tutoring with native-speaker teachers for children.
Mëso!Shqip is an online tutoring platform designed to teach Albanian to kids (ages 6-15) living abroad. It uses a personalized learning method focused on your kid’s learning needs. Their curriculum is approved by Albania’s and Kosova’s Ministry of Education.
Before your lessons start, you are required to fill out a form so that they know what type of a learner is your kid and what they want to learn. According to that form, they match you with the most suitable and highly qualified teacher. These lessons are perfect for personalized learning and individual support. The teacher makes sure they don’t get into the next lesson unless the student has fully understood the current lesson.
What do kids say about the Mëso!Shqip Albanian course?
“Learning more about what makes Albania and our family so special is really cool. Learning Albanian to be able to speak with my grandparents and my cousins is something I’m very proud of.”
– Erona (14) on Mëso!Shqip
Devices: Available on the Web only.
Best Features
- Provides a structured language learning plan.
- 1-on-1 tutoring with native-speaker teachers.
- Curriculum approved by Albania’s and Kosova’s Ministry of Education.
Pricing
- Growth Learning Plan – $140/month per student. It includes 4 private classes per month.
- Accelerated Learning Plan – $240/month per student. It includes 8 private classes per month.
4. LearnAlbanian – Best For 1-On-1 Live Albanian Lessons
LearnAlbanian Overview
1-on-1 Albanian classes from certified teachers.
Learn Albanian is an online Albanian course with certified native-speaker Albanian teachers. It’s mostly used by expats and digital nomads living in Albania. This platform offers 1-on-1 lessons for beginners who want to learn the language face-to-face with the guidance of a tutor. They also have lessons tailored for business Albanian, for those who moved for a job opportunity.
What do learners say about the Learn Albanian course?
“Great learning experience thanks to one-to-one lessons with a dedicated teacher that will adapt to your needs and expectations. I highly recommend Learn Albanian to quickly improve your Albanian level!”
– Clemence on LearnAlbanian
Devices: Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
Best Features
- Offers a free trial lesson.
- 1-on-1 classes with a certified Albanian teacher.
- Access to the recording of all sessions.
Pricing
- Hourly – $17 per lesson.
- 2 lessons a week – $16 per lesson.
- 3 lessons a week – $15 per lesson.
5. EduAlb – Best Free App To Learn Albanian
EduAlb Overview
Study Albanian with every day topics in more than 50 free lessons.
EduAlb is a free Albanian learning app suitable for beginners. The lessons are giving me the Duolingo vibe. Lessons include exercises like matching Albanian words with their English translations, creating a correct sentence with mixed words, and typing what you hear in the audio. It’s not a high-quality app, but it can be useful for non-advanced Albanian learners. Still, it might be better if you use other resources on the internet to support your learning.
What do users say about EduAlb?
“Good app, kind of like Duolingo so all good. As others have said, you cannot be a total newb to Albanian if you want to use this app. My main concern is that standard Albanian pronunciation. Every city in Albania has their own dialect of course so by picking one you are omitting the rest. I found a lot of spelling problems too which for a new learner they will confuse them.”
– instaf4n on Play Store
Devices: Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
Best Features
- 50+ free lessons.
- Simple and easy-to-use interface.
- Basic everyday topics.
Pricing
- Free.
6. 50 Languages – Best Albanian Phrasebook For Tourists
50 Languages Albanian Overview
50 Languages offers a comprehensive library of Albanian phrases for free.
50 Languages is a free Albanian phrasebook perfect for tourists. It doesn’t really have a methodology, but I can say that it uses a word-by-word translation technique. It has a total of 100 Albanian lessons, each focusing on a different topic. Inside each lesson, you will find a list of phrases in English and their Albanian equivalents with pronunciation audio. You can use these phrases on the go, or you can try to memorize them beforehand. To be honest, neither of them sounds appealing to me. However, 50 Languages is a free resource, so why not get the best out of it?
What do users say about 50 Languages?
“This app is OK but I don’t think it is for me. It doesn’t make sense to just jump into full-on sentences rather than learning individual words. I mean I know it does teach you some individual words but then you take the test and half the sentences are words that you’ve never gone over!”
– A user on Google Play
Devices: Available on Android, iOS, and Web.
Best Features
- It’s completely free.
- Has a comprehensive library of Albanian phrases.
- Phrases are supported with audio pronunciation.
Pricing
- Free.
Ready To Start Learning?
We’ve mentioned six Albanian online courses that are best for beginners in this article. Everyone’s language-learning journey may differ based on their needs and goals. So, if you want to learn Albanian just to get by during a trip, you can prefer 50 Languages. On the other hand, if you live in Albania and want your kids to learn the language to be able to speak with their relatives, you can prefer Mëso!Shqip.
And lastly, if you want to learn Albanian and get fluent but the only word you know is ç’kemi (what’s up), then the Ling app is the right choice for you! With Ling, you can learn Albanian from scratch and get to the expert level. All you have to do is use it for 10 minutes every day!
Download the Ling app from the App Store or Play Store and start to learn Albanian for free!
