Does Duolingo Have Belarusian? No, and What to Use

Does Duolingo offer anything close to Belarusian?

Partly. Duolingo teaches Russian and Ukrainian to English speakers, and both are East Slavic languages like Belarusian. Ukrainian is the closest relative overall and shares a lot of everyday vocabulary: in both, так (tak) is yes and мова (mova) is language. Russian is what you'll hear most in Minsk, and its grammar is close.

Neither teaches Belarusian, though. Belarusian has ў, a letter neither of them uses, and a spelling that writes words as they're pronounced. Learn Russian first and you'll keep writing Belarusian the Russian way. Babbel and Busuu don't offer Belarusian either (checked November 2026).

How to learn Belarusian with Qlango

Qlango teaches Belarusian at A1, A2 and B1, the first three levels of the CEFR scale. At A1 and A2 you introduce yourself, talk about daily life in simple sentences and get through everyday exchanges. At B1 you can handle most everyday situations and talk about your experiences and plans.

Each lesson gives you short Belarusian example sentences in Cyrillic, with the translation in the language you learn from. You answer them in several ways, such as flashcards, choosing one of two answers, matching pairs, putting scrambled words in order, writing what you hear and writing the translation yourself, which is where you learn to write малако (malako) for milk, not the Russian молоко. An AI voice reads every example aloud, and you can slow it down to hear дз and ц. A finished lesson returns after one, two, four and eight days and then once more, and examples you needed a hint for come back in harder questions later.

You choose the language you learn from, so it can be English or another language you know well.

How Belarusian spelling differs from Russian

Belarusian spells words as they sound. Russian often doesn't: it writes молоко and says roughly malako. Side by side, the rules show themselves:

Unstressed о is written а, a feature Belarusians call аканне (akanne), and е just before the stress often becomes я, as in сям'я. Where Russian has a soft д or т, Belarusian has дз and ц. Ў, a short u like the w in "wolf", often stands where Russian has л or в after a vowel. Belarusian writes і where Russian writes и, and шч where Russian writes щ, so borscht is боршч (borshch), not борщ. An apostrophe does the job of Russian's separating signs, and there's no ъ at all.

The catch is that the spelling follows the stress. A leg is нага (naga), but legs are ногі (nogi), because in the plural the stress lands on the о. So you need to know the stress before you can write the vowel.

Your first Belarusian words

Калі ласка does double duty, as please and as you're welcome, just as Ukrainian будь ласка (bud laska) does. Our full guide to learning Belarusian covers the alphabet, the grammar and a plan for your first month.

FAQ

Is Belarusian on Duolingo?

No. As of November 2026, Duolingo has no Belarusian course from English or from any other language.

Can I learn Belarusian with Duolingo's Russian or Ukrainian course?

Partly. Either gives you Cyrillic and a feel for East Slavic grammar, and Ukrainian a good share of the vocabulary, but neither teaches Belarusian spelling or the words only Belarusian uses.

What is the best app to learn Belarusian?

It depends on what you need. If you want a course organised by CEFR level, in Belarusian Cyrillic from the first lesson and with a fixed review schedule, Qlango teaches Belarusian at A1, A2 and B1. Duolingo, Babbel and Busuu don't offer Belarusian (checked November 2026).

Is there a free app to learn Belarusian?

Qlango is free to download on iPhone and Android, and you can start your first Belarusian lesson without creating an account. It also works in your browser.

Will Duolingo add Belarusian?

We can't say. Duolingo adds and removes courses over time, so check its catalogue if you're reading this much later.

Belarusian isn't the only gap. See every language Duolingo doesn't teach, or compare Qlango and Duolingo side by side. Your first Belarusian lesson takes about five minutes.